Tips on preparing for events

As those running non-profit organisations know, events are an important part of the lifecycle of a non-profit organisation.

Events need to be held for a variety of reasons… to raise funds, to raise awareness, as a volunteer recruitment drive, or alternatively, such events could be something that the organisation must do, by virtue of the objects set out in its Constitution.

Either way, when it comes to organising the event, things can get a little chaotic, to put it mildly, haha! :-)

Especially when your organisation is small and volunteer-run, without any full-time staff.  The founders, office bearers and volunteers will find themselves running around to sort everything out to prepare for the event, from A to Z.

So when you’re relying on volunteers to help get stuff done, co-ordination is key. It really does help to spend some time thinking about and planning for the event in advance, and to do up some checklists.

Now the really good thing about checklists is they can be watsapped (yes, you can watsapp PDF documents J), emailed  or printed out for all the volunteers and persons in charge of the various jobs and tasks, thus keeping everyone in the loop as to what needs to be done before, during and after the event.

Here are some tips to help you plan your next event using some checklists that I have found helpful.

A.Sample Pre-Event Checklist 

NO.	ITEM	DESCRIPTION	TASK LEADER	DEADLINE
1	Pre event publicity	Send out invitations or info via email to members and volunteers, upload info to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.	[Insert volunteer’s name]	To be completed by [insert date]
		Invite press	[Insert volunteer’s name]	To be completed by [insert date]
2	RSVP’s	Follow up with invited guests, press, etc	[Insert volunteer’s name]	To be completed by [insert date]
3	[Item]	[description]	[Insert volunteer’s name]	To be completed by [insert date]

B.Sample Event Itinerary for the day itself

 It’s best if the checklist for the day of the event itself, replaces “Deadline” with “Time”.

NO.	ITEM	DESCRIPTION	TASK LEADER	TIME
1	Pre event set-up	Prep the location, put up all buntings, publicity materials, prepare refreshments, get things ready for kick off	[Insert volunteer’s name]	Set up to be completed by [Insert time] am/pm
2	Welcoming guests	Ensure that guests and visitors are taken care of, shown where to go, as given copies of promotional material, etc.	[Insert volunteer’s name]	Volunteers to be at their post by [Insert time] am/pm
3	[Item]	[description]	[Insert volunteer’s name]	[  ]  to be completed by [Insert time] am/pm

C.Post Event Checklist

NO.	ITEM	DESCRIPTION	TASK LEADER	DEADLINE
1	Post event publicity	Upload photos of the event, commentaries etc to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.	[Insert volunteer’s name]	To be completed by [insert date]
2	Thank you’s, acknowledgements, etc.	Send thank you notes or acknowledgements to donors, visitors etc	[Insert volunteer’s name]	To be completed by [insert date]
3	[Item]	[description]	[Insert volunteer’s name]	To be completed by [insert date]

Hopefully, the above templates will be helpful to you in planning your non-profit organisation’s next event J.

Comments, questions or requests to cover particular topics, email me at spiralcraft1701@gmail.com.

Tips on managing a shared email account for volunteer-run non profit organisations

Non profit organisations rely on email to manage lots of things - communications with existing and potential members and volunteers, CSR partners, sponsors, donors and other stakeholders, and also regulatory agencies or local authorities.

And generally, one non-profit organisation has 1 email account. It could be a gmail, yahoo or other web-based mail account, and one of the founders or volunteers usually sets it up, creating a shared password and User ID. 

That part is simple enough, but if your organisation is a small and largely volunteer-run, it's also worth putting some thought into how best to manage the emails that come into it. 

The first point to consider is that there's likely to be more than 1 person accessing it. For example, different office bearers and volunteers might be working on different projects, yet all using the same email address. This could be tricky, as you might miss an email that you were meant to respond to, as it got lost amongst all the emails meant for other persons in that same inbox.

To pre-empt or overcome problems like these, here are some simple tips that hopefully get you on top of your inbox in no time! :-)

First, assign categories of emails. It's probably easiest to do this by "Sender", ie. Category 1 : Donors, Category 2 : Stakeholders, Category 3 : Volunteers & Members,  Category 4 : Regulatory Authorities, etc.

Next, decide which of the volunteers/office bearers will handle what, and ensure that each person knows their assigned category. For example, if you will be managing online donations and membership subscriptions, then you know that all emails on that topic are for your action only.

Once you've done the above, a few more simple rules will round off the process. First, make sure all persons in charge know that if an email is not for them, they must leave it "unread" or if they do wish to read it, they should take the additional step of marking it "unread" so that its intended recipient, will see it as unread until he/she opens it and takes action on it.

Finally, develop the practice of checking through the "Send" box before responding to any email. This is just in case, someone else has mistakenly assumed that the contents of that email fell under their assigned category, and has answered it already. Nothing would be more confusing to a recipient than to receive two different emails appearing to have been written by two different people, both covering the same subject matter, from the same email account! :-)

Hope the above tips are helpful :-) Comments, questions or requests to cover particular topics, email me at spiralcraft1701@gmail.com.

Setting up branches - To Do or Not To Do?

So, let's say your small non-profit organisation is doing well, and attracting a lot of interest from volunteers and others. Given the reach of social media, you could well have a large following of friends and supporters on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Many of them turn up for events and drop by to volunteer regularly.

But what about those who are not based in the same state? For example, if your organisation is based in the Klang Valley, and your activities are carried out here, what about friends and supporters from other states?

Inevitably, you'll receive questions like "I want to join your organisation but I live in [         ]. How can I still participate? Do you have a presence in my city that I can get involved in?". In fact, die-hard enthusiasts might even say "If you don't have a presence in my city, a few friends and I would be happy to set one up. We will use your logo and name, and we will run it in our city".

Now, this may sound like an excellent idea as of course, nothing makes the founders of a non-profit organisation happier than having our non-profit organisation grow and our concept replicated across different geographical regions, allowing us to reach an even larger target audience.

It's all good, right? :-)

Well.. er..not quite so fast.:-) It depends on how your organisation (the parent organisation) is set up. If, (as is mostly the case) your non-profit organisation is a registered society under the Societies Act, 1966, setting up a branch is a rather complicated process.

Firstly, as a matter of policy, if your society is a registered society, you should NOT allow any other organisation to use your logo. This is because any organisation using your logo, is "deemed" by the Registry of Socieites, to be a branch of your organisation. In fact, any other organisation that is "in any way subordinate" to yours, could be deemed to be a branch.

Section 12 (5) of the Societies Act 1966 states : For the purpose of this section, a branch of a registered society includes any society which is in any way subordinate to another society.
And, a registered society cannot set up a branch as of right. There is a list of regulations to be complied with first and, the Registry of Societies must give its approval for the setting up of a branch. A registered society that tries to open a branch without permission contravenes the Societies Act is deemed to be an unlawful society and could face a range of penalties, including cancellation of the registration of the society.

In summary, the registered society has to first amend its constitution to include a provision enabling the setting up of branches. The constitution can only be amended at an Emergency General Meeting (EGM), so one needs to be convened. More information on how to amend a Constitution is available here, though the procedure has been simplified via the use of the online portal, eROSes. And even if the members vote in favour of the amendment during the EGM with a view to setting up branches, the Registry of Societies has the final say in deciding whether or not a registered society may open a branch.

Go to : http://www.ros.gov.my/index.php/my/perkhidmatan

1.	PENDAHULUAN
	Pertubuhan yang berdaftar di bawah Akta Pertubuhan 1966 boleh menubuhkan cawangan hanya jika: (a)Undang-undang berdaftarnya mengandungi peruntukan penubuhan cawangan; dan (b)Kebenaran bagi menubuhkan cawangan telah diperolehi terlebih dahulu daripada Pendaftar Pertubuhan.

3.	CAWANGAN PERTUBUHAN
		Pertubuhan yang berdaftar di bawah Seksyen 7(1), Akta Pertubuhan 1966 yang mana undang-undangnya termaktub peruntukan penubuhan cawangan boleh menubuhkan cawangannya dengan terlebih dahulu memohon kebenaran daripada Pendaftar Pertubuhan di bawah Seksyen 12(1), Akta Pertubuhan 1966.
4.		CARA MEMOHON MENUBUHKAN CAWANGAN
		4.1 Tiap-tiap permohonan untuk kebenaran menubuhkan cawangan hendaklah dibuat oleh Pertubuhan Induk. 4.2 Borang permohonan untuk kebenaran penubuhan cawangan (Borang 5) boleh dimuat turun secara percuma di sini atau diperolehi daripada Ibu Pejabat dan mana-mana Jabatan Negeri. 4.3 Tiap-tiap permohonan hendaklah mengandungi perkara-perkara berikut:
	(a) salinan borang permohonan Borang 5 – Kebenaran Menubuhkan Cawangan yang disahkan dan ditandatangani oleh 2 orang pemegang jawatan utama Pertubuhan Induk. Pemegang jawatan utama bermaksud Presiden/Yang DiPertua/Pengerusi, Timbalan Presiden/Timbalan Yang DiPertua/Timbalan Pengerusi, Naib Presiden/Naib Yang DiPertua/Naib Pengerusi, Setiausaha dan Bendahari. (b)surat kebenaran menggunakan alamat daripada tuan punya alamat, jika berkenaan. (Jika menggunakan alamat pejabat, sekolah, hospital, ladang, syarikat atau kilang, surat kebenaran majikan/tuan punya alamat hendaklah disertakan); dan   (c) Fi pemprosesan berjumlah RM10.00 dalam bentuk wang tunai/bank draf/kiriman wang atas nama Pendaftar sekiranya permohonan dihantar ke Ibu Pejabat Jabatan Pendaftaran Pertubuhan Malaysia atau Penolong Pendaftar sekiranya permohonan dihantar ke Jabatan Pendaftaran Pertubuhan Negeri

Assuming your organisation did opt to go through the process of setting up branches and obtained the relevant approvals from the Registry of Societies, bear in mind that in accordance with various other provisions of the Societies Act, 1966, the audited accounts of all the branches need to be consolidated, and reporting in terms of annual returns and other filings with ROS need to be done on a consolidated basis.

This immediately throws up practical hurdles, as it means that the "branch" is not separate from the main organisation. As far as the regulators are concerned, both organisations are linked and are viewed as a single entity at the macro level. As such, the main organisation and its "branches" should have centralised financial processing and operational systems.

Which brings us to the next point - assuming that your organisation is small, volunteer-run and does not have a full-time secretariat or any paid staff for that matter, how will your organisation monitor and oversee the day-to-day activities of the branches? This is especially critical in the area of financial management, as both the main organisation and the branches are dealing with donated public funds. As the main organisation is ultimately responsible for the consolidated financial reporting of the Group, your organisation needs to exercise at least some supervision, over the finances and other activities of the branches.

So for a small, volunteer-run non-profit organisation therefore, I would not recommend the setting up of branches just yet. Perhaps a little later on, once you've been able to build up your organisation in terms of funding and manpower. In the meantime, do encourage people to set up their own societies in other states and cities (just under a different name, and not using your logo or one that resembles yours). You could always provide them with guidance in how to do it in fact, since you've already been through the process of setting up yours. There could be opportunities for co-branding or using a tagline such as "Friends of Society X" to show that there is an informal affiliation between the 2 organisations. Just do not enter into any arrangement that might cause the 2nd organisation, to be a deemed a branch of yours.

Comments, questions or requests to cover particular topics, email me at spiralcraft1701@gmail.com.