Yay Team! » Operations

Burn baby burn

J. Michael Cavitt — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:48:16 +0000

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 the only way to move toward it is a big chicken dinner at a fancy hotel.

She is speaking about the problem created by how nonprofit volunteers and staff are managed and how nonprofit volunteers and staff should approach their work.

This problem affects both volunteers and staff. It is indicates poor placement, supervision and management.

I think the nonprofits with few or no staff are especially vulnerable to this problem. It starts with poor volunteer screening and placement system. It continues with poor or no supervision. And is aggravated by poor planning and coordination by the board and leadership.

BUT all of these issues have relatively simple ways they can be solved.

When you screen for connection to mission, for governance vs results and for personal interests, the volunteer can be placed in the position that will maximize results and minimize burnout.

When committee chairs are placed effectively and given training in supervision, the volunteer will see results and have a sense of fulfilling the mission to which they are connected.

When the Board is focused on governance and creates a management team, the volunteer will function in an effective and rewarding environment.

None of these steps are expensive. They do require an experienced person to help create the operating system.

We do can help do that.

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photo credit: DieselDemon

Support for new ideas

J. Michael Cavitt — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:58:42 +0000

photo credit: smemon87

Discovery is wonderful.

I have recently discovered how many people have some of the same ideas as I have.

And I have a few strongly held ideas.

Nonprofits are businesses.

It is a positive sum game for nonprofit entrepreneurs, nonprofits volunteers and nonprofit staff to collaborate with others in nonprofits.

Nonprofits are helping drive the small business sector which is the sector that drives the economy.

Connected entrepreneurs will fund capacity and organization building in nonprofits.

Start-up nonprofits need organizational and operational process help to survive.

Volunteer recruiting and management is critical to the success of a nonprofit.

Nonprofit entrepreneurs, who are thinking about starting a nonprofit, need to apply the same analysis a for-profit entrepreneur applies before starting a company.

Nonprofit entrepreneurs are handicapped by not having to justify the enterprise to investors upfront with a business plan.

Those that believe some or all of these ideas, work daily with nonprofits in different parts of the country. I am pleased with their support of my championing these ideas.

Volunteers: Care of

J. Michael Cavitt — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:30:11 +0000

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 complete it or completes it late. The lateness and neglect undermine the effectiveness of the board, the committee and ultimately the organization.

Underperformance is more damaging than someone leaving because they are burnout. I know that a person who leaves won’t be doing anything. I don’t know a person is underperforming because he/she is in the wrong position will not carryout a responsibility until after the deadline.

All nonprofits should have an effective volunteer coordinator. This should be one of the first positions created after the initial board has been created.

I believe, strongly, that anyone helping a volunteer find their place in an organization should:
a. understand from where the volunteer’s passion for the organization and its mission comes;
b. identify, as much as possible, what are the volunteer’s unique abilities and interests; and,
c. offer to the volunteer as many options as possible from which to choose to increase the probability they will feel fulfilled and energized by their volunteer work.

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photo credit: maplegirlie

Nonprofit Organization and Operation: A Hands-on, How-to Approach

J. Michael Cavitt — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:45:25 +0000

I will lead two of these workshops. Each of these workshops meets once a week for four weeks.

Inver Hills Community College Inver Grove Heights, MN beginning September 28, 2010

Minneapolis Community and Technical College Minneapolis, MN beginning September 29, 2010

Nonprofit Organization and Operation: A Hands-on, How-to Approach is designed for nonprofit entrepreneurs and volunteer leaders from organizations somewhere between the “start up” and the “staff up” phases. By taking an approach that is tailored to the needs of class participants, the course will help you to develop an organization with the means and resources to be successful. Topics of the course will include but not be limited to:
Beginning a nonprofit
Recruiting and organizing board members
Building committees and leaders
Building and leading a management team
Recruiting and placing volunteers
Creating plans and measuring results
Operating a results oriented organization
Creating resources
Communications

The course will use lecture, small group discussion, peer-to-peer discussion of issues brought in by participants, and case studies. There will be assignments to be completed outside of class, with the opportunity for feedback each week. You’ll have the opportunity to discover resources here that will help you focus your efforts as you move through the various steps of launching a functioning nonprofit organization.

Nonprofit Burnout

J. Michael Cavitt — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:31:30 +0000

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. Don’t be crazy. 2 Ground people, don’t grind them. 3. Give them a break.

I go back to my big three: 1. Get you committee chairs off the Board. 2. Have a management team. 3. Screen and assign volunteers based on their interests and abilities.

Nonprofit Technical Assistance

J. Michael Cavitt — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:19:13 +0000

Have you decided to start a nonprofit?

Have you just got one started?

Where do you go for technical assistance?

What questions do you need to answer as a nonprofit entrepreneur before you organize a new nonprofit?

You can find a lot of information on boards and board training.

You also need to know about how to find, screen and assign volunteers. How to select and train committee chairs.

Another area that most organizations miss is the management team. You need to be able to create and run a management team in an all volunteer organization.

I will be dealing with all of these questions and other topics.
photo credit: BozDoz

Management by the Many or Management by Email Group

J. Michael Cavitt — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:18:36 +0000

Does the communication and decision making in your organization get hijacked?

A friend recently shared with me and an interesting observation:

In both emails,…, I think we have examples of what I might call Management by the Many, or Management by Email Group. In other words, anyone who has an agenda can simply put an email group together, sent out their communication to the group, and either go ahead with their plan feeling as though they have the whole group’s agreement and that they are acting in the best interests of the organization, or hope to get feedback and then take action – hence, Management by sending an email to the group of your choice.

Organizational process and communication need to be two way at all times. The flow needs to be from the Board to the Director to Committee Chairs to members, guests and email recipients – and back up – equally in both directions.

Corporations have trouble with this. Why should we expect nonprofits to be any better?

Have you had problems with this? How have you solved them?

photo credit: Lars Plougmann

Boards are for governance, committees are for results

J. Michael Cavitt — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:19:34 +0000

Confusion

I have pointed out in a recent post that nonprofits need to reduce confusion by separating the governance and results function of the organization.

There is a knee jerk reaction when a nonprofit is formed to make those who sign as incorporators members of the board of the new corporation. Then the board, in order to meet the need to get started, make the board members chairpersons of the operating as well as the governance committees that are needed. They also usually put in the bylaws that operating committee chairs have to serve on the board.

While this works as a let’s-get-this-started process, it is not a good long term organizational structure and should not be put in the bylaws.

As soon as there are enough volunteers interested in the mission of the organization, the committee chairpersons should leave the board. This can happen one of two ways, either the chairperson will come off the board when they can be replaced or the chairperson will resign and stay on the board when there is a suitable chairperson available.

Governance

Board are responsible for governance. The Nature Conservancy does a good job of creating a comprehensive list of governance responsibilities. Since this example is extensive it is a good starting point. The list would be shortened considerably in most organizations.

Wikipedia on governance says:

… governance relates to consistent management, cohesive policies, processes and decision-rights for a given area of responsibility.

Results

The board sets the mission, the goals, the resources and the authority for the operating committees. Operating committees are responsible for getting results.

Operating committees serve a staff function in all-volunteer nonprofits and in some staffed nonprofits. Operating committees should be managed as if they were staff while keeping in mind these are volunteers.

Photo credit: Meeting room stencil graffiti, originally uploaded by clagnut.

Nonprofit: Start One, Lead One

J. Michael Cavitt — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:20:30 +0000

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.

Social Entrepreneurship: new economy, new-funding

J. Michael Cavitt — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:36:20 +0000

Show me the money!

We all need it so our organizations can achieve our goals. With the state of our economy, one of the most pressing challenges as a leader of an all volunteer non-profit is that many of the old sources are drying up.

Financial fears are infecting our economy from the biggest corporate donors down to individual donors of modest means. Getting enough money from reliable sources becomes more of a challenge as grantor’s portfolios lose value and donors have less disposable income. Even more difficult to address is the almost universal perception of loss that has everyone holding on to what they have for fear of what is yet to come.

Of course, for those of you who are serving vulnerable populations the need for your services increases just as your resources decrease.

I know your boards, committees and members are exploring alternative sources of funding. Now it’s time to explore social entrepreneurship. As you look for income outside “normal” funding sources, explore what service or product you can deliver that people are willing to pay for.

Jump start your idea generation by searching the internet for nonprofits which are selling a product or service. Start an Entrepreneur Committee to develop ideas for your nonprofit. Assign ideas to task forces to prove and to develop a mini-business plan. Survey your members for their ideas and remember to ask them what they could contribute to a saleable item with time, materials or skills.

C. J. Heyden has some great definitions at http://www.socialentrepreneurcoach.com These can help you decide which form of social entrepreneurship you want to use.

Photo Credit:Show me the money, originally uploaded by Piez.