Forum - November 2008

BRAINSTORMS

Chaos for
Breakfast

Managing the staff, board, membership and volunteers at an association — all while displaying leadership and vision — can be quite chaotic. But Chaos for Breakfast: Practical Advice and Humor for Nonprofit Executives by Association Forum member Robert A. Hall, CAE, is a new downloadable e-book on association management that gives the chief staff executive hope through a collection of more than 30 tongue-in-cheek musings and straight-ahead advice articles. Some titles include “How to Know When It’s Time to Go,” “Murphy’s Laws for Associations,” “Must There be Metrics?” “How to Wreck Your Association in Only One Year,” and “ 10 Rules for the Care and Feeding of Volunteers.” Hall has been an association executive since 1982, managing the Florida Psychological Association, the Pennsylvania Optometric Association, the Graphic Arts Association, the National

Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, where he currently is executive director. Published by the American Society of Association Executives, a portion of the proceeds from each book sale is donated to The Center for Association Leadership and the Orthopaedic Research and Educational Foundation.

Salary Increase
Sliding

Salary increase budgets average 3.8 percent in 2008 across non-exempt, exempt and executive employee categories, while salary increase budgets for non-exempt hourly employees average 3. 7 percent, The Conference Board reports.

For 2009, the median budget for salary increases is projected to be 3. 75 percent for both non-exempt salaried and hourly employees. The median salary increase budget projections for exempt and executive employees are higher at 3.8 percent for exempt and 3. 9 percent for executives.

The information for this report was gathered from more than 350 organizations surveyed in April and May 2008. Among the 250 organizations that responded both last year and this year, 35 percent reported lower actual 2008 salary increase budgets than they projected last year for executives and exempt employees.

“Companies are responding to a sluggish economy by remaining disciplined on labor cost increases,” says Charles Peck, compensation specialist with The Conference Board. “They are aided in this resolve by moderate inflation.” The Conference Board currently projects a 2. 7 percent rise in inflation for 2008 and 3. 4 percent for 2009. This means the typical employer is budgeting for salary increases just slightly ahead of inflation in 2009.

Across industry categories, diversified financial services reported the highest increases in 2008 for all employee categories, while trade reported the lowest. The highest projected increase for 2009 was reported by consulting services, while trade again was the lowest.

Philanthropy on a Shoestring

In the most challenging economy since 2001, charities across the nation are bracing themselves for declining contributions this holiday season and potential donors are looking toward innovative and free ways to help their favorite causes generate funds.

There are at least two solutions: Using a search engine called GoodSearch.com and online shopping mall GoodShop.com.

More than 60,000 nonprofits have partnered with GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com to enable their supporters to generate donations just by searching the Internet or shopping online. The prices at GoodShop are the same as going directly to the retailer, but by going through GoodShop, up to 37 percent of the purchase price is donated to the user’s favorite cause. More than 700 online retailers are featured including Target, Apple, Macy’s, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Orbitz and others. Every search conducted on GoodSearch.com generates approximately 1 cent that is donated to the user’s favorite charity. There is no charge to shop or search via these Web sites. Supporters of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for example, have raised more than $16,000 to help animals in need by shopping on GoodShop and searching on GoodSearch. Similarly, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has earned more than $8,500.