PULSE! CONTENT

1. Alliance Regional Meeting in New England, May 18, 2005
2. Alliance/NCNA Joint Conference July 14-17, 2005 in Chicago
3. Panel on the Nonprofit Sector Interim Report
4. Philanthropies Working Together: Myths and Realities
5. Keeping It Real: Accountable to Whom? Nonprofit Workout Conference
6. The M Word: A Board Member's Guide to Nonprofit Mergers
7. Ticket to Work: New Source of Federal Funding Available for Nonprofits
8. Nonprofit Disclosure: The Answer to Accountability?
9. The Case for Better Philanthropy: The Future of Funding for Women and Girls
10. TECH TEMPO: INFO LINE of Los Angeles Launches New Taxonomy Website
11. TOOLS OF THE TRADE: New E-update: Tools You Can Use

1. Alliance Regional Meeting in New England, May 18, 2005

Alliance for Nonprofit Management will host a New England Regional Meeting on May 18, 2005 in Cambridge, MA, in conjunction with the Third Sector New England (TSNE) Nonprofit Workout Conference, May 16-17. The theme of the meeting is "Working on the Frontiers of Knowledge: New Thinking on Cultural Competency," and will address the cultural dimensions of board development, strategic planning, collaboration, and other capacity-building topics, with a broad lens encompassing race/ethnicity, gender, generation, geography, disability, as well as political and religious viewpoints. Tawara Goode, Director of the National Center for Cultural Competence at Georgetown University, will provide the keynote address. Receive a 15% discount on the Regional Meeting when you also attend the Nonprofit Workout (see item 5 below for more information about the Nonprofit Workout). For more information about the Alliance Regional Meeting and to register, visit www.allianceonline.org/events_and_announcements.ipage/2005_regional_meeting.page.

2. Alliance/NCNA Joint Conference July 14-17, 2005 in Chicago

Alliance for Nonprofit Management and National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) will hold a Joint Conference, July 14-17, 2005 at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel. The theme of the conference is "The Communities We Serve: Building Capacity for Impact." The joint Alliance/NCNA conference will bring together nonprofit capacity builders, state associations of nonprofits, management support organizations, consultants, grantmakers, association leaders, academics, policy makers and others who work to strengthen nonprofits. This engaging event for the nonprofit capacity-building community will cover a wide range of topics, including board governance, strategic planning, cultural competency, accountability, financial management, and more, with ample opportunities for dialogue and networking among experienced practitioners. For more information on the conference (including opportunities to become a sponsor, exhibitor or advertiser at the event), visit www.allianceonline.org/annual_conference.

3. Panel on the Nonprofit Sector Interim Report

Convened by Independent Sector, the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector released an Interim Report providing recommendations to the sector, IRS, and Congress on strengthening nonprofit accountability. The report suggests measures aimed at improving the oversight and governance of nonprofit organizations in such areas as ethical standards and stronger disclosure rules. The twenty-four-member panel will continue to work on these recommendations and hold meetings across the country to engage feedback before submitting the Final Report to the Senate Finance Committee in June. For a copy of the report, visit www.nonprofitpanel.org.

4. Philanthropies Working Together: Myths and Realities

Produced by the Foundation Center's Practice Matters: The Improving Philanthropy Project, "Philanthropies Working Together: Myths and Realities" provides foundations insight on how collaboration can work to benefit those being served. The report asks, "How can foundations pool their resources without ceding control of their values and goals?" Philanthropies Working Together provides examples of recent collaborations, models and advantages/disadvantages with advice on when collaboration may be beneficial. For a copy of the report, visit www.fdncenter.org/for_grantmakers/practice_matters.

5. Keeping It Real: Accountable to Whom? Nonprofit Workout Conference

Sponsored by Third Sector New England, the 10th Nonprofit Workout will be held May 16-17, 2005, in Cambridge, MA. The Workout will offer strategies and approaches to help those in the nonprofit community focus on what matters most - keeping true to mission and the communities served - while managing in a regulatory-driven environment. "Keeping It Real" sessions aim to help nonprofit board and staff members, funders and capacity builders share promising practices, and discuss and analyze some of the newest research and thinking about engaging people and communities in social transformation. Workout registrants receive a 15% discount on the Alliance for Nonprofit Management Regional Meeting on May 18. For more details and to register for the Workout, visit www.tsne.org/section/361.html.

6. The M Word: A Board Member's Guide to Nonprofit Mergers

Sponsored by the San Francisco Foundation, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services has released "The M Word: A Board Member's Guide to Nonprofit Mergers," to help assist nonprofits with what to expect in the merger process and how merging can be seen as a tool in an organization’s success. Written by Alfredo Vergara-Lobo, Jan Masaoka and Sabrina Smith of CompassPoint, the report provides examples of merger experience, sample documents and advice on how to effectively close a nonprofit. To purchase a copy of the report, visit www4.compasspoint.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=712&Profile_ID=204305.

7. Ticket to Work: New Source of Federal Funding Available for Nonprofits

The Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program is a Social Security Administration employment initiative that assists over ten million individuals with disabilities as they seek to transition into the workforce. The Program provides access to an approved network of service providers who can offer a wide range of supports necessary to find and retain employment, including: case management, referrals, career assessment, job search/placement/training, transportation, housing assistance, and many more. If your nonprofit is able to directly (or indirectly) support individuals with disabilities who receive Social Security benefits, or "Ticket-holders," in your community, you may be eligible to receive up to five years' worth of federal funding for services you are currently offering. For more information, email Stacey Levitt at staceylevitt@maximus.com or call 703-236-3408.

8. Nonprofit Disclosure: The Answer to Accountability?

Transcripts of the Urban Institute's Forum, "Nonprofit Disclosure: The Answer to Accountability?" provide an insight into the role of public disclosure in preventing fraud and the limitations of evaluating charities and nonprofits' financial performance. Forum panelists represented such organizations as the Urban Institute, Senate Finance Committee, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Georgetown University and BBB Wise Giving. For a copy of the transcripts, visit www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=900780.

9. The Case for Better Philanthropy: The Future of Funding for Women and Girls

Women & Philanthropy's new report, "The Case for Better Philanthropy: The Future of Funding for Women and Girls," examines how fairness, effectiveness, and human rights can provide a framework for foundations to create more effective philanthropy benefiting women and girls. The report provides examples on how using these funding rationales can better support the impact of future grants that serve half of the population, women and girls. To purchase a copy of the report, visit www.womenphil.org/info-url_nocat3909/info-url_nocat_show.htm?doc_id=253200.

10. TECH TEMPO: INFO LINE of Los Angeles Launches New Taxonomy Website

INFO LINE of Los Angeles announced the launch of its Taxonomy for Human Services website. The taxonomy provides the classification system for information and referrals for the 2-1-1 telephone information line for human services currently operating in 31 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. 2-1-1 is an initiative of the United Way and AIRS (Alliance of Information and Referral Systems) to give the public ready information on nonprofit services and other human services available in their community (see www.211.org). The Taxonomy includes nonprofit categories and capacity-building categories and may be useful to nonprofit organizations that provide information and referral services with an interest in developing their database in a way that may be integrated with local, regional, national and international information and referral systems. The Taxonomy may be browsed for free, and subscriptions to the website are available for purchase for download privileges. Visit www.211taxonomy.org to review the features and visit www.211taxonomy.org/help/subscribe for information on subscribing.

11. TOOLS OF THE TRADE: New E-update: Tools You Can Use

Wilder Publishing Center has announced their new e-update "Tools You Can Use," to be published every three weeks. The e-update will highlight tools to assist nonprofit management and effectiveness. The e-update features book excerpts, articles, tools and resource lists highlighting Wilder publications. Recent editions have featured: Nonprofit Life Stages; What Makes Collaborations Succeed; Things to Do When the Budget Squeezes; and, Have You Hugged Your Bookkeeper Lately: Financial Terminology Demystified. To sign up for the e-update, visit www.wilderpubs.org/client/client_pages/signup.cfm.