The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - (Page 8) LECTURES Be ready to pay big bucks if you want to book a celebrity. Professional speakers can cost hundreds, or thousands, of dollars. dreds, or thousands, of dollars. Sure, comedian Frank Caliendo, of MadTV fame, might make donors laugh – but what’s not hilarious is his $100,000 fee, according to Premiere Speakers Bureau, based in Franklin, Tenn. That price doesn’t include his private jet requirement. Name recognition and cost go hand-inhand – and your organization might get a larger audience with a local councilman rather than a little-known celebrity. Try to cut expenses by finding speakers who will participate for free, or as close to it as possible. Look for community spaces that you can book with little or no cost. You should also figure out if you want to ask for donations or charge a fee. If you plan on charging, think about a reasonable fee structure, like a lower cost for informational speakers but higher for technical topics.Try offering discounts to large groups, like student groups and senior associations, to build connections within the community. And if a lecture series works for your organization, don’t be afraid to take it to the next level. The 92nd Street Y developed a satellite program five years ago to extend its reach beyond the Upper East Side of Manhattan. More than 30 Jewish community centers use the satellite program to broadcast the center’s lectures, which Engel described as an “exciting thing seeing 900 people in our hall and knowing there another 26 (locations) across the country.” Black said coordinating FHC speaker events “got to a point where it was too much to handle” for her small nonprofit and decided to stop the organization’s own speaker engagement series three years ago.The group now acts as a broker between the speakers and other nonprofits. FHC acts as a speakers’ bureau, setting up more than 50 nonprofits, hospitals and healthcare facilities with relevant speakers and collecting a portion of the fees to fund FHC programs. “We realized that we should maximize our strengths, which is our relationships with the speakers, and this way we can help other organizations while utilizing our contacts,” said Black, who said staff members are now free to help in other FHC programs, such as wellness seminars in inner cities and music therapy for cancer patients. The lectures brought in more than 33 percent of FHS’s revenue during 2006, which Black hopes to expand to make the program more self-sufficient – important for an organization Black first ran out of her college dorm room. “A lot of the funders, after a while, want to fund new initiatives, which is totally understandable,” said Black. “I think you get comfortable when you know you can rely on a foundation for a while.When you find out that grant is ending, it’s very unnerving that all of a sudden you have to raise your own funding. So, we saw this as a way to help support ourselves and ensure our long-term continued growth, while helping other organizations too, and providing a benefit.” NPT Roxanne Black Continued from page 1 Lecture topics should appeal to your organization’s demographic. Don’t plan a talk about snowboarding if you are courting Baby Boomers, unless you get Massachusetts senator, former presidential candidate and avid snowboarder John Kerry to speak. The Charles Simon Center set out an aggressive fall lecture program spanning politics, arts,Judaism,comedy and more,with speakers such as activist and writer Gloria Steinem, designer Ralph Rucci and environmentalist Jane Goodall.There are even lectures paying homage to New York City – with a goodbye to Shea Stadium lecture by former New York Mets baseball stars Darryl Strawberry, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez, and a lecture with former New York City mayor Ed Koch. “The topics are relevant and with the goal of educating our public. We need to have a certain name recognition,” said Engel. Check out the pulse of your organi- zation by asking key individuals who represent your donor pool demographic what they would be interested in hearing. For example, informational seminars with financial experts might draw a crowd and give your constituents valuable instruction to navigate a bleak economic landscape. And a lecture series should make money -- not eat program funds. Grants, endowments and reduced speaker rates help keep ticket prices affordable at 92nd Street Y, compared to for-profit venues.The lecture series isn’t a “gold mine,” according to Sarah Morton, public and media relations director for 92nd Street Y. The lecture money helps to fund the Charles Simon Center and helps with programs that don’t generate revenue, such as classes for senior citizens, language, dating and assist the de Hirsch Residence, a facility that provides affordable housing for more than 350 young adults. TALK AIN’T CHEAP Be ready to pay big bucks if you want to book a celebrity. Professional speakers can cost hun- Photo By Joyce Culver “The topics are relevant and with the goal of educating our public.We need to have a certain name recognition” --Susan Engel ENCRYPTION Continued from page 6 ner, Inc., which deals with Visa affinity credit cards, said that nonprofits using those affinity cards wouldn’t be affected by the new Nevada legislation. All credit card transactions are handled by UMB, a bank in Kansas City, Mo., which “doesn’t share with our groups any information about card holders,” said Levitt. Nonprofits using the affinity cards receive information on how many credit cards are in use and the retail charge volume compensation, but no personal information on which members are using the card or pur- chase amounts. And securing personal data should not begin and end with data encryption, according to Kami Razvan, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of Click & Pledge in Blacksburg,Va.“Security is by design -- security is not an action,” said Razvan. “The highway system is not the problem -- it’s the driver.The highway system by itself does not cause accidents.” He explained that maintaining donor information should be a part of a comprehensive security plan. Organizations that spread information through Internet plat- forms, like email, or list credit card numbers on insecure Microsoft programs, like Excel or Word, need an overhaul.“Let’s say that this nonprofit organization receives this Excel spreadsheet and encrypts it -are the donors any safer than if that data wasn’t encrypted? It’s already compromised -- you are only as secure as your weakest link,” said Razvan. With the Nevada law in force and with Massachusetts ready to go, other states are expected to soon follow. A bill in the Michigan state senate introduced this past January would require personal in- formation to be encrypted and, in the event of a security breach, credit card companies affected would be able to bring a civil suit against an organization, including any refunds or cost for replacement cards.A state senate bill in Washington State would require organizations using personal information to comply fully with PCI regulations. “Nonprofits should be getting ready now,” said Campbell of Earthjustice. “If your donor management system is a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet – you have a longer way to go.” NPT 8 NOVEMBER 15, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com http://www.nptimes.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 Talk Can Be Cheap As Well As Profitable Nonprofit Takes Top ECHO Award States Push To Encrypt Personal Data Contents Memorial: Ivan Scheier Dies Technology: Credit Risk Online: Don't Wait Business Briefs Commentary: Will You Survive? Opinion: Asking and Answering Questions Legal: Conflicting Interests Advertiser Index NPT Jobs Resource Directory The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - States Push To Encrypt Personal Data (Page 1) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - States Push To Encrypt Personal Data (Page 2) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 3) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 4) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 5) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 6) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 7) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 8) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Memorial: Ivan Scheier Dies (Page 9) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Technology: Credit Risk (Page 10) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Technology: Credit Risk (Page 11) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Business Briefs (Page 12) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Business Briefs (Page 13) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Commentary: Will You Survive? (Page 14) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Opinion: Asking and Answering Questions (Page 15) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Legal: Conflicting Interests (Page 16) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Legal: Conflicting Interests (Page 17) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Legal: Conflicting Interests (Page 18) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - NPT Jobs (Page 19) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Resource Directory (Page 20) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Resource Directory (Page 21) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Resource Directory (Page 22) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Resource Directory (Page 23) The NonProfit Times - November 15, 2008 - Resource Directory (Page 24)
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