Do you wonder why some decisions seem better timed than others? Or why the expectations of some board members about their service do not fit with the discussions and activities the team needs today? Do you wish your board or staff would see why your line of questioning makes so much sense right NOW in your organization? When you are in a planning session do you struggle to find the balance between internal and external focus in your goals, or find that the board is holding you and your staff back from taking on new goals that would propel the mission forward? We hear about these tension-filled scenarios a lot, but unfortunately there is little science to give us the answers to eliminate the tension. More often, the gift instead… Read more »

The Nonprofit Finance Fund is conducting its seventh annual nationwide survey examining the state of the nonprofit sector, and we hope that you will take a few minutes to share your experiences. The survey, which is anonymous and takes about 10-15 minutes to fill out, collects data on challenges and trends among nonprofits. The results help illustrate the vitality of the sector in our state, define the challenges that we all face, and provide information that advances our collective advocacy work. Please take the survey and share it with other nonprofits in your network. Thanks…. Read more »

Just a reminder — this survey is open until January 30. We encourage you to participate. See the information below. Research tells us — and we know from our own experience — that it’s difficult to find and keep qualified fundraisers. Just how serious is the problem? We’re going to find out. We’ve been invited to take part in a study that will help define the extent of the “development deficit” both here in Alaska and around the country. Click here for the survey. Your responses will be confidential and anonymous. The survey will run through Friday, January 30. Please share your perspectives. Thanks…. Read more »

Several years ago nonprofit associations in the 5-state northwest region – Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington – came together to learn from each other how to better serve you and your organization. We have shared the various strategies we use in each of our states to assist individual nonprofits, along with the sector as a whole, to thrive. We feel our work has been enlightening about the services that are important to your organization. Thank you to those of you who participated in a survey for this project in the past. We’re asking you once again to share your thoughts with us. Your answers to our new survey will give us additional valuable information about the “state of the sector” throughout the Northwest. We are committed to using this… Read more »

Several years ago five state nonprofit associations in the northwest region – Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington – came together to learn from each other how we could better serve you and your organization. We have shared the various strategies we use in each of our states to assist individual nonprofits, along with the sector as a whole, to thrive. We feel our work has been enlightening and has better prepared us to offer services that are important to your organization. Our next step is to learn from you. Later this month we will launch a survey that will give us valuable information about the “state of the sector” in each of our states and throughout the Northwest. Watch for the announcement on the Foraker blog and please plan… Read more »

GrantStation polls organizations on the status of their grantseeking twice yearly in order to provide the nonprofit sector with a vivid, up-to-date snapshot of grantseeking today. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to help by completing their survey. Click here to get started. The survey results (which are free) can serve as a benchmark for your organization to compare your own grantseeking efforts with those of your colleagues. The more the respondents, the better the data that can be reported – so please include this survey request on your list serves, with membership groups, on Facebook, and more. We appreciate anything you can do to spread the word. GrantStation’s The State of Grantseeking – Survey and Report is underwritten by the Grant Professionals Association and the National Council of… Read more »

This Friday is the formal deadline for participating in our Salary & Benefits Survey. However, we are extending that deadline to next Friday, February 28, to allow more people to take part. You can read all the information about the survey by clicking here. If you have any questions or would like assistance completing the survey, please e-mail us at info@forakergroup.org or jjacobs@forakergroup.org. Thanks for your help. This survey is an important Foraker project and provides useful information to the state’s nonprofits…. Read more »

We received this post today from the National Council of Nonprofits with three excellent tips on how to make your annual audit process easier and more productive. Take a look and see if the tips will help you get prepared with less stress. Also note at the end of the Council’s article that the State of the Sector survey is closing soon. If you haven’t done so, please participate in this important process to help us better understand our sector. Click here to read our earlier post on the survey…. Read more »

Foraker has been publishing surveys to support human resources within Alaska nonprofits since 2002. Our 2014 survey is now open and we urge you to participate in it. The deadline for submitting your suvery is Friday, February 21. 2014 features include: Full survey components – salary and benefits – will be reported for the third consecutive survey. All benefit data entry fields have been reviewed and updated to better reflect current options and practices. Benchmark job descriptions have been edited for currency. 2012 survey respondents can review their entries from that year and bring data current reducing the time and effort required to submit a 2014 response. No data will appear only if a pull down menu of options has been changed to better reflect benefit trends. New questions have… Read more »

It’s come to our attention that rumors are being circulated about penalties for employers who don’t notify their workers of health exchanges available under the ACA. We want to share the information below that came to us from the Alaska Chamber. According to Jerry Geisel of BusinessInsurance.com, employers will not be fined by federal regulators if they fail to distribute to employees health care reform law model notices about the availability of public health insurance exchanges. Using a question-and-answer format, the U.S. Department of Labor said that while employers should provide such notices to employees by Oct. 1, “there is no fine or penalty under the law for failing to provide the notice.” While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is clear that penalties cannot be imposed, “Internet-based rumors… Read more »