Revised on June, 17 2020
New information and legislation surrounding COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus) is coming out daily as the situation rapidly changes. PBPA, with our staff and network of dedicated volunteers, are working hard to keep you up-to-date on all the legal questions you might have for your nonprofit organization. There is a vast number of resources available online. Below is a short list of resources we would recommend to Georgia nonprofits and links that will lead you to more information.
RE-OPENING AND BACK-TO-WORK
Podcast: Safety Considerations As Your Nonprofit Employees Return to Work
Transitioning Employees Back to Work
Are Clients and Volunteers Coming Back to Your Facility?
Webcast: Syncing COVID-19 Employment Policies and Practices with your Existing Policies
Building Readiness: Reopening Our Doors Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) by CAPLaw
Do You Need to Report Workplace COVID-19 Cases to OSHA?
Questionnaire for Volunteers, Clients and Other Visitors Returning to Your Nonprofit Facilities
CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT (CARES)
The CARES Act was signed into federal law on March 25, 2020 to provide nonprofits with economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, including forgivable loans.
Coronavirus Emergency Loans Guide by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans & CARES Payroll Protection Program
PBPA Chart Comparing Loan Options
Some Good News for Nonprofits: The CARES Act Encourages Charitable Giving
Paycheck Protection Program Articles, Webcasts and Resources
FAMILIES FIRST CORONOVIRUS RESPONSE ACT (FFCRA)
The FFCRA was signed into law on March 18, 2020 to provide emergency benefits to employees and tax credits for small employers.
Webcast: COVID 19 Navigating Changes for Employers in the Nonprofit Workplace
FAQs by U.S. Department of Labor and Article Clarifying the Department of Labor’s Temporary Regulations
Form Policy for your Nonprofit
Posters to Provide Notices To Employees
Another Option for Nonprofits Struggling to Keep Employees: Employee Retention Credit
IRS Flow Chart for ERC and FFCRA Employment Tax Credits
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
State Requirements for Partial Unemployment Benefits
Georgia Department of Labor Updates on Distributing CARES Act Unemployment Benefits
Suggestions for Applications for Unemployment Benefits
Georgia Separation Notice Required for Any Separation from Employment
BEST PRACTICES TO KEEP IN MIND DURING PANDEMIC
PBPA Podcast: The Role of a Nonprofit Board During COVID-19
IRS’s Updates on Tax Obligations
Webcast: Insurance and Pandemics, Fires, Floods and Other Disasters
PBPA Podcast: COVID-19 Contract Cancellations
RESOURCES FROM THE COMMUNITY
Georgia Centers for Nonprofits: Nonprofit Guide to COVID Planning and Funding & Aid Opp
Cleaning Considerations: Disinfectants Recommended by the EPA and Cleaning Guidelines from the CDC
Revised on April, 2 2020
New information and legislation surrounding COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus) is coming out daily as the situation rapidly changes. PBPA, with our staff and network of dedicated volunteers, are working hard to keep you up-to-date on all the legal questions you might have for your nonprofit organization. There is a vast number of resources available online. Below is a short list of resources we would recommend to Georgia nonprofits and links that will lead you to more information.
CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF, AND ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT (CARES)
The CARES Act was signed into federal law on March 25, 2020 to provide nonprofits with economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, including forgivable loans.
Coronavirus Emergency Loans Guide by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans & CARES Payroll Protection Program
PBPA Webcast Answering your SBA EIDLs and CARES PPP Questions
PBPA Chart Comparing Loan Options
FAMILIES FIRST CORONOVIRUS RESPONSE ACT (FFCRA)
The FFCRA was signed into law on March 18, 2020 to provide emergency benefits to employees and tax credits for small employers.
FAQs by U.S. Department of Labor Article Clarifying the Department of Labor’s Temporary Regulations
Form Policy for your Nonprofit
Posters to Provide Notices To Employees
Article on Tax Credits Available
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
State Requirements for Partial Unemployment Benefits
Webcast co-presented by PBPA & Georgia Center for Nonprofits
BEST PRACTICES TO KEEP IN MIND DURING PANDEMIC
Corporate Governance During a Pandemic
IRS’s Updates on Tax Obligations
Webcast on Insurance Considerations
Meeting Cancellations and Contracts During COVID-19
RESOURCES FROM THE COMMUNITY
Georgia Centers for Nonprofits: Nonprofit Guide to COVID Planning
Atlanta BeltLine: Business Resources During COVID-19
CDCs: Guidance for Employers to Plan and Respond and Guidance for Your Community Organization
For specific questions related to your nonprofit and its legal concerns during COVID-19, please reach out to your PBPA attorney.
You want your customers to love you? Right? We all do. But before you can get your beloved customers and potential customers to love you, you have to really know who they are and what they desire. I often work with business owners to help them figure out who their ideal customers are. You’d be surprised how often we figure out that their ideal customer is not exactly who was first imagined. By doing a few exercises and some research, we are typically able to pinpoint the traits of the perfect customer and then build a fabulous brand based on that customer’s needs and wants. Here’s my process and an examples to get you started.
Determine the problem you solve
One of the first and often challenging steps of building a brand is figuring out exactly what problem(s) your business solves. Before you think “I just have a blog.” or “I just sell handbags,” remember that all businesses solve a problem. Some are critical issues like providing medical care. Your local doctor or medical practice obviously solves this problem by providing preventative care when you are well and medical care when you are ill. Others businesses solve problems that may not be as critical in nature, but are still important. You purchase clothing from our favorite fashion boutique because the clothing they sell fits you well and makes you feel confident. Your problem may be you don’t have clothes to wear to work for fall. Your favorite store solves the problem. Let’s look at the rest of this exercise from the view point of a fictitious business called Lilly’s Boutique.
[Read more…]
A few weeks ago I shared to my email subscribers how I struggled to create content for my own website, although I used to work professionally as a content producer. Crazy, huh? When it came to creating content for my own social media channels and blogs, I really had a hard time. I knew exactly what to do – I just didn’t apply the same principles and strategies I had used when content creation was my full time job. I thought I could wing it and that was a huge problem.
It’s easy to shortcut tasks in your own business, a mistake I see many entrepreneurs make. Sometimes writing blogs and posting to social media channels falls to the bottom of your to-do list and for many, this causes a lot of frustration and anxiety. This post is less about the technical and strategic thinking around blogging, and more about the emotions and energy around creating content. Once you get past some of the emotional roadblocks, you can focus on blogging and creating content to build your brand.
- If your time is limited you have to be strategic about the posts you create. That means you want to go for quality, not quantity.
- Free yourself of the guilt. Don’t beat yourself up if you have times where you can’t blog or posts. Always remember there are people who can blog and post more than you. Don’t compare yourself to others. Find a pace and rhythm that is comfortable for you – that may be once a day, once a week. There is no right answer.
- Don’t try to be everywhere all the time. Decide which channels help you achieve your goals and build your content plan around those channels.
- Focus on creating the content types that you are passionate about. For some that will mean writing blogs, for others, that will be videos and blogging. Still others may enjoy creating visual content.
I’ve taken the tools I used to turn around my own content creation woes and put them in an easy to follow book. If you are feeling guilt because you know you need to be blogging or posting but aren’t this is for you!
Remix: Your Guide to Creating and Mixing Online Content to Build Your Brand is now available for digital download. It approaches content creation from the vantage point of a busy entrepreneur, with both strategy and easy to follow activities to help you create and grow your online presence. Follow the link to get your copy now.
I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few weeks checking out Periscope and I am pretty excited about it. What is Periscope, you ask? It’s a newish live broadcasting app that was recently acquired by Twitter. Periscope allows content creators to instantly broadcast video with their phone from anywhere and to anyone in the world. Viewers can watch live broadcasts from across the world.
What Makes Periscope Cool
- Periscope allows users to broadcast live from anywhere by simply using their mobile phone. That means no equipment or mics and allows for both spontaneous and planned broadcasts.
- Periscope adds the power of video to the real time features that Twitter is popular for. Broadcasters can create vlogs, show off their vacation or film real time events as they unwind.
How to Get Started Using Periscope
- Download the Periscope app. It’s available on both the iTunes store and Google Play.
- Sign up for a Periscope account using your Twitter ID.
- When you login, you’ll see a list of live broadcasts that you can view.
- Follow friends and influencers. Be sure to enable notifications on your mobile device. Broadcasts are typically short and often spontaneous so notifications will alert you when people you follow are live.
- Like a broadcast you are watching? Tap the screen to add hearts and show your love for the broadcast.
- Tap on the Say Something message to send quick messages to the broadcaster.
How to Get Started Broadcasting on Periscope
- Access the broadcast tab by tapping on the menu.
- Before you broadcast, you can tweet that you’re going live to your followers.
- You will have an opportunity to describe your broadcast before you get started.
- You can make videos public or private to select viewers.
- Replays are available for 24 hours. When you finish your broadcast, you can replay it and save the broadcast to your camera roll.
Tips for Periscope Success
- Interact with your audience. Introduce yourself and field questions and comments as they come in.
- Viewers are watching Periscope broadcasts on their mobile devices so keep them short.
- Optimize content by making sure your title is descriptive and by utilizing hashtags.
- Keep it social by following others, watching their broadcasts
I’m excited to see you on Periscope. Follow me @kiadolby and drop me a line to let me know your Periscope adventures.
This post is an online celebration of my business rebrand. Consider this your invitation to the party! I am super excited about my results and the new direction of my business and my rebranding story. I created this post to share my rebranding story and what I have learned, as well as some tips and resources for you to use if you want to refresh your current brand or rebrand your business altogether. If you are new to business, you can use this guide as well!
What is a brand?
Before we talk about rebranding, let’s cover what branding is and isn’t. Your branding isn’t just a logo. It is all the elements that convey your business’s unique message or story and includes your visual identity and your messaging. In essence, it’s the overall experience you create for your customers and clients.
Why refresh or rebrand your business?
There are a lot of reasons you might want to refresh or rebrand your business.
- Your current branding is not delivering results. You aren’t converting potential clients into customers or website visitors into
- You’ve outgrown your current branding. Your business direction has changed. You feel like you are trying to make your old branding fit your new direction but it just doesn’t.
- You’ve changed your business processes or how you work with clients.
- You want to grow your business or appeal to a new customer demographic.
- It’s just old. Time has passed, trends have changed, and you feel like it’s just time to make some updates.
Anyone who knows me knows that one thing that I don’t lack, is ideas for new business endeavors. I even (seriously) joked with a friend about opening a business that provided business ideas for others. I love being creative and having multiple passions, but as many know, that creative trait also has its down sides. Too many great ideas pursued at one time can be disastrous (been there, done that). Over the years I’ve become better about strategically pursuing my passions in a way that is smarter and not as scattered. I’m sharing things that have helped me in hopes that you can benefit from them as well.
Write a personal mission statement
Your personal mission statement will help you determine what’s most important to you: Is it freedom? Helping others? Becoming wealthy? Being able to travel? Your mission statement may grow and change over time, but typically will reflect your values and ambitions.
Document your top projects and passions
Make a list of projects and passions you are working on or want to pursue. After you make a list of your passions, determine which ones line up most with your mission statement. You may have a few that don’t really align with your overall mission statement, and that’s fine too. It doesn’t mean those ideas aren’t important or worth pursuing, but maybe just a lower priority. Your top priorities are generally the ones most in alignment or things that help you achieve the things that you’ve noted in your mission statement.
Make a business idea checklist
Before beginning any new idea, you’ll want to ask yourself a few questions:
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I love to buy products that come in pretty packages. My favorites are cosmetics and stationery, but I can be a sucker for anything that’s wrapped up nicely because the packaging can make whatever is inside seem very exciting. It’s easy to create a pretty package when giving a gift or even when have a physical product to sell a real, but it’s much harder to package your service offerings in a way that makes them appealing. A great service offering clearly states what you do and showcases your skills in aptitudes in a way that shows your value so that makes customers engage your services and you make money. I’ve met many entrepreneurs who have great ideas, but struggle with packaging their own services. I wanted to share with you a few ideas that may be help you create your first service offering.
Build packages around customer pain points.
Your business has to solve a problem, so it makes sense to package services accordingly to the solution you provide. Determine the top issues your customers have and create packages that help alleviate those issues. For instance, if you are a fitness coach, you may know that your customers struggle with making time to exercise, so perhaps your service package offers VIP customers flexible workout times or home visits. Your flexible scheduling and in-home service offerings addresses the pain point of time.
Think of service tiers
When you go to a car wash, there are probably several tiers or services you can get for car care: basic, for a quick wash and vacuum; a mid-tier package that may include the basics and a tire care; and a luxury package that might include a car wash, interior shampoo, tire care and wax. Consider using this model to develop your service packages. Tiered packages give you a way to reach customers with a variety of budgets, timeline or needs.
[Read more…]
Do you like color, love picking hues for your home, can coordinate your wardrobe like a pro – but have a hard time selecting colors for your own brand? If so, this post is for you. I frequently get asked by people struggling to pick colors for their website or brand about my process for creating color palettes. So I thought I would share some of the things I do when creating a color palette, as well as a few of my favorite resources.
Get started by doing research (the fun kind)
I like to do as much research as I can to understand the industry and business that I am working in. It’s good to see what’s typical of other business in the industry and evaluate what the competition is doing in terms of color usage and styling – even if I choose to do something completely different.
Be the brand
I spend a lot of time looking at the brand holistically. What is the missions and purpose of the business/brand? Who is the target customer/audience? What do you ultimately want the customer to do? The answers to these questions will help determine what mood we need to convey with the colors, (for instance-happy, corporate, conservative, youthful). [Read more…]
