Dear “Protector” Colleague,

An organization’s goodwill is its most valuable asset and the leading factor in its ability to achieve sustainability. You must do everything in your power to protect yourself from risk to your reputation. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect all your assets, including goodwill.
Click on the titles at the right to learn more about…

Goodwill: Your Most Valuable Asset

Protecting Your Assets

Managing Rumors

Share what you’ve done to promote goodwill and preserve your reputation. Contact us through LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com for more information. You can still access previous issues of On-the-Go eTA by clicking on the title at the right.

Goodwill: Your most valuable asset

• People -- board members, volunteers, employees, clients, donors, the public, etc.
  
  
• Property -- buildings, facilities, equipment, materials, copyrights, trademarks, etc.
  
  
• Income -- sales, grants, endowments, contributions, etc.
  
  
• Goodwill -- reputation, stature in the community, the ability to raise funds and appeal to prospective volunteers.

Even when people let you down, disaster destroys property and income drops – you can call on community goodwill to continue to fulfill project mission. A social profit’s exemplary reputation promotes community goodwill when it …

• Maintains an emphasis on quality of services
  
  
• Uses integrity and fairness as criteria for all business decisions
  
  
• Manages funds responsibly
  
  
• Treats all community members with respect
  
  
• Publicly shares information
  
  
• Seeks input from stakeholders and the community and respond to concerns
  
  
• Other

Protecting Your Assets

People can be protected through liability insurance for you, your organization and your board members against lawsuits, etc. Destroyed or damaged buildings, facilities and equipment can be replaced with property insurance. Finances can be protected by insuring your fundraising special event.

The most important asset of all – community goodwill – is preserved through careful recruiting of staff and volunteers. To avoid an unfortunate choice in personnel, develop and use a current job description that details responsibilities. Ask for references and follow up with reference checks. Provide solid orientation and training. Put the effort up-front to save money, time, reputation and goodwill by hiring people who promote mission fulfillment responsibly and effectively.

Another way to protect your assets is to develop a risk management program. A team approach, a risk management program promotes safety, protects clients, volunteers and staff and conserves assets and resources. To learn more about developing a risk management program from the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, click here.

Managing Rumors

Rumors often get started in times of uncertainty and often reflect a need for more communication. Be proactive and protect your goodwill asset with this advice …

Anticipate anxiety
	If you know of a probable source of anxiety or worry, get out in front of it. Don’t wait for rumors to form. Take mitigating actions early, and make those actions known.

Leave no information voids
	When people worry, they make up what they don’t know. When we say nothing about a topic people are worrying about, we leave a void to be filled by rumors.

Credibility is your most powerful tool
	Credibility can quell rumors, even if they are true. It can even limit their formation. Be clear about the truth; be quick to tell the story; and be accurate in reporting of the facts.

Be judicious about openness
	Many believe that openness prevents rumors. While secrecy does stimulate rumors, openness limits them if it reduces anxiety. Make certain that the information being shared is accurate.

Repair your reputation before it’s in tatters
	A quick response to a rumor will do a lot to repair reputation damage and preserve community goodwill. All staff and volunteers should be reminded that spreading rumors does damage to the entire organization and is not tolerated. In an extreme case, repairing organizational reputation may require replacing staff or reorganizing responsibilities.

Print and online publication rumors need expert response
	When an untrue, malicious, or potentially damaging rumor occurs whether on or off line, someone in a credible position needs to respond – i.e., letters to the editor, blog comments section, etc. The best approach is to replace a rumor with another narrative. Use the opportunity to tell your own story. Continue to monitor the discussion.

Let us know

How have you treated a threat to your good reputation? Share your story with us at LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com. (LEADline is sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service through its Resource & Fund Development Initiative).

Thank you for your interest in On-The-Go eTA, We encourage you to send this and other issues of OTG eTA to friends and colleagues who would benefit from the information. Also, if you’re on information-overload, you may request email removal. Otherwise OTG e-TA will be back soon with another edition.

IN THIS ISSUE:
click on titles below to read full articles

Resources

The National ASK (Awareness, Skills, Knowledge) to Sustain Institute, sponsored by Corporation for National and Community Service, provided by Campaign Consultation, Inc. 1998, 2002

The CNCS Resources Now! National Institute, sponsored by Corporation for National and Community Service, provided by Campaign Consultation, Inc. 2005-07

Learning Products and Services

LEADline:
(Learning Experiences At a Distance) LEADline is designed to give information fast. Have a resource & fund development question? Use LEADline and within 24 hours you will receive response and advice from a fundraising professional.

Contact us
LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com

GIZMOs:
(Giving Information for Zooming Money Objectives) GIZMOS are resource and fund development tools for you and your volunteers. They are tangible products in packets, pocket brochures, CD-ROMs, games, etc. They feature a myriad of fundraising topics such as The Case for Support, an interactive online resource. To order, contact us through LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com or call 410.243.7979 or toll free at 1.877.243.2253

View and use our newest GIZMO, Building Your Case for Support, at www.CampaignConsultation.com/gizmos/case

The Chronicle of Philanthropy:
Everyone who comes to a Resources Now! National Institute gets a free subscription to the Chronicle for a year. Participants in CNCS Campaign Consultation workshops receive the latest issue free of charge plus a $20 discount on one year’s subscription.

Workshops/Clinics:
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), through its T/TA service provider Campaign Consultation, Inc., offers a three-hour workshops and clinics for those interested.

Online Courses/Webinars:
Web course delivery of topics pertinent to resource development such as — Build Fundraising Volunteer Champions and Cause Related Marketing and Corporate Partnerships. Available through the Resource Center at http://nationalserviceresources.org

Read Back Issues of OTG e-TA

• October 2008 Hiring Fundraising Staff
  
• Mid-September 2008 Getting Ready for the Boomer Resource Explosion
  
• September 2008 Stepping into the Limelight
  
• August 2008 Stories from the Field
  
• Mid-July 2008 Staying Tenacious in Tough Times
  
• July 2008 Using the World Wide Web
  
• Mid-June 2008 The Value of Planning
  
• June 2008 The Five "C"s
  
• May 2008 Attracting Media Attention
  
• Mid-April 2008 Corporate sponsors and Business Sponsors
  
• April 2008 How to Ask
  
• March 2008 Planned Giving
  
• Mid-February 2008 Using Fundraising Consultants
  
• February 2008 Raising Funds from Neighbors and Friends
  
• January 2008 Fundraising in Diverse Communities
  
  

  2007 Archives

  2006 Archives