Archive for December, 2010

The Executive Director Forum: Peer Learning & Problem Solving

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

Larry Tucker

Author: Larry Tucker

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

You may have seen the announcement that the Executive Coaches of Orange County (ECofOC) is initiating an Executive Director Forum.  This forum will be a venue for Executive Directors of nonprofit organizations to work through their issues and problems in a confidential setting of 10 to 15 peers, led by two coaches from ECofOC.

This concept came about because of the fortuitous coincidence of my personal involvement with both the CEO Forum Program under the Orange County Chapter of SCORE and the ECofOC which works exclusively with nonprofits. At SCORE, we initiated the CEO Forum program about two years ago and discovered its incredible value to business owners in helping them find solutions with the help of their peers

The concept is simple: Put several peers in a room together, use a fixed process to work through their issues and develop creative, practical solutions to any problem. Participants bring their issues to the table each month. These issues could be anywhere on the spectrum from very strategic (e.g., board development, mission and vision statements) or very tactical (e.g., human resources issues, grant-writing tips). The same group meets monthly, so they get to know and understand each other and their organizations.

To assure that the participants are truly peers, certain minimum criteria must be met to participate. The nonprofit must have:

  • A Board of Directors
  • At least two employees (ED +1)
  • An annual budget of at least $150,000
  • A commercial-based (not home-based) office

There will likely be a small fee to cover the cost of food.

If you are interested in attending a short informational session about this program to be held in central Orange County in January 2011, just email me (Larry.Tucker@score114.org) with your name, email address and phone. We will send you the invitation.     

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Posted in -By Author, Business Models, Financial Management, Fundraising, Government Regulations, Larry Tucker, Leadership, Managing Employees, Managing Volunteers, Nonprofit Boards, Success Stories | Comments Off

Managing Email Traffic

Monday, December 27th, 2010

Adrianne DuMond

Author: Adrianne DuMond

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

You can ‘unsubscribe’ to commercial emails, but how does one handle the deluge of email traffic from Board colleagues – especially if you are a Board officer or staff official.?  Many small nonprofits conduct a lot of business through emails. It is often quicker and more efficient. But sometimes the traffic can be overwhelming to a busy schedule.

 Here are some helpful hints to follow from Mary Broach, co-president of Impact100 in Philadelphia (www.impact100philly.org).

  •  Use an easily recognized subject line – get it noticed the first time, and easily retrieved if needed later.
  • If you receive an email that seems important, but is nebulous and maybe controversial, pick up the phone and find out the particulars rather than stirring the pot with distribution to other Board members or staff.
  • Have a clear proposal and/or possible alternatives when emailing to other busy people.
  •  Don’t ask open-ended questions in an email. 
  •             Not  — Do you think we should meet?
  •             But  –  Can the three of us meet at noon Thursday?
  •  If you are upset or angry, wait 24 hours before responding.
  •  If you receive an email from someone who is upset or angry, don’t use ‘reply to all’.
  •  Keep the email traffic contained to only the people who are involved in a decision until a consensus can be reached. Then it can be distributed to those parties concerned.
  •  Remember that an email is a postcard that can be published anytime.

Good luck, and I welcome any more helpful hints that Mary Broach and I may have overlooked.

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Posted in -By Author, Adrianne DuMond, Leadership, Nonprofit Boards | Comments Off

Is It Really the SOS (Same Old Stuff) at Board Meetings?

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

Robin Noah

Author: Robin Noah

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

Typically one of the questions I ask when coaching with my clients is “How are things going?”  More often than not I get the SOS answer -                        Same Old Stuff.

 One of the areas of discontent is the board meeting. Most common complaints are that the meetings are boring, ineffective, unproductive, inefficient and routine?    

If you look closely you will find key indicators that identify the need to refresh and strengthen an organization’s board meetings. For example executive positions have been rotated among the same three or four members for years and no change has been realized.  How about financial statements that are reviewed but not discussed to ensure everyone understands the budget for which they are accountable.

It is not an easy task to revitalize meetings that have been SOS types for a period of time.  However, it may be time to do so if the organization is to maintain its sense of purpose and its credibility for service in the community.

The purpose of the meeting, which is for the board members to get an accurate and complete report on what’s going on within the organization, is also an  opportunity for board members to do something productive and even enjoy the meetings.

To the folks that have SOS meetings I recommend that they take a time out to evaluate their meetings and ask “Does the agenda need to be revitalized? “  Is it time to make some changes?”

Here are a few ideas:

  • Do an interest’s survey. Provides information regarding the interests each board member has.
  • Reduce number of items on the agenda.  Maybe some of the usually discussed items can be reported in writing prior to the meeting.
  • Have a facilitator attend a meeting to present ideas on how to use the agenda in an effective  manner
  • Conduct some meetings away from the normal venue
  • Do a round robin where each member tells about one thing they have done to promote the mission since the last meeting.
  • Invite a speaker for a short presentation – make it educational
  • Develop 3 questions that measure the success of the meeting. Ask the questions at the end of the meeting.

Change is refreshing when all persons involved have a common goal for successful meetings.

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Posted in -By Author, Nonprofit Boards, Robin Noah | 1 Comment »

Things That Should Scare Fundraisers

Monday, December 20th, 2010
Bob Cryer

Bob Cryer

Author: Bob Cryer

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

The Future Fundraising Now blog had a Halloween special posting that they called “Things that should scare the heck out of fundraisers”. One of their four scary thoughts was Branding experts. “If they show up at your door, slam it. If they get in, run away. They are going to devour your fundraising program with their grand abstractions and faddish designs.”

Many nonprofits and for-profits are constantly growing and evolving into something that is quite different from what they were when the first branded themselves. Is this a good reason to hire branding experts to give your organization a new name, logo, business system and PR campaign to publicize a new brand name?

My old employer Procter and Gamble (P&G) may have been the inventor of the idea of a brand in the 1800s. One of our first brands was Ivory Soap. A worker left a mixer run during his lunch break resulting in a soap that was filled with air, which gave it an ivory color and enabled it to float. People seemed to like the soap. So we added it to our product line, calling it Ivory with the tag line “It Floats” to emphasize its unique properties. When washing machines were invented in the 1900s, people wanted something other than a bar soap to wash clothes with. So P&G gave them Ivory Flakes. It didn’t float, but it didn’t matter. Ivory was a name people trusted, so the name helped us launch a new product. When P&G invented granular detergents in the 1940s (Tide), some consumers wanted a granular soap, so we gave them Ivory Snow. When they wanted a dishwashing liquid, we gave them Ivory Liquid for the same reason.

If your nonprofit has a name that people know and trust, keep it and use it to help you market all of your products and services, and to convince donors that you are continuing to build on the good works that you have been doing for all the years of your existence. An established brand is an asset that you should build upon rather than discard.

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Posted in -By Author, Bob Cryer, Business Models, Fundraising | 1 Comment »

What Are You Doing This Week?

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Larry Tucker

Author: Larry Tucker

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

Sometimes we get caught up in big words and ideas, like strategic direction and goal-setting. And sometimes that turns us off, as if someone mentioned that we should think about that around-the-world tour we’ve talked about. Not even worth thinking about right now, is it? “I’ve got more critical things to think about. I just lost a donor, so I’ve got to replace that money to keep our budget intact.” Or something like that.

We all do it. We let our time be driven by our bosses, our boards, our co-workers, our direct reports. The list goes on. So by the end of the day, or the week or the year, we got a lot done, but did we accomplish the most important things?

Just take a few minutes and try something.

First, ask yourself: “What is the most important thing I need to do to make certain that my organization is successful?” Be honest with yourself. We often do lots of things because we enjoy them, not because they really add significant value to the organization. If you’re the executive director, you might have a few answers to that question, but hopefully not more than three or four. Your most important activities may likely relate to fundraising strategy, program management, and board development, for example.

Second, ask yourself: “What is the most important thing I need to do to make certain my organization takes the right next steps into the future?” Do you want to serve a larger population? Do you want to add services? Or do you need to improve your organization or programs to serve your clients better?

If you don’t know the exact answer to the question, it just means that your first steps will be to define the answer. Your resources for research are your board, other nonprofit leaders, your direct reports and members of the community you serve.

In coaching sessions with one executive director, we developed a plan where over a period of a few months, she would make contact with each of her resources and then develop her goals based on her own experience plus the collective input she received. That provided her with a deep and broad view of the issues surrounding the organization so that her vision of the organization was clearer and her goals were more robust.     

Third, tell yourself: “Here’s what I’m going to do this week to move each of these goals forward.” That’s it! Then just repeat it each week, or each month.

Don’t have time?  Then look back at your last week or your last month. What did you do, specifically? The list may be long, but I bet you’ll find that if you didn’t do one or two or three of those things, the organization would still be running smoothly.

Don’t be afraid of big words. They’re made up of lots of little letters that you can look at one at a time.

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Posted in -By Author, Larry Tucker, Leadership | Comments Off

Truthfulness in Team Work

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Adrianne DuMond

Author: Adrianne DuMond

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

How often have you seen stated, as an organization’s Values  — after the Mission Statement and Purpose are defined — the words honesty, integrity and respect. And then have you pondered the question — “Does our organization practice those”? These values may be difficult to put into practice in an every day environment without some work directed at them.

Building a team of people to aspire to these goals often means the organization commits time to learn how to keep true to them. That means defining norms of behavior to which a team will commit as they strive to work together more efficiently.

Let me give you an example of some of the pet peeves I’ve heard in exploring why a team is not working well together:

1)      Meetings always start late;

2)      She never tells us she’s not going to be at the meeting;

3)      Our boss plays favorites when assigning the work;

4)      Our meetings just last too long;

5)      He won’t share his numbers (findings).

I’m sure you can add a few more of your own.

If this team takes some time to share what they do well as a team – what measures up to those values of honesty, integrity, respect – and then defines the habits they have that deter them from working together well, these shortcomings can be eliminated or lessened. This process can be done in a half-day workshop.

Depending on the degree of openness in your team, you may want to use an outside person to facilitate the process. If you have a good facilitator in the organization that is respected by the team, then it can be done in-house. There are six (6) steps to take:

1)      Have the team list what is working as a team: their actions and practices that make the team work well together. List these on a flip chart.

2)       Have the team list actions and practices that keep them from being better, more efficient and productive.

3)      In small groups, determine actions and behaviors that will improve the situations and conditions. List them.

4)      Have the groups share with each other their findings.

5)      Make a final list and pledge to stick by them for the future. These are the new norms of behavior for the team – and probably mean that the team can say they uphold the values of honesty, integrity, and respect.

Remember to check progress in a few months to see if the action items are working and to make any adjustments. Good teams take their temperature every so often, just like people do to stay healthy.

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Posted in -By Author, Adrianne DuMond, Leadership, Managing Employees, Managing Volunteers | 1 Comment »

What is Mediation and How Does It Work?

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

Robin Noah

Author: Robin Noah

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

Mediation is a voluntary and confidential process in which a neutral third-party facilitator/Mediator helps people discuss difficult issues and negotiate an agreement.  Parties in mediation create their own solutions and the mediator does not have any decision-making power over the outcome. The following is a brief overview.

Mediation is a process is often the best solution for settling a disagreement or conflict. It can successfully and inexpensively resolve disputes and open lines of communication that foster better business relationships

Since most conflicts involve underlying emotional issues there is reluctance for the parties involved to move forward.   We tend to approach the problems with fear and hesitation, afraid that any conversations will go worse than the conflict has gone thus far; the stronger the feelings the more difficult the resolution.  In most cases there is a desire to resolve the issues amicably, without litigation and before relationships are damaged forever.  

How does it work?   First of all the parties need to engage a Mediator that is acceptable to each side.  Once there is acceptance of the Mediator the mediation process begins.

One method is for the Mediator to interview each party to get an idea of the issues. The next step is to schedule a meeting for all concerned. 

At the meeting the Mediator will give an opening statement. This outlines the role of the participants and demonstrates the mediator’s neutrality.  Next, the mediator will define protocol and set the time frame for the process. , After the opening statement, the mediator will give each side the opportunity to tell their story uninterrupted.  Mediation is not necessarily searching for the truth; it is a way to help solve the problem.  In the continuing period there is discussion, negotiation and a final agreement or settlement that satisfies both parties.  A formal agreement is prepared and signed by both parties.  The Mediator does not sign as he/she is not part of the resolution.  Ultimately the follow up of the agreement is the responsibility of the parties involved.  If the agreement is defaulted litigation may be the next step.

You can learn more about conflict resolution and mediation by searching the Internet.

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Posted in -By Author, Leadership, Managing Employees, Robin Noah | Comments Off

Nonprofit Economic Recovery May Have Begun

Monday, December 6th, 2010
Bob Cryer

Bob Cryer

Author: Bob Cryer

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

The Nonprofit Research Collaborative’s November 2010 Fundraising Survey reports that the 2009 decline in charitable giving seems to have been halted in 2010. Thirty-six percent of their 2519 surveyed nonprofits reported increased revenues in the first nine months of 2010 and only 37% reported declines. In 2009, only 23% were reporting gains with 51% reporting revenue declines.

 The report goes on to say: 

  • International organizations were most likely to have contribution increases, reflecting donations for disaster relief. The subsectors most likely to have an equal percentage of donation increases and decreases are Arts, Education, Environment/Animals and Human Services. 
  • The larger the nonprofit, the more likely the increase in charitable receipts.  
    • 46% of nonprofits with budgets over $20M reported a revenue increase
    • 35% with budgets between $100K and $1M reported a revenue increase
    • 25% with budgets under $100K reported a revenue increase
  • For nonprofits that saw a decline in contributions in the first 9 months of 2010, about half reported drops in foundation grant dollars and about half saw drops in corporate gifts. 
  • Fifty percent of nonprofits report receiving the majority of their contributions in the last quarter of the year. 
  • About 22% of nonprofits were using volunteers to fill positions that were formally paid positions in the first nine months of 2010.
  • About 47% of nonprofits were planning on budget increases in 2011, 33% were expecting to maintain their current level of expenditures and only 20% anticipated a cutback in 2011.  

To download the complete Nonprofit Research Collaborative November 2010 Fundraising Survey report, click on http://www2.guidestar.org/ViewCmsFile.aspx?ContentID=3117

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Posted in -By Author, Bob Cryer, Fundraising | Comments Off

Nonprofit Boards: Managing their Evolution

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

Larry Tucker

Author: Larry Tucker

Executive Coaches of Orange County

www.ECofOC.org

Nonprofit Boards are as different as snowflakes. In fact, each nonprofit board changes over time, so an executive director is challenged to adjust his style to be effective with this ever-evolving group.

In the Management Assistance Group’s paper, Board Passages: Three Stages in a Nonprofit Board’s Lifecycle, Karl Mathiasen, III, effectively presents the three evolution stages of a nonprofit board: Organizing Board, Governing Board and Institutional Board. As Mr. Mathiasen warns, however, these transitions are not necessarily natural occurrences, but in fact require active management of the process.

Organizing boards are typically created by the leader with the vision who founded the nonprofit organization. These boards are often comprised of friends, associates and family members of the founder and are typically quite passive, allowing the founder to continue her leadership role.

My experience has been that the most difficult transitions (and often the period when nonprofit organizations fail) occur in this phase from Organizing Board to Governing Board when the founder struggles to lead the organization beyond her initial vision.

 My message to those organizations in the early stages of life who find themselves with Organizing Boards:

  • Read the linked article. It creates a map showing a destination your organization could reach if you manage the process effectively.
  • Start planning now. Accept the fact that in order for your organization to succeed long-term, it will need to grow and mature.
  • Recognize that it will be hard. Some of the most difficult conversations might be those where you have to tell your friends they are no longer needed on your board.

So, perhaps the critical message is the same for Organizing Boards as it is for any organization: If you haven’t recently discussed what your organization and board will look like in five years, now is the time!

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Posted in -By Author, Larry Tucker, Nonprofit Boards | Comments Off