A sneak peek, just for you.

We’re wrapping up the final touches on this year’s More Than Charity report, our labor of love highlighting key stats for Kentucky’s nonprofit sector.  This will be the first snapshot of the sector since the IRS began revoking the status of organizations for failure to file a version of the Form 990.

Much attention is given to business and government in our state, often leaving our sector overlooked.  It can be challenging to pin down some of the data, but the nonprofit sector is large, diverse and an economic engine – making it critical for us to understand and educate ourselves, our constituents and our government and business partners.

We’re still finalizing the report, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek at some of the facts:

• Kentucky’s nonprofit sector grew at a rate of 47% over the past ten years.
• Expenditures by charitable nonprofits in Kentucky totaled $22.4 billion in 2010, representing an average increase nearly 15% per year over the past decade.
• Kentucky’s charitable nonprofits received 12% of their revenue in 2010 from contributions, gifts and grants, compared to 22% nationally.
• Income from program services and contacts in Kentucky accounted for 84% of revenue in 2010, compared to 73% nationally.
• In 2009, the average charitable contribution of Kentuckians per return was $926 or 2% of adjusted gross income, consistent with the national rate.
• Kentuckians volunteered 10 hours less than the national average in 2010.  The number of Kentuckians volunteering has decreased annually since peaking in 2005.

We’ll share the final report in the next week or so, but in the meantime – what do you think of these facts?  How can we use this data to better share the story of our sector and its value?  Let us hear from you.

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

Eyes Wide Open

Work at KNN is rarely boring and these past two weeks have been no exception.  We’ve returned from our road trips energized by the connections made with our members, eyes wide open about some of the challenges we face and focused on the work ahead.

On Thursday, April 19 – just before all heck broke loose – the Kentucky Senate passed SR 345 and Governor Beshear signed a proclamation recognizing the third week of April as Kentucky Nonprofit Week.  Earlier that week, I met with staff from the Governor’s Office and the Office of the Attorney General.  All of these meetings at our State Capitol provided important educational opportunities for everyone involved and served as an important wake-up call that there is a great deal of misconception and misunderstanding about the value and work of our sector.  There is much work ahead to better tell our stories, better explain our value, better help policy makers understand how critical our work is to this Commonwealth.  We need you.  If you aren’t a member already, please join KNN to help us build a strong, collective voice for our sector.

Also on the road for our Nonprofits Going Green events in Louisville, Hopkinsville, Morehead and Lexington (check out pictures), KNN relaunched our Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Kentucky tools with an added section on environmental stewardship, including a Nonprofits Going Green Checklist.  And while we knew Kentucky’s nonprofit leaders were a talented group of men and women, to connect in person with these leaders provided more eye-opening experiences. The commitment to learning more about going green and the enthusiasm for collective sustainability was awesome.

As we continue our 10th anniversary celebration, the KNN team is grateful to serve as your state association of nonprofits.  Our eyes are wide open to the talent, enthusiasm, commitment and innovation possessed by you, the professionals of our sector, who will provide the leadership needed to move Kentucky forward.

Thank you for the work you do and this opportunity for partnership.  Have ideas for us?  Please let us hear from you.

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

We love a party!

I love a good reason to celebrate and I love Kentucky nonprofits, so I can’t wait for next week!  April 15-21 is both Kentucky Nonprofit Week and National Volunteer Week – two great opportunities to celebrate our sector and the volunteers that do so much to help us accomplish our missions.

In honor of this special week, KNN is hosting regional Nonprofits Going Green events just in time for Earth Day (yet another celebration!), where your nonprofit can learn tips for going green and saving some green!  We’ll be road warriors, hitting events in Louisville, Hopkinsville, Morehead and Lexington and with help from our sponsor LG&E and Kentucky Utilities and our partners: Bluegrass PRIDE, Eastern Kentucky PRIDE and the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, we are excited to build a greener sector.  Please plan to join us (there are FREE goodies!).

You can also help us celebrate by participating in our Happy Kentucky Nonprofit Week video.  We’re taking submissions through Friday, so get out your smartphone and send it in!   The videos we’ve received so far are fantastic and this just may be your big break into stardom.  Contact us with any questions about how your nonprofit can participate.

When we kick off Kentucky Nonprofit Week on Monday, stay tuned for news from Frankfort and be on the lookout for the video.  Let’s use this Kentucky Nonprofit Week opportunity to celebrate the many great things about our sector and its value to this Commonwealth.

Thank you for being on this journey with us!  We hope to see you next week.

 

 

 

 

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

House, Senate apply full-court press in budget talks

Two match-ups in the Commonwealth are generating lots of buzz.  Of course, I’m talking about the big game on Saturday, but I’m also talking about the Kentucky House and Senate trying to reach agreement on a budget that our Governor described as “wretched“.

According to the Legislative Research Commission, “state agencies and programs have undergone 10 rounds of spending cuts totaling 25-30 percent since the Great Recession settled over Kentucky and the nation like a gray mist in 2007.“  These cuts have had impacted all Kentucky communities and the nonprofits serving them – regardless of whether or not an organization contracts directly with government to provide key services and programs.

So, what’s next?  First, cheer on your favorite team this weekend!  Second, while this “wretched” budget is also nearing its “championship” of sorts, take some time to  start thinking about how your nonprofit can communicate most effectively with the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform when the Commission takes it’s meetings on the road (beginning May 29 in Paducah and coming soon to a community near you).  KNN will keep you posted on details as they are confirmed.  In the meantime, I hope you will consider how your nonprofit and constituents can best communicate what the future of this Commonwealth might look like with adequate funding for your mission.

I like to think of myself as an optimist, especially in sports and politics.  I am optimistic that a Kentucky team will emerge from New Orleans as the national champion.  I am optimistic that the work of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform will yield recommendations that address our changing economy and the needs of our neighbors.  But most importantly, I’m an optimist about the future of this Commonwealth and that better days are ahead – especially if nonprofits and the voices of those we serve are heard.

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

At Our Best in Crisis, But Are We Prepared?

It’s so difficult to imagine that powerful tornadoes can leave a path of destruction across our Commonwealth in such a short period of time, yet require weeks, months, maybe even years for communities to recover.  For the communities left with this daunting task, this is their new reality.  Yesterday I returned from New Orleans, a city that also has first-hand experience with devastation, loss and rebuilding.  New Orleans, seven years following Hurricane Katrina, Kentucky and our surrounding states post-tornado are powerful reminders of the essential role of our nonprofit sector.

It’s in these times of disaster, ruin and chaos that we see the nonprofit sector at its best.  Organizations, their staff, and volunteers engaging quickly to provide safe shelter, a warm meal, a change of clothes, a helping hand with clean-up, a needed hug or hand to hold – when many times, these organizations and individuals themselves also suffered great loss.  But that’s what nonprofits do and do so well – act, care, mobilize, collaborate, offer hope.  It’s this compassion and commitment to meeting the needs of our neighbors that makes me so proud to be a part of this resilient sector and humbled to serve nonprofits across Kentucky.

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

Celebrate 10 Years with Us

Time flies when you’re having fun!   February marks KNN’s 10th anniversary year and we’ve been having so much fun -  it’s hard to believe we’ve been working with you to strengthen our communities for a decade.

From the early days of being a staff of one carrying out an agreement to provide capacity building services to organizations funded by the Patton administration’s Office of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Services  to our work today as a staff of 3.5, serving as your state association of nonprofits housed at the UK College of Agriculture – we’ve come a long way.

Many individuals and organizations have been faithful and active companions on this ten-year journey from an “agreement” to a state association and of course, KNN simply wouldn’t exist without our members.  That’s why we feel like it’s important to celebrate you, Kentucky nonprofits, during this tenth anniversary year!  We have some wonderful things in the works – some of which we will announce in the coming weeks and others we will save for our big party at the 10th Anniversary Kentucky Nonprofit Leadership Forum on October 24-25.  But we do plan to keep them coming – all year long – to truly make this a year of celebration and to set the stage for our next ten years of successful partnership with you.

Thank you for the privilege of becoming your state association of nonprofits!  Let us hear from you – share a KNN memory or ideas on how we should celebrate.

 

 

 

 

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

P.S. – Celebrating won’t be nearly as fun without you!  Be sure to mark your calendar for the Forum on October 24-25 and connect with us via Facebook and Twitter to get the latest KNN news.

We Love Our Nonprofit Sector!

I love our nonprofit sector!  I mean, I really love it – it’s more than just a schoolyard crush, it’s the real deal and I don’t care who knows it.

To help share the love on this Valentine’s Day, I’m playing Cupid to deliver three reasons we should all love our nonprofit sector:

1. Nonprofits employ one in ten tax-paying Kentuckians.
2. The US nonprofit sector is the nation’s third largest industry.  It’s 15 times larger than the US mining industry and 10 times larger than the US agricultural industry.
3. Employment of the US nonprofit sector grew an annual average of 2% in the past ten years, while the for-profit sector lost jobs.

I know, these reasons to love our sector aren’t warm and fuzzy stories of mission impact and changed lives.  And while these stories are important to share and I hope you will keep telling them, these facts are important too.   If you love our sector like I do (OK, even if you like it just a little bit), I urge you to also share the love.  Help other nonprofits leaders and our communities understand the value of the work we are doing to improve the quality of life in our Commonwealth.  Share your own Valentine to our nonprofit sector – what do you love about our nonprofit community?  Comment below!

XOXO,

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

29 Days Is a Long Time

We’ve all probably received a late acknowledgement of a contribution at one time or another and I’ll admit, I’ve even been guilty of sending an acknowledgement later than I should have.  There can be lots of reasons (some of them very good ones) for delays in gift acknowledgement, but a gift I made this year will have an impact on the way we will do business at KNN in 2012 and beyond.

I made my first-ever contribution to “anonymous charity” in late fall.  It took anonymous charity 29 days to send me an acknowledgement of this contribution.  For nearly a month, I wondered if the organization had received my gift.  Surely they did, they cashed my check!  More importantly, the gift was in honor of a dear friend and I wanted the acknowledgement to this friend to arrive in a certain timeframe – I thought two weeks for processing was PLENTY of time.  But with my own acknowledgement taking so long to process, I had to wonder if my friend had received hers.

Two things happened as a result of my experience:  1) at KNN, one of our goals in 2012 is for each of our donors and members to hear how much we appreciate your investment – directly from us and 2) KNN wants to help your nonprofit make the most of this critical acknowledgement process – see the upcoming webinar with Kivi Leroux Miller on Writing Thank-You Notes That Inspire Future Gifts.

The bottom line lesson in this experience for me was that regardless of the amount of the gift (or in KNN’s case, the membership dues), the amount is significant for the donor (or member) and this deserves prompt and sincere acknowledgement.  This recommitment will be a priority for KNN in 2012 and I encourage you to check out other fundraising best practices in our Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence Guide.  Also, let us hear from you – what strategies does your organization use to assure your donors “feel the love?”

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

Resolutions and Resources for 2012

Resolutions, goals, to-do lists – whatever you want to call them, have fans and foes.  Regardless of their label, I love the feeling of a fresh start brought by a new calendar year – new opportunities, ideas and partnerships.

2012 also kicks off KNN’s tenth anniversary, and as always, we have lofty goals for this calendar year.  As you consider your organization’s strategy for 2012 and beyond, KNN is here to help.  Below are ideas/KNN resources we think will help build a stronger nonprofit community that strengthens our commonwealth and better serves our neighbors:

• Become a KNN member/renew your membership
• Take a look at the Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Kentucky tools (or another best practices program)
• Consider making the commitment to become a Best Practices Partner
• Invest in continuing education for your board and staff
• Get help when you need it
• Use resources to avoid reinventing the wheel
• Become informed and engaged in public policy issues that impact our sector and our communities

KNN is YOUR state association of nonprofits.  We value the work you do and strive to be a valued resource to help you accomplish your mission.  Please let us hear from you on how we can do this better in the coming year.

We wish your organization much success in 2012!

 

 

 

 

Danielle Clore

Executive Director

Two Opportunities for You

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, there are days when I worry that like I’m missing some big opportunities – sales at my favorite stores, breaking news, potential KNN members, big donors, yummy chocolate.  There are other days where I feel bombarded and overwhelmed with too much information.   I suspect you might feel this way too sometimes, so I wanted to be sure to let you know about two recent opportunities from KNN – just in case you missed them!

First, KNN recently partnered with LG&E and Kentucky Utilities to share information about their energy efficiency programs that are good for the environment and also good for your nonprofit’s bottom line.  If you missed the free webinar, you can download it now through 12/31/11.  It’s short, free, can be watched from your desk and is packed with information to help your nonprofit take advantage of great energy and money saving opportunities.

Second, if you aren’t a KNN Facebook fan or following us on Twitter, you are missing out!  Last Friday KNN offered a savings coupon for “KNN Facebook Fan Appreciation Day,” and we were excited to see folks register and SAVE on upcoming events.  We’ll be doing more of these and I don’t want you to miss these opportunities, so if you are on Facebook and/or Twitter, be sure to connect with us and encourage your colleagues to do so as well.

KNN is doing our best to keep you in the loop without overwhelming you with information.  Please let us know how we’re doing.  We’d love to hear from you!

Thank you for your interest, membership and support in 2011!

Danielle Clore

Executive Director