Statement of Purpose

This email list is a discussion forum for the Upper Valley nonprofit organization community to use. It is open to anyone connected with an Upper Valley nonprofit organization who wants to participate. The goal of this discussion list is to offer a place for leaders, staff, board members, and supporters of Upper Valley nonprofit organizations to share ideas and to offer help and guidance about operating nonprofit organizations. It is not intended for the benefit of any one nonprofit organization. It is managed and sponsored by ValleyNet, which is a nonprofit organization located in White River Junction.

Posting Guidelines

The intent is to keep the discussion on and about nonprofits in the Upper Valley. Issues discussed don't need to be unique to nonprofits, but must be specific to nonprofits. Subscribers to the list are assumed to be in agreement about that simple constraint.

If in doubt about whether a topic is appropriate for this list, consider this: If there are state or national online forums, such as email lists, newsgroups, or blogs that address your issue, the topic is most likely better addressed elsewhere. Please keep discussion topics centered on the Upper Valley nonprofit community.

Some examples:

• Assistance with resources for operations. Where does your nonprofit get its discounted office supplies? Who in the Upper Valley offers discounts to nonprofits for accounting services, for website design, for van leasing?
  
  
• Transportation to events. For example, if members of your organization are traveling to the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Annual Meeting in Concord or the Endowment for Health Grantmakers conference in Manchester, might you be interested in carpooling with others?
  
  
• Free or low-cost materials. There are companies in the Upper Valley who donate their older computers to nonprofits - how can you contact them? Are there opportunities for nonprofits to make their needs known, or to make their surplus materials available to other community organizations?
  
  
• Governance. If your organization is working on new bylaws or a privacy statement, might it be useful to share it with other organizations for comments? Sharing concerns. Is your organization worried about a decline in donations, or is it finding that it has fewer volunteers than before? It may be that other organizations have the same issues, and may have come up with some solutions that you can try.

General Discussion List Rules

No abusive or threatening postings will be allowed. This discussion list operates on the assumption that list postings will be civil and respectful to other list members. Anyone engaging in what the administration of ValleyNet considers to be abusive language or threats directed towards another list member will be warned the first time, and will have posting privileges revoked after that. If the first incident is serious enough, the list member will have their posting privileges revoked immediately.

The list is set up primarily for the convenience of those involved in nonprofit activities in the Upper Valley, and is not an appropriate venue for general listings of events, fundraising proposals or solicitations, or ongoing marketing or publicity. The occasional listing of items or services available to the general nonprofit community (desks available for free or surplus computers available for the cost of handling) from other nonprofits will be tolerated. This is not a venue for the ongoing listing of items or services. Please note that it is the intent of this discussion list to center on issues and events directly affecting the nonprofit community.

While anyone is welcome to subscribe to and read these discussions, we ask that only representatives, members, staff, board members, and supporters of nonprofits in the Upper Valley post to this list. It is not a venue for general announcements about Upper Valley events; listings of events taking place in the Upper Valley that have a specific and immediate connection to the nonprofit community are acceptable. Please don't list any fundraising events here.

It is inappropriate to post the content of any private correspondence without the express permission of all correspondents involved.

The administration of ValleyNet, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to warn, suspend, or permanently exclude any list subscriber for any abuse or infringement of these list rules and guidelines, depending upon the severity of the infraction. To contact ValleyNet with comments or to bring specific issues to their attention, write to valleynet.administration@valley.net.