Building Community-Driven Organizations
Help 4 NonProfits & Tribes Community-Driven Institute e-Newsletter

November 2005 A.T. (After Thanksgiving)
(If our newsletter does not appear below, or if it appears as gobbledy-gook, please click here to get the newsletter from the Help 4 NonProfits Website. And please let us know, and we will change your newsletter settings to “text only.”)

Hello!
Things have continued to develop here at Help 4 NonProfits, as our Community-Driven Institute has slowly begun to take on a life of its own. We have been feverishly writing new articles, developing new classes, publishing new books. While things normally slow down around the holidays, things only seem to be getting more exciting around here!

As we mentioned in our last newsletter, this is an abbreviated newsletter, with just a few of the items we are working on, so as not to overwhelm our readers with everything that is happening around here! Look for one more issue of our newsletter before the end of the year, and then hopefully things will slow back down to normal!

Here’s what you will find in this newsletter:

Newsletter Index Links
1) New Article: Ongoing Board Education: Ensuring Board Members Have the Knowledge They Need
2) Two New Recorded Class:
Monitoring: The Heart of Board Accountability and Effectiveness
Sarbanes-Oxley and Your NonProfit Organization
3) Anniversary Special: Anniversary Special: Board Recruitment & Orientation Manual for only $9.95
4) Sharing this Newsletter
5) Sneak Preview: An intimate look at New Orleans and finally - our FriendRaising book!

Please read and enjoy, and pass these items along. We know it will help you improve the quality of life in your community. And isn't that really why we all do the work we do?

New Article:
Ongoing Board Education: Ensuring Board Members Have the Knowledge They NeedCLICK
Last week, 2 individuals from different parts of the world called, asking almost the identical question: "Our board desperately needs training, but they don't think they need help. How can I get them to learn if they won't learn?"

Both individuals asked us to come teach their boards. And we told both callers that would be the worse thing they could do!

So what is the answer? Simple - encourage those boards to want to learn, to make ongoing education part of what the board does.

Board members will love this article. But Executive Directors will be tickled - finally an approach to board education that can be sparked by an ED!
CLICK

Two New Recorded Classes:
Monitoring: The Heart of Board Accountability and Effectiveness CLICK
We have been overwhelmed by the response to our Monitoring Class. One listener told us he had taken pages and pages of notes, and that he had already listened 4 times. "There is so much information here!"

Another listener told us she was assigning various portions of the class to each of her board's committees, asking the committee chairs to report at the next board meeting how they intend to follow up.

Oh my, this class is spurring boards to action - we couldn't be happier! Imagine what those boards will accomplish as they learn to monitor the things they are accountable for!

To hear a sample portion of the class, CLICK

As you close down 2005 and consider your Board's "New Years Resolutions" for 2006, resolve to keep better track of the things that fall through the cracks. We guarantee the results!
CLICK


Keeping Your Board Out of Trouble: What Implications Does the Sarbanes-Oxley Law Passed by Congress Have for Your Nonprofit? CLICK
The early 2000's felt like one corporate scandal after another. The U.S. Congress responded with tougher standards for corporate boards.

Following their lead, a number of states are considering tougher standards specifically for nonprofit boards. And because regulation is contagious, if it happens in one state, we will not be surprised if these new regulations become the trend in state governments across the country.

This class is offered through our affiliation with Charity Channel's "Charity University". It is presented by one of the top tax-exempt specialists in the U.S. legal field, Lisa Runquist. (Even the American Bar Association thinks Lisa is amazing, as their Business Law Section awarded her its first Outstanding Lawyer award!)

This class is great for beginners as well as those with a bit more understanding of nonprofit legal issues. Lisa goes slowly over the law, and shows what your organization can be doing to comply. Check it out! CLICK

Anniversary Special:
Board Recruitment & Orientation: A Step-by-Step, Common Sense Guide Only $9.95 per copy! CLICK
It is hard to believe it was 4 years ago this fall that we published our Board Recruitment manual. The exciting part for us is that the book has become the nonprofit world's Number 1 guide on the topic!

To celebrate, we are having a sale - each copy is only $9.95! If you were considering buying more copies for your board (or if you loaned your copy to someone, never to see it again), now is the time to stock up! CLICK

Share This Newsletter:
Every month, hundreds of new subscribers sign up for our e-newsletter, most of whom learn about our site from a friend or colleague. Here’s one of our favorite comments this month:

"I am consistently impressed by the tone and substance of your emails and, for that matter, your extensive website content. As head of an emerging consulting firm myself, I can only hope our friends and supporters find our musings half as stimulating and provocative as I find yours."

Sam Pettway
BoardWalk Consulting
Atlanta, Georgia

Because board members receive little information on how to do their job better, please be sure to pass this newsletter along to your board. Or better yet, sign them all up to receive a copy of their own!

Sneak Preview:
Great Stuff On the Way!
As we said in our last newsletter and will say again here, things just keep rockin' and rollin' here at Help 4 NonProfits, and we are looking forward to getting even more great stuff out to you in the next few weeks!

In December, Julie Condy, a subscriber from the children's theater group Stage-to-Stage in New Orleans, will give us an inside glimpse into the New Orleans her family has loved for generations, and what is happening there now. We are excited to share Julie's stories with you, as the New Orleans she remembers will never be the same.

And just in time for the holidays, our FriendRaising book will be available. This will make great reading during the holidays, preparing your board to hit the ground running in 2006!

Thank you, as always, for the work you do to make your communities better places to live. We wish for you all the possibilities life holds.




Help 4 NonProfits & Tribes Institute
http://www.Help4NonProfits.com
4433 E. Broadway Blvd. Ste 202
Tucson, Arizona 85711
Copyright © 1997-2005 ReSolve, Inc.

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