Santa Barbara enjoys a healthy nonprofit sector, providing vital services that impact every segment of our community: arts and culture, environment, animals, healthcare, and a wide range of human services.

Did you know that April is National Volunteer Month? Volunteering gives us an opportunity to contribute to our community in a profound and personal way.

Leaders from small business to large corporations are trying their hand at corporate social responsibility.

Are you pleased with your board’s participation in fundraising? Do you wish you could find some way to inspire your board members to advocate and raise funds for your organization? Here are tips on how to energize your board members to raise funds.

Grant writing for nonprofits can be a daunting task. Strict deadlines, a wide variety of formats, and individual preferences can create havoc at the grant writer’s desk. A busy, diligent grant writer can fall prey to the boiler plate syndrome or become overwhelmed by the constant barrage of organizational needs.

Successful grant writers understand the need for creating a well thought out grants calendar and adhering faithfully to the organization’s mission. Crafting a grant proposal to meet a particular funder’s interests, even though it drifts from the organization’s mission, can be tempting; but should always be avoided. Here are some suggestions from funders on how to make your grant proposals more successful.

On February 13, 2013, Simon Dixon, CEO of Idea Engineering, spoke to a group of nonprofit leaders gathered at the Santa Barbara Foundation. Following is a summary of some of the important tips on branding he shared with the group.

Business leaders today are discovering the power of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). No longer is giving back to your community just a good idea or simply a nice thing to do. More and more business people are finding out that a clearly articulated CSR strategy results in a strong bottom line and a more sustainable company. As a result, companies everywhere are scrambling to find out more about this practice of Corporate Social Responsibility and how it can benefit them. What secret lies hidden beneath this idea of doing well while doing good? How can you measure the results of CSR? What does a good CSR program look like and how can you create one for your company? Answers to these questions will help you better understand the rationale for CSR and how you can use this powerful business strategy to achieve your company’s goals.

A well-functioning board of directors is not only essential to meeting legal requirements but also essential to helping your organization achieve its goals and mission. The type of board you have and the effectiveness of its performance often depend on the effort you put into identifying the skills, expertise, and contacts your board needs and then recruiting people who can bring them to work for your organization.

This time of year most businesses find their mailboxes and inboxes overflowing with donation pleas. It seems like more requests come your way every year. There are so many good causes, especially in our tri-county area--how can you decide which organizations to give to?

This time of year, thoughtful, committed citizens find their mailboxes overflowing with donation pleas. Sure, you want to change the world — or at least make a difference in our community. But where do you start?

You have your favorite charities you give to each year around holiday time, but it seems that the number of requests multiplies each year. How can you be sure you are giving to the organizations that will make the biggest difference in causes close to your heart? How can you be sure your donations will have the greatest impact? Knowing how much to give and what charitable vehicles to use can also be daunting.