DonorDreams blog is honored to be hosting the May 2013 Nonprofit Blog Carnival. The theme this month is “Dear board volunteer . . .” and the idea is “If you could write an anonymous letter to a nonprofit board about something they do that drives you crazy, what would that letter look like and what suggested solutions would you include?” If you are a blogger and would like more information on how to participate and submit a post for consideration, please click here to learn more.
I wanted to expand the Nonprofit Blog Carnival concept in May. So, I reached out to real non-profit professionals and asked them to also write an anonymous letter to their board volunteers. These people are executive directors, fundraising professionals, board members, donors, community volunteers, consultants and front line staff. I promised everyone anonymity in exchange for their submissions.
We will celebrate May’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival on Wednesday, May 29, 2013. Up to that fun-filled day, I will publish real anonymous letters every day from real non-profit professionals right here at DonorDreams blog.
I hope you enjoy this real look at real issues that our community deals with on a daily basis.
Here is today’s letter:
Dear Board Member:
HOW MANY Boards can you sit on? Please STOP!
Please consider where you want to spend your energy! I love that you care about this community but sitting on five non-profit boards doesn’t help us and can’t be easy for you.
I recognize your service and your time, but what I am asking for is can I get your energy? Is your energy at optimal level when you come to meetings? Are you out in our community with passion and energy advocating for our mission? Do you have energy to keep up on all the minutes, meeting notes, financials etc. that are critical for governance for all those boards?
I need you to be our Champion. Our Board of Directors needs to be made up of Champions who can advocate and invite others into our mission without being conflicted by other areas of service. We need your talent and energy at every meeting, in every interaction, your engagement is critical to our success.
Now, I’m not asking for you to give all your work up, I am asking you to choose which mission you want to serve, which board can you choose to serve with passion, which can you in all interactions advocate and champion energy. Which can you truly be a Champion?
Our cause and other non-profits’ causes are too big and too important to just have a person’s time, and too critical to have just a fraction of that time. “Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency for high performance.”
We want your dedicated time with the energy to be a CHAMPION so we can successfully serve our mission.
Sincerely,
The Executive Director in any Med/Small Market
If you have some advice for the author of our anonymous letter, please be respectful and share it in the comment box at the bottom of this post.
If you want to submit an anonymous letter for consideration this month (and you’re a donor, volunteer, staff member, board member, and NOT a blogger), please email it to me at the address in your signature block below.
Remember, bloggers are encouraged to blog about this theme and submit their post for consideration at the Nonprofit Blog Carnival. Bloggers can click here for more info about that process.
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
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