Publication Spotlight - Coping with Cutbacks

The Black Book: Standards of Accounting and Financial Reporting for Voluntary Health and Welfare Organizations, Fourth Edition

The movement to establish uniform standards of accounting and financial reporting for voluntary nonprofit organizations spans more than a quarter of a century. The publication of the first edition of Standards in 1964 was a landmark event. Prior to that, these organizations had no formal guidance with respect to accounting and financial reporting. Practice varied widely at the sub-sector level of the “industry” and varied even within the sub-sectors. Since the publication of the 1964, 1974 and 1988 editions of Standards, a heightened level of uniformity and consistency in reporting has developed among voluntary health and welfare organizations.

This fourth edition of Standards was prepared to continue the mission of previous editions – to attain uniform accounting and external financial reporting in compliance with generally accepted accounting principals by all voluntary health and welfare organizations.

The intended constituencies of Standards, as the titles indicates, are voluntary health and welfare organizations that are members or, or are affiliated with, The National Health Council and/or The National Human Services Assembly.

Since 1964, Standards has guided these organizations’ financial reporting. Standards has been successful in achieving uniformity and comparability of financial reporting within industry, leading to increased public understanding of and confidence in the organizations’ financial reports.

The two sponsoring organizations – National Health Council and the National Human Services Assembly – objective for this updated version of Standards is to retain the framework of earlier versions while incorporating changes that will continue to make The Black Book the valuable resource is has become in the field of nonprofit health and welfare accounting.

Price: ~~$50.00~~ $25.00

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Venture Forth!; The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in Your Nonprofit Organization

by Rolfe Larson

Venture Forth! The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in Your Nonprofit Organization is the most complete step-by-step guide to the topic. Building on the experience of many organizations, this handbook gives you a time-tested approach for finding, testing, and launching a successful nonprofit business venture.

Whether your organization is large or small, the book's seven steps guide you through the entire process - from idea to complete business plan. Examples, tips, timelines, and reproducible worksheets help you

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of venture ideas to find the most promising ones
Determine which ideas fit your mission, resources and skills
Make solid decision based on data rather than impressions
Prepare a complete - and reassuring - financial analysis showing the break even point and future profitability
Write compelling, detailed business plan and get it approved
Get ready to start a new business!

Nonprofit's with established ventures find these steps useful for evaluating, expanding, or improving their business.

Even if you don't intend to ear a dine in venture income, you can use this book's process to improve the financial health of your current program.

Lower your risk and increase your chance of success with this Venture Forth! and start generating earned-income while reducing your dependence on grants.

"Venture Forth! offers a clear, no-buts way to negotiate the minefields in the nonprofit world. It's sincere, smart, and helpful"

Paul Newman, actor, philanthropist, & founder of Newman's Own

"Rolfe Larson gives anyone, staff or board, who is serious about considering a new venture a well-lit path to success in this thorough, step-by-step workbook. I'll be recommending it to my clients"

Peter Brinkerhoff, founder, Corporate Alternatives, Inc., leading management consultant, and author of Social Entrepreneurship, mission-Based Marketing, Mission-Based Management, Financial Empowerment, and other books.

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The Lobbying and Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations; Shaping Public Policy at the State and Local Level

by Marcia Avner, Minnesota Council of Nonprofit's

If lobbying is new to you, The Lobbying and Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations will help you decide whether to lobby and how to put plans in place to make it work. This unique guide will also reinvigorate experienced organizations and lobbyists with new ways to approach lobbying. Resources, worksheets, and samples guide you each step of the way.

With this handbook, you will:

Understand your nonprofit's role in shaping state and local public policy
Discover how lobbying can help fulfill your organization's mission, service, and program goals.
Set up systems in your organization to support lobbying
Learn how to initiate, support, or defeat bills
Develop skills to make your lobbying efforts effective
Build and mobilize supporters for your efforts
Influence the government to support your policy positions
Use the media to build support for your positions
Comply with federal and state regulations

Marcia Avner has more than 30 years influencing pubic policy. She is public policy director for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and assistant professor in nonprofit management at Hamline University.

"First Class Guide to Lobbying! I recommend this manual to any citizen who has a passion to make a difference in our society."

George Latimer, Professor, Urban Studies, Macalester College, and Mayor, Saint Paul, MN, 1976-90

"A clean and practical step-by-step guide to developing an advocacy program. I know it will be referred to again and again for detail and focused advice."

Jonathan Small, Executive Director, Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York

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Coping with Cutbacks: The Nonprofit Guide to Success When Times Are Tight

by Emil Angelica and Vincent Hyman

There are big changes underway as a result of the changing relationship among federal, state and local governments and the nonprofit sector...what some call devolution. These changes will dramatically affect the resources available to nonprofit's. By some estimates, the nonprofit sector will lose $100 billion dollars in the next six years.

In a survey conducted by the authors of this book, more than 75% of the nonprofit managers who responded said they are facing funding cutbacks. These same managers all anticipate increasing their fund-raising efforts. With so many organizations facing cuts and so many planning to seek new funds, where will the money come from? Coping with Cutbacks: The Nonprofit Guide to Success When Times Are Tight tells you what to expect and how to succeed when funds are short. You'll learn:

Sixty-four ways to cut costs, manage payables, modify staffing, and change services.
Fifiy-one ways to increase revenues, manage money differently, increase fund-raising, expand services, and improve productivity.
Twenty-eight ways to change the way your organization works, including its mission, culture, and structure.
Forty ways to involve more people in solving your problem, including other nonprofit's, businesses, the community, and the government.
What devolution is, and nine opportunities that will come from it.
How, why, and when to use the four problem-solving approaches--Take Care of Business, Bet on the Board, Work with Allies and Partners and Come to the Table.
Why some of the best solutions to your problems may come from far outside your organization.
Where to look for new ideas to solve community problems.
Ways to involve people from business, government, congregations, and civic groups in solving community problems.

Most important, you'll learn how to think about resource problems in a new way. You'll find out that it's time to look beyond the tried and tired approaches nonprofits have been using the past two decades.

"An invaluable tool for nonprofit leaders and managers"

Michael Sletzer, Program Officer: Ford Foundation and author of Securing Your Organization's Future: A Complete Guide to Fundraising Strategies.

"Simple and practical. The short sections and bulleted format made it very fast and easy to read - a must for organizations needing to move quickly!"

Fennifer S. Vanica, CFRE, Executive Director, Jacobs Family Foundation and Jacobs Center for NonProfit Innovation, San Diego.

"A comprehensive look at cutback actions...Thought provoking, well-organized, and thorough."

Dave Martin, President, Northland Institute, Duluth, Minnesota

~~Cover Price $20.00~~

National Assembly Price $16

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To Order by Phone, call 202-347-2080 x16

The Manager's Guide to Program Evaluation; Planning, Contracting, and Managing for Useful Results.

The step-by-step guide to getting a good evaluation.

By Paul W. Mattessich, Ph.D. of the Wilder Research Center

Evaluation is vital and beneficial to any nonprofit organization. An effective evaluation can help you identify you organization's successes, share information with key audiences and improve your services. If can confirm that your organization is truly making a difference.

Chances are, you won't do evaluations yourself. Instead, you'll hire an expert to do them for you. This book gives you the information and insights you need to make that process go smoothly and generate meaningful, useful results.

Authoritative, accessible, and thorough, The Manager's Guide to Program Evaluation describes the four phases of an evaluation study and the types of information you need to collect to produce high-quality evaluation, offers advice on how to select a research consultant, and suggests guidelines for making your evaluation as credible as possible to the greatest number of people.

Written especially for organization managers and decision makers, this book also recommended for policymakers, funders, researchers and students who plan to enter the human services or social policy field.

Paul W. Mattessich, Ph. D. is executive director of Wilder Research Center. He has been involved in applied social research since 1973, working with local, national, and international organizations. Mattessich has authored or coauthored more than 200 publications and reports.

"Takes the mystique out of program evaluation"

- Irv Katz, President & CEO, National Human Services Assembly, Washington, DC

"Paul Mattessich brings his vast experience as both manager and evaluator to this important and engaging book. He makes evaluation accessible, meaningful and practical - and most of all, useful. For managers who care about effectiveness, improvement, and learning, no better book on evaluation exists."

- MIchaeul Quinn Patton, Prefesson, Union institute and University, author of Utilization-Focused Evaluation: The New Century Text

"A clean, concise, and practical guide for managers about the world of evaluation and its contributions to program effectiveness and administrative decision-making."

- Don Compton, Ph.D., Director, Evaluation Services, American Cancer Society

Cover Price ~~$25.00~~

National Assembly Price $20.00!!

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Collaboration: What Makes It Work, 2nd Edition, featuring The Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory. A review of research literature on factors influencing successful collaboration.

by Paul Mattessich, Marta Murray-Close, Barbara R. Monsey and the Wilder Publishing Center

This practical research report describes twenty proven factors that make a collaboration succeed. Use it to prepare and plan for collaboration in your community, identify strengths and weaknesses in your collaboration, and envision new ways to accomplish your mission. 104 pages, soft cover

"Essential reading for anyone interested in collaboration. A well done summary of what the latest research says and what we all need to know!"

-Sharon Kagan, Senior Associate, The Bush Center for Child Development and Social Policy, Yale University

"This booklet should be required reading for anyone committed to improving the future of youth through collaborative efforts between community members and the schools. It provides the reader with the key learning's which are critical for successful collaborations."

-Jane Asche, Vice President and Director of Membership Services, The National Association of Partners in Education, Inc.

"This is a very helpful to me as someone in an existing collaboration. It is especially helpful to have a structure to hang my experiences on and to shape our mission for the future"

-Barbara Stone, Health Care for the Homeless Project in Ramsey County

" The list of factors will be very useful. It will be handy to have a kind of report card. So much of collaboration is still a 'touch and feel' process."

-Terry Donovan, Senior Project Manager, Anoka County Human Services

Cover Price ~~$20.00~~

National Assembly Price $16.00!!

Click here to download the order form