New technology trends beneficial to nonprofits

As Master’s students in Entertainment Business, we hear the phrase “technology is ever-changing and rapidly advancing,” on a frequent basis. The former phrase is so true it’s astonishing. From player pianos and sheet music originating in the 19th century, to motion pictures, radio, television, CD’s, and digital music launched throughout the 20th century, and finally, to the Internet, digital music, and the use of the cell phone in the 21st century,   new entertainment media delivery methods each present consumers with new opportunities.

Nonprofit organizations must keep up with new trends in technology just as well as for profit businesses. To start, nonprofits must be engaging with all of their supporters. Things like “subscribe to our Blog,” “follow us on Twitter,” “join our LinkedIn Group,” “become a fan on Facebook,” and “subscribe to our Podcast,” are great and inexpensive ways to advocate your nonprofits cause. All of the former social platforms can help develop personal relationships with followers of the nonprofit.

The EBMS program has prepared me to excel in many areas involving technology, but the one area I find most useful to today’s generation is mobile technology. Nonprofits using email marketing, social media, mobile websites, and Smartphone apps have a great advantage when it comes to engaging their followers because the mobile audience is growing exponentially. Mobile marketing enables supporters to donate to the cause, be notified about upcoming events, RSVP to events, be connected to the nonprofits social media pages, provide feedback, and take action, all from their mobile device.

A remarkable new way to raise money through a mobile device is mobile giving or “text-to-give.” A fundraising study indicated that more than $50 million had been raised via mobile text in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti (Kats, 2011). Mobile giving allows nonprofits to stay engaged and connected with donors.

Technology will continue to evolve. Nonprofits must do whatever they can to fundraise and increase donor engagement. Nonprofits will reap benefits by integrating their marketing strategies through innovative devices.

References:

Kats, Rimma (2011). Mobile Web users increase to 69.9M: Study. Mobile Marketer. Retrieved August 26, 2011 from http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/5721.html.

Nielsen Wire (2010). What Americans Do Online: Social Media and Games Dominate Activity. Retrieved August 26, 2011 from http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/what-americans-do-online-social-media-and-games-dominate-activity/.

Alternative funding resources for your business

To stay afloat in today’s economy, businesses must consider new sources of revenue by looking at alternative funding. But, how are we supposed to know what funding sources are reliable? I decided to explore new funding options by considering alternative funding websites.

The Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (cdvca.org) invests in low-wealth communities and businesses that need social and financial assistance. CDVC funds help businesses gain customers, come up with marketing plans, and provide other means of financing in an attempt to build a successful business. To obtain funding, I recommend looking over fund profiles of industry leaders, and attend the introductory training sessions to gain necessary exposure. For a better chance at obtaining financing through CDVCA, your business should be poised for both financial and social returns. Your business will be more appealing if it is located in a low to moderate-income area where equity financing is not readily available. CDVCA also focuses on businesses that have great ideas, good management, provide numerous jobs with good wages, offer employee benefits, have marketing skills, and have strong growth potential. Having the former qualifications give the investors a greater return on investment and benefits the low-income community.

The Opportunity Finance Network (opportunityfinance.net) is another great alternative funding resource. Like CDVCA, The Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) benefits businesses in low-income communities that are outside the economic mainstream. OFN’s mission is developing communities in areas of childcare, healthcare, and education, and helping small businesses. To obtain OFN financing, a business must fill out a short application with its financial requests. The business must also provide a business plan with audited and interim financial statements, resumes of the staff, and a loan portfolio.

Through the examination of the former websites, I learned to not just focus on one potential funding resource. There are other ways of alternative funding, such as endowment funds, government grant programs (grants.gov), social and community fundraisers (philanthropyjournal.org, philanthropy.com), and private/local foundations. The Foundation Directory (fconline.foundationcenter.org) costs money to use, but cof.org/locator tells you what charitable foundations are located in your community and would be a good fit for your business. People dismiss these funding options because they require a lot of hard work, but if you are dedicated to seeing your business thrive, I would recommend taking a look at all of your options. 

Applying experts' views to my business plan proposal

From my previous blog, I absorbed a lot of useful information from business plan experts. In fact, I have had to make specific changes to my business plan proposal because I take the experts' tips and advice very seriously.

First, both of the experts I researched stressed the importance of a highly structured and exhaustive business plan. This means that every section must be strong, detailed, and concise. There are some sections in my proposal that I would like to conduct more research on, especially since my plan is a nonprofit organization that operates very differently than a for-profit business. Since the proposal is supposed to be detailed, I figured this meant filling the pages from top to bottom with information. The experts say to be concise and tight, but too much information can annoy the reader. I will make a change in this area by leaving sufficient white space. This will also be more inviting to the reader (Hopkins, 2001).
Second, one business plan expert reiterated the fact that you must continuously strive to answer the question, “why is this business uniquely qualified to succeed?” I need to be sure to have an exceptionally well-qualified management team because no matter what you are selling, you are selling your people, and your people are what really make your company unique. I need to be more specific on how my people will be used, the experience they have, accomplishments they have achieved, their education, their strengths, and their attributes that they must enhance to become more effective (Woodruff and Woloshyn, 2010).  

Lastly, the experts stated to focus most of your attention on the financials of your business plan. Readers are expecting to see professionalism, so I will be sure to use standard formats. I was under the assumption that for a newer business, words mattered more over the numbers. Since this is not the case according to the experts, I will have the financials be more of a focal point of my business plan.

After investigating business plan proposals, I consider the budget and financial projections to be the most important section when presenting the work to an investor. The investors need to know where the money will be coming from to fund the program and how the funds will be used. The investors also like to see (in numeric terms) the intended path of growth (Larson, 2002). 

Another section I consider to be the heart of my business plan is the market/industry analysis. Reliable and creditworthy research is a necessity because it helps the reader really understand the needs and demands of the target market. It is also extremely important for the reader to be informed of how your company is similar or dissimilar to other businesses.

References:

Hopkins, Bruce (2001). Starting and Managing a Nonprofit Organization: A Legal Guide. Wiley nonprofit law, finance, and management series. New York: Wiley.

Larson, Rolfe (2002). Venture Forth!: The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in Your Nonprofit Organization. Saint Paul, Minn: A.H. Wilder Foundation.

Woodruff, Gigi, and Elaine Woloshyn (2010). "Minding Your Business: Nonprofit Business Planning." Center for Nonprofit Excellence. 

Great advice from business plan experts

In the world of nonprofit organization management, it is crucial to have a thorough and well thought-out business plan in place before beginning the incredible venture. To gain more of an insight into the work it takes to create a business plan for a nonprofit organization, I found some experts in the field of NPO business plan writing and reviewing.

First, Dave Lavinsky is the President of Growthink: a company that provides strategic business plan consulting.  Since 1999, Lavinsky has created thousands of high-quality business plans. Growthink has been interviewed by top media sources, such as Business Week, and has received an A-rating with the Better Business Bureau. Lavinsky offered some great advice. The first being to not let a consultant do the work for you because many times the consultant does not do it correctly. He also stated to not use sample business plans because over 99% of business plans were put together incorrectly. Also, do not use business plan software because it is a waste of time and makes you answer useless questions. 
Lavinsky reiterates the fact that you need to be spending your time executing your plan, not writing it. So, in turn, he offered some business plan writing tips. The most important part of your plan is to answer the question, why are you uniquely qualified to succeed? The answer to this sets you apart from every other business out there. Another tip is to write a one-line company description, not a whole paragraph. Many times, investors reading your plan do not fully understand what your business does, so the one-line company description must be accurate and concise. Lastly, a great tip I took from Lavinsky was that multi tasking is a huge drain on your productivity (Lavinsky, 2011). It is crucial to establish a routine, work in a natural rhythm, get rid of distractions, prioritize, make good use of your time, filter your information, set goals, and have fun (Business Burrito, 2009).

The second business plan expert I researched was more specifically geared towards nonprofit business plans. Stephen Windhaus is a renowned planning expert who writes for Bplans.com: a company that helps you build and grow your business. Windhaus believes that individuals should write their nonprofit business plan as if it were a for-profit business. He stated that a nonprofit must generate income to pay the bills just like a for-profit does. Windhaus recommends attending some workshops on this topic to gain a better understanding and maybe even get some counseling. Unlike the former business plan expert, Windhaus believes that a business plan should be a work in progress because it evolves over time. It could be impacted by outside factors along the way, so it is important to keep in tune with the economy and local conditions around you. Windhaus also suggests to be extremely careful when creating the financial section of your business plan because it will most likely take the most time and effort in completing (Windhaus, 2011).

Although there is a lot that goes into writing a business plan, I have acquired great knowledge from the former business plan experts. I know that as I move through the process, I will be confronted with challenges, but they offered great advice to begin the nonprofit venture. The vision and options are mine to explore.

References: 

Business Burrito (2009). Put More Time in Your Day With These Personal Productivity Tools. Business Burrito. Retrieved July 12, 2011 from http://www.businessburrito.com/personal-productivity-tools.html.

Lavinsky, Dave (2011).  Business Plan Template for Your Nonprofit Organization. Growthink. Retrieved July 12, 2011 from http://www.growthink.com/products/customizable-template?s=Non%20Profit%20Organization&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=nonprofit%20business%20plans&utm_campaign=Non+Profit+Template++Search&utm_content=sgqmRlQN0%7Ckw%7Cnonprofit%20business%20plans%7Cpcrid%7C6924247601%7Cmt%7CExact%7Cpl%7C.

Windhaus, Stephen (2011). Starting a Nonprofit Community Organization. Bplans. Retrieved July 13, 2011 from http://articles.bplans.com/small-business-legal-issues/starting-a-nonprofit-community-organization/46.

VH1 Save The Music social media efforts

Repeated throughout my blog, I have a passion for nonprofit organizations that focus on music and helping children. An organization I have dedicated my time to and will continue to show loyal support for is the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.


http://www.vh1savethemusic.com/


The Save The Music Foundation (SMF) does a substantial amount of work in the social media sector. SMF has successfully used social media and integrated social media into their marketing efforts. The above website contains videos with celebrity interviews, an option to subscribe to VH1.com newsletters, and a chance to join in on the organization's efforts by becoming a student advocate or young benefactor. The website also has an easily accessible donation button, a live Twitter feed, a Facebook button, a way to shop at retail stores that benefit the foundation, and an entire media section dedicated to sharing news and events, red carpet interviews, promotions, and public service announcements. In my opinion, SMF has done an extraordinary amount of work in their efforts to raise awareness about the importance of music education. I see SMF on television, via email, and in print-media on a frequent basis.
Social media plays a large role in the foundation's marketing efforts. SMF has done a remarkable job working with a multitude of companies to put philanthropy, music, and celebrity at the center of their product lines. Their sponsorship opportunities includes celebrity and talent participation, inclusion in aggressive public relations campaigns, mention on the Foundation’s website, inclusion in an email blast (which has over 75,000 members), and mention on the VH1 Radio Network. VH1SaveTheMusic.com receives over 30,000 hits per month, their Facebook page has over 13,000 fans, and their Twitter page has over 8,000 followers (vh1savethemusic.com). SMF’s campaign is definitely helping the company meet their marketing objectives. I want to point out the large campaign VH1 Save The Music did back in 2008. The year-long public awareness campaign entitled, “First Make Music, Then Make History” reached new audiences and invigorated longtime supporters. It also generated support and funds to foster the next generation of great leaders.
I can honestly say that I am wowed by the Foundation’s marketing efforts, so I would not change anything about their strategy because it can only get better with time and staying up-to-date with technology. The website has even provided demographic figures on their target audiences (36% male, 64% female, 62% are between 18 and 49 years old, 97% are college graduates or above).
Social media can help organizations foster relationships, boost traffic, generate press coverage, increase sales, and build brand awareness. Facebook http://www.facebook.com/vh1savethemusic?ref=mf, LinkedIn, Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/vh1savethemusic, and MySpace are all great tools to use. Because of SMF’s media efforts, they have garnered millions of media impressions. Even through this tough economic time, the Foundation has still managed to donate millions of dollars to schools around the country and impact the lives of millions of students.
vh1savethemusic.com

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