Advice to people looking at careers in the non-profit field

June 17, 2014 erik Uncategorized

When I graduated college with my masters degree in Urban Planning in 1994, our country was still emerging from a small recession (you know the once that propelled Bill Clinton into the White House). Needless to say, government jobs in urban planning offices across America were still in short supply, and there were many people with much more experience waiting in line for jobs ahead of me. It was this economic dynamic that forced me to innovate, changing my job search parameters and propelling me into the non-profit sector.
I starting thinking about this topic when the Wild Apricot Blog announced earlier this month that it was hosting the June 2014 Nonprofit Blog Carnival and the theme was “Innovation and Inspiration.” All of this got me wondering how many recent college graduates might be in a similar situation in which I found myself back in May 1994.
Getting it right the first time
Throughout my college years, I worked at a Boy Scout camp in the summer to earn money for room & board, books, and spending money. So, when my job search focus changed from urban planning to non-profit jobs, agencies with a youth development focus made sense.
My first non-profit job was with the Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club as a unit director. My job was to open a new site in a rural community west of Champaign, Illinois in a town called Mahomet.
I didn’t last long in that position because the salary was miserable, and I was working 50 to 60 hours per week. However, little did I know that I found my non-profit career path and future employer right out of college.
My next job was in the for-profit sector, and three years into that position I was regretting my choice to leave the non-profit sector.
I opened a new job search and thought I had found the perfect fit when I accepted a District Executive position working for the Boy Scouts of America in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
I saw this as perfect because:

I am an alumnus of the scouting program and an Eagle Scout
I had already worked for the scouts as a summer camp employee and thought I understood the culture
It was a youth development agency, which I learned was a passion for me from my work at the Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club

Valuable lessons learned
I loved working for the Boy Scouts because I learned so much including:

Membership recruitment & management
Volunteer recruitment & management
Field service
Fundraising
Training

In spite of all of this, I learned this wasn’t “the perfect job for me” as I had originally thought.
First, I was still reeling from a divorce and grappling with my sexual orientation.
I was fairly sure that I was gay, but I thought I could make the choice of celibacy as I entered scouting’s anti-gay workplace. Interestingly, when the job offer arrived, it motivated me to come out of the closet to my first family member — my mother — because I was afraid that I would somehow get “outed” and she would find out by reading it in the newspaper. (side note — this kind of stuff was happening in communities across America at that time . . . it was a very different world in the 1990s)
Second, I learned after three years on the front line with the scouts that the mission of the Boy Scouts only matched my passion and what was in my heart by about 95%.
It wasn’t enough to love scouting and be a poster-child (except for being gay) illustrating the impact that scouting has had on the lives of millions of Americans.
What I learned was that the mission of the non-profit organization for which you work (and work like a dog) must match what is in your heart 100%. Being close is not good enough.
I used to joke with close friends that it was the mission of the Boy Scouts to “take today’s average Joe and turn them into tomorrow’s CEO.” Of course, scouting’s mission is much more than this, but leadership development is still at its core.
What I came to realize was that I am passionate about much more than just working with and making a difference in the lives of today’s youth. I am passionate about working with “those kids who need us most.” We used to call those kids “at-risk” or “youth from disadvantaged circumstances.”
So, I opened another job search, left a job promotion opportunity on the table with the Boy Scouts, and landed my first executive director job working with a local Boys & Girls Club. And the rest as they say is history! 😉
Words of wisdom for those young people looking for non-profit jobs today

Look into your heart and understand your passions
Match your job search with your passions
Don’t settle for offers from non-profit organizations that don’t speak to your inner passions
Understand the organizational culture of the agency for which you’re going to work
Understand that you can most likely make more money working in the for-profit sector, but your payday will come from making a difference in the lives of your clients
Consider doing some volunteer work first to identify areas of interest before jumping into a non-profit career
Don’t abandon hope of doing what you studied in school because there is lots of room for lots of stuff in the non-profit community (for example, I am using my urban planning degree to do lots of strategic planning, board development planning and fundraising planning)

Are are currently looking for a non-profit job? Or does your story sound similar to mine? If so, please scroll down and share your thoughts and experiences in the comment box below. We can all learn from each other.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Advice from a non-profit CEO on how to build staff loyalty

May 22, 2014 erik Uncategorized

In the interest of building momentum, we’ve dedicated the entire month of blog posts to this topic. We’re specifically focusing on what a variety of non-profit organizations are doing (or are looking at doing) to build loyalty.

advice When I decided to ask local non-profit organizations to use my blog platform to talk about some aspect of building loyalty with a particular stakeholder group, I sent out a ton of email requests to former clients asking them to consent to an interview or send me something in writing.
The following is a letter from a former client talking about their experiences with building staff loyalty. I didn’t secure permission to use their name. So, I edited their submission to protect their identity.

Dear Erik:
I think it (building loyalty) starts with choosing the right people. Some people have the capacity or desire to be loyal in the right circumstances. If you choose someone who is not wired in that way, nothing you do will make it happen.
Once you have that kind of a person on staff, you have to provide them with something to be loyal to.
One of my big foundations — and I think it is key with younger employees — is work flexibility. I let them:

set their schedules

take time when they need

don’t require a 1-for-1

I find that I get back more than I give and have people who are willing to work on the odd weekend, can be counted on putting in extra time, etc.
If there are opportunities to make extra money (e.g. by working a rental event, etc), I never take it unless no one else wants it. That way, staff have the opportunity.
I support my staff in all their decisions, always assume that they have made a decision in what they believe to be the best interest of our agency, and try to use mistakes as teachable moments. I rarely get mad with staff as I find it to be a pointless waste of emotion on both sides. They are usually much harder on themselves than I would be, and they don’t need me adding to their burden. If I have to countermand a decision they have made (which is extremely rare), I do it in private and make sure everyone knows I support my staff but just feel like they made a poor decision that one time.
I try to share lessons I have learned with my staff and help them benefit both from those lessons as well as from learning the process of working through making a decision.
I make them treats, cook them breakfast, make them take time-off when they need, and get them cups of coffee when they are running on empty.
I try very hard not to share issues or difficulties in my life as it is my job to help them, not theirs to provide “counseling” for me. At all times, I try and keep in mind that I have more of a choice about whether to lay my “stuff” on them than they may feel they have to listen to it or not.
By the same token, I have become a lot less tolerant of new employees who do not share our values or ethics and try and weed them out before they upset the balance of our little apple cart.
I try and let my employees know how much I appreciate them, be there with the difficulties they have, and participate in all the nasty parts as well as the good parts of everything we go through.
I try and make less work for them rather than increasing it.
Sincerely,
BW

Thanks for sharing, BW. You obviously work very hard at building staff loyalty and have put lots of thought into your strategies.

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Here’s to your health!

Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Membership organizations know a lot about building loyalty

May 13, 2014 erik Uncategorized

Serving people’s interests inspires loyalty
Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce

Not all non-profit organizations are the same. Social service agency are different from arts organizations, and colleges/universities have different wrinkles than churches. However, the differences in many cases are slight and everyone can always learn from each other if they just look hard enough for the teachable moment. So, it didn’t come as a surprise to me that I learned a lot about how to build loyalty from Carol Gieske, President of the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, a few weeks ago.

Unlike other non-profit organizations, membership-driven organizations need to focus on building loyalty because without members to serve there is no need to keep the doors open.

In the time that Carol and I sat down to chat, she shared two great strategies that any non-profit organization can use to help build loyalty.

Planning

Everyone does it because as the old expression goes:

“If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”

Every good planning process begins with some form of evaluation. It could look like a SWOT analysis. It could be significantly more intensive and involve going through an accreditation process. Regardless of what evaluation process you use, good planning starts with evaluation because it is difficult to figure out where you want to go if you don’t know where you are currently.

After establishing what “Point A” looks like, the planning process usually involves engaging in discussions focused on:

mission
shared vision
shared values
goals
strategies
tactics / action steps

While talking about strategic planning with Carol, she made the point that involving her chamber members in the planning process is critical to building loyalty. Why? Because when members participate in planning, they have buy-in to where the chamber is going. And when members buy-in and the ideas on the page are theirs, then they are more likely to roll up their sleeves and stay engaged.
Affinity groups
Another loyalty strategy upon which Carol and the chamber of commerce focus is affinity groups. While this term takes on many different meanings, in chamber circles it simply involves bring like-minded people together to talk about their similar interests. The following are a few examples of affinity groups:

entrepreneurs who are in the process of opening new businesses in town
non-profit organizations
manufacturers
restaurant owners

You might be wondering how is this a loyalty strategy?
On the surface, this is simply a perk of membership for people who join chambers. So, giving customers what they want (and doing so with quality) naturally builds loyalty.
However, it goes a little deeper than just giving people what they demand in the marketplace.
When you place your agency at the center of a relationship building exercise and do a good job facilitating it, affinity group participants do more than just build relationships with each other. They also end up building a last relationship with you.
Members — in fact any stakeholder group — become more loyal to your agency as the strength and depth of your relationship increases. This is one of the reasons we hold staff meetings, develop donor recognition societies, host client focus groups, etc.

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Here’s to your health!

Building staff loyalty starts with a good hiring process

May 8, 2014 erik Uncategorized

In case you haven’t heard, DonorDreams blog is hosting for the second year in a row the Nonprofit Blog Carnival in the month of May. This year’s theme revolves around building loyalty among various non-profit stakeholder groups such as donors, employees, volunteers, etc. If you are a blogger and looking for the “Call for Submissions,” then click here. The carnival will be posted right here at DonorDreams blog on Wednesday, May 28, 2014. Stay tuned!
In the interest of building momentum, we’ve dedicated the entire month of blog posts to this topic. We’re specifically focusing on what a variety of non-profit organizations are doing (or are looking at doing) to build loyalty.
Today’s blog post is from Nick Jones, who is the Director of Operations at Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus in Ohio.

Lead a Team; Don’t Manage a Group
Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus

By Nick Jones
Guest Blogger
bgc columbus My first days (and those leading up to) as the Director of Operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus — an after-school program in Columbus, Ohio — were solely focused on what fun and engaging programs I could implement for the kids.My thoughts were consumed with:

Open gym basketball with the teens
Arts and crafts with the younger members
Interactive homework help session

I was excited about the opportunity to work with kids again, having just taken two years away from the field.
However, as a new manager, I quickly realized my time would not be consumed with facilitating a program for kids, but instead with our staff, who in turn worked directly with the kids.This was a painful realization, as my true passion was in building positive, developmental and long-lasting relationships with young people, especially those who need us most.
It was this realization, though, that was the first step towards building a loyal TEAM of professionals I now believe I have.
Team vs. Group
Before moving forward, I want to make sure I emphasize the importance of the word, “team.”
In one of my MBA courses, a professor spent almost an entire class differentiating between “team” and a “group.” He explained that a team takes a long time to build. In fact, he said, many groups never develop into teams.
Here are two points I took away from that lecture:

A team is willing to praise one another as well as hold each other all accountable (it isn’t just the manager’s responsibility)
A team can have confrontations and disagreements among themselves. However, once it’s time to “hit the floor” and perform, everyone needs to be on the same page and drive towards one common goal.

Finding Your People
bgc columbus2 The first step I stress to all of my managers in building a loyal team is the importance of the interview process.
During your search you will hire for the attitude you want as part of your team. Most important is making sure there are several levels to your interview process.
In the after-school and youth development sector, with most positions being part-time, we are often faced with the dilemma of being short-staffed and trying to maintain a substantive, safe and fun program for the kids. This, at times, creates “rush hiring,” where it is tempting to fill an open position with a warm body.
Of course, I have seen this fail repeatedly, as many “rushed hires” pass the initial smell test, but later show inadequacies in ability and non-commitment to the organization. This is why it is important to have a multi-layered interview process and allow several management-level staff members play a role in interviewing a candidate.
Your search process should include:

pre-screens
behavior assessments
practical experiences

A thorough interview process will allow you to gain a fairly solid picture of what the applicant could bring to the table as an employee.
I believe most important to this process is conducting behavioral interviews. Why? Because one’s past behavior is the best predictor for future behavior. Interview questions should begin with, “Tell me about a time when . . .”
The interview process is the first step towards developing a supportive and trusting relationship with your employees.
Acclimatizing Your People
bgc columbus3 Once hired, make sure the new employee participates in an immediate on-boarding process and orientation to the organization.

Has (s)he reviewed your Employee Handbook?
Has (s)he seen her/his official job description?
Has (s)he learned about the organization, its history and its values?

It is important during the first couple of weeks to make sure the new employee’s manager spends as much time with them. Slowly acclimatizing her/him to the organization may be hectic, especially when you’re short-staffed, but it will pay off in the long-run.
It is also critical during this time to build a one-on-one relationship with the new employee as well as with the rest of the team.

Allow time for the new employee to shadow her/his new co-workers
organize staff get-togethers (outside of work hours)
make sure staff meetings incorporate team-building activities

Whatever your process may be, it is most important to remember that consistency, communication and collaboration are all necessary actions for any on-boarding and orientation plan and for building long-term loyalty.
Retaining and Keeping Your Talent
bgc columbus4 After the honeymoon phase and the initial adrenaline of starting something new, the “real work” is just beginning for the person managing a new employee. The staff manager has the unenviable job of figuring out how to retain talent and simultaneously build a team.
In my current role, most of my time is focused on staff development and creating a work culture that brings out the best in everyone.
I have tried many different things to engage our staff and make our organization a fun place. One of the first things we did was make sure that all staff had a role in defining our organization’s shared values. This effort was instrumental in establishing the process we now use for making all sorts of strategic and operational decisions.
To create a loyal team, your employees must feel a part of every decision. Employees need to know their voices are heard and valued, and that their ideas are considered.
Additionally, our organization’s managers develop their people through a strengths-based approach.Considerable time, effort and expense is taken to do this, and we’ve been able to learn the areas in which our people have the greatest opportunity for success.
Of course, we also identify areas of development for our people, which is how we focus on ensuring all employees are well-rounded and no one feels like they are being set-up to fail.
Loyalty is built when employees feel like their employer is as invested in their growth as they are invested in achieving the agency’s mission.
Finally, we ensure that our staff leaders operate with what Sean Covey describes as a “cadence of accountability.”
It is a requirement for our leaders to have a minimum of one, dedicated touch-point with each of their employees per week.
Our staff leaders work with their employees on creating a development plan, and the weekly touch-point meetings focus on the employee’s development and success.
Consistency in this regard makes an immeasurable difference in creating a loyal team.
Bringing It Together
shetland sheepdog While Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus allows each of our five programs to have its own identity, we strive for something that we call a “One Club Feel.” This, to me, is the most important part of my job and truest test of my success (or failure) as a leader.
I spend endless hours, days, weeks and months working to solidify a dynamic, diverse group of professionals to lead our programs. Most have come through past professional experiences or by recommendation from trusted colleagues, which makes the goal of establishing a loyal team a lot easier and attainable.
While it is great when my direct reports and program managers possess leadership qualities, frankly it isn’t enough. The following is a short list of other things I work hard at doing when coaching them on how to coach their team:

identifying each leader’s strengths
investigating areas for development
developing a communication style and leadership style

In addition to coaching, our agency developed common goals and lead measures to which each leader is committed. While each staff leader has different numbers to reach, all leaders have the same goal and lead measures. This allows our management team to speak the same language when planning our staff meetings, staff trainings, and even our staff get-togethers.
Our dedication to coaching and planning helps us build loyalty and trust, which in turn has enabled our organization to grow exponentially over the past four years.
Rarely would I ever try to compare the loyalty of my beloved Shetland Sheepdog — Ollie — to anyone (or anything). However, if there are humans who are in the same loyalty-hemisphere as Ollie, then it’s our team!

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If you want to learn more about what other non-profit organizations are doing to build loyalty among various stakeholder groups (e.g. donors, employees, volunteers, etc), then tune in here to DonorDreams blog every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the month of May. We will also publish the Nonprofit Blog Carnival on May 28, 2014 with a number of links to other non-profit bloggers who are talking about loyalty related themes.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Are you managing your non-profit staff or are you leading them?

April 11, 2014 erik Uncategorized

It Does Not Follow

By John Greco
Originally published on September 3, 2012
Re-posted with permission from johnponders blog
“You don’t manage people; you manage things. You lead people.”
— Admiral Grace Hopper

A while back I recall being on a regional conference call with the VP, his regional staff, and his district directors. The topic of the day was how to increase the productivity of the delivery drivers. The region’s labor costs were over budget, and driver wages were the lion’s share of the variable expenses. So they needed to get faster…
I was getting increasingly frustrated with the conversation. I was hearing nothing but quick fixes; I now call them fixes that fail because they ultimately make things worse after making things temporarily better. I kept hearing these simplistic directives that implied a measure of control that was, well, in my calculus, ridiculous.
I remember thinking to myself if they have such control, why are we having this conversation? If they are in control, end of story, no? Just tell them to work faster, no?
I think I said something to this effect on the call. But it’s possible my memory is playing tricks on me.

* * * * *

Performance management is a non sequitur.

The origin of non sequitur, from latin, translates “it does not follow.” When I hear management being practiced in terms of control and authority, coercion and force, I cringe.
Performance does not follow.
People, unlike things, feel and think!

They assess.
They ascertain.
They consider.
They project.
They imagine.
They analyze.
They calculate
They judge.

And, ultimately, they choose.
Management control is a myth.
When managed, people will — at best — comply. Which means they are simply making the choice to accept your authority, and they are choosing to behave within the lines that you have drawn.
Things, on the other hand, don’t feel and think. They can be managed! Goals, processes, procedures, tools, resources, budgets, reports, timeframes, work flows, measurements …
Leaders manage things; and they lead people by influencing.
Influencing requires an understanding that control is a myth. It requires an awareness that people have choices and make choices. Influencing also requires leaders to trust that their people really do have the capacity to engage and make the choices that are necessary for the high functioning of the organization in its pursuit of its mission.
Manage things; lead (influence) people.
For now, let’s grossly summarize leading as providing a meaningful business aspiration; communicating clear and timely information regarding the who/what /when/where/how, involving them when problem solving and implementing change, and supporting them with sufficient tools, technologies, and other resources.

* * * * *

That conference call ended as most do; action items with little leverage. But the VP was slowly clarifying his philosophy. It was a work-in-progress for sure, especially in terms of its execution, but I remember its five parts distinctly —

Grow the business.
Serve the customers.
Lead the people.
Manage the numbers.
Support the community.

People follow when leaders lead.
john greco sig

My humble apologies and non-profit lessons to be learned

March 24, 2014 erik Uncategorized

Some people say that good intentions are really what life is all about. You know what I mean. Those people are the ones who will say that it doesn’t matter what the holiday or birthday gift is . . . all that matters is the intention behind the gift. Then you have those people who say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Who’s right? Who knows!
A week ago, I went into a full out sprint with the contracts I’m currently working because I needed to catch a plane to Mesa, AZ for a father-son vacation at the Chicago Cubs baseball spring training.
I had a lot of really good intentions:

I intended to pre-write my blog posts
I intended to line up some nice guest blog posts
I intended to do what I’ve done over the last three years, which is not miss a beat when it comes to blog posts

Obviously, I failed on all accounts. I ditched last Monday and Tuesday as I tied up loose ends and raced to catch my Wednesday plane. I’ve been in Mesa for the last five days, and couldn’t get back on the horse. Today represented the sixth day that I should’ve published something and just didn’t get it done.
While this will likely sound like an excuse, I think I just reached a point where I needed to relax and go on vacation. Ooops!
Moral to the story
There is nothing wrong in my opinion with taking a break; however, I believe I owed it to you and the other readers of this blog to explain that I was going dark for a few weeks.
I suspect many non-profit people end up in the same dark place (often called burnout) that I currently find myself. When this happens, it is important to:

Find time (e.g. vacation or time off) for yourself before it becomes acute
Tell those to whom you feel a responsibility that you are taking a little time

My time-off request
Dad and I are still in Mesa watching painful practice games by the Chicago Cubs (ugh. . . they look brutal). When I return from vacation mid-week, I hit the road right away.
So, for those of you who like the daily grind of posts from DonorDreams blog, I owe you an apology. I don’t have it in me to start blogging again until Monday, March 31, 2014.
Sorry!
For those of you who are tired of hearing my babble . . . enjoy the break and vacation. 😉
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Shall we play a game?

March 10, 2014 erik Uncategorized

Connecting your agency to online gaming communities

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
game1 Last week we paused for a recap of how far we have come in Lon Safko’s book “The Social Media Bible.” Chapter 16 digs into a topic that is complete foreign to me, “Gaming the System: Virtual Gaming.” As I dug in to this chapter, I have to say I was struggling with how I could possibly relate virtual gaming to non-profits. So, to get me through this challenge, I will twist it a bit and let’s see what we end up with. Please join me on this journey. 😉
The chapter provides an overview of advertising within MMORPG ( Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). There have been very successful campaigns, even including advertising by President Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign.
Safko makes a great point in the opportunity that exists for marketing.

Any time you have 50,000 to 8 million people in the same place with the same interests in a trusted network, a business opportunity exists.

I am sure you may be like me that when you think of video games, you think of teenagers, who generally are not our target donors or volunteers. Actually, according to Safko, “. . . only 25 percent of online gamers are teenagers; the average MMORPG player is approximately 26 years old. Fifty percent are employed full-time, 36 percent are married and 22 percent have children.”
Well, this is great! It seems like a great market that any non-profit would want to reach. Right? Of course, the real question is: “At what price?”
With this question in mind, I took the concept of video games and flipped it a bit to see how non-profits could utilize video games for engagement.
There are some simple ways to drive people to your website, and it turns out that games or links are both resources. Below are some examples:
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Their site offers engaging games including “Fad Diet Timeline” and “Nutrition Suduko.”
I dug a little deeper and found “Games for Change.” Founded in 2004, Games for Change facilitates the creation of social impact games that serve as tools in humanitarian and educational efforts. They work to leverage entertainment for social good. I encourage you to click-through and check out the various games that cover topics from Human Rights to Poverty.
I am so interested in how you have experienced gaming. What are ways that you could utilize this unique way to engage. Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment box below.

Having difficult conversations with board, staff and donors

March 6, 2014 erik Uncategorized

difficult conversations2 From time-to-time, we all need to have a difficult conversation with someone. It could be an employee, board volunteer, donor, collaborative partner, or even a spouse or loved-one. I was in such a position a few days ago, and needless to say it didn’t go very well. In the subsequent days, I spent a lot of time licking my wounds and thinking about what I could’ve done differently. So, I’ve decided to share some of my thoughts with the readers at DonorDreams blog and hope you’ll also share your thoughts and experiences.
Setting the stage
Let’s make sure we’re on the same page. The following are just a few examples of difficult conversations I see non-profit professionals having every day:

correcting poor performance or disciplinary action with an employee
engaging a board member in a discussion about poor attendance at meetings or following through on things they’ve committed to do for the agency
speaking with a donor who spontaneously donated — before your fundraising volunteers could schedule an appointment to visit — and made a contribution of less than what you were planning to ask them to give
talking with a funder about a set of grant deliverables that your agency agreed to achieve but might now be having difficulty achieving

I’m sure we could identify many more of these types of conversations without even trying very hard. Won’t you please share?
What not to do
As I look back upon the many difficult conversations I’ve had in my professional life, I’ve made many mistakes and some of those mistakes I continue to make over and over again for some dumb reason. Here are just a few of those missteps:

I procrastinate and put off having those conversations
I obsess and over-think those conversations, essentially having different version of those conversations in my head prior to the actual conversation
I try to set the stage with a pre-discussion email outlining the issues that need to be discussed
I get emotional and take things personally
I wear my emotions on my sleeve
I get entrenched in my opinions and don’t leave any room for alternate viewpoints

I could also go on and on with developing this list of mistakes. I’ve made so many of them throughout the years. I know you probably have a few things to add here. Won’t you please share?

Best practices
difficult conversations1 I’ve done some research into how I can do better in the future with engaging others in these type of conversations. Here are just a few of the best practices that resonate with me:

Don’t have this conversation in your head before having it in-person because over-thinking creates anxiety and frames issues that might not even come up
Stay away from email because people read tone into written communications that you may not intend . . . but perception is reality
Go into the discussion prepared to: a) hear the other person and b) possibly change your mind
Encourage questions to promote understanding
Restate what you hear the other person saying in order to make sure you’re hearing them correctly

As with the previous section of this post, I know there are many more best practices. Won’t you please share your best practices?
Resources
When you Google the search words “having difficult conversations,” there are a ton of great resources. Here are just a few that I’ve found helpful:

Judy Ringer: We Have To Talk: A Step-By-Step Checklist For Difficult Conversations
Harvard Business Review: Tips On Having Difficult Conversations
Lean In: Managing Difficult Conversations

Without sharing the ugly details about one of your difficult conversations, please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences. Share resources that you’ve found useful. Share things that you’ve learned not to do. Share things that you always try to do. Life is too short . . . we can all learn from each other.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
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It isn't about the donation . . . it is about trust!

February 27, 2014 erik Uncategorized

trust Did you read Seth Godin’s blog post a few days ago? He wrote about what the most important question a company should be asking itself about its customers. In Godin-like fashion, he runs through a laundry list of questions that are not as important. In the end, he tells us that the most important question in marketing is: “Do they trust me enough to believe my promises?”
As I let this blog marinate for a few days, I’ve come to see Godin’s question as critical for both for-profit and non-profit corporations alike. I even Googled the search words “non-profit donor trust” and came across a great post at Fundly titled “Building Donor Trust For Your Non-Profit Organization“. The first paragraph of this article summarized my sentiments perfectly:

“Donors won’t give if they don’t completely trust your organization. They have to emotionally invest in your cause before they financially invest, and the bridge between the two is built on trust, accessibility and accountability. How do you build that bridge?”

After this obvious realization, I decided to do the opposite of what Seth did in his post and started writing down questions that non-profit organizations should be asking themselves.
Here is just some of what I came up with:

Is your agency doing what it said it would do with a donor’s contribution?
Are you achieving the programmatic results and outcomes that you promised?
Are you measuring the right things in order to know your agency is making a difference?
Are your data gathering tools and methods valid and acceptable?
Does your agency communicate with donors in ways they want to be communicated?
Is your agency running programs that address community needs? Or are your programs being run just because of organizational inertia?
Are we sharing the type of success stories that your donors want to hear?
How much do your donors trust you? Can it be measured and quantified?

Asking and answering questions like these are directly related to building trust with your donors.
Here are a few other good links that I found from my Google search regarding donor trust and loyalty:

nonprofit hub: “5 Simple Rules to Increase Donor Loyalty“
Karen Zapp’s nonprofit blog: “How do you build trust for your nonprofit?“
GuideStar: “Build Trust with Donors by Answering These Questions“

How is your non-profit organization addressing donor loyalty? How are you building trust and relationships? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment box below.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
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http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Is your agency's grant writing program in a state of change?

February 20, 2014 erik Uncategorized

grant writing Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend a little time with a professional grant writer, and I walked away from the encounter wondering if there isn’t a new trend afoot in the world of non-profit grants. During our time together, I got the sense that the winds of change are blowing. So, I thought I’d blog about it this morning and see if you are encountering some of the same things.
Of course, a comprehensive grant writing program has many different components to it, such as:

Private foundations
Corporate foundations
Government grants
Family foundations

Even within these areas, you have some additional subdivision:

Federal government
State government
Local government

So, our conversation was predicated on planning question because this organization’s resource development committee is in the process of developing a written resource development plan for 2014. Here were some of the questions I asked:

How many grants did you write in each of these areas last year? What were your results?
What do you currently have in the pipeline (e.g. written and out the door, in the process of writing, etc)?
What strategies are we currently using? Should we shift our grant writing strategies and make adjustments in the upcoming year (e.g. who we’re writing to, what we’re writing for, how we’re engaging decision-makers, etc)?

It was during this interesting discussion the grant writer shared a few interesting observations (and opinions):

He sees a contraction in government grants starting to occur
He sees increased competition for private foundation and corporate foundation pools of dollars
He attributes a huge bump in grant dollars over the last few years to the federal stimulus package and believes that organizations who rode that wave now need to find another wave to surf (and quickly)
In the wake of the recession, he thinks there is a “New Normal” where many non-profits tweaked their fundraising plans and focused more on grant writing (thus making proposal pools more competitive)

Of course, I find all of this interesting even if it is just one data point (and one grant writers opinion) in a huge universe of data. However, it still tweaks my curiosity. So, I’m hoping you will use the comment box below this morning to weigh-in on any of the following questions:

Did your agency change its resource development plan (e.g. goals, strategies, tactics) since the 2008 economic crash? If so, what did you start doing differently?
Are you seeing some of the same things?
If you are experiencing some of the same things (e.g. increased competition, fewer government grants, etc), what are you planning to do about it?
Are you in the process of shifting your agency’s grant writing focus? If so, what are you shifting it to?

In the interest of sharing, this organization is contemplating slightly shifting its focus to Family Foundations and engaging its board volunteers to help in the cultivation process. Of course, these type of foundations act and behave very differently than the others. As a result, they need to look at possibly employing different engagement strategies and different solicitation strategies.
As I always say, there is no reason that we need to be alone out there in this vast non-profit universe. We can all learn from each other, but that requires you taking one or two minutes out of your busy day and sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Serving people’s interests inspires loyalty Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce

Lead a Team; Don’t Manage a Group Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus

It Does Not Follow

Connecting your agency to online gaming communities

Serving people’s interests inspires loyalty
Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce

Lead a Team; Don’t Manage a Group
Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus