Words to live by: Fiscal Responsibility, Content, and Credibility

On May 19, Fenton Communications released The 2010 Fenton Forecast: Leadership and Effectiveness Among Nonprofits.

On the surface, Fenton's findings are not great news for non-profits:

Despite signs that some sectors of the economy are slowly recovering, the outlook for nonprofit organizations is still grim. According to recent results from the 2010 Fenton Forecast: Leadership and Effectiveness Among Nonprofits, nearly two-thirds of survey respondents report they plan to either reduce their giving or keep it the same as last year.  This is on top of already reduced giving levels for 2008 and 2009.

All hope, however, is not lost. There is a very nice takeaway embedded in the study. The report states "Most Americans Agree: Nonprofits Do a Very Good Job." 80% of the survey group believe non-profits are doing an "excellent" or "good" job of serving the public good.

So, here, in brief, is a To Do List, drawn from the report:

• Prove your fiscal responsibility
• Be a "Credible Source"
• Be Transparent -- Americans rank how the organization manages its money higher than any other leadership quality.
• Cozy up to traditional media (newspapers, television, etc.) -- "Traditional news media outlets rank as the most credible sources of information about issues people care about."
• And last, to win the Golden Ring, figure out these evil twins: "People in our survey rank Facebook as the most popular way to voice their opinion on topics they care about" yet "Social networking sites rank at the bottom for credibility. Even so, respondents rank Facebook as among the most popular ways they prefer to share opinions on issues that matter to them."

There is s a great deal of information contained in the full report, which certainly, I have oversimplified, to a great extent. You can download the full report by clicking here.

So download the report, and REMEMBER: This can be an opportunity. Giving will rebound, and soon. In the meantime, set aside some of your resources to differentiate your organization from others. Determine to set yourself apart from the copycats. Make your mission clear, if there are other non-profits delivering services and programs that seem like they might be the same as yours, but aren't really.

And, if you'd like more information about how you can make your organization stand out without breaking the bank, drop me an email at RGondella@Causeware.Net