The Foraker Group

Most nonprofit leaders care about their mission and are concerned about doing good work in their community. They want a user-friendly process to build their organization’s capacity, focus on sustainability, and ultimately, to show that their organization is demonstrating impact for the people they serve. The Foraker Nonprofit Sustainability Model, although simple, is based on a sophisticated understanding of organizational development. With it, you can identify the four factors that help predict nonprofit sustainability. Those factors are having a clear focus, gathering the right people, developing meaningful partnerships, and having unrestricted funds available. Nonprofit leaders who operate in an environment structured around these factors have lenses to help them take a good look at their organization, weigh decisions, and create clarity for the path forward. How do you see your… Read more »

Are you interested in taking your skills and knowledge to the next level? Then consider the Catalyst for Excellence program. This innovative training is open to senior organizational leaders, funding officers, and board members of Alaska nonprofits. Catalyst is a partnership between Foraker and Context International and is geneously supported by BP. You can learn more here. The deadline for applications is August 12, 2013…. Read more »

The National Council of Nonprofits has launched a new tool that will help nonprofits make informed decisions about conducting independent audits. The Nonprofit Audit Guide is available by clicking here. The guide will help you understand what an independent audit is, or is not, and whether your organization is required to conduct an audit. It also covers how to involve your board and an audit committee. Raj Shankar, Foraker’s CFO, helped develop the guide. He was recognized by the Council as a national expert on the subject and an excellent resource for other state associations. We encourage our Partners to review the material and call us if you have any questions…. Read more »

The challenges facing Alaska nonprofits that rely too heavily on government funding was covered recently by the Alaska Dispatch, an online news service. The story, which includes comments from Foraker President Dennis McMillian, echoes the message we have been delivering for some time now: Alaska nonprofits are overly dependent on government grants and need to diversify their funding sources. The story also talks about the success of Pick.Click.Give. in promoting individual giving. Foraker’s work has shown that individual giving and earned income are two sources of sustainable revenue that need to be developed by nonprofits if they hope to survive and thrive. Click here to read the article…. Read more »

A recently released study — the 2013 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey — details changes organizations are making after years of economic stress. You can read more about the survey here. A survey analyzer allows you to filter the national results by various categories. For example, 32 Alaska nonprofits took part in the survey and you can see the results for those organizations here…. Read more »

As part of this year’s Summit, we encouraged you to develop your own “calls to action.” What do you plan to do with what you learned? Develop your story — decide who you will tell your story to — be clear about what you want your audience to do — share what you learned with staff and board? Click here for a few resources that may help. You’ll find a guide for developing a marketing or communication plan, along with a comprehensive reading list of the best material available on nonprofit communications. Check it out…. Read more »

“As Alaskans we sometimes can’t find the words to describe what we experience – like the pastels in an Alaskan sunset, standing in a stream with a Coho on the line, the color blue in a glacier, or seeing the wisdom on the face of an Alaskan Native elder. We may need to add another to that list – how we felt when we left the last Foraker Leadership Summit.” Click here to read Dennis’s reflections on the summit…. Read more »

The Foraker Group was named a full state association member of the National Council of Nonprofits this week. According to the Council, the designation recognizes Foraker’s achievement as a leader for charitable nonprofits in Alaska. In a statement issued yesterday, the Council said: “The Foraker Group has been serving Alaska’s nonprofits for more than a decade. Led by Council of Nonprofits Board Member Dennis McMillian, The Foraker Group has been providing not just leadership and high quality trainings, but also a suite of back office services and consulting services, making Alaska’s nonprofits stronger every day.” The Council also recognized Foraker’s publication of Focus on Sustainability: A Nonprofit’s Journey, a guide for nonprofit staff and board members on how to approach sustainability more holistically…. Read more »

One of our great speakers at the Leadership Summit, Thaler Pekar, has generously provided more resources for storysharing. Link to the Sharing page of her web site for 9 articles. And check out the links below. Connecting Your Organization’s Past, Present and Future How to Gather Stories Finally, Thaler passed along Fine Examples of Storysharing in this document…. Read more »

In case you couldn’t attend the two excellent sessions by Travis Gilmour at the Leadership Summit, he’s sharing his presentations. Click below to view them. Session 1 — So You Want to Make a Video Session 2 — So You Want to Shoot a Video… Read more »