Jan 15
0

Tips to Offset the Postal Price Increase

By | Government, Nonprofit | No Comments

Just when you thought it was safe to send out more direct mail, the United States post office announces an increase. This year’s 10 % rise represents one of the most significant price hikes in the cost of a first-class stamp from .50 cents to .55 cents per ounce.

For those nonprofits who use both DSCF (nonprofit bulk mail) and first class mail to solicit for donations, it’s a double hit: both first class and DSCF are going up this go-round.

Most nonprofits take advantage of the post office’s third-class nonprofit rate which saves considerable money on mailings. This bulks price must be obtained after securing nonprofit status with the United States post office and using a special indicia on outbound mail with a nonprofit permit number.

However, even with the nonprofit rate, the price of nonprofit bulk mail has gone up too, rising twice the rate of inflation from 4.8 to 5.5% for destinational sectional center facility (DSCF).

Save Money on Mailings: What You Can Do Now

It’s a shame that the price increase impacts nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits remain one of the post office’s most prominent customers as fewer people send cards, letters, and other mail via first class, relying on email and texting instead.

But what’s done is done, and now is the time not to complain but to act to reduce the cost of mailings. Here are a few steps you can take to keep prices down:

  1. Clean up your mailing lists: Work with a mail service provider or list vendor to clean your lists. The mailing list should be cleaned annually of old, unusable addresses, incomplete addresses, returned mail, and duplicate mailings. Mailing list data handlers can access files from the post office of people who have moved or died during the past year; they can then update those who have moved and remove the deceased persons from your mailing list. This alone can update a list so that less mail ends up in the trash or undeliverable.
  2. Stop sending trinkets: Although many nonprofits send items such as stickers, cards, and pens to potential donors, these add to the cost of the mailing. Instead of sending return address labels, consider uploading something printable to your website and inviting people to download it. Not only will you save on the cost of outbound postage because the envelopes weigh less, but you can track the open rate of your letters by determining the percent of recipients who received the letter and downloaded the freebie.
  3. Talk to your printer: Printing companies offer people who are experts at their craft and who can advise you on ways to reduce the cost of your mailings. For example, an experienced printer can suggest an alternative paper for your printing job that cuts the weight down of each envelope and reduces the cost per piece. Printers can also recommend the best times to mail so that your nonprofit mail isn’t swimming against the tide of high volume or better ways to batch your mail so that you achieve the maximum postal discounts possible.
  4. Improve your ROI: As costs of direct mail increase, the need to achieve a mailing ROI increases. To improve your direct mail, consider A/B tests, which test a control (a mailing package with a known response rate) against a test piece (the same package with one element changed, such as the design or the copy inside). By continually testing and improving with each mailing, you’ll be able to improve your ability to meet or exceed the mailing ROI.
  5. Increase online donor solicitations: Learn to use all forms of online donor solicitations from better email outreach to social media. Although direct mail remains a popular and effective method of meeting fundraising goals, the more expensive it gets, the more you may need to switch to online fundraising.

Although the postal price increase is a ‘done deal’ and effective in 2019, the impact upon your nonprofit isn’t signed, sealed, and delivered. You can affect and mitigate its effects by using these steps to counteract the steep postal price increase.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and software technology to help nonprofits be more efficient and effective. We work exclusively with nonprofits and have the experience necessary to help them build, grow, and develop over time. We invite you to contact us for any assistance you need with nonprofit technology and business solutions. Call 206-605-3113 or contact us.

Jan 08
0

Make Your Auditor’s Life Easy This Year – Pay Attention to These Five Things

By | Audit | No Comments

All auditors have their particular worries, those things that keep them up at night. Do your auditors – and your nonprofit – a favor this year. Preemptively tackle these five things that tend to keep auditors up at night and make sure your audit runs smoothly.

Five Things Your Auditor Wished You Knew

If auditors could tell you in advance of things that worry them, they might bring up these five points. Each of these has a simple fix. You can tackle it in advance to help make your auditor’s job easier and the audit smooth-sailing.

  1. Cybersecurity: Among all the things that keep auditors up at night, weak or non-existent cybersecurity is a biggy. And for a good reason: the number of data breaches continues to soar with nonprofits affected just as much as for-profits. Nonprofits may be targeted more frequently than for-profits because criminals know that nonprofits have weaker defenses against cyber intrusions, data breaches, trojans, viruses and other methods to compromise cybersecurity. What do criminals target? Personal data offers a treasure trove of tempting ‘jewels’ for a cybercriminal to steal; donor information, member information, credit card numbers, and other data entice thieves.

Why auditors worry: Cybercrimes can be expensive and result in lawsuits. They can also tarnish the name of a nonprofit, making it difficult for them to continue their work or solicit donations in the future.

The fix: Remind staff not to open suspicious emails. “Phishing” schemes often begin with a simple click through in an email. Don’t download ‘free’ software as some of it may be infected with trojans, malware or viruses. Do add the best virus scanning protection you can to your system and back up data offline. Update software frequently as recommended by the maker since software patches often fix known gaps in code that allow cybercriminals access.

  1. New software: Along with cybercrimes, new software often makes auditors want to pull their hair out. Nonprofits that rush ahead and spent on new software without performing their due diligence may end up with packages that offer too much, too little, or incomplete services.

Why auditors worry: Software can be expensive, and inadequate research into software capacities may lead to unnecessary expenditures.

The fix: Work with a good reseller or consultant to identify needs and find software that fits your nonprofit’s budget. Compare prices, examine existing software to see if you can use it for additional purposes, and find ways to make do with what you have until you finish exploring all options. Discuss software purchases with your auditors in advance to obtain their input, too.

  1. Compliance with funder requests: Grants and donations may come with strings attached. Funders may have multiple requests, each very different, that if unmet, may result in money being canceled. It can be challenging to track, manage, and respond to all funder requests.

Why auditors worry: If a nonprofit does not comply with a funder’s requests, the nonprofit may lose the source of funding.

The fix: Conduct regular compliance audits to ensure that requests are met. Determine areas of overlap and continuity. Create a staffing plan for training so that staff is aware of requests and how to meet them. Keep accurate records and update them frequently to track, measure, and record progress towards meeting funder’s requests.

  1. Financial controls: Nonprofits must balance the need to do good against the need to make margin so they can continue to operate. Nonprofits operating in a global market must worry about accepting cash and controlling cash transactions, while new technology that enables transactions online must also be tracked and measured.

Why auditors worry: Auditors worry about compliance with international standards and laws, monitoring cash flow, and ensuring that cash transactions are accounted for at every step of the way.

  1. Fraud and corruption: No one wants to think about cheating or corruption within their organization. Nevertheless, it can happen, even to the best organizations and people.

Why auditors worry: They worry for obvious reasons – fraud and corruption can lead to nonprofit failures.

The fix: Start with smart hiring procedures that include background checks for all new hires. Include internal controls among all accounting procedures. Provide methods for staff to anonymously report wrongdoing so that “whistleblowers” feel comfortable reporting anything they have observed. Training, procedures, and transparency are all ways to prevent potential fraud.

 Smart Nonprofits Partner with Their Auditors

Auditors are more than just individuals or companies who “audit the books” of a nonprofit organization. They can be valuable allies in the quest to build a sustainable, strong nonprofit organization that meets its objectives and achieves its mission.

The first step is, of course, finding an auditing firm who can become a true partner and asset. Welter Consulting bridges nonprofits and solutions to help them find technology that works for them. We invite you to contact us for any assistance you need with nonprofit technology and business solutions. Call 206-605-3113 or contact us.

Dec 20
0

Nonprofit Leadership: What It Takes to Succeed

By | Nonprofit | No Comments

We hear a lot about leadership these days. Types of leadership, failures of leadership…but what does it actually take to be a successful leader, especially in the world of nonprofits?

A recent GuideStar article profiles three nonprofit leaders: Nora Moreno Cargie, Karen Voci, and Audrey Shelto. All three lead not-for-profit health plans. Some came from for-profit backgrounds. All are thriving in the world of nonprofit leadership.

Lessons from the Leaders

What’s so unusual about these three leaders isn’t their backgrounds but the level of collaboration and communication among them. Here are five facts about these leaders and what we can learn from their success at the helm of their nonprofits.

  1. Successful leaders collaborate: Nora, Karen, and Audrey prefer collaboration with one another to competition. While they could view each other’s nonprofit as a competitor, instead, they view each other’s organization as an opportunity to learn. They meet regularly with one another and exchange ideas as well as support.
  2. Servant leadership works: The notion of servant leadership, or a leader who is the servant of their employees, sounds far-fetched, but it can and does work. Several of these leaders embrace a servant leadership mindset and find it works very well in their nonprofit cultures.
  3. Honesty and directness gain respect: Another characteristic of these three nonprofit leaders is their honesty, directness, and forthrightness when it comes to communicating with their teams. None of these people pull punches when it comes to disseminating information or speaking to their organizations. And, as a result, they command a great deal of respect. Leaders often assume they must only communicate what others want to hear, but these three leaders demonstrate that honesty often gains more respect than prevarication when it comes to leadership. People want to hear the truth from their leaders and respect those who offer it.
  4. Seek new solutions: It’s easy to get locked into the status quo. Those who become great leaders remain open to new ideas and possibilities. These three leaders keep an open mind and often seek new solutions in unexpected places. Instead of remaining content with the existing paradigm, they always strive to improve their organizations in every way.
  5. Lift people up – don’t put people down. Lastly, these leaders know that in order to succeed, you have to lift people up; that means supporting coworkers, colleagues, and teams. It means expanding the organization’s mission to embrace a vision which extends beyond the immediate or obvious. Vocci, for example, expanded the organization to encompass regional health initiatives and healthy living advocacy. Although not necessarily part of a health plan’s work, it supports a broader goal that aligns with the overarching mission of the organization.

Top Leaders, Top Thinkers

All three of the leaders profiles by GuideStar aren’t just top leaders, they are also top thinkers. They lead with their heads but include their hearts, often comparing ideas with one another. They also know that all work and no play makes for a dull C-suite executive. They find time to network over meals and even take in the occasional play together.

The result? Three leaders, passionate about what they do and well respected in their organizations. They’re taking their organizations to new places and new successes. Collaboration, communication, and strong leadership along with intelligence and drive are a potent combination for nonprofit success.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.

Dec 13
0

What Sets Successful Nonprofits Apart

By | Nonprofit | No Comments

Have you ever read the book, “Think and Grow Rich?” There’s a saying in the book: “Success leaves clues.” The author of this classic self-improvement book suggests studying the lives and habits of successful business people for clues of how they obtained their success.

The same may be said for all businesses, including nonprofits. What clues do successful nonprofits leave behind to guide newcomers in the world of mission-driven business? The answer may surprise you.

Success Metrics at the Five-Year Mark

Experts used to say that they judged a business successful or not by the third year; now that has increased to five years. For nonprofits hitting the 5-year mark, statistics from the NCCS/Urban Institute tell us that just 16% failed to renew their form 990 from 2000 to 2005.

Why do nonprofits fail to renew their form 990? If they fall below the $25,000 income threshold or if they go out of business, they may cease to renew form 990.

We don’t know exactly how many of those nonprofits reflected in the NCCS/Urban Institute statistics went out of business, how many dropped below the $25,000 threshold, or how many simply forgot to renew their form. We, however, know that the remaining nonprofits were alive and growing after five years – fully 84%. That’s a great testimony to survival in an age where many businesses fail quite quickly.

The Key Factor Determining Success

Looking across many of the nonprofits that make it to their 5-year anniversary, one thing stands out. This may, in fact, be the key driver of success for nonprofits.

Successful nonprofits turned passion for the mission into passion for the organization. While passion for the mission was prevalent, it was successfully transmuted into passion for the livelihood of the organization. The organization then received the care and attention as a mission-driven business entity it needed to thrive.

That’s a valuable distinction. Nonprofits are, by their very nature, mission-driven. You can’t imagine a nonprofit without its rallying cry, whether that is to end hunger and homelessness, serve a religious group’s needs, or save animals.

However, thriving organizations also focused on developing as a business. Care and attention were paid to things like technology, which can be used in the service of the nonprofit to cultivate donor relations, encourage good communications, and track grant applications.

The Business of Nonprofits

You can also see several things in common among successful nonprofits. This includes:

  • A healthy, active Board of Directors: The Board of a healthy nonprofit takes a strong interest in the organization’s work. Its members aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and engage in some networking or fundraising to help the organization raise money or achieve a goal. Members take responsibility for the actions and activities of the nonprofit.
  • A strategic plan: Growth is directed and managed through a five-year strategic plan that lays out the foundation and direction for the organization.
  • Smart hiring: Recruiting and hiring are taken seriously, with people chosen for their passion for the mission and their skillsets.
  • Investment in technology: From software to track and manage grants to the right CRM system, nonprofit management knows that technology, especially software, can help them be more productive.

How does your nonprofit stack up against this list? Are there gaps or areas of improvement?

Success leaves clues. It doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Those nonprofits who thrive and achieve milestone anniversaries – 5 year, 10 year and beyond – do so when passion for the mission meets a passion for the organization. Together, the two create an unbeatable combination.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.