NonprofitMaine Blog

I have been in fundraising for almost forty years. In my experience, one of the most chronic problems in the nonprofit sector is our failure to make a connection between fundraising and the rest of our work.  Yet, as many of us have experienced over and over, how we raise money and where we get […]

I recently met with an executive director of a nonprofit who told me, “My board chair and my treasurer are both ‘interim’.” When I asked the E.D. what that meant, the reply was: “Neither of them wants to continue as officers, but no one else from the board will take their places.” I wish I […]

(*Ok. Being data-informed might not actually be that simple, but we like the catchy title!) When we, the Data Innovation Project, sit down to meet with organizations in a data clinic or at the start of a contract, 90% of the time our conversation comes back to the larger organizational framework within which a “data […]

Our partner, the National Council of Nonprofits, provides some updated information on the OMB Uniform Guidance and the opportunity to provide input through a survey below. A few years ago, the federal government adopted grants reforms designed in part to improve the way governments at all levels treat nonprofits that perform services on their behalf. […]

Talk about digging in! Last Thursday was exquisite in Bridgton, Maine. Our team spent a perfect August day cutting brush and lifting granite at Holt Pond Preserve–a 400-acre nature preserve owned by the Lakes Environmental Association–a nonprofit that has been protecting Maine lakes since 1970. Every year, MANP invites our members to submit proposals for […]

MANP joins its national counterpart, the National Council of Nonprofits, in supporting a non-itemized charitable giving deduction. Congress is considering comprehensive tax reform. As part of that conversation, it should secure adequate resources to fund essential and effective programs and obligations, promote economic growth, and ensure that the net effect of tax-law changes strengthen, and […]

Updated (September 1) From our partner, the National Council of Nonprofits A federal judge in Texas ruled yesterday (in State of Nevada v. U.S. Department of Labor), as expected, that the Overtime Final Rule is invalid because the U.S. Department of Labor exceeded its authority in setting a high salary-level test that denied exempt status to […]

We regularly hear from executive directors and board members how valuable trainings like MANP’s Board Boot Camp have been to their organizations, but how hard it can be to motivate others to attend when everyone is juggling so many responsibilities. With our next Board Boot Camp fast approaching (9/20, Bar Harbor), we want to help […]

This was a very successful legislative session for MANP. We suffered no losses and had a few wins. Working with key partners, we effectively reminded decision-makers of the importance of nonprofits to the economy and Maine communities and undercut arguments by those advancing an anti-nonprofit agenda. We’re quickly turning to the future in anticipation of […]

“Thanks for meeting with me,” I said to one of MANP’s newer staff members. “No, thank you!” she replied. “In all of the nonprofits I’ve worked, no one has ever taken me out for coffee!” Of course, she was referring to senior directors—not direct supervisors or coworkers. At first, I was surprised but, then again, […]