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

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.

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

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.

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

At first I thought I was taking a hiatus because I was working on a couple of projects that used a lot of my time; however, looking back I think maybe I have been goofing off.

Of course, technology is the answer.  As a result, I have added a new tool to my toolbox: MacSpeech. The idea is that I enjoy speaking more than writing. So, I’ll be speaking the first draft of my posts in the future and hopefully, have the last of a hiatus or goofing off, whichever it was.

So far, the learning curve for MacSpeech is a little flat. With this dictation, it is getting better.

Let’s get back to hiatus versus goofing off. Procrastination is very sneaky. I can be convinced that I’m just taking a little time off, so that I can be more effective in the future; while what is really happening is, I’m goofing off.

This is a problem that we as volunteers, volunteer leaders, and members of nonprofits need to address continually. If it is a hiatus, a break to refresh oneself, those are needed periodically. However, if it is goofing off, it raises a number of questions. Am I in the right organization, an organization to which my heart is connected? Am I in the right position? Am I over committed?

These are a few of the evaluation questions that need to be on the top of our minds continually so we and our organizations are getting best results.

Now on to sharing ideas to help nonprofits get their best results.
photo credit: Elsie esq.

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 to understand each other on at least these key areas:

1. What kind of role does the Board play in its group process?
2. Who in the organization drives our board activity?
3. How do we define our community base?
4. What size is our community base?
5. Where should the leadership for our organization come from?
6. How do we feel about power and authority?
7. How responsible are we to our community?
8. Does our organization and the Board focus more on relationships or tasks?
9. How much structure do we as Board members like?
10. How important is history and tradition vs contemporary models and trends?

[The above points are taken in part or in whole from Ten Dimensions that Shape Your Board by Vanderwall and Benavides.]

You and your Board has the opportunity to work together more effectively when you use an assessment tool to help you communicate about these issues. Then you can use it as a basis for an ongoing discussion in the integration of new Board members.

Contact me. I would be happy to discuss this at more length with you.

Take your pick. The result is the same. The mission to which you are drawn, to which your heart is connected, is not being accomplished.

If you are or are willing to be a volunteer leader or encourage a volunteer leader, you can help your organization get its best results.

I believe there are three core problems which create these situations.

• Committee chairs serve on the Board.
• There is no management team.
• There is little or no volunteer recruitment, placement or training.

When committee chairs serve on the board there are three problems created.

• They are not expected to submit written reports since they are there to be asked.
• They should be results leaders while board members should be governance leaders.
• The board does not communicate in writing with them since they are there to be told.

When there is no management team there are three problems.

• Committee chairs don’t  know what other committees are doing.
• There is little or no coordination of committee efforts.
• The board receives little or no feed back until things don’t happen.

When there is no effective volunteer management there are three problems.

• Volunteers are placed in highest need not best fit positions.
• Volunteers burn out when asked to fill positions that don’t fit them.
• Volunteers discourage others from volunteering by speaking of their experience.

You can remove all three of these obstacles. When you do your heart will sing from the results.

Contact me with questions.

Photo Credit:Big Stink, originally uploaded by desben.

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. ]]> http://yayteamblog.com/2009/04/nonprofit-start-one-lead-one/feed/ 0