NewLevel Group

June, 2006

The unofficial start of summer – Memorial Day – has ushered in the welcome rays of sunshine along with thoughts of the season ahead. Summer is a perfect time for lazy days in the hammock with a good book, a well-deserved vacation to visit friends and family, and a mid-year assessment of how your organization is faring. Yes, that’s right. We suggest you carve out some time in June or July to take a look back to see if you are on track to meet the goals you set in January, and make adjustments now to meet or exceed those goals in the second half of the year. Perhaps the articles in this issue of the NewLevel Group e–newsletter will stimulate your thinking. And, you can always print out the pieces and read them in the hammock…

The NewLevel Group Team

In this issue:


Does Your Nonprofit Make the List?

While there is no one formula for building a high-performance social sector organization, there are attributes and processes that all effective organizations have in common. Check out our Nonprofit Effectiveness Checklist for an inventory of some of those basic components.

Hands


Making the Ask

One of the most common methods that nonprofits use to raise funds is the appeal letter. Not only can an appeal letter bring in much needed funds, it can strengthen the connection with current supporters, reactivate lapsed donors, encourage more donors to become major donors, and increase the size of major donor gifts. Review "The Six Fundamentals of Writing an Effective Fundraising Letter" before your next campaign.


Baking Cookies with a Smoke Alarm

While most successful organizations use performance measures to gauge results, the majority of the measures they employ – financial reports, sales results, 360° reviews – are lagging indicators. That is, they tell you with some accuracy how you did, but not until after the fact. Read more



by CAMALEO