Legacy – Brief Reflections on the Week

 From the first, vague cell phone photo on the 10pm news to the full color videos the following day, we all watched in horror at the unfortunate loss of life at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. A few days later a dear friend who has been sick for over a year, still in her 30s with a young child, goes to be with the Lord. As I watch the news memorialize each of the individuals lost in the stage accident and see the preparations going into the funeral of my friend I can’t help but reflect on whether I am making as much of a difference as I can with my life while I have the opportunity.

Beyond the precious relationships with family and friends, I suspect that almost everyone who reads this newsletter plays a role, either as staff or volunteer, in the work of a nonprofit doing important work. Are we investing enough of our time, energy, and resources to make a difference or just putting in the minimum and moving on to more busyness? What will each of us be remembered for?

Do-it-yourself Professional Development - Sally Migliore, Philanthropy Journal

Familiar with the expression, "No one person can fulfill all your needs?"

In the nonprofit world, it would be appropriate to change that slightly to: "No one employer can fulfill all your professional-development needs."

For nonprofits, particularly in this economy, it's not likely that money is available for professional development or, if it is, it's very limited.

Yet we know it's essential to invest in staff members who are the cornerstone of effective programs in our communities.

The responsibility for professional development is a shared one.

The role of an executive director is to promote a culture that supports employees' growth, while the responsibility of the employee is to take initiative in creating a plan for how he or she can acquire new knowledge and skills.

Professional development isn't an add-on; it's a core part of doing one's job well and with energy and enthusiasm for continued learning and performance.

So, I'd like to propose how nonprofit staff might go about creating a do-it-yourself professional-development plan.


Continue reading the article.http://www.philanthropyjournal.org/resources/special-reports/professional-development/do-it-yourself-professional-development?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Do-it-yourself+professional+development&utm_content=Do-it-yourself+professional+development&utm_campaign=Professional+Development%yourself+professional+3A+Philanthropy+Journal+Special+Report

Shared Leadership . . . What Is It Exactly? (TCC Group in NP Quarterly)

Theories about organizational transformation have been pointing in the direction of shared leadership for more than three decades. Experiments with "self-managing" work teams proliferated in the 1980s. In 1990, Peter M. Senge published The Fifth Discipline and popularized the concept of "learning organizations". In 1994, Jack Stack made waves with his book The Great Game of Business, where he championed the value of practicing "open-book management" and engaging workers at all levels. In 1999, Margaret J. Wheatley wrote in Leadership and the New Science, "Western cultural views of how best to organize and lead (now the methods most used in the world) are contrary to what life teaches. And, in 2003, Joseph A. Raelin coined the term "leaderful" in his book Creating Leaderful Organizations, which describes an organization that intentionally creates the structure and culture needed to share leadership among staff, board, volunteers, and other stakeholders.

Despite this dramatic shift in leadership theory, our combined research and experience with nonprofit organizations reveal that most organizations continue to accept a hierarchical structure, with the executive director shouldering an enormous burden of responsibility for organizational success. However, we found that this concentration of power was not because executive directors were power hungry. Nor was it even deliberate. It was due to a lack of familiarity with the alternatives. Read Full Article. 

Success by Design

Innovation and Improvement in the Nonprofit Sector

Peter York – TCC Group

Similar to many organizations, the Philadelphia Zoo got to a point where it needed to assess how well it was doing in meeting its ambitious goals. In the mid-1990s the zoo had crafted a new mission, which called for advancing “discovery, understanding, and stewardship of the natural world.”

Years went by. Exhibits were built, opened and closed, and millions of people stepped through the zoo’s doors. And yet, how far had this experience gone in shaping visitors’ attitudes? Even more profoundly, could the zoo take credit for shifting people’s actions, for turning them into the stewards it had envisioned?

The zoo’s efforts to answer these questions suggest a new approach to learning that may no longer warrant the label “program evaluation” as it is typically used in nonprofit sector – to prove something to an audience of funders or donors looking for validation of an entire program’s right to exist.  Instead, it seeks to serve the people who create and design programs — the on-the-ground social innovators who benefit from direct insights that improve on their interventions. In other words, it functions like R&D in the private sector, providing a specific look at what is actually working.

So, why is R&D so important to the social sector? TCC Group's data from nearly 2,500 nonprofits provides statistically significant evidence that organizations whose leaders engage in R&D practices (only 5% of all nonprofits surveyed) are more sustainable -- nearly 2.5 times more likely to grow at or above the annual rate of inflation.

Read the full briefing paper at: http://www.tccgrp.com/pdfs/7-21_TCC_Briefing_Paper_LR.pdf

(Is An) Exodus of Executive Directors Expected?

Here is another take on the recently released Daring to Lead 2011 report of 3000 nonprofit executive directors from www.PhilathropyJournal.org. The findings would indicate that a significant number of nonprofit executives will be leaving their roles over the next five years due to frustrations with funding, boards, and lack of work/life balance.

Highlights or Lowlights:
· Sixty-seven percent of executives plan to leave their jobs within five years, down from 75 percent in in similar studies in 2006 and 2001.

· With one in six leaders age 60 or older, for example, 22 percent of that group said a loss in their retirement savings contributed to a transition delay.

· Forty-five percent of respondents said their boards had not reviewed their performance within the past year and only 18 percent said their performance review was useful.

· Thirty-three percent of current executives followed a leader who was fired or forced to resign, "indicating the frequency of mis-hires and unclear expectations between boards and executives across the sector," the study says.

· Nonprofits are not prepared for executive transition.

· Satisfaction with board performance was lowest among leaders on the job between one and three years.

· Only 17 percent of organizations surveyed have a documented succession plan, and just 33 percent of executives were very confident their boards will hire the right successor when they leave.

· Eighty-four percent said the recession had had a negative impact on their organization. Forty-six percent said their organizations had operating reserves of less than three months of expenses.

· The study offers a series of recommendations to improve transition planning, understanding of financial sustainability, professional-development options and performance and composition of boards.
In my work, I am seeing fewer nonprofit executives targeting the traditional retirement age of 65 as their date. Even those who are ready to step out of full-time leadership roles in their late 60’s are looking for another paid role – some for the financial aspect and almost all because they value the work and the people in the nonprofit sector. If your organization doesn’t have at least a written Emergency Succession Plan, we can do a short session with your Executive Committee or board to generate some good thinking and draft a plan. Bryan 752-7153

Read the full article here.

Get Them While They are Still in Hard Copy! Board Training Booklets being discontinued - Save Now!

Eight years ago, I wrote the first version of "Welcome to the Board" as a training handout for participant's in LLA's first 'Get on Board' - board member recruiting event. Theresa Rhodes at LLA was kind enough to cover the copying costs for me. It was a family project to fold and staple 100 booklets. Unexpectedly, the new board members who took those booklets back to their boards prompted orders "for every board member" and we were in the publishing business.

Over the following two years, I wrote three more short booklets, "Finance for Every Board Member", "Fund Raising for Every Board Member", and "Planning for Every Board Member" with the same intention, to make board information accessible to expanding numbers of new board members. We wrapped all four titles under the label of "Too Rushed to Read" to further convey the short length.

Since that time we have sold more than 25,000 copies, total, of these four booklets - probably in every state. We have sold them in sample packs of one of each title and we have sold them by the hundreds for conferences and even university classes, but we have mainly sold them 10-20-30 at a time to nonprofits who use them as they recruit and/or train new board members or work to expand the perspectives of longer term board members.

As part of Charitable Advisors continued evolution, we see much of this type of information moving on-line and will be exploring options to develop our next generation of training and education. Right now, we have just over 1,000 booklets left in inventory and all four titles but we know that some titles will run out before others.

Save 20% plus get a FREE Training CD and Facilitator Guide, while they last!

I guess I am old school, but I still like to hold books in my hands and know many of your current and future board members feel the same way. We want to clear off our shelves and give you a chance to purchase them at a good price - only $4-5 a copy. Go to: http://www.charitableadvisors.com/ordercdbooklets.html and enter code "Promo7" and then hit apply and it will show a 20% discount on everything you purchase on that page. With each order, we will also include a free Training CD and Facilitator Guide, a $55 value.

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions at Bryan@CharitableAdvisors.com.

Bryan Orander, President
Charitable Advisors and Not-for-Profit News
www.CharitableAdvisors.com
www.NotforProfitNews.com
317-752-7153

Get on Board 2011 – Does Your Board Need New Energy? New Perspectives? New Contacts?

A couple new board members can bring much needed energy to a nonprofit board. I have been excited to be part of the Get on Board event in Indianapolis since it started in 2003. Hosted by the Lacy Leadership Association(LLA), it brings more than 60 nonprofits together each year in one energetic setting to provide current and aspiring community leaders with an opportunity to meet board and staff members from nonprofits of all kinds – arts, education, youth, health, social services and more. The goal for exhibiting organizations, and attendees, is to find that special connection of interest, skills, and motivation to make a difference. Since its inception, this premier community event has infused more than 1,800 new board members, committee members and volunteers into the community as they have become involved with hundreds of nonprofits. This year’s event is on Monday, October 3 from 4 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse. If you attended last year, you will be pleased to hear that the floor plan is being expanded and there will be plenty for room for attendees.

Due to the high demand for exhibitor space, non-profit organizations are chosen to exhibit through a comprehensive application process. Applications are now available online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/GOBexhibitor. Deadline to submit an application is August 5 at 5 p.m.

In order to be eligible to be selected for this year’s event you must:
Complete the on-line application in full by August 5. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GOBexhibitor
Submit payment to LLA for the $75 exhibitor fee (Your payment will not be processed unless you are selected to exhibit).

Commit to having at least one representative attend a mandatory exhibitor orientation in early-mid September. Date TBD

Once all applications are submitted they will be reviewed by a selection committee. The review and selection process will ensure a cross-representation of all areas of service. You will be notified in late August if you have been chosen to exhibit.

If you would like to attend as an individual and find opportunities to become a board member, you can register at http://www.lacyleadership.org/GetOnBoard.html, then the Attendees tab. There is no charge to attendees for this event. Please note that this is not a forum for seeking a job or soliciting business from these nonprofits.

If you have any questions about Get on Board, the exhibitor application or selection process, please contact Susie McKenna at 317.631.6542 ext. 133 or susiem@cicf.org