Nonprofit Wake Up Call

Awnings & Banners on 23rd, Oh My!

Howard Adam Levy — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:07:00 +0000

Are awnings and banners awful eyesores or useful necessities? Red Rooster Group’s take on the Flatiron’s District’s Master Improvement Plan.

Red Rooster Group is active in improving our world, creating a better city and safer and more livable streets, examining the issues in the world around us. Since our office is on 23rd Street and Madison Avenue, the heart of the Flatiron District, we are interested in the what the local BID had in mind for the area, so we took a look at the Plan, prepared by Starr Whitehouse, landscape architects. Here is what I wrote to them.

• • •

As a business owner on 23rd Street, I was reviewing your Master Plan for the Flatiron District and was quite impressed. I think that the guidance and recommendations you provide will create much needed improvements in the area. However, I would like to point out two aspects that I believe require further consideration.

Awnings

As a designer, I can fully appreciate the concept of “cleaning up” the streets to convey a less cluttered, more unified streetscape. So I can understand your suggestion to clean up the clutter of awnings on 23rd Street. (My office is on 23rd between Madison and Park Ave South between the Radio Shack Awning and the new Press awning.) However, I urge you to reconsider the role that awnings play on a practical and communal level.

First, they provide needed shelter. The front door to our building is locked, and there are many days when it is raining (as it does in New York), and the Radio Shack awning provides some cover as I get the key into the lock. Also, I often go outside to pick up something for lunch and can take refuge under the awning when it is raining (I and I am sure I am not alone in these two matters given the abundance of both small, locked building on the south side of 23rd Street as well as the abundance of food venues).

Awnings are useful cover in inclement weather, as you can witness people huddling under them when it’s raining. In fact, the awnings lining the south side of 23rd Street are very much used as cover by many to get to the two subway stations on either ends when it’s raining.

My second point about the value of awnings relates to their social function as facilitators of street life. In addition to awnings being a place for people to gather under in inclement weather, they provide mini focal points for street life, fostering discussion among people that may not otherwise meet. I think that Jane Jacobs would agree that awnings signal a vibrant street life. Compare the vitality of streets with awnings to those that don’t and you will typically find a more robust street life.

Thirdly, awning aid in navigation since they are dominant features on the street — I can tell a cab driver to stop at the black Radio Shack awning that can be seen from a half a block away.

This is of course, in addition to their function of advertising the existence of businesses (which is what the BID supports). By the way, I say this as a service business with an office on a third floor with no connection a business with an awning.

I am not by any means arguing that awnings don’t clutter the block or are ugly, crass and commercial, however absent them, I believe we lose something of the vital nature of the street and the district.

Regarding poles that hold up the awnings. Granted these do take up sidewalk space, which can block traffic, which is not good. I also noticed that they are used as a bike racks. Given the dearth of bike racks in New York in general and 23rd Street in particular, that is not a bad thing. Perhaps instead of banning awnings, there are guidelines for where poles touch down on the sidewalk, or even designing them to hold more bicycles, serving as benches or other purposed to double their function.

In your recommendations for what gets adopted for 23rd Street, I would urge you to take these views into consideration. Perhaps there are other means of providing shelter and fostering a vital community.

Banners

Another issue I would like to comment on are banners. I find it ironic that you suggest eliminating the visual clutter of competing awnings and signs, only to replace them with banners that feature advertising on them.

The utilitarian and decorative functions of street lamps are marred with commercial messages that add no value to the neighborhood (especially since the banners don’t actually contain any information other than identifying the area as the Flatiron district and some advertising).

If the BID’s ultimate goal is to increase consumer awareness of the district as a shopping destination, it is misguided to think that eliminating awnings, which indicate the presence of businesses, and replacing them with banners with general advertising, will foster more street traffic. People respond more to the businesses they see, and not banners.

In fact, I would argue that the banners with advertising add to the confusion, and send the wrong message to the public that public space is sponsored by private entities. I find this trend scary and abhorrent. More and more of our public space is being sponsored by private corporations (Bloomberg had even suggested that subway stations could be sponsored by corporations). This is definitely a step in the wrong direction and I would urge you to reconsider your recommendation to put up advertising banners throughout the district. I understand that this is a source of advertising for the BID, but I am sure that there are other, less obtrusive ways of bringing in revenue.

• • •

What do you think? What elements of street life are worth preserving as the city becomes more gentrified.

Ask the Expert: Media Sponsorship Expectations

Howard Adam Levy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:33:53 +0000

What should be expected from a media sponsor when asked to sponsor an annual gala fundraiser? When it comes to local TV, radio and newspaper sponsorships (if your sponsorship levels range from $600 to $10,000) what is reasonable to ask in return? It doesn’t seem like 10k would get you much air time if you were buying it outright. We are hoping to raise $30-50k in our second year and have 250-300 people attending. — Walter R.

MY RESPONSE:

Walter, $10,000 can get you a decent reciprocal media exchange in a print publication. Typically, we have seen media sponsorships as barter deals of “sponsor benefits” such as logo placement and links on the nonprofit’s website, and logo on print collateral and event signage, or other special recognition or acknowledgment at the event, in exchange of ad space in the publications.

Larger sponsorship barter arrangements can include the publication creating a special insert in the publication or as a stand-alone product, or providing additional media coverage. The idea is to leverage the media sponsors’ infrastructure in a way that does not cost them a lot additionally but allows them to benefit from the positive association with your nonprofit. The media sponsor also has access to other resources such as reporters, on-air personalities, and advertisers.

The best media sponsorship deals benefit both parties equally at little cost to each. The idea is to be creative about what both parties bring to the table.

Ask the Expert: Help – We Are Going Under!

Howard Adam Levy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:39:39 +0000

Please help us, we are going under! I have been the Executive Director for a small not for profit association for about 9 months which has been in business for about 11 years. We have been struggling with our budget and this will be our worst year ever due to the economy. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to help out our profits? ANY assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much in advance! —Robin A.

MY RESPONSE:

What exactly is the problem-  is it that members haven’t renewed or are other sources of revenue the issue?

To encourage member renewals you need to demonstrate the value you have created for your specific members and the industry as a whole. In reviewing your site I saw that your list of benefits includes free training, but there is no further description about that. And I did not see any description of the accomplishments of the association over the past 11 years.

It is also advisable to make the renewal process easy as as possible. I noticed that there isn’t a way to join or renew online (I didn’t see a PDF of the application either). These would both be things to address immediately in addition to a general membership renewal campaign at the end of the year.

If you haven’t recently asked your members what they find beneficial about your association, this would be a good time to do that.

As for other sources of revenue, I would need to know what those are in order to advise you further. Hope this helps.

Strut Your Stuff as a Red Rooster Group Intern

Howard Adam Levy — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:59:55 +0000

Red Rooster Group is seeking marketing and design interns for the January 2010 semester. We are looking for motivated individuals who share our passion for making the world a better place. Read the descriptions below.

Marketing Internship

Get hands-on experience on exciting projects at Red Rooster Group, a fast-paced marketing design firm. If you are passionate about making the world a better place and want to help nonprofit organizations improve the effectiveness of their marketing and fundraising, Red Rooster Group is the place to be.

We are an award-winning firm that is re-defining marketing for the nonprofit sector – combining strategy on how to best reach donors, competitive research on what other organizations are doing, and developing the best creative in branding and logos, websites, brochures and publications, and online strategies.

We are seeking talented individuals that share our passion for excellence to assist with a range of marketing activities and build their marketing abilities. This includes conducting market research and developing creative ideas, strategies and campaigns.

Red Rooster Group is a small firm and you will work directly with the Principal to get hands-on experience on client projects and Red Rooster Group marketing. Last semester, our intern helped to establish our video series and helped set up our video studio, developed a marketing campaign to public relations agencies and compiled a database for us. We are now launching a portal for the nonprofit sector and always have new projects and challenges.

Red Rooster Group has a friendly working environment in a studio office across from Madison Square Park on 23rd Street.

We welcome intelligent, driven individuals who are looking to learn and develop their skills. We take an interest in helping you develop in the areas that you want to improve upon, so if this sounds of interest, we encourage you to contact us

We have 2 coveted spots per semester, so contact us as soon as you are ready. Call 212-673-9353 or email howard@redroostergroup.com with the words MARKETING INTERN in the subject.

• • •

Design Internship

Award-winning design firm is looking for creative individuals in graphic design, website design, SEO and social media to help make the world a better place. Get hands-on experience on exciting projects at Red Rooster Group, an innovative design firm that specializes in working with nonprofits. If you are passionate about making the world a better place and want to help nonprofit organizations improve the effectiveness of their marketing and fundraising, join the creative team at Red Rooster Group. We launch and re-invigorate nonprofit brands, develop fundraising strategy, design logos, websites, brochures and online promotion.

You will gain the opportunity to work hands-on with the Creative Director on a range of projects including branding, brochures, websites and more. You will work on design projects, learn about printing and papers, build your portfolio, and gain an understanding of how a design firm works in our comfortable work environment.

Red Rooster Group has a friendly working environment in a studio office across from Madison Square Park on 23rd Street.

We have 2 coveted spots per semester, so contact us as soon as you are ready. Call 212-673-9353 or email howard@redroostergroup.com with the words DESIGN INTERN in the subject.

Websites That Work Seminar at United Way of Westchester

Howard Adam Levy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:34:06 +0000

Nonprofits seek to improve their websites for many reasons:

Raising Money
Building a Community of Supporters
Improving Membership Rates
Increasing Participation in Programs
Promoting Events
Educating People About an Issue
Inspiring Action
Increasing Visibility and Clout
Demonstrating Viability to Funders

These were the key points I made at our Websites That Work seminar at the United Way of Westchester yesterday. The 3-hour session helped nonprofits to understand the essential steps in the website process which include:

Determine your objectives.
Assess your site.
Identify your audience.
Create your site map.
Determine your budget and resources.
Determine the features needed.
Select your Content Management System (CMS).
Determine your keywords.
Develop your content – words and pictures.
Install Google analytics.

Download a PDF of the Websites That Work presentation

Handling the Big Questions

Howard Adam Levy — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:02:46 +0000

Red Rooster Group has been handling some big-picture questions recently:

Should a huge, 100 year-old Jewish organization with an older donor base retrench its strategy to attract the younger generation of donors, and if so, how?
How can a Jewish federation serving a population with divergent interests build a cohesive community that boosts the fundraising of all Jewish organizations in the county?
How can a Jewish social service agency serving an Orthodox community unify its six operating divisions and address taboo social concerns, while instilling an obligation to support the organization?
In times of economic uncertainty and unstable relations in the Middle East, how can the number of people moving permanently to Israel be increased?
How can an umbrella organization for Jewish day schools demonstrate its relevance and viability in a time of decreasing engagement in Jewish education?
How can a Jewish venture fund remain relevant amidst increasing competition and fragmentation in the market?

These are some of the issues that we are addressing from the strategic and marketing perspectives. We relish the challenge of grappling with issues that have the ability to move the needle, create real change, and provide lessons for other agencies.

It requires a combination of understanding the Jewish communal and nonprofit worlds, drawing upon deep expertise in branding and marketing, and bringing a fresh perspective that takes into account social innovation, technology, and trends in the business and nonprofit sectors. It also requires a deftness in building consensus among divergent parties and the ability to define a clear process and move it forward.

Check back as we report on progress on these issues and share our experiences along the way. We invite you to share your experiences in these areas as well.

WAKE UP CALL: What are the big picture issues that your agency needs help with?

A Nonprofit Sector-Wide Conference Can Bring Needed Clout

Howard Adam Levy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:41:02 +0000

Dan Pallotta calls for TED-like, sector-wide conference for the nonprofit and philanthropic worlds asserting that it will be a perfect vehicle for massive change. I couldn’t agree more. And understanding the reticence of nonprofits to see themselves as a sector, I want to add that another benefit of bringing together the various appendages of the philanthropic world is to generate much needed clout for the nonprofit sector in gaining the goodwill of Congress and the various oversight agencies.

For a sector that has been picking up the government’s slack in caring for the public the past 30 years, and addressing society’s major social problems, the nonprofit sector has very little clout on Capitol Hill (although the philanthropic world, particularly backed by oversized personalities, get media attention).

A national conference can advance the good will and recognition for the sector and build strength in advocating for itself at the federal level – for example in advocating for favorable tax law, creating favorable 990 reporting changes for smaller nonprofits and providing a voice and context to major policy debates that shape the social issues that nonprofits are charged with solving.

It’s time for the sector to step up to the plate in advancing the cause for philanthropy and a sector-wide conference would be the perfect way to do it.

WAKE UP CALL: What do you think – is there enough mutual interest among the various philanthrophic, medical research and nonprofit worlds to merit advancing the third sector a whole?

Red Rooster Group Wins MARK Award

Howard Adam Levy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:59:23 +0000

Red Rooster Group, in a joint project with Moss Appeal, won a Silver MARK Award of Excellence for developing a “Cheap Date Kit” direct mailing for Reelzchannel. The award recognizes excellence in promotional creativity cable industry and puts us in the company of HBO, Showtime, other leading cable brands. The kit was mailed to decision makers of cable operators such as Time Warner Cable, to get them to consider Reelchannel for their line-up. The nearly 2-foot box filled with Smack ‘N’ Cheese, an electric votive, a tin of mints and a blanket, all promoting Reelzchannel, conveyed the concept of movies as a cheap date and paved the way for the sales team to make their pitch. Credits go to E.B. Moss, President of Moss Appeal for the concept, copywriting and project management, and Howard Adam Levy, Principal at Red Rooster Group for creative development and design.

Top Jewish Charities

Howard Adam Levy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:32:02 +0000

The Chronicle of Philanthropy is out with its annual list of the largest 400 nonprofits. Here’s a quick look at how the Jewish ones on the list fared in 2008 — by rank, level of private support and performance compared to 2007 (thanks to Gil Shefler): Source: By Jacob Berkman, The Fundermentalist.

▪ 40. Jewish Federations of North America: $398,400,000 (-25.3 percent)
▪ 55. Jewish Communal Funds (New York): $299,300,000 (-26.9 percent)
▪ 71. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: $244,700,000 (+1.3 percent)
▪ 108. Yeshiva University: $182,880,000 (+23.8 percent)
▪ 111. United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York: $177,500,000 (-21.3 percent)
▪ 132. Jewish Federation/Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago: $157,300,000 (-19.8 percent)
▪ 181. Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties: $120,000,000 (-28.8 percent)
▪ 197. Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston: $107,600,000 (+5 percent)
▪ 239. Brandeis University: $89,400,000 (+3.6 percent)
▪ 241. Jewish Community Foundation (Los Angeles): $89,000,000 (-5.9 percent)
▪ 246. Birthright Israel Foundation: $87,600,000 (n/a)
▪ 253. Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America: $85,620,000 (-49.9 percent)
▪ 274. United Jewish Foundation and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit: $79,200,000 (+11.1 percent)
▪ 276. United Jewish Communities of MetroWest: $78,800,000 (+71.4percent)
▪ 286. American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science: $75,370,000 (-29.2 percent)
▪ 293. P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds: $73,900,000 (+22.9 percent)
▪ 308. Anti-Defamation League: $68,250,000 (n/a)
▪ 312. American Society for Technion-Israel Institute of Technology: $67,800,000 (+5.9 percent)
▪ 317. Jewish Community Foundation for San Diego: $67,000,000 (+53.4 percent)
▪ 346. Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland: $58,590,000 (-21.5 percent)
▪ 349. Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles: $57,930,000 (n/a)
▪ 355. The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore: $56,350,000 (-11.4 percent)
▪ 361. Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS: $55,290,000 (-13.6 percent)

JTA NEWS

More than 20 Jewish charities were featured on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 400, despite some serious drops in fund raising.

The annual ranking of top money-collecting nonprofits looked at charitable collections for 2008, a year in which many charities felt the pain of the recession and the early fallout from Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

The Jewish charities included on the list each took in more than $55 million, but they also saw some of the biggest individual drops in donations.

The country’s largest Jewish charity, the Jewish Federations of North America, formerly known as the United Jewish Communities, took in $398.5 million but its donations fell by 25.3 percent. The tally for the umbrella organization of the Jewish federation system consists of money that passes through from local federations to the system’s overseas arms, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel, as well as federations’ dues to the national group, money from special campaigns and an annual grant the system receives from the U.S. government.

The Jewish Communal Fund of New York, a donor-advised fund that relies heavily on patrons who work in the financial services industry, saw a 26.9 percent drop. The Jewish federations in San Francisco and New York saw 28.8 and 21.3 percent falloffs, respectively.

And Hadassah, though its officials have worked hard to avoid being hurt by the fallout from the Madoff scandal, saw its donations drop by nearly half, to just over $85 million in 2008.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest gainers on the list was the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey, which saw its contributions grow 71.4 percent to $78.8 million. MetroWest and the Birthright Israel Foundation, which took in $87.5 million in 2008, were new to the list.

The American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia dropped from last year’s list.

The top-ranking federation on the Chronicle’s list was New York’s, which despite its drop in support finished No. 111 with $177.5 million. In addition to New York and MetroWest, seven other local federations made the list: Chicago (132), San Francisco (181), Boston (197), Detroit (274), Cleveland (346), Los Angeles (349) and Baltimore (355). Communal funds in Los Angeles (241) and San Diego (317) made the list, in addition to New York’s (55).

Yeshiva Univeristy (108) and Brandeis Univeristy (239) made the list, in addition to the U.S.-based fund-raising arm of the Weizman Institute of Science (286). Several national organizations also finished in the top 400.

In all, according to the Chronicle, donations to the country’s largest charities grew by 1 percent last year. But many of the organizations listed closed their fiscal years in June or September, before the recession truly took hold.

The Chronicle expects the 1 percent increase to drop precipitously in 2009, and perhaps further in 2010.

Red Rooster Group Sponsors NJ Center for Non-Profits Conference

Howard Adam Levy — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:35:03 +0000

Red Rooster Group is proud to sponsor and promote the New Jersey Center for Non-Profits’ conference titled Ready, Set Recover: Succeeding in the New Landscape. The conference will bring together nonprofits in the state to gain insight into big picture issues and learn practical tactics for  improving their organizations. Sessions will address the issues of accountability, advocacy, boards of the future, collaboration, human resources, marketing, media, and technology. The conference will be held on December 9, 2009 at the Crowne Plaza Monroe / Jamesburg, NJ. Red Rooster Group is providing naming, branding and promotional services for the conference. Other sponsors include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Novartis, Prudential, Bank of America, Mercadien Group and Nonprofit Central. Watch for further announcements.