The NonProfit Times - November 1, 2008 - (Page 1)

The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management • www.nptimes.com • $6.00 U.S. November 1, 2008 Reach Out Smaller online communities are doing the job for charities BY MICHELE DONOHUE Community Investment Loans An option in tight times BY MARK HRYWNA Agencies Aim For Back Office Savings BY TOM POPE I t took a Nobel Peace Prize to get microfinance on the map -- at least in the mainstream – even though the idea had been around for decades. Community investment notes were started well more than a decade ago but you might have a hard time finding people who know what they are. The Calvert Social Investment Foundation launched community investment notes in 1995 with the help of foundations like Ford, MacArthur and Mott, and in recent years has received support from the Gates and Dell foundations, as well as the Omidyar Network. “The idea was to create a special financial note product that would make it safe and convenient for average individuals to be able to invest their capital and have those resources be lent to communitybased financial intermediaries for the most part,” said Shari Berenbach, president and CEO of the Bethesda, Md.-based Calvert Foundation, a nonprofit associated with -- but a separate entity from -- the Calvert Mutual Fund Company. Through the years, $130 million has been raised from sales of community investment notes to the general public, with about 3,500 investors and some 230 nonprofit borrowers.“We fall outside the way people assume the world works,” Loans, page 8 D aphne Dixon wanted to get the word out that Conscious Decisions, an environmental nonprofit in Farfield, Conn., was hosting its Green Faire. Instead of calling and hassling all the local newspapers, Dixon used a feature on AmericanTowns.com to forward the press release to media outlets – and saw results. “Their press release tool is amazing because it is a free service that distributes press releases to all local media quickly.And most importantly, the information is picked up and printed in all local papers,” said Dixon, Reach Out, page 6 S tephen Cole saw a way for eight Chicago-based nonprofits to save $6 million in the first full year after a few changes.“It’s just intuitive,” he said.“I did it before as CEO of the Cash Station Inc.” Cole now serves as president and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. “The genesis of helping the eight agencies came from what I did for banks,” he said. Instead of each bank putting out 6,000 ATMs, Cole linked them all together so everyone could use them. “I’ve saved the industry a lot of money,” he said. “We have $300 million in purchasing power,” he said.The YMCA alone maintains an $80 million operating budget with around 3,000 employees that help an estimated 120,000 people a year. “The big challenge was convincing every other agency that hadn’t done this (sharing services) before that there was a business issue,” he said. The eight organizations putting this concept in play include the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, Metropolitan Family Services, Casa Central, ChildServe, Chicago Commons, Kids Hope United, and Youth Guidance. Back office functions are usually described as the business processes of finance with accounting, procurement, Back Office, page 11 Special Report: The NPT Top 100 Nonprofits http://www.nptimes.com http://www.AmericanTowns.com http://www.cardpartner.com http://www.cardpartner.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The NonProfit Times - November 1, 2008

The NonProfit Times - November 1, 2008 Reach Out Community Investment Loans Agencies Aim For Back Office Savings Contents Page 4 Special Report: An In-Depth Study of America's Largest Profits Charity Accounts Foretold Ecomonic Meltdown Liquid Assets Groups Shaving Expenses With An Eye Toward ROI Green Is Good Governance Becoming Institutionalized National September 11 Memorial & Museum Finds Its Footing NPT 100 Groups Turning Real Estate Into Cash NPT 100 Investments Beat Broader Market The NPT Power & Influence Top 50 Gala Calendar NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - November 1, 2008

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