A source for tools, advice and training to control risks ... so you can focus on your nonprofit's mission

2010 Webinar Series: What’s Up Next
The Center’s next webinar will be held May 5th at 2 p.m. (Eastern) and will address the topic of Back to the Future: Long Term Planning and Investment Strategies. The need to look into the future and how to approach that process will be explored in the May program in the Center's 2010 series of webinars. The program will examine long-term financial planning and investment strategies from a risk management perspective. To register, click here.

You Choose: Four Ways to Access New Tools
Order the Center’s brand-new risk management book, policy-creation tool, or both. Advance your risk-taking and risk-coping “know how” and skills with practical new resources.

$25—Ready…or Not: A Risk Management Guide for Nonprofit Executives (ebook) Click here

$35—($25 plus $10 S&H) Ready… or Not: A Risk Management Guide for Nonprofit Executives (book) Click here

$179—My Risk Management Policies – create custom policies for your nonprofit in a matter of minutes! Click here

$179—My Risk Management Policies AND Ready…or Not: A Risk Management Guide for Nonprofit Executives (printed book and ebook) Click here

April 20, 2010

Kicking and Screaming

By Melanie Lockwood Herman

This past weekend I served on a panel at the annual conference of the National Association of Planning Councils. The session topic was “social media” and I was asked to speak about the risks associated with the use of social media tools in nonprofit organizations. It was a terrific opportunity to distribute copies of the Winter edition of our newsletter, Risk Management Essentials, which contains a thought-provoking article on this topic by lawyers Jeff Tenenbaum and A.J. Zottola. Based on the informal feedback I received during the workshop, it seemed as though half of the audience were willing participants in the social media world, admitting active use of the most popular tools. A smaller percentage of the session attendees seemed a bit fearful of the social media frontier.

The discussion reminded me of David Ropeik’s new book, How Risky Is It, Really? Some readers may recall Ropeik, the former Co-Director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, whose prior book is titled: RISK: A Practical Guide for Deciding What’s Really Safe and What’s Really Dangerous in the World Around You. Ropeik was a keynote speaker at a Center conference when the event was held in Washington, DC. Ropeik’s new book begins by reminding us that our brains are hard-wired to “fear first and think second.” The first chapter of the book, titled “This is Your Brain on Fear” delves into the field of neuroscience to explain the biology of risk response.

As I was driving home from the conference I realized that my own response to social media has been to “fear first and think second.” One of my co-presenters gently shamed me into admitting a bit of cynicism about the business uses of Twitter and Facebook. Another fellow panelist offered the following provocative statement: “The conversation is going on. The question is: do you want to be a part of it?” Upon arriving home, I logged into my dormant Twitter account and sent my first Tweet. Thus far my experience is reminiscent of talking to myself in the car. Hello? Is anyone out there? The only people who seem to be “following me” appear to have no interest in my Tweet or risk or nonprofits. But you’ve got to give the coffee time to brew, right?

If you’d like to engage in a conversation with me about social media risks and risk management strategies, join me on Twitter and let me know what you’ve experienced. As you’ll see if you dare click on the Twitter link, we’re using the security feature of Twitter that allows us to approve “followers.”

Some of the questions I’ve been mulling over recently include:

What policies or steps are helpful to curb cyber-slacking among employees?
How are nonprofits measuring the “return on investment” from their use of social media?
What are the expected and surprising exposures that arise from the use of social media tools?
How do active social media users rate their confidence about avoiding exposure to legal liability?

I look forward to reading your Tweets on this topic. Or if you’d prefer an old fashioned conversation, I can be reached at (202) 785-3891 or via email at: Melanie@nonprofitrisk.org.

2010 Webinars

The Center’s 2010 Webinar Series continues May 5th at 2 p.m. (Eastern) with the fifth program in the year-long series: Back to the Future: Long Term Planning and Investment Strategies. For more information on the 2010 series, visit: http://nonprofitrisk.org/training/webinars/webinars2010.asp.

Risk Management Essentials Now Available

The March edition of the Center’s newsletter, Risk Management Essentials, is now available. Click here to read or download the PDF of the issue.

To read the lead stories online, visit:
Going Up? Elevator Talk, Risk Management and the Nonprofit Board, by Melanie Lockwood Herman
Online Social Networks, CyberRisk and Your Nonprofit: What You Need to Know, by Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum, Esq. and A.J. Zottola, Esq.

Pass it On!

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Mark Your Calendar! 2010 Risk Management & Finance Summit for Nonprofits

The Center will host its sixteenth annual conference this October 10-12 at the Loews Hotel in Philadelphia. Conference details will be announced in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, consider reserving your room at the Loews by using the hotel’s online reservations process. The process is explained on the 2010 SUMMIT page. Click here for details.

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