Mountain Cryer

National Philanthropy Day is November 16
We hope each of you will be able to attend National Philanthropy Day to honor local fundraisers and philanthropists in the community and all the charitable work that is done on behalf of nonprofit organizations.

The luncheon will begin at 11:30 am at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville. You may make an online reservation at the AFP website at www.afpwnc.org. Click on National Philanthropy Day. Tickets are $35.
Please contact Alice Keenan at akeenan@raisingfundseffectively.com with questions.

Don’t Miss December’s Meeting!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Special Holiday Meeting. Come prepared to share stories of how your organization has made a difference in your life or the lives of others in 2005. This informal meeting will be one of the most inspirational meetings of the year! We will also be collecting canned food and donations for Manna Food Bank. What a great way to get in the spirit of holiday giving!

What Works: Bright Ideas from AFP Members
Practical tips, advice and guidance from fellow practitioners often can spell the difference between success and failure. Take a look at what is working for other AFP members nationwide. Do you have tips for what’s working locally? Send your tips to editor@afpwnc.org and look for them in an upcoming Mountain Cryer.

News Releases
The news media print or announce only newsworthy information. Information that is relevant only to your internal audience is not newsworthy. Try to imagine yourself as the audience. Would your release interest you if you weren’t connected to your organization?
Pace your releases and try not to bombard the same media outlets within a short timeframe. This means coordinating with the other locations within your organizational structure. Journalists will discount your releases if they receive too many too frequently, or if the releases contain irrelevant information.
If you have something big coming up, such as the launch of a fundraising campaign, try not to send a release with less-important information too close to the more significant event. It may detract from your essential news.
If you have communications staff or a consultant/publicist to craft your releases, use his or her expertise. Writing good releases requires both an art and a formula. The goal is to see your name and accurate information in the media, and a professional can come up with creative ways to use your release to gain attention.
—Elaine Fogel, president and CMO, Solutions Marketing & Consulting LLC (www.solutionsmc.net), Scottsdale, Ariz.

Fiscal Responsibility
Fiscal mismanagement, from Enron to local nonprofits, has made it more important for us to provide a solid business plan for our donors. We recently received a capital gift from a corporate executive who asked the question, “Are you building and raising, or raising and THEN building?” We told him that we intended to raise the funds we needed first, rather than borrow the money. He immediately pledged $50,000. (A lot of money to us!)
I think fiscal responsibility is a hot button right now. We are sometimes criticized for moving too slowly and being too fiscally cautious, but more and more we are finding that donors are seeking that kind of fiscal prudence. There is also a greater sense of urgency if donors know that the project will not go forward until the money is raised. In this climate, fiscal conservatism is working to our advantage.
—Kristin A. Hansen, director of development, Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum, Waukesha, Wis.

Provisions Limiting Nonprofit Advocacy Expected
The House of Representatives is expected to consider a provision that would prohibit certain nonprofits from engaging in lobbying and “voter participation” activities.
These types of activities are now legal for nonprofits, but under an amendment to H.R. 1461, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act, charities that wanted to apply for certain affordable housing funds would not be allowed to lobby the government or engage in voter registration activities—even with private funds.

Even more disturbing, the prohibition would apply to organizations that don’t engage in such activities, but are “affiliated” with those that do. The definition of “affiliated” under the amendment is very broad, including the sharing of office space and supplies.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, these prohibitions conflict with requirements of the National Voter Registration Act, which requires many agencies that receive funding from states to conduct voter registration with their residents or clients.
The coalition, along with OMB Watch and other organizations, is encouraging charities to contact their members of Congress and urge them to oppose the amendment.
Members can find more information to use to contact Congress about this issue, at the Coalition website: www.nlihc.org/news/102305.html.