Do you want to tap into grant funding? Do you have responsibility to increase donations through foundation, corporate or government funders? Do you want to increase your acceptance rate? Confessions of a Successful Grants Writer will help you to: Understand various funder motivations; relate to funders in language they understand; discover new prospects; build successful relationships; write proposal narratives; present effective budgets; work with organizational and program staff; and position you and your agency for success. This guide is for grant writers and other development professionals; foundation, corporate and government relationship professionals; and anyone wanting to raise more revenue through proposals. Author Joanne Oppelt, MHA, GPC has been in nonprofit organization resource development since 1993. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Kean University, teaching courses in fund development. On average Joanne garners forty-five funded grants--raising more than a million dollars--per year.

Confessions of a Successful Grants Writer: A Complete Guide to Discovering and Obtaining Funding

Business & Money

Oppelt, Joanne

Business Development & Entrepreneurship

CharityChannel Press

Studies have estimated that more than 70 percent of current nonprofit executive directors plan to retire in the next five to ten years. Do you have the skills necessary to fill this leadership vacuum? Are you an aspiring executive director? Are you prepared for the transition to executive leader? Do you want to know what to expect moving up to the corner office? Successfully transition to the corner office! Moving Up to Executive Director: Lessons Learned from My First 365 Days is written for anyone who wants to become an executive director, understand what it takes to transition into an executive leadership position, or become better prepared to handle executive responsibilities. Becoming an executive director is a huge transition. To succeed, you must rely on your experiences, strengths, and expertise. In addition, you must learn new skills, engage in new behaviors, work well with other people, know your leadership style and be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest. Nonprofit executive leadership requires a lot. It is an all-encompassing job. Moving Up will help you: <ul>
<li> Understand the complex nature of nonprofit executive leadership</li> <li> Identify the skills and characteristics of successful executive directors</li> <li> Gain insight into the unique obligations nonprofit executive directors face</li> <li> Manage multiple priorities</li> <li> Prepare for the transition to your role as executive leader</li> <li> Anticipate challenges inherent in your first year as executive director</li> </ul>
Being an executive director is a big job. You must be proficient in leadership, finance, operations, technology, human resources, resource development, staff development, volunteer management, marketing, and strategic planning. You must have good communication skills, build teams and foster their development, collaborate with others, be insightful, have a high degree of integrity, and share your leadership. Author Joanne Oppelt was ready for some of the challenges she faced in her first year—but not all. She insight into becoming an executive director and making it work. It is a must-read for anyone aspiring to nonprofit executive leadership. About the Author Working with nonprofits since 1993, Joanne Oppelt, MHA, GPC just celebrated her first year as executive director, having moved up through the ranks of program and resource development. She is known for her passion for infusing organizational mission in everything she does. Joanne also teaches courses in nonprofit management and fund development at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, and is the author of several books on nonprofit topics.

Moving Up to Executive Director: Lessons Learned from My First 365 Days

Job Hunting & Careers

What is a five-star board member? 
Every nonprofit wants to have five-star board members, right? So, what makes a good board member? While there is a myriad of books written about the topic, it comes down to five simple criteria: Board members believe in the mission of the organizations They understand the difference between governance and management They know their roles and responsibilities They are willing to support the organization with their time, talent, and treasure They are eager to support the organization’s fundraising efforts 
In this book, we will show you how to find board members who enthusiastically support your mission, vision, and values. We will teach you how to get them to understand the difference between governance and management and show you how to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. 
We’ll talk about the importance of board giving and how to help them bring the bear their time, talent, and treasure to help your organization grow. We’ll dispel the myth of Give, Get, or Get Off and teach you a new way to think about your board members’ contributions to your organization. 
We discuss board recruitment as well as retaining good board members. 
Table of Contents 
Chapter One: What is a Five-star Board Member? 
Chapter Two: How Do Your Board Members Measure Up? 
Chapter Three: Building a Board That Engages in Fundraising 
Chapter Four: What Do You Need to Look for in Board Members? 
Chapter Five: Creating Position Descriptions 
Chapter Six: Where Do You Find Good Board Members? 
Chapter Seven: Whose Job is It to Recruit Board Members? 
Chapter Eight: What is the Process for Recruiting Board Members? 
Chapter Nine: Retaining Good Board Members 
Chapter Ten: Bringing It All Together 
Written as part of the Nonprofit Quick Guide™ series, Building a Five-star Board focuses on creating a board that will take your nonprofit to new heights. Other books in the series address other areas of fundraising, such as development planning, grant writing, business contributions, fundraising communications, finding and keeping donors, volunteerism, and career advancement, among others. 
If you want to grow revenues to keep up with increasing costs, improve financial performance and stability, or have greater ability to meet unmet or growing client demand, the Nonprofit Quick Guide™ series is for you.

Building a Five-star Board (The Nonprofit Quick Guide Series)

Lysakowski, Linda

Management & Leadership

Joanne Oppelt Consulting, LLC

When you hear the words "capital campaign," do you think about the "pain" part of the process? Yes, a campaign can be disruptive to your organization and consume a lot of staff and volunteer time. But it can be a tremendous asset to your organization in two ways. First, you are able to achieve your goal of a new building, an expanded facility, an endowment for the future. Second, a campaign, when done right, will strengthen your organization overall. This book will guide you every step of the way to assure a successful campaign, starting with getting the basic infrastructure in place to ensure that your campaign will be run efficiently and effectively. Then we move into the role of the board, staff, and volunteers in your campaign. We also answer the tricky, and sometimes debatable, question: Do we need to do a planning/feasibility study, or not? (The answers to this question might surprise you.) We also talk about the importance of a campaign plan, how to develop one, how to be sure the plan gets implemented, and how to adjust it when necessary. We will talk about the role of a consultant in the campaign. The consultant is not the magic bullet that will go out and raise the money for you. A campaign is a team effort, but most campaigns require some level of help from an outside consultant. We'll cover what level of help your organization needs from a consultant and, if you decide to engage a consultant, we'll show you how to find right one. Also, one of the keys to a successful campaign is finding donors to support your campaign, and how to solicit gifts that meet the needs of the donors and the organization. We will also talk about life after the campaign and how you can build a stronger organization moving forward. Chapters Chapter One: What is a Capital Campaign? Chapter Two: Are You Ready for a Campaign? Chapter Three: What Role Does You Board Play in a Campaign? Chapter Four: Do You Need a Feasibility Study? Chapter Five: The Role of the Campaign Cabinet and Committees Chapter Six: Developing Your Campaign Plan Chapter Seven: Finding and Soliciting Donors Chapter Eight: What Happens When Things Go Wrong Chapter Nine: Bringing It All Together

How to Run a Successful Capital Campaign (The Nonprofit Quick Guide Series)

How to Involve Volunteers in Your Fundraising Program

Joanne Oppelt Consulting

How to Run a Successful Cultivation Event (The Nonprofit Quick Guide Series)

How does your nonprofit organization's fundraising team approach the business community for support? 
Sadly, for many organizations, the answer is, "We don't!" 
For others, it is seeking sponsorship of their events. Some apply for corporate foundation grants. Or perhaps they call their local businesses when they need gifts in kind or maybe for a gift certificate for their silent auction. Some have even joined their local chamber of commerce, gotten the mailing list, and sent an initial letter to member businesses asking for donations (horrors!). 
What's wrong with all these methods? In How to Run an Annual Business Appeal, you will find out the pros and cons of these approaches, and how you can be much more effective with your business fundraising by running a volunteer-driven annual business campaign. 
We'll show you how to identify business prospects within your community, how to build relationships with business leaders who will serve as volunteers in a peer-to-peer fundraising appeal, and how to recruit, organize, work with, train, and retain these volunteers. 
So, grab this fast-reading book if you want to be more successful in approaching your business community.\nSummary Outline of Book: 
Chapter One: What Is the Best Way to Approach Businesses? 
Chapter Two: Finding Prospective Business Donors 
Chapter Three: How Do You Build Relationships with Business Leaders? 
Chapter Four: Organizing Your Annual Business Appeal 
Chapter Five: Organizing the Volunteer Structure 
Chapter Six: Finding and Recruiting Volunteers 
Chapter Seven: Making the Calls 
Chapter Eight: Reporting 
Chapter Nine: Bringing It All Together\nAbout the Nonprofit Quick Guide Series 
How to Run an Annual Business Appeal is written for busy executive directors, development professionals, and board members who want to run a successful annual business appeal. As a Nonprofit Quick Guide™, you can read it in one sitting or grab a few chapters over lunch. More importantly, it gives you practical advice that you can easily implement without spending a ton of money.

How to Run an Annual Business Appeal (The Nonprofit Quick Guide Series)

Do you spend most of your day putting out fires? Is your staff all on the same page? Do you want your nonprofit to move forward and grow? Then you need to make or update your strategic plan. A good strategic plan pinpoints where your nonprofit is now, sets goals for where you want to go, and outlines how to get you there. More than a document sitting in your computer, a well-written strategic plan gives you direction, unites your organization, and gets your nonprofit to where you want it to be. So, how do you get started with strategic planning? How to Run a Strategic Planning Retreat gives you a step-by-step blueprint for running a productive strategic planning retreat that gives you results. Find out how to overcome the objections, "We did that three or four years ago, and nothing changed" or "We're too busy putting out fires to waste time planning." Learn who needs to be involved in the planning. Find out how to structure an effective plan. See how you implement your plan so that your agency moves ahead. How to Run a Strategic Planning Retreat will help you: <ul> <li>Best prepare to plan so that you get the most out of the strategic planning experience</li> <li>Identify the key stakeholders who should be involved in your retreat</li> <li>Structure the retreat so that it is productive and leads to real change</li> <li>Structure the plan so that it gets implemented</li> </ul> If you don't know where you're going, you'll be sure to get there. Have a destination. Create a strategic plan. The first step in planning a retreat. In this book, we dive into the mechanics of planning that retreat(s). Contents Chapter One: A Word About Strategic Planning Chapter Two: Planning to Plan Chapter Three: Who Should Attend the Planning Retreat? Chapter Four: Where and When Should You Hold the Retreat? Chapter Five: Setting the Agenda Chapter Six: Who Facilitates the Retreat? Chapter Seven: Confirming or Establishing Mission, Vision, and Values Chapter Eight: Setting Goals Chapter Nine: Brainstorming Chapter Ten: After the Retreat Chapter Eleven: Bringing It All Together How to Run a Strategic Planning Retreat is written for busy nonprofit executive directors and board members who want to run a successful strategic planning retreat. As a Nonprofit Quick Guide(TM), you can read it in one sitting or grab a few chapters over lunch. More importantly, it gives you practical advice that you can easily implement.

How to Run a Strategic Planning Retreat (The Nonprofit Quick Guide Series)

The Surprisingly Easy Steps to Receiving Robust Community Support (The Nonprofit Quick Guide Series)

Raising Lots of Money: Essential Measures to Grow Your Finances and Excel at Fundraising (The Nonprofit Quick Guide Series)

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Books by Oppelt, Joanne