Flying High!

Posted on February 18, 2015 by MSAA

by Kimberly Goodrich, CFRE, Senior Director of Development

Our local NHL team, the Philadelphia Flyers, is known for its recognition of those who give of themselves to their community. Their Flyers Hometown Hero program was developed to recognize organizations and individuals that make a positive difference in the lives of others. The Flyers award each Hometown Hero with two tickets to a Flyers game, a personalized Flyers jersey and recognition on the scoreboard during the game. Last night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets recognized South Jersey resident Justin Yuhaze for his contributions to MSAA and the MS community.

Justin was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis himself, an event that left him with the realization that he didn’t know much about MS. Immediately, he began educating himself about every aspect of MS. “I didn’t know much about MS at this point, but I stopped in at MSAA in Cherry Hill, NJ and they were able to provide me with books, magazines, and told me about an upcoming lecture on the history of medical treatments for MS,” says Justin.

Then Justin decided to participate in MSAA’s Swim for MS fundraising initiative, where he dove into action to help raise awareness and funds to support individuals, like him, who are living with MS. Justin and his wife Julie joined volunteers all across the country who have created their own swim challenge while recruiting online donations to support the vital programs and services offered by MSAA. Justin and his family surpassed their goal, adding to the more than $320,000 that has been raised through Swim for MS.

“We swam all over South Jersey in pools, lakes, and the ocean. Together we swam over 13 miles. By swimming, we can raise awareness about this incurable disease, and provide help to those who need it most. Our fundraising efforts can provide cooling vests, wheelchairs, fund MRI’s, and educational programs and services.”

Thank you Justin for being a part of Swim for MS and supporting our many vital services. Thank you Philadelphia Flyers for recognizing one of the many heroes who give back to their communities! Go Flyers!

To read more about Justin and his Swim for MS challenge or to make a donation, please visit his Swim for MS webpage.

*About Kimberly

I am the Senior Director of Development at MSAA and have worked in the nonprofit arena for over 15 years. I love reading, running, theatre and the Green Bay Packers. I volunteer with the Disabled American Veterans teaching outdoor sports like skiing and kayaking to injured veterans and find that I receive much more from them than I am able to give.

Monday is a Day of Service

Posted on January 16, 2015 by MSAA

by Kimberly Goodrich, CFRE, Senior Director of Development

In 1994, Congress declared the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King to be a day of service. Each year, citizens all across the country honor Dr. King’s memory by participating in acts of service that benefit their community. This Monday, January 19th, we encourage you to help improve lives today for the multiple sclerosis community as your act of service.

Start volunteering today!

Need some ideas to help the MS community?

1. Donate your time by creating a fundraising event to benefit MSAA.
2. Participate in Swim for MS.
3. Make a purchase from a company that supports charitable causes.
4. Make a monetary contribution.
5. Sign up for our Street Squad program and begin spreading the word about MSAA.
6. Perform random acts of kindness for someone in your community.

We would love to hear how you are spending your Monday. Let us know what fun activities you’ll be doing either here or on our Facebook page.

*About Kimberly

High Performing Charity

Posted on December 19, 2014 by MSAA

by Kimberly Goodrich, CFRE, Senior Director of Development

In our continued quest to show our donors the impact of their support, the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) has been working with the various charity watchdogs to ensure that we are doing our best to communicate that we are worthy of your donations, and that we are working to meet our mission. The most prominent charity watchdogs (GuideStar and Charity Navigator) are working to update and enhance their rating systems to focus less on ratios and more on the impact an organization is having on those who need its services.

America’s Charities is also recognizing those charities that meet the top standards of the different watchdog agencies through their High Performing Charities Initiative. This new program recognizes those nonprofits that have reached the highest levels of accountability, transparency and impact as set by the leading charity rating agencies.

MSAA is proud to announce that we have been recognized as a High Performing Charity by America’s Charities. To earn this distinction we have reached the highest levels as determined by each of the charity rating agencies.

1. We are a member of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance having met all 20 Standards for Charity Accountability in the areas of governance and oversight, measuring effectiveness, finances, fundraising, and informational materials.

2. We have achieved Gold level status with GuideStar for our commitment to transparency. This site also includes our current impact goals and progress toward those goals.

3. Charity Navigator has awarded MSAA with a three star rating based on their assessment of how efficiently we use resources to fulfill our mission, how well we have sustained our programs and services over time and our level of commitment to being accountable and transparent.

Last year your support led directly to helping more people improve their lives. Our toll-free Helpline assisted 6% more people compared to the previous year. We provided ongoing MRI assistance to 9% more people, and diagnostic MRI assistance to 70% more people than the year before. Thank you for being a part of the conversation over the last year and helping us to refine how we communicate our impact. And thank you for trusting MSAA to turn your support into services that directly improve the lives of those living with MS.

Support from our donors is always appreciated! If you would like to donate to MSAA, you may do so here.

*About Kimberly

The Overhead Solution

Posted on November 14, 2014 by MSAA

by Kimberly Goodrich, CFRE, Senior Director of Development

Several of my articles and posts have focused on the Overhead Myth – the commonly held belief that financial ratios are the sole indicator of a nonprofit’s performance. Over the last year, it has become widely agreed that stars and ratios do not clearly communicate a nonprofit’s impact or show that we are meeting our mission.

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America has joined BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator and GuideStar in the pledge to end the Overhead Myth and move toward an Overhead Solution. Instead of focusing on the percentage of charity’s expenses that go to administrative and fundraising costs-commonly referred to as “overhead”-we need to focus on what really matters: trustworthiness and performance.

Last year, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar, and Charity Navigator, published an open letter to the donors of America denouncing the use of the “overhead ratio” as the sole indicator of nonprofit performance. The letter, signed by all three organizations’ CEOs, marked the beginning of a campaign to correct the common misconception about the importance of a low overhead ratio.

A new open letter, published in October on www.overheadmyth.com, educates and encourages nonprofits to work towards an Overhead Solution. Specifically, the letter asks nonprofits to do three things, “(1) demonstrate ethical practice and share data about performance (2) manage towards results and understand your true costs and (3) help educate funders on the real costs of results.” The letter goes on to provide resources to help nonprofits in this critical endeavor to measure and report on what matters most.

Join us in spreading the word about this important topic. Nonprofits and their supporters are encouraged to learn from and share the latest Overhead Myth letter. We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. As always, please contact us if you have any questions at all.

Thank you for your support in this effort.

*About Kimberly

Let Us Help You Help Others.

Posted on July 28, 2014 by MSAA

by Kimberly Goodrich, CFRE, Senior Director of Development

In previous blog posts and articles in our magazine The Motivator, I have addressed the controversy over whether charity ratings are really helpful in giving a true picture of an organization’s effectiveness in meeting their mission.

Earlier this month, I attended a luncheon on this topic with Steve Nardizzi, CEO of Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). Nardizzi gave several examples where ratings from charity watchdogs were not helpful in determining if an organization is meeting its mission. In some cases the ratings were even misleading. One example was the Central Asia Institute, formerly run by Greg Mortenson co-author of Three Cups of Tea. When Mortenson was ordered to pay back over one million dollars in misused funds, his organization had a four star rating. How does this help us decide where our dollars should go?

This makes it harder for the donor. There is no one single number that tells us if an organization is doing a good job or not. We need to dig deeper and ask questions about goals and impact – not ratios. Ask about the people they help. Is that number growing? Are they feeding more people? Saving more forests?

WWP continues to grow despite mediocre ratings. Why? Because its supporters see the incredible impact they are having on the lives of wounded veterans. Eight years ago they had higher ratings, but only 10 million to spend on programs. By making a conscious effort to invest in fundraising, marketing, and staff, they now have lower ratings, but spend 176 million on programs for veterans. By ignoring the ratings and focusing their resources on their mission, more veterans are helped. And really, isn’t that what it’s all about?

At MSAA our mission is to improve the lives of those living with MS. Like WWP, the amount we spent on fundraising went up. Some think this is bad. However, this increased fundraising helped our overall rating to go up. This increase in fundraising led to a significant increase in revenue (16.5% growth last year). This increased revenue in turn allowed us to help more people living with MS. Our toll-free Helpline assisted 6% more people. We provided ongoing MRI assistance to 9% more people, and diagnostic MRI assistance to 70% more people than the year before. Our mobile phone app was downloaded by an additional 7,000 people who now use it to track their symptoms and improve their daily lives. These are increases we are proud of and that make the decision to invest in additional fundraising streams worthwhile.

What numbers would mean the most to you? How do you think we should decide if an organization is meeting its mission and therefore worthy of our donations? We’d like to hear your thoughts. Help us help you to help others.

*About Kimberly

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