Utilizing Evaluation to Demonstrate Impact

As a former educator; I am long familiar with the pressure to and necessity of measures of performance and program outcomes. I’ve written many objectives, identified measurements, and collected and reported data designed to measure the success of educational programs. Now, as a VISTA Leader, I’m involved in evaluation from a different [...]

The Value of Volunteers

This week the Corporation for National and Community Service released Volunteering in America 2009, a report on volunteering trends and demographics. It’s important for nonprofits to review and use a report such as this to help with volunteer engagement. Consider how your organization can use the results to motivate and engage current and [...]

Member Perspective: Mapping Michigan for the Future

“There is a need in my community. I want to help by starting a nonprofit.” This question or some variation of it comes in daily to the main line at Michigan Nonprofit Association. While the caller is almost always different, the response is generally the same. “First, is there anyone else working [...]

Member Perspective: Take Time to Measure Performance and Celebrate Successes

We all know Michigan has had its share of woes lately, so I’m eager to share some good news: As a state, we’ve made real and substantial progress when it comes to getting children off to a healthy start in life. Those who work in nonprofits aimed at improving the lives of children have reason [...]

Resource Friday: 2009 Economic Benefits of Michigan’s Nonprofit Sector report

Many Michigan nonprofits shared with Michigan Nonprofit Association and the Johnson Center at Grand Valley State University in a recent survey that they are seeing an increase in demand for services. With the downturn of the economy, we know too well that resources are becoming harder to find and more competitive. Michigan Nonprofit [...]

Nonprofits Hit Hard By The Economy

In mid-January, MNA and the Johnson Center at Grand Valley State University surveyed over 200 nonprofits in Michigan to determine how the recent financial crisis has affected their organizations. Most Michigan residents have worked with, volunteered for and been served by a nonprofit since nonprofits can be found in every sector of the service economy, [...]

Female fundraisers earn 13-14% less than men

Wow, this is really upsetting. Its been more than 40 years since the passage of the Equal Pay Act and women are still making less money. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University recently examined the compensation practices for fundraisers and released the following key findings:
* Women who hold the top development jobs at their [...]

I’m wondering about Michigan’s volunteer rates…

Next week, we’re mailing all our members a copy of the latest report on Giving & Volunteering trends in Michigan. (The report is also available on our website.) The study, conducted by the Office for Survey Research (OSR) of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) at Michigan State University (can you imagine [...]

Giving & Volunteering Stats…and how they can help

Here’s a question for you: How many Michigan residents made a donation…any donation…to a charity in 2005? How many said they volunteered that year? And perhaps more importantly, where are certain individuals volunteering their time and donating their resources?
The answers?
They’re in the new Giving & Volunteering in Michigan report that was just released by [...]

Maybe We Don’t Get Paid Too Much…

That’s one of the preliminary determinations that the Internal Revenue Service reached through its recent survey on executive compensation. This initiative, which was originally intended to identify potential areas of abuse (such as excessive compensation and excess benefit transactions, self-dealing, etc.), certainly found some examples of this abuse. But it also found that [...]