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Please route to the appropriate persons ...
October 2005
In this issue:
Want to send emails to a large group of people? Project Connect has subscribed to an excellent broadcast email service and is extending it to area nonprofits.
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Their name is in the [TO] box ... spam filters don't automatically pull the message out because of the blank recipient name.
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The only name in the [TO] box is their own ... no more scrolling halfway down the page past the recipient list to get to the actual message!
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There is an unsubscribe feature, so recipients can opt out of the broadcast.
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There is a subscribe feature, so that website participants can add their email addresses to the list automatically (see infolineinc.org/connect/updates.htm for a sample).
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You can send beautifully designed pages ... and those that can receive them will get them this way. Those who can't will receive text versions that will actually make sense to them!!
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The service gives you a report of how many people opened the message, how many clicked on links, and how many went to specific links so you can identify what caught their interest. Pretty snazzy!!
You can subscribe to the service yourself or you can use Project Connect to manage it for you. Cost is $50 set-up, which includes importing your email list into the system. Each time you want to send a broadcast email, send us the message, new names to the list, and $20. We'll handle the rest and send you a report of the click-throughs.
If you want us to make the message pretty, we'll put it in HTML format for another $50.
For more information, call us at 330-315-1335 or email .
Info Line Consolidates Area Katrina Relief Efforts: www.211summit.org
Even though Katrina occurred down south, Ohio has been deeply impacted by the disaster. Homeless families have relocated here (either permanently or temporarily), and family members are still trying to help their loved ones get emergency and long-term help. Info Line has worked with other area nonprofits to develop a comprehensive list of support systems at www.211summit.org.
Topics include:
- If you want to help ...
- If you want to volunteer ...
- If you want the latest news and updates ...
- If you are looking for loved ones ...
- If you are having a mental health crisis...
- If you want emergency response training ...
- If you are relocating from hurricane-stricken areas ...
If any of your clients need to know of these services, please ask them to visit the website.
Learning from Katrina: Disaster Recovery Resources
In Ohio, we're pretty safe from hurricanes, but we should always be aware that some event can drastically affect our ability to serve clients. Ask yourself: What if?
IT Disaster Recovery - After the Fact was created in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. This comprehensive document provides advice on getting technology systems working again in small- and medium-sized nonprofits where business continuity plans were not sufficient or did not exist. Included in this report are instructions on hardware recovery, restoring Internet connections, dealing with lost passwords, working with borrowed technology, claiming insurance, and a host of other useful information for your organization's recovery efforts. You can download this free at http://www.techsoup.org/katrina/ITRecoveryManual_vI.pdf.
Other good resources:
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http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articles/techplan/page2686.cfm
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http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articles/techplan/page2685.cfm
Free Training for Nonprofit Executives
The Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives invites you to attend the training sessions being offered around the state of Ohio. This is one aspect of the Ohio Compassion Capital Project. There are no restrictions on who can attend training. Each session will be limited to 35 participants, is free of charge and will include lunch.
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Strategic Planning: This one-day session (9:00-4:00) will assist participants with the critical decision of when and how to develop a strategic plan. The major learning objectives will allow participants to explore the 10-step strategic planning process and the importance of having a strategic plan. Participants will also receive useful tools to assist them when in their organization.
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Fiscal Management: During this one-day session (9:00-4:00) participants will explore the critical topic of financial management and the components of keeping clear and accurate records while growing your faith-based or community organization. Key learning points include building financial management systems, cash flow case study and financial responsibility and accountability.
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Board Development: This one-day session (9:00-4:00) will venture into the development of a non-profit Board. Key learning points will include the roles of board members & officers, the legal responsibilities of a non-profit board and the stages of board development. Participants will walk away with the basics of non-profit boards, as well as the tools and resources to assist them at their organization.
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Outcome Management: This one-day session (9:00-4:00) will allow participants to create outcome frameworks for their specific organizations needs. With accountability and reporting being emphasized so heavily in most funding sources, this tool will enable organizations to organize, analyze and access both customer data and agency data in order to effectively report your outcomes.
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Human Resources & Volunteer Management: During this one-day session (9:00-4:00), participants will have the opportunity to learn the basics of Human Resource Management for non-profit organizations. The topics addressed in this session are basic employment law, how to recruit and retain employees and general guidelines for keeping your best volunteers.
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Fund Development: During this one-day session (9:00-4:00) participants will have an opportunity to discover effective fundraising techniques and how to be a successful proposal writer. These two avenues for diversifying funding sources are critical to any non-profit in the competitive environment to secure funds.
Click here for the training schedule, registration form, etc. Please complete the training registration form and fax to the regional partner who is hosting the event.
For more information, contact Karin VanZant at 866-335-0016 or or visit their website at http://www.fbciohio.gov/index.asp.
United Way Expands Gifts In Kind Program
The United Way of Summit County is a network affiliate of Gifts in Kind International, a national clearinghouse that distributes corporate donations ... such as computers, software, office equipment and supplies, clothing, personal care products, building materials, and educational and recreational supplies.
Of particular interest are Adobe projects: Acrobat Professional ($35), PageMaker ($35), and PhotoShop ($35). Other products include maternity pants (20 for $55), paint brushes ($55 per carton of 75-200), shaving gel for men ($600 for a pallet of 480-700), and more. To see the entire catalog, visit http://www.giftsinkind.org/newhome/directory.asp and click on the link for the most recent print catalog (if you select online, you will have to register).
To apply for donations:
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Non-Profits in the Summit County/Akron, Ohio area ONLY use this application: Local Gifts in Kind Application and print, fill in and mail the application. (Only 501(c)3 non-profit organizations may apply)
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Non-Profits not in our local area go to the Gifts In Kind website.
For more information on the Gifts In Kind International program in Summit County/Akron Ohio, contact Ed Glassner, United Way of Summit County GIKI program coordinator, at 330.643.5524 or email
AFP Seminar: The Corporate Match Game - How to Identify and Target Corporations for Giving
October 17, 12:00 – 1:30 • Guy’s Party Center, Akron • $11 Members / $20 Non-Members
Advancing Philanthropy's September/October issue features non-profit executives from across the country addressing corporate marketing and philanthropy related to sponsorships. Corporate sponsorships can be a win-win if you know what the expect and what to offer in return. This panel presentation will address how to secure the right corporate sponsorships to benefit your organization as well as further your partner's philanthropic goals.
Visit the AFP website for more information: http://www.afpncoh.org/news2005/october.htm.
Amy's PC TIP:
Managing Outlook Calendars with Delegate Access
Do you schedule appointments for someone else, or have someone manage your appointments for you? If you haven't tried it already, Delegate Access in Microsoft Outlook makes this a much simpler process.
Delegate access can be restricted to read-only, so your delegate can see your public appointments, but cannot delete or make changes. Or, allow your delegate complete access to add, change, or delete public and private appointments. The choice is yours!
To add delegate permissions, open Outlook and go to Tools > Options and select the Delegates tab.
Click Add to select a new delegate. Your address list will pop up, and you can select as many delegates as you need.
Once you've finished selecting delegates, click OK and the permissions box will pop up.
Select the level of access you want each delegate to have. (You can go back and change these at anytime by selecting the delegate from the list and clicking the Permissions button.)
You can grant permission to any of the items listed - Calendar, Tasks, Inbox (handy if you're going on vacation and need someone to process your mail), Contacts, Notes or Journal.
Under Calendar, you also have the option to send copies of all meeting-related messages to your delegate. This allows your delegate to accept or decline on your behalf, and have the item posted on their own calendar - handy if your delegate needs to set up the meeting space.
Additional checkboxes at the bottom allow you to automatically send an email to your delegate summarizing the powers you have just granted them, or to see your private appointments as well as your public ones. (To make your appointments private, check the box in the lower right corner of the Appointment window.)
For more info and a demo on how to use Delegates to your advantage, visit the Microsoft Office website at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx and type Delegates in the search box.
Happy delegating!
Project Connect now offers classes "on demand": just call or e-mail to have your name added to the list, and as soon as we have enough folks registered, we'll schedule the class. This way, we can run whatever classes you need, when you need them!
The Database Developers' Series (MS Access) is starting in October
Microsoft Access will be offered Wednesdays starting October 12, from 9am to noon. This first session will focus on identifying what needs to be included in a nonprofit-related database and how to structure it so that the database will be easy to use and easy to retrieve useful information. Over the next 3 sessions, we will build our databases, using forms, queries and reports to aid data entry and data extraction. Access 5 covers troubleshooting and database maintenance. We recommend you sign up for the entire series, as each class builds directly on the previous one. Complete descriptions of each course are on our website, https://infolineinc.org/connect/training.htm.
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Access 1: Database Planning and Set-up
10/12/05 - 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon -
Access 2: Tables & Relationships
10/19/05 - 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon -
Access 3: Queries & Forms
10/26/05 - 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon -
Access 4: Reports & Advanced Forms
11/2/05 - 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon -
Access 5: Troubleshooting & Maintenance
11/9/05 - 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Get on the QuickBooks or Excel waiting lists!
If we can get a few more names on the list, we will run the QuickBooks series and/or Microsoft Excel in late October or early November. If you have always wanted to learn more about either of these, please sign up! Send an email to and let us know you're interested.
Don't forget - we also offer custom sessions. Just get a minimum of 8 people together, and we'll do a special session just for you. You don't all need to be from the same organization, so tell your friends!
Reserve your seat now - call 330-315-1335 or e-mail .
Are you getting the best deals for your technology dollar?
Don't buy anything technology-related until you've visited these three websites first!! They offer significant discounts for nonprofits with Microsoft, Dell, CDW, Adobe, and more!
As always, we are interested in hearing from you to learn how we can best meet your technology and connectivity needs. Give us a call at 330-315-1335 or e-mail us at .
Enjoy!
Be sure to include your fax number!
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