I'm excited to report one of my past clients, the Bike Kitchen, just launched a fundraising campaign. I'm really impressed with all of their work and just mailed in a check for $100 to help them reach their fundraising goal.  If you ride your bike in Los Angeles, I encourage you to also donate to their campaign so they can continue providing valuable services to the community. For more info and to donate, check out their blog at: http://bicicocina.blogspot.com/. 

Speaking of donations, I'm leading two fundraising workshops later this week.  One on hosting fundraising events this Thursday and another on researching and cultivating a donor base on friday. For more info, check out my calendar. 

Thanks Bike Kitchen!

I’m keeping busy this week with facilitation and am excited to have the opportunity to work with so many groups.  Here’s a quick glimpse of my schedule:

Tuesday:
-Facilitating a subcommittee of Green LA Coalition

-Facilitating a community meeting for the City of Seal Beach

Thursday:
-Leading a seminar at the Center for Nonprofit Management on planning successful fundraising events

-Facilitating a discussion with the Board of Directors of LA Voice

Friday
-Leading a seminar at the Flintridge Foundation on Researching and Cultivating Donors

-Facilitating a discussion with the Board of the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Hosing Developers

I’m thrilled to work with so many leaders of so many organizations working for positive change in Los Angeles. 

The following is an email update about today's scheduled Malibu Beach Safaris hosted by the LA Urban Rangers, a group I'm a part of when I'm not keeping busy as a Consultant: 

Like many, I signed up for a Twitter account and invite you to follow me.  I write about what I'm up to as a Consultant and also retweet posts from others that look interesting.  

One of the "occupational hazards" of twittering, as my friend Mud put it last night, is that there are risks of having your account hacked.  That's exactly what happened to me last night as I was at an event for the LA Neighborhood Land Trust.  

It was actually funny, one of the Board members of the LANLT who I worked with on a regular basis last year as a consultant, showed his phone to me with a suggestive direct message I certainly did not send.  I then quickly got some texts and emails from others with folks who figured out my account got hacked.  It was both alarming and a bit hilarious.  

Anyway, moral of the story is be aware of the risks, and change your passwords every now and then.  Happy Twittering!

I'm excited to lead three of the upcoming "Winning Campaigns" trainings for the Alliance for Bicycling and Walking in 2010 (Burlington, Columbus and Asheville): 

• New Orleans, LA: April 16-18 (Hosted by New Orleans Metro Bicycle Coalition)
• Edison, NJ: June 4-6 (Hosted by New Jersey Bicycle Coalition & East Coast Greenway Alliance)
• Burlington, VT: July 9-11 (Hosted by Local Motion)
• Columbus, OH: Aug 6-8 (Hosted by Bike! Walk!Ohio & Consider Biking)
• Oakland, CA: October 15-17 (Hosted by Walk Oakland Bike Oakland)
• Asheville, NC: November 5-7 (Hosted by Asheville Bicycle Coalition)

Last Friday I attended a town hall meeting hosting by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood and Barbara Boxer.  I appreciated their willingness to listen to citizens like me, and also gained inspiration from many of the suggestions made by other attendees. 

In the afternoon I attended a session facilitated by Metro.  As the microphone went from speaker to speaker, I jotted down 10 quick suggestions for improving transportation in Los Angeles. 

With a little dose of humor and seriousness, I offer the following to you (to make it fun, I presented these in a David Letterman style top 10 list):

#10.  Real Voices on the Bus:  As a cyclist, I often take the bus when I need to make longer commutes across town.  While the overcrowding doesn’t bother me so much, the robotic voices announcing the various stops sometimes does.  I propose an art project where Metro goes out into the communities surrounding its bus lines and record the names of stops from people who actually live near them.  Imagine taking the Wilshire Rapid from Dowtown LA to Santa Monica and hearing the diversity of voices along the way.

#9.  One ticket One Way:  I also find myself taking my bike on the train to places like Long Beach (where I will be facilitating some focus groups around bicycling for the City of Long Beach).  I wish that the one-way ticket I buy on the Red Line would also work for the one-way trip I’d make on the Blue line. 

#8.  Transit-oriented development:  LA developed around the trolley car and enormous potential exists to develop affordable housing and other buildings that are a short walk to a Metro stop.  I’m excited to see the statewide SB 375 get implemented.

#7:  Fast track bicycle plan implementation:  Cities like New York and Mexico City are transforming their streets so that they are safer and more enjoyable places to ride at a much faster pace than we are.  Why couldn’t the City of LA fast-track implementation of its Bicycle Master Plan in a year?  We’ve got good ideas on paper – let’s allocate the needed resources to make it reality.

#6. Bike Boulevards: My brother lives in Vancouver, Canada, which has developed an impressive network of Bicycle Boulevards.  These are quiet, residential streets that have several design features that make cycling pleasant:  traffic circles instead of stop signs, occasional barriers that limit auto traffic but let bikes through, good directional signage and prioritization when crossing major boulevards.

#5. Transform Parking Lots:  Los Angeles lacks adequate supplies of affordable housing and park space.   Why not convert some existing parking lots into uses that will serve more people and create a more sustainable city? 

#4.  No Free Parking:  For the parking lots we keep, let’s charge a real market rate rather than subsidizing parking.  Professor Don Shoup at UCLA has written extensively about this.  When people pay a higher cost for parking that reflects the true cost of parking, they are more willing to explore transportation alternatives.

#3. Legalize street vending around Metro Stops:  In Mexico and Central America and many other parts of the world, public space is so vibrant because of street vending.  I love how there’s a weekly farmers market right outside the Wilshire/Vermont Red Line Station and would like to see that space used like that on a regular basis. 

#2. Curtail Investment in Transportation Projects that only promote Driving:  The elephant in the room is that the majority of transportation spending still goes towards projects that encourage driving – whether it be highway expansion, new parking lots or new roads.  I would like to see less money go towards these types of projects and more money towards building transit, bicycle infrastructure and pleasant places to walk.

#1.Ciclavia:  Ciclavia will transform LA’s streets by temporarily closing certain major boulevards to automobile traffic and opening it up to people to enjoy on foot, on roller-skates, or bicycle.  It builds community and sparks the imagination for what our streets could be. 

These are just 10 quick ideas – there are so many more and so many passionate folks working throughout the region to implement other innovative ideas for a sustainable and vibrant transportation system in Los Angeles.  I’m pleased to have the opportunity to work with many of them and am excited to see these ideas come to fruition.

Here's a link to my February newsletter - enjoy!

I’m excited to be working with the leadership at LA Voice to create a fund development plan.  LA Voice is an interfaith organization engaging congregation members on a number of social change related issues in Los Angeles, including affordable housing, homelessness and health care.  For an inspiring video about the organization’s work, click here.

Over the years, I’ve worked with many organizations to create a fund development plan, including having recently developed a plan for SOAR Charter School.  A fund development plan helps chart a future fundraising course for a nonprofit organization and contains the following: 

• An assessment of the organization’s current fundraising generated from a fundraising audit and leadership survey
• A review of the organizations fundraising materials, including past grant proposals, cover letters and appeal letters
• Development of an overall goal targeting specific strategies to achieve that goal
• A timeline/workplan to implement plan
• A list of possible funding sources
• A staffing plan
• An appendix with additional resources. 

If you or your organization would like more information about how I may be able to assist you with the creation of a fund development plan, please contact me.

I recently completed a consulting project that took several months for the Green LA Coalition.  Green LA works to build a strong movement to win campaigns that can transform Los Angeles into a sustainable city.

For this project, I collaborated closely with another consultant, Beth Steckler.  For this project, we interviewed over 30 people within the Coalition’s leadership and outside the organization, along with surveying the entire membership with an online survey.  Based on this work, we developed an assessment report and later facilitated a day-long strategic visions retreat for the Coalition’s Steering Committee.  From all of the information we gathered through these efforts, we presented a final report with recommendations for how the Coalition could strengthen itself as it moves forward so that it could have the greatest possible impact in making Los Angeles a more sustainable city. 

I’m pleased to report the Steering Committee approved the majority of our recommendations and has asked Beth and I to continue consulting for them to help them implement our recommendations. 

I also look forward to attending Green LA’s upcoming awards fundraiser on March 15^th, from 6pm to 9pm, and invite you to attend.

I’m very pleased to be working with the leadership at the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH).   SCANPH creates affordable housing opportunities for low-income people by expanding the knowledge, capacity and influence of the nonprofit development sector.  Over the years, SCANPH has championed affordable housing in Southern California and helped build a strong network of local affordable housing developers that have generated housing that’s affordable.   SCANPH also has some excited plans to green development in the future, which I’m especially excited to see happen. 

I’m working with the organization’s leadership to build their fundraising capacity so that they’re able to bring in the needed resources to do their good work.  I’m excited to attend their upcoming Board meeting in March to work with the entire Board of Directors on engaging in the fundraising process.  For some tips on how to build a fundraising Board of Directors, check out my recent blog post.

      Much of my fundraising work right now involves working with directly with the Boards of Directors of my clients, including SCANPH, LA Voice and SOAR Charter School.  Here’s a summary of my top 10 tips for building a fundraising Board of Directors.

1.  Everyone Needs to be Involved:  Fundraising works best when the entire board pledges to both raise funds and give to their organization.

2.  Start Early:  When recruiting potential board members, let them know your organization expects them to play a role in the organization’s fundraising.

3.  Orient New Members:  As part of your orientation of new board members, let them know the many ways in which they can get involved with fundraising.

4.  Create a Plan:  Have the entire board play a role in helping shape your organization’s fund development plan.

5.  Find the Right Fit:  Work with each board member to find out which fundraising tasks they are most comfortable with committing to.

6.  Consider a Board Agreement:  Many organizations have their board members sign agreements that list the amount they plan to give and raise.

7.  Follow-up is Key:  Encouraging reminders help keep them on track in case they forget or lag behind.

8.  Talk about Fundraising:  Having a conversation where you ask board members who are reluctant to fundraise why they themselves donate often times gives them a new perspective.

9.  Fundraise Together:  Fundraising is more fun when done in groups.  

10.Celebrate Success: At every board meeting, celebrate the amount of funds raised.

Remember, building a fundraising Board of Directors is an ongoing process.  Sometimes it helps to have an outside consultant to help facilitate Boards of Directors to engage them in the fundraising process.  If you would like to discuss the possibility of me doing this for your organization, please contact me.

Many years ago, I benefitted from the work from an intern while directing the LA County Bicycle Coalition (my intern, Andrew, currently teaches in Mexico City and will someday be the Mayor of Detroit).  I later worked closely with an intern while working for Enterprise Community Partners in New York City (that intern, Matt, is currently in Law School and will someday be the Governor of Florida).   As Principal of my own consulting firm with a lot of work on my plate, I'm once again looking to bring on an intern to help me with my work.  In turn, I look forward to working with whoever I bring on to build their capacity as a leader in the nonprofit sector.  Here's the job description.  Please forward to anyone who you think might be interested:

Intern Job Description

 
Ron Milam Consulting is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Intern.  Ron Milam has 12 years of successful experience in the non-profit sector and has consulted for 40 nonprofit organizations since 2005.  His mission is to provide capacity building support for leaders working to transform Los Angeles into a sustainable region.  Ron specializes in the areas of fundraising, strategic planning and leadership development.  He’s a skilled facilitator, presenter, coach and project manager.   For more info, check out www.ronmilam.com.

This position is ideal for someone wanting to gain real world experience as a consultant working for some of Los Angeles’ leading sustainability oriented nonprofit organizations.  It’s also a good place to build your skills as a leader in the nonprofit sector, particularly as a fundraiser and/or facilitator.  As part of the internship, Ron will identify areas in which the intern wants to build their capacity as a leader and discuss it weekly with the intern.   This part-time position is ideal for current graduate students wanting to gain some real-world experience and additional income on the side.  Specific responsibilities of the intern are as follows:

Fundraising

• Research potential donors for Ron’s clients
• Develop/write/review grant proposals
• Copy-edit proposals Ron develops
• Assist with logistical details of fundraising work Ron does for clients (fundraising assessments, leadership surveys, draft plans, etc.)

Facilitation

• Record notes for meetings Ron facilitates
• Facilitate portions of the agenda
• Assist with logistical details related to meetings Ron facilitates

 Marketing

• Help research and identify new consulting clients
• Assist with social media marketing
• Assist with the development of marketing and training materials
• Data-entry

There may be other projects that come up outside of the areas of facilitation, fundraising and marketing, depending on the needs of Ron Milam and his clients.

Desired Skills and Experience:

• Passion and energy for implementing urban sustainability in Los Angeles
• Experience and/or interest in the nonprofit sector
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Detail-oriented
• Strong leadership ability and an entrepreneurial spirit that thrives in a start-up environment

Compensation:

$15/hour.  Part-time.  Flexible hours.

Application Submission – Deadline February 26^th, 2008:

Please email your cover letter and résumé to rpm@ronmilam.com.

Today is the last day of KCRW’s winter pledge drive. It’s also the last day to listen and learn some really valuable fundraising practices.  As a fundraising consultant, I’ve been listening to their fund drive all week and want to share with you some of the things they do really well that would be valuable to any non-profit organization seeking to raise funds from individual donors through a major donor campaign:

1. They have an overall campaign goal for the amount of money they want to raise.  Not only that, they set goals for each hour and let listeners know the progress they are making towards reaching that goal.  They rally around these goals and folks who donate feel great for their contribution towards that specific goal.  
2. They have clear deadlines – both for the overall campaign and for each hour.  These deadlines give a sense of urgency and compel folks to give.
3. They ask for our support, repeatedly.  If they didn’t ask, most of us wouldn’t just randomly decide to give.
4. They say “thank you” all the time and regularly thank people who have given on air.  “Thank you” are the two most important words in fundraising.
5. They get everyone involved in the fundraising process.  All DJ’s, staff and a bunch of volunteers are involved.  Fundraising works best when all staff and board members are involved in the process.
6. They make a clear case for why their station is valuable, which resonates with its audience. 
7. They stress the individual benefits listeners receive and also throw in some nice give-aways (which were all likely donated from sponsors who wanted to support the fundraising drive and also reach out to a broader audience with their products).
8. They use challenge grants.  When I heard the David Bohnett Foundation would double any gift people made, it inspired me to make another donation.
9. They make giving really easy – it only takes a minute to pledge over the phone or online.
10. They have fun with it.

I encourage you not only to tune in today on their last day to learn some great fundraising practices, but also consider making a gift yourself.  I’m a big fan of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” and “Which Way LA”. 

Good listening skills are essential to anyone who wants to successfully facilitate a meeting.  It’s also my number one tip on my “Top 10 Tips for Facilitators”.

As a facilitator, you need to listen closely to what everyone has to say.  Since you are there to serve the entire group, you must actively listen so you can better understand where everyone is coming from so you can help them accomplish whatever they want to accomplish as a group.  Part of the trust you build with the group you facilitate depends on them believing you hear them.  Not only that, your active listening will help ensure other people within the group listen to each other, and actually hear what they have to say.  When folks within a group listen to each other, they are more likely to understand each other and that helps make it a little easier for the group to come to sustainable agreements.

Here are three quick and easy ways to listen:

1. Mirroring:  When someone says something (that isn’t too long), you repeat the words back verbatim to the person who said it.  This is a tactic I often use when I’m facilitating a br Save ainstorming session with a group.
2. Summarizing:  People often take a minute or two to make their point to the larger group.  If I’m facilitating a discussion, I’ll often quickly summarize what someone says to make sure I heard it right.  The point also gets reiterated to the group.   If my summary is slightly off, the person will correct me and then I’ll summarize it again.
3. Clarifying:  Sometimes someone will make a point that isn’t all that clear, or very general.  Before calling on the next person, I will often ask a clarifying question to better understand where they are coming from.  This helps them hear that their point is made and it helps other people in the group.

I recently used all three of these techniques for a community meeting I facilitated for the City of Seal Beach.  I encourage you to give them a try as you facilitate future meetings and see how it goes. 

I'm pleased to report that last week's Fundraising 101 Seminar I led at the Center for Nonprofit Management in Downtown Los Angeles went very well.  For those of you that missed this introductory course, I'm leading another one on  February 5th from 10am to 1pm at the Flintridge Foundation in Pasadena.  Below is the course description.

At today's seminar, we had a great session with lots of participation in the form of discussion, questions and role-playing.  Some memorable points made:

-be sure to thank your donors
-fundraising is an ongoing process
-think of fundraising as an opportunity for a donor to invest in your organization
-engage your Board of Directors in the fundraising process

Folks shared with me after the workshop they learned a great deal and incrased their confidence levels when it comes to fundraising.

Here's the course description:

Course Description
Need to raise funds for your non-profit organization? Where do you begin? What's the secret to success? This workshop will explore the key concepts that underlie the fundraising process, including the development of a case statement, prospecting, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. You'll have the opportunity to practice what you learn through interactive exercises, such as practicing the art of asking for a major gift. The workshop will also provide a forum for you to discuss any issues you have with fundraising and connect with leaders from other non-profit organizations.

For more info and to register for the next workshop, check out the Flintridge Foundation.

Both the Center for Nonprofit Management and Flintridge Foundation host a number of seminars on a wide-variety of subjects that relate to the nonprofit sector. I encourage you to check out the many resources each offers.

I have a family member who did well running a successful company.  When I asked him why he succeeded, he said “I’ll tell you what everyone will say – work hard, never give up, have vision, etc.”  He paused for a moment, smiled, and looked at me and continued sharing “There was one thing that played a key role in our success.  Once a month, I would invite everyone in my company for a drink, from the most senior staff person to the most junior.  We’d spend the first part just mingling and socializing.  Once everyone had two drinks, I would bring out a note pad and we would brainstorm solutions to whatever problems we faced.  That’s where we generated our best ideas!”

In that spirit, I’ve hosted/facilitated a monthly happy hour for the last year which are not only a place to generate great ideas to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles, but also meet great people as well.  As a consultant, I interact with phenomenal leaders working on a variety of issues all throughout LA.  This is one way in which I bring everyone together and I welcome you to attend. 

My next happy hour is tonight, February 2^nd, starting at about 5:30pm at 7 Grand in Downtown LA.  The question I’m asking folks to consider is “what will you do to make LA a better place in 2010?”  We generally go until about 8:30 or 9pm. I’m looking forward to seeing who attends tonight and introducing some great people other folks they don’t already know.

The LA Urban Rangers, a group I'm a part of outside of my consulting practice, will host their final Malibu Beach Safaris on February 27th.  I will be co-leading these outings and invite you to attend.  Below is information from a recent Ranger email:

Yesterday, I made a short video giving a tour of one of my many office locations here in Los Angeles.  Occassionally working in beautiful places like Griffith Park is yet another reason why I love my work so much.  Enjoy the video!

I'm leading another Fundraising 101 Seminar this Wednesday from 9:30am to 12:30am at the Center for Nonprofit Management in Downtown Los Angeles and welcome you to attend.  I'm also leading the same workshop on February 5th from 10am to 1pm at the Flintridge Foundation in Pasadena. 

Here's the course description:

Course Description
Need to raise funds for your non-profit organization? Where do you begin? What's the secret to success? This workshop will explore the key concepts that underlie the fundraising process, including the development of a case statement, prospecting, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. You'll have the opportunity to practice what you learn through interactive exercises, such as practicing the art of asking for a major gift. The workshop will also provide a forum for you to discuss any issues you have with fundraising and connect with leaders from other non-profit organizations.

For more info and to register, check out the Center for Nonprofit Management.

While I love my consulting work and look forward to working with many more organizations this year, I enjoy doing a bunch of other things outside of consulting.  One group I especially enjoy participating in is the Los Angeles Urban Rangers. 

Below is text from an email update the LA Urban Rangers just sent out, in case your interested to learn more about the group and what we're up to these days.  Maybe we'll see each other in Malibu later this month.

* Our Portable Ranger Station is winging its way back from the 2009 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam en route to Tijuana! Stop by Performing Public Space, curated by Owen Driggs, at La Casa de Túnel: Art Center from February 6 - March 21. Leave your transit behind and just walk across the border. Other artists in the show include Fallen Fruit, Lauren Bon, and Jane Tsong, among others.
http://cofac101.org/casa.htm

* The new year promises new investigations as well. We are currently working with the University of California's Institute for Research in the Arts on a major project for the UC's Natural Reserve System, returning to the Netherlands next summer to build a field guide for our trail system in Almere's favorite vacant lot, and continuing development of a series of programs for our very own Downtown Los Angeles.

* Finally, thanks to support from the Coastal Conservancy, we will be wrapping up our highly successful Malibu Public Beaches program next month! The newly translated Spanish version of our informative map and guide is hot off the presses, and will be distributed throughout LA County and on the Metro 534 line, and of course, available on our website. Our very last public safari is tentatively scheduled for the last weekend in February. Stay tuned!


Ever onward,
Los Angeles Urban Rangers
http://www.laurbanrangers.org

Here's a link to my most recent email newsletter I sent out.  Enjoy!

Enjoy a great holiday season.  I hope our paths cross in 2010.
Peace,
Ron

Here's a link to my December 2009 Newsletter.  Enjoy!
Happy Holidays,
Ron

I'm staring to plan what trainings I will lead in 2010 and would love to get your input.  Please take a few minutes to fill out my short survey on this.  I really value your input and will do my best to tailor my trainings to your needs. Thanks!

For a listing of the trainings I currently lead, check out my Workshops page.  For a listing of my upcoming tranings, checkout my Calendar page.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The Southern California Leadership Network asked me to share a quote with them about sustainabilty for their monthly email newsletter. 

Here's the full quote:

Why is it important for civic leaders to become involved in conversations around natural resources sustainability?

"When leaders engage in conversations around sustainability, it leads to solutions that transform some of our region's greatest challenges into our biggest assets over the long-term.

For example, the City of Los Angeles' proposed Low Impact Development Ordinance addresses the multiple issues of stormwater pollution, water shortages, flood control, climate change and lack of green space by encouraging sustainable development in a cost-effective way that captures rainwater in a variety of innovative ways onsite rather than having it wash out to the ocean."

Check it out (it's in the Alumni Spotlight Section at the bottom right).  

A few years back, I participated in their Leadership Southern California Program.  More recently, as a consultant, I planned a day-long seminar exploring Koreatown and another one focussing on transit oriented development along the Gold line.

For anyone considering building their leadership skills and building a stronger network here in Southern California, I would recommend both of these programs.

Here's a link to my latest newsletter where I give some general updates on my work. Enjoy!

Last week, I led another fundraising workshop at the Center for Nonprofit Management focusing on creating a strong successful fund development plan.  We had a really good discussion as I went through the various elements necessary to develop a fundraising strategy that will yield the highest results.  I'm leading several upcoming trainings on fundraising and invite you to attend.

It turns out information regarding fundraising is what local nonprofits need most, according to a recent study by the Center for Nonprofit Management.  Their recent State of the Nonprofit Sector report provides a general overview of what current nonprofits are experiencing given the current economic downtown. 

Roughly half of the consulting work I do deals directly with building my clients capacity to raise money.  I've helped multiple nonprofits, including:

• assessing their fundraising capacity
• creating fund development plans
• researching potential funders
• engaging their boards in fundraising
• writing grant proposals
• coaching executive staff
• providing general and customized trainings

Last Friday, I facilitated another seminar for the Southern California Leadership Network.  This time, we looked at a specific neighborhood:  Koreatown.  I really enjoyed putting this seminar together, which invovlved developing the day's agenda and recruiting the speakers.  I especially enjoyed facilitating the afternoon debrief where participants talked about their experiences exploring various aspects of the neighborhood.   Here's a summary of the day that the Southern California Leadership Network just emailed out:

Leadership L.A. focuses on neighborhood development in Koreatown
The Class of 2009 learned how neighborhoods grow and develop in Los Angeles on Oct. 9 with Dr. Fernando Guerra of the Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University, who discussed the DNA of neighborhoods in the city and his "5 Ds" that have driven what L.A. has become: decentralization, democratization, deindustrialization, development of land and demographic shifts. The case study focused on Koreatown, where Fellows met with Korean-American leaders, including Leadership Southern California alumnus Hyepin Im, Korean Churches for Community Development; as well as local business owners, developers, community organizers, historians and neighborhood councilmembers. The class closed the session at the new Solair Wilshire transit-oriented development with L.A. City Councilmember Tom LaBonge. Read more about the day on Twitter by following @SCLN. View photo gallery. 

Earlier today, I attended a Green LA meeting that Mayor Villaraigosa and new Environment Deputy David Freeman both attended and made several commitments to continue working towards making Los Angeles a more sustainable city. Originally a working group supported by the Liberty Hill Foundation, the Green LA Coalition recently became its own independent entity and is now a project of Community Partners.  Green LA is a dynamic coalition of environmental organizations working to transform the region and serve as a collective voice for our region's many organizations working on these issues.  The Coalition released a report prioritizing actions to green LA, and has been working hard over the last several years to work with the city to implement their recommendations.  I'm glad that the Green LA Coalition has grown over the years and am happy to support them in their work (I volunteered to take pictures at today's meeting, which was fun!).

Ever wonder what the life of a consultant is like? Well, now you can get a taste for that life by following me on Twitter.  Not only will I share some of the interesting work I'm doing, but I'll also occassionally update you where I'm doing that work (like right now, as I update this blog, I'm sitting on the beach in Venice where groups of pelicans keep flying by in beautiful formation).   If there are interesting events that I'll be attending, I'll also post some of those too. 

Lately, I have been doing some consulting work for the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, a fantastic organization that "facilitates the creation of small, accessible community green and open space, such as parks and gardens, to address the inequity of open spaces in Los Angeles’ underserved neighborhoods, and to ensure community participation and collaboration in every step of the process of creating these parks and community gardens."

I’m working closely with their board and staff to help them develop a strategy to implement their long term vision of developing 50 new parks throughout Los Angeles.  This work involves a lot of facilitation at meetings as we brainstorm and prioritize strategies. 

This is a collaborative consulting project for me not only because I’m working closely with their staff and board, but I’m also partnering with Steve Rasmussen Cancian, a former organizer turned into Landscape Architect that has breathed new life into neighborhoods with his engaging work to develop community living rooms, among other things.  Together, we are combining our talents and generating a lot of great ideas for how to generate community parks and open space in a 21^st century Los Angeles. 

If you know of any local community groups that are interested in having more parks and open space in their communities, please email me. 

As many of my consulting clients know, I ride my bike most of the time to meetings and presentations.  I really enjoy riding around town and credit it for my good health.  Outside of consulting, I’m working on developing BikeSage, a community of streetwise bicyclists inspiring others to ride.

A few months back, I ran into some researchers at UCLA Center for Embedded Networked Sensing working on developing a technology called Biketastic that uses cell phones to track bicycle rides.  Excited about the potential of this being a tool that could help potential cyclists discover routes that other cyclists already use, I volunteered to help test this new program in its development stage.

Nearly 150 rides later, I’ve mapped out all of the routes I ride on a regular basis.  Below is a snapshot of one section of the overall map.  As you can see, the streets I bicycle on are sometimes streets with a lot of traffic, but often quieter side streets with less traffic. 

I look forward to continuing my work with the folks at UCLA to further develop, and hopefully one day launch this exciting application.

I'm leading another "What's your Message" media workshop this Thursday at the Flintridge Foundation in Pasadena and welcome you to attend.   Here's more info about it:

"How can people choose to donate to your organization if they don't know you exist?

Media visibility about your organization and work increases your credibility in the community, helps you to obtain financial, in-kind, and volunteer support, and also plays an important role in shifting societal perceptions and moving your organization's mission forward. If you had one minute with a reporter, what would you say? How would you pitch that story to get media coverage in the first place? In this workshop, you'll learn how to craft your message to pitch to media. You'll have the opportunity to practice and receive feedback from both the instructor and your peers in the workshop. The workshop will explore what's newsworthy and discuss various strategies for securing media, including the development of an effective press release.

This workshop is designed for nonprofit professionals with no or only moderate amount of media experience."

I recently facilitated a day long planning session for the Beverly Vermont Community Land Trust, an organization working to exercise land stewardship as the basis for creating pedestrian-centered neighborhoods that emphasize sustainability-oriented affordable housing.

We had an especially productive retreat.  As a facilitator, I helped create a space for the Board of Directors to decide their organization's long-term goals, short-term goals and the beginnings of a 2009/10 workplan. 

At the end of the retreat, one of the participants shared a list she had been making throughout the day of “Ronisms”: little things I said to encourage the group as they made tough decisions throughout the day. 

Here are some of the things I said:  “Nice”, “Excellent”, “Good work”, “Awesome”, “That’s Great”, “Huge”, “Amazing”, “Lets Rock and Roll”, “Give yourselves a hand of applause”, “You folks have chosen well” and “We have less than 40 minutes people”.

I laughed as I heard this list and was reminded that part of my work as a facilitator is to help ensure full group participation in the decision making process, which is done in part by encouraging and affirming participation throughout the process.  By the end of the day, everyone was very happy with the results of their hard work and thanked me for my hard work as a facilitator. 

Facilitation plays a key role in my work as a Consultant.  I've faciliated numerous retreats, board meetings and community meetings. On April 28th, from 7 to 9pm, I'll be leading an "Introduction to Facilitation" workshop at the Los Angeles Eco Village. I invite you to attend.  

Here's more info about the training: "Facilitators play a key role in helping a group make decisions, especially intentional communities and neighborhood groups.  They help create a safe environment where everyone feels like their input is valued.  In this workshop, you’ll explore the benefits of facilitation, explore the group decision making process, explore various tools a facilitator uses, and have the opportunity to practice facilitating a group (and receive feedback).   Good facilitation can significantly raise the quality of life in any group that makes decisions together. Poor facilitation can sometimes chase valuable members away from a group."



 

Last week, I led another “Choosing the Right Fundraising Event” seminar at the Center for Nonprofit Management .   As always, we had an engaging conversation about multiple aspects of putting on a successful fundraising event.  Here are 10 quick tips from the seminar:

1.  Give yourself six months to plan a major fundraising event
2.  Engage your board and volunteers early on in the process
3.  Tailor your event to your audience
4.  The space you choose sets the tone for your event
5.  Write a budget and stick to it
6.  Think outside of the box
7.  Have fun
8.  Keep the event program to 45 minutes or less
9.  Thank and follow up with donors that attend
10. Connect fundraising events to other parts of your organization’s fundraising strategy

During our workshop, I also gave participants the opportunity to practice asking for money, which is something you can also do at your event.  We generated a lot of good ideas and based on our discussion, participants had the opportunity to share their successes and challenges with the rest of the group.  They also walked away with a number of articles on the subject.