Nonprofit: Start One, Lead One
I spoke at the Minnesota Mensa Regional Gathering ‘Last of the Aughts’ Saturday. The topic was:Nonprofits: Start One, Lead One.
I discussed a few key ideas I have.
Start
Don’t start a nonprofit if you can do it with a for-profit. Don’t start a nonprofit if you can do it some other way. The National Council of Nonprofits points out some alternatives.
The second thing to do is ask yourself whether there are easier options to accomplish your goals. For instance, consider partnering with an organization on a special project you develop, volunteering with a group or joining their board of directors or staff. You also can consider starting a chapter of an existing national organization, convening an unincorporated club or association or, if you want to finance scholarships or emergency funds, setting up a fund at a local community foundation. All these are great alternatives to starting your own nonprofit.
Lead
Board
Don’t put committee chairs on the board. There are people who like governance and people who like doing things. Committee chairs tend to be in the second group.
Process
How are decisions communicated? How are results coordinated and supported? The committee chairs and the board president need to work as a management team. They need to meet regularly outside of board meetings.
Like the dragon boat, the president needs to beat the drum to keep the team together. The team in the boat didn’t plan the race.
People
The volunteer recruitment and coordination is the human resources department of the all volunteer nonprofit. It can’t be neglected if the nonprofit is going to get its best results. Chris Jarvis writes about Tara Weiss’ interesting take on volunteering and what is needed in nonprofits.
Remodel
Sometimes, when you volunteer in a nonprofit it has problems that you can help work through. Other times, the organization needs to be remodeled. It is in the wrong place, has the wrong people, has the wrong mission, etc. If you don’t have or can’t get the authority to be part of the remodel, find another place to volunteer.
CYL Dragonboat Team, originally uploaded by HowiePoon.
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