ALPS Foundation Services offers a variety
of services focused on building organizational capacity for IOLTA
Foundations.
Board Development
A highly-functioning board of directors is important to the
health of your IOLTA foundation. ALPS Foundation Services
provides board development training on board roles and
responsibilities, leadership evaluations, policies and
by-laws, committee structure, action-packed agendas, and
more.
Strategic Planning
What is the long-term
vision of your organization? If you can't spell it out
quickly, you may be lacking a strategic plan. A strategic
plan is important in vesting the board of directors with a sense of
mission and purpose, and is an excellent measuring stick of
organizational progress. The challenge is getting to an
agreed upon strategic plan, given the differing opinions of board
members, staff, volunteers, and donors. ALPS Foundation Services
can guide you through the process.
Retreat and Meeting Facilitation
ALPS Foundation Services facilitates board retreats and meetings
for IOLTA foundations. Our experience has shown it is often
more effective for a third party to guide certain discussions and
meetings. We aim to achieve results efficiently, while
creating an open forum for the views of all parties
involved.
Board and Committee Support
We support board and committees with meeting agendas, materials,
notes, facilitation, and meeting set-up services.
Staffing
ALPS Foundation Services can staff an IOLTA foundation or a
particular activity in its entirety. For foundations without
full-time staff, ALPS Foundation Services can field all public
requests for information, and those inquiries will be handled in a
timely manner. If your staff is stretched thin at particular
times of the year, or during a particular activity, ALPS Foundation
Services can step in to complete the tasks or activity.
IOLTA Data Management
Our data management services include monitoring financial
institution and attorney compliance with IOLTA rules, providing
reports to boards and committees, and responding to questions about
IOLTA rules and national trends.
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IOLTA Revenue Enhancement
ALPS Foundation Services works specifically with IOLTA
foundations to enhance their IOLTA revenues. As interest
rates fluctuate, foundations find themselves grappling
with insufficient funds. IOLTA
enhancement campaigns increase IOLTA funds through bank
and bar surveys, law firm and bank competitions, and personal
asks. We help your foundation design a campaign that is
practical and will produce big results.
IOLTA enhancement activities provided by ALPS Foundation
Services include developing a yearly plan to improve interest rates
with financial institutions and develop materials for revenue
enhancement activities, including brochures, talking points,
letters to the editor, emails for attorneys and financial
institutions, and article drafts.
Capital and Endowment Campaign Coordination
A capital campaign or endowment campaign is a viable option for
well-developed, healthy organizations. ALPS Foundation
Services assesses the feasibility of capital and endowment
campaigns. Our marketing department can develop case
statements and campaign materials that make an impact on your
audience. We help organizations strategize about how to
market the campaign, and provide coaching on how and when to ask
donors to contribute.
Major Gifts Programs
The ability to launch a new social service project or program
initiative is usually linked to the healthiness of your major gifts
programs. Does your organization have a major gifts program? ALPS
Foundation Services can work with your organization to determine
whether a major gifts program is is a viable option.
Law Firm Campaigns and Fellows Programs
Law firm campaigns and Fellows programs can be the catalyst to
improve lawyer contributions to IOLTA foundations. ALPS
Foundation Services assesses what infrastructure your
foundation needs to undertake a large giving
program. Once the decision is made, ALPS Foundation
Services provides information, best practices, and advice to
ensure the program runs smoothly and is successful from
the start.
Planned Giving
America is about to embark on the greatest intergenerational
transfer of wealth in its history - projected at $41 trillion
transferred via estates over the next fifty years. Has your
organization laid the foundation to benefit from that transfer of
wealth? ALPS Foundation Services can build planned giving
into your fundraising activities.
Donor Cultivation
Using state-of-the-art donor tracking software, ALPS Foundation
Services can track the success of your fundraising activities and
advise your leadership on donor cultivation efforts. The $50 donor
today could be the $200,000 planned gift tomorrow.
Direct and Select Mail Coordination
Cultivating a loyal donor base is critical to ensuring a stable
annual revenue base. ALPS Foundation Services can coordinate
all facets of your direct mail program, and improve your membership
lists in the process.
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Foundations are primarily mission-based organizations, but the
business side requires a great deal of time and thought. ALPS
Foundation Services can manage the details of your Foundation's
finances, including complete bookkeeping and accounting services,
compliance with Form 990 requirements, corporate filings, an other
required informational reporting.
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As grant cycle deadlines approach, IOLTA foundations become
inundated with calls and mail. It takes time -- a lot of time
--to accept applications, screen eligibility, prepare proposal
summaries, respond to applicant inquiries, and draft award and
denial letters.
ALPS Foundation Services provides day-to-day grant maintenance for
your grantmaking program. We offer the following services,
and more:
- Timely response to public requests for foundation guidelines
and application materials
- Reviewing grant applications for completeness
- Screening grant applicants for eligibility
- Preparation of proposal summaries
- Ensuring, if necessary, the leadership capability and financial
soundness of new applicant organizations
- Preparing award and denial letters
- Preparing grant checks for disbursement
- Tracking grantmaking activities
- Scheduling and coordinating trustee meetings
- Tracking grantee compliance and accomplishments, providing
timely updates to trustees
- Coordinating site visits of trustees to grant recipients
The above tasks take time and effort. For small IOLTA
foundations with few or no staff, it can be overwhelming.
ALPS Foundation Services is a cost-efficient alternative that
will pay long-term dividends in the efficiency of your private
foundation, without the need to seek additional staff. Services
provided by ALPS Foundation Services are performed in strict
accordance with guidelines set forth by the foundation's board of
trustees
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