In this Must Know…
- Data Collection Demystified, A Webinar
- Prosperity Now Scorecard – A Regional Look
- Take Action: District Meetings!
- The Goodies – This week’s highlight is the release of the RFP for the $20 million in state investment in small business development on Monday, July 16, 2018with details on how to register for a pre-bid webinar on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, at 10:00 AM. Mark your calendars!
Data Collection Demystified, A Webinar
Register for Data Collection: Make the Case for Funding and Get It Right From Intake To Reporting on Thursday, July 19, 2018, at 2:00 pm.
It’s your favorite time of the year! Data Collection Time! If it’s not, why not? Your impact data proves your value to your funders and constituents and helps you to build the best organization possible. Fantastic!
The actual nuts and bolts of gathering data can be difficult if you don’t build them into your program from the beginning. To help you with this year’s data collection process, we’ve brought together the experts to explain the benefits of good data collection and demystify the process.
- Sharon Miller, CEO of Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, will illustrate the benefits that her organization has received from an emphasis on good data collection.
- Kate Shepherd, also from Renaissance, will explain how to incorporate data collection into your daily client support.
- Joyce Klein from FIELD at the Aspen Institute discusses what to do with that data when you’ve got it, and how your organization’s data can help make the case for the sector as a whole.
Register for Data Collection: Make the Case for Funding and Get It Right From Intake To Reporting on Thursday, July 19, 2018, at 2:00 pm.
Prosperity Now Scorecard – A Regional Look
A few months ago we shared with you Prosperity Now’s 2018 Scorecard, which looked at economic and policy indicators by state and overall in the U.S. California is ranked 27th out of 50 states on outcomes such as financial assets and income, business ownership and jobs, housing, healthcare, and education. Our state adopted 27 out of 53 possible policies that can help with income and wealth equality. In terms of business ownership and jobs, California ranked 12 out of 50 and got a “B” grade on policy.
They’ve now released the Scorecard’s local data, with a database that is broken down by the city, Congressional district, and even tribal area. Daniela, our communications guru, looked at the data for four of the largest metropolitan areas – Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose – and observed the following highlights:
- All four of the metro areas have a higher racial and gender parity than the rest of the state and country when it comes to business value.
- All four metro areas have higher unemployment rates compared to the rest of the country, but San Francisco and San Jose fared better than the rest of California.
- When it comes to homeownership, which is often the first step to launching a microbusiness, California’s metropolitan areas are doing much worse than the rest of the country.
Read more of what Daniela found and download the regional reports by checking out our blog post “Prosperity Now’s 2018 Scorecard: A Look At California’s Metro Areas.”
Take Action: District Meetings!
CAMEO advocates every day for micro-businesses and you – the people who serve them. This week, your state legislators went home to the district for a month and we need you to chime in on some state efforts. A bill is working its way through the legislature and contains language that concerns us. On the surface, SB 1235 is a great bill – a truth-in-lending bill for small business loans. However, along the way, it was amended in a way that will confuse small business borrowers as to their financing options, not make them more clear.
This week, we are meeting with a couple of legislators to see if we can amend it back to being a great bill and then we’ll know more of what our exact strategy will be, but for now we are asking you to contact your assemblymembers today or tomorrow and set up a district meeting with them. Once you have, let us know and we will send you talking points and background information.
Here are some resources to help you prepare for your meeting:
- Find your California State Legislators
- Guide to Meeting with Legislators
- District Meeting How-to Webinar
You can also thank them for passing a state California budget that has a whole lot of good things included in it for local economic development including $23 million for small business technical assistance.
And one more action to take: CalNonprofits is on record urging the legislature not to pass AB 888 to extend these raffles until the Department of Justice conducts an audit of the practices and impacts of the last two years of 50/50 major league sports raffles. Please join CalNonprofits, the American Legion of California, and the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations in opposing this bill. (Click the link to add your organization’s name to the letter) by Monday, July 23, 2018.
The Goodies
New opportunities for training, conference information, funding, scholarships, and other information that have crossed our desks since the last Must Know. I have posted a running tab of current Industry Goodies on the CAMEO website that lists items that were in past emails. Check it out to make sure you’re not missing anything, like grants whose deadlines are still alive!
Industry News: SheaMoisture haircare and skincare products founder Richelieu Dennis announced a $100 million fund for women entrepreneurs of color at the 2018 Essence Festival.
State Funding Opportunity: The RFP for the $20 million in state investment in small business development is slated to be released on Monday, July 16, 2018. The details of the program will be discussed during a pre-bid webinar on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, at 10:00 AM. Details about the webinar and how to register will be provided in the RFP. Mark your calendars!
Professional Development: Become a CBA Credit as an Asset Master Trainer. Through CBA’s Master Trainer Certification program, experienced credit building practitioners become credentialed to deliver ‘Credit as an Asset’ training to financial coaches, counselors, and other professionals who support low-income and underserved communities in building strong credit profiles. Applications are due July 19, 2018.
Professional Opportunity: Nominations are open for OFN’s Board of Directors until July 20, 2018. Read a recap of their 7th annual Small Business Finance Forum.
For Your Clients: California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce is hosting a webinar – “Contracting with Corporate America” on Thursday, July 19, 2018, 10:00-10: 45 am PDT.
Funding Opportunity: AEO will open applications for The Tapestry Project on July 17, 2018. The project includes two opportunities: 1) Tapestry Project Innovation Registry (TPIR) will register your project to help broaden the reach of your organization’s work to funders, investors and other potential collaborators; and 2) the Tapestry Project Action Lab will support collaborative funding contracts, with awards of up to $50,000, organized around a shared business development objective that addresses the interlinkage of the three barriers for Black businesses reaching their potential. Click on the website for more details including an informational webinar on July 23, 2018.
Professional Opportunity: If you work for a nonprofit and have student loans, you need to know about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. PSLF forgives student loan debt for nonprofit or government employees after 120 qualifying payments (10 years’ worth), as long as they meet a number of additional requirements. CalNonprofits is hosting “How Nonprofit Staff Can Get Student Loan Forgiveness Webinar” on Wednesday, August 1, 2018, 11:00am-12:00 pm PDT
Grant Opportunity: With the support of JPMorgan Chase, NALCAB – National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders will provide grants of $40,000 – $50,000, technical assistance, and training to up to ten non-profit organizations for a period of 18 months to develop and implement data- and community-driven action plans for equitable development. Plans will prevent involuntary displacement and increase access to wealth generating assets for low-income communities through strategies including, but not limited to, affordable housing and/or commercial real estate development, policy development and advocacy, affordable housing and/or small business lending, housing services and programs, small business development, and community engagement. Download the Request for Proposals: Equitable Neighborhood Development Planning. The deadline is August 5, 2018.
For Your (Young) Clients: BizWorld is hosting the Girlpreneur competition during the WorldWideWomen Girls’ Festival at Santa Clara University on Sunday, October 6, 2018. They are inviting girls ages 8-18 to apply to pitch their business ideas to our panel of expert judges and compete for the Grand Prize of $1,000! The application deadline is September 2, 2018.
Professional Conference: Join Prosperity Now’s 2018 Prosperity Summit on September 5-7, 2018 in Maryland.
Got Federal Funds: The US General Services Administration has changed their policies regarding the online System for Award Management. As of April 27th, all users must submit a notarized letter naming an Entity Administrator to the Federal Services Desk in order to activate their sam.gov registration. Any organization applying for federal or state funding through grants.gov is required to have a current registration with sam.gov in order to submit their application, so make sure to check your account! More information, including a template for the notarized letter, click the link.
New Report: The SBA Office of Advocacy Research release “Why Do Businesses Close“, using U.S. Census Bureau data, and found that over the last 25 years, about 7–9 percent of employer firms close every year and a slightly higher share open. Many reasons for closing are personal.
CAMEO Webinar: Technology is changing EVERYTHING. Including business assistance. Our members are having innovative responses to the changing landscape. Learn how several of your peers are developing products and services to respond to the rapid changes in the economy and society. Listen to “Tech Tools: Bringing Business Assistance into the Future.”
Uplifting Read: 7 hopeful things to remember from NonProfit AF.