Members
Burn baby burn
Nancy Lublin was right on the mark in a Fast Company article when she observed: The biz model [for nonprofits] destines us for burnout. We take people with big hearts and crush their souls; you sign on to help cure cancer and then leave because you’re just shilling rubber bracelets. You want universal literacy, but [...]
Volunteers: Care of
Many nonprofits treat volunteers like fingers for a leaking dike. They stick them into whatever role seems to have the most need at the moment. This is a mistake. Poor decisions about volunteer assignment, I believe, increases burnout and, more importantly, underperformance. A board member or committee member, who underperforms, accepts a responsibility but doesn’t [...]
Nonprofit Burnout
I am always on the lookout for someone who is writing about things that I think are important to volunteer leaders of nonprofits. Nancy Lublin has once again hit a nail on the head with her new column in Fast Company March 2010. Read it and learn. In addition to her suggestions to organizations: 1. [...]
A hiatus?
When is it a hiatus and when is it goofing off? I have been thinking about this ever since I realized I haven’t posted anything new in my blog since September. At first I thought I was taking a hiatus because I was working on a couple of projects that used a lot of my [...]
Group Dynamics and the Board
photo credit: S amo Group dynamics will make or break your Board. An important part of functional group dynamics is understanding where you are and where the other Board members are on key issues. Without this understanding there can be no compromise or collaboration; no unity on issues. You and your fellow Board members need [...]
Board change and group dynamics
Every time someone new comes on your board, the group dynamics of the board changes. The group has to reform. It has to start over to some degree. Bruce Tuckman developed and published in 1965 a 4-stage model of group development. He labelled the stages: 1. Forming: The group comes together and gets to initially [...]
Membership: Footprints in the sand
Membership ebbs and flows in all organizations. When you don’t know why, you can’t effectively recruit new members. You have to understand from the member’s point of view WIIFM or “What’s In It For Me?” You need to know why your prospects do or don’t pick your organization over other opportunities. When you understand WIIFM [...]
