To which theory of change does your non-profit subscribe?

November 22, 2013 erik organizational development

Burn the Boats

By John Greco
Originally published on May 3, 2012
Re-posted with permission from johnponders blog
A long while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it necessary for him to make a decision which insured his success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing his men before the first battle, he said, “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice—we win, or we perish! They won.
— Napoleon Hill, in Think and Grow Rich

This story is likely familiar; it is often attributed, incorrectly, to Cortez, and it is usually used to compellingly explore the topic of motivation.
You will probably not be surprised to learn that I’m going to go somewhere else with it. I want to talk about change, and what my profession curiously calls change management.
There are two basic theories of change. One of them is flawed.
One holds that change begins with our knowledge and attitudes. Leaders who hold this theory of change implement initiatives that are training intensive, zeroing in on changing our attitudes. The more we know, the more we understand, the more we will adjust our attitudes. Attitudinal change, then, leads us to change our behavior, and as we all change, the organization changes.
Behind door number two we have the theory that says just the opposite — we change our attitudes in response to a change in our behaviors; and we change our behaviors in response to changes in our environment.
I would like to believe that I change my behavior based on different perspectives that I’ve received through learning new and different things. I would like to believe that I don’t need to be “forced” into changing.
What do you think?
I’ll bet you, like me, would like to think the first theory of change is right, but, in fact, it is exactly backward.
Initiatives based on the first theory of change will take forever to produce meaningful change, if at all. Odds are, it won’t produce a tipping point for the organization before it crosses the frustration threshold of its leaders.
Burning the boats is way more effective.
We change our behaviors because we have to; and we have to because something around us, outside of us, has changed.
I liked hamburgers as a kid, but good gosh no cheese; I wouldn’t eat cheeseburgers, period. Until one day, when I didn’t have an option. I love cheeseburgers now …
What do you think was more responsible for a reduction in smoking: the public service announcements and surgeon general’s warning or the banning of smoking in restaurants, bars, and other public places?
The surprising truth is that we don’t change when we have control and can make choices; we change when we don’t have control and we have limited choices.
Effective leaders don’t try and change their people. They know that they simply do not control their people… And the more they try and directly change our attitudes, the more we push back, dig in, and resist.
Instead, they burn the boats! They redesign the structure; rewrite organizational policies; reengineer processes, integrate technology and tools, update the incentives, clarify the measurements…
Instead of changing us, they change what carries us, what affects us; they change what we depend on; they change what is all around us.
They burn the boats.

Adapted from Managing Change: Cases and Concepts. Todd Jick.

You need more women in your non-profit boardroom!

November 19, 2013 erik Board development, Board governance, organizational development, volunteers

rosie the riviter Last week I was out to lunch with two male non-profit friends in downtown Chicago when the topic of women board volunteers came up. This happens from time-to-time, and when it does I always bite my tongue because I tend to have strong opinions on this subject. So, I took a deep breath and prepared for what I assumed was going to be one of those “difficult and uncomfortable conversations“. Boy oh boy . . .was I wrong (and pleasantly surprised).
Let me start by explaining what I mean by “I have strong opinions . . .” The fact of the matter is that my opinions are sexist (at least I think they are). When I am engaged in conversations about non-profit board development and I’m feeling bold, I like to say, “If you want lots of discussion in the boardroom about what ‘should’ happen, then recruit a lot of men to serve on your board because they will talk a subject to death. If you want something done, recruit some women because they are the ‘do-ers’ of our society.”
A good friend of mine would respond to this by saying, “All generalizations, including this one, are incorrect.”
So, I usually shy away from sharing this opinion because:

It feels like a sexist thought
It has gotten me in trouble in the past and sparked heated discussions
The “all generalizations” comment is usually right on target

Let’s fast forward to my lunch conversation in downtown Chicago last week as I prepared for a lunch discussion that I assumed was going down the wrong road.
The first words out of one guy’s mouth were positive and progressive. He shared a story about the women on his board being extraordinarily active and engaged. The other guy talked about wanting to develop what used to be called in the old days a “women’s auxiliary” (and he was calling a Women’s Board). As I shook my head in amazement at the surprising turn this conversation quickly took, the most amazing thing happened. One of the guys validated what I keep referring to as “my sexist opinion” by pointing to research data that he just read about in the OpEd pages of the New York Times on October 23, 2013.
I couldn’t believe my ears, and I asked my lunch partners to please forward me that editorial column.
It arrived the next day in my email inbox. It almost looked like that one special Christmas present that you most prized and treasured as a child (and in the spirit of A Christmas Story read this as me saying that email was the equivalent of an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle).
The editorial was titled “Twitter, Women and Power,” and it was about the all male boardroom at Twitter, which was just a few weeks from launching its IPO on Wall Street.
I strongly encourage everyone who has any role in your non-profit organization’s board development to read this article. It is definitely worth the click! However, for those of you working with very little time today, here are a few of the major points from the article:

Domestic companies that have women board members earn a higher rate of return on invested capital
International companies with women on their boards earn a surprisingly higher amount of operating capital
During the recent government shutdown, it was our nation’s female legislators who were at the forefront of brokering a deal

After reading this New York Times editorial piece by Nicholas Kristof, I now feel empowered enough to admit that I think women are better fundraising volunteers than their male counterparts. (Uh-oh . . . that little voice inside my head is telling me to shut-up again.)
Does your agency have enough women in the boardroom? How does your board development committee ensure gender balance? What has been your experience on this issue? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and opinions.
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

Finding the right non-profit board prospects might be harder than you think

November 14, 2013 erik Board development, Board governance, Fundraising, volunteers

strategic thinking2 Sometimes I hear something that hits me just right, and it takes days to get it out of my head. This happened on Tuesday during the Fox West Philanthropic Network’s Philanthropy Day luncheon. The keynote speaker, Dani Robbins, was talking about the different modes of board governance and the importance of facilitating more strategic and generative discussions in the boardroom. Doing so will result in a more engaged board.
Easy as that! Right?
Well, that little voice inside my head started screaming at me. It was saying, “Whoaaaaa! Can strategic and generative discussions be done with any old board members? Or does it take a certain type of board volunteer?”
So, I raised my hand and interrupted Dani’s keynote address. (Sorry, Dani!)
I was half expecting her to say that everyone is capable of engaging in these higher order discussions. I was also expecting her to put the responsibility back on the person(s) who facilitate those boardroom discussions to get the most out of the diversity of people sitting around the table.
However, I got an unexpected answer.
strategic thinking3 Dani suggested that board volunteers who are “strategic thinkers” will have an easier time making the transition from traditional fiduciary modes of governance to more strategic and generative modes.
I suspect this means for many non-profit organizations, who want to make this adjustment to governance, that some thought needs to be put into adding more strategic thinkers to their board recruitment prospects lists.
Once I arrived at this conclusion, I got a mental picture of a committee meeting with board governance volunteers going through their prospect identification and evaluation exercises focused on finding strategic thinkers. As this mental picture became clearer, lots of questions flooded into my head including:

What does a strategic thinker look and sound like?
Where do strategic thinkers live, work and play?
How easy will it be for board governance committees to do this work, especially when most committees (in my experience) shortcut the cultivation and evaluation process and go straight from identification to recruitment?

As I normally do when issues like this start bothering me, I open up my internet browser and go to Google. 😉
I quickly found myself reading a post on CEB Blogs titled “5 Characteristics of Strategic Thinkers“. Here are those characteristics:

Open yourself to perspectives from multiple sources
Incorporate both logic and emotion into your thinking
Seek options beyond today’s reality
Question both the familiar and the to-be-determined
Accept open issues

strategic thinking1 If you’re scratching your head while reading this list and asking “what does THAT mean,” then click the link and read the CEB Blog post. It really is quite good. If you want to learn more, then I suggest you start Googling around. 😉 You also might want to click here and start with this interesting Wikipedia page on strategic thinking.
Let me bottom line what I’m thinking for you this morning.

This isn’t as simple as changing some of the criteria in your gap assessment tool
These characteristics are more subtle than questions of age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, fundraising experience, etc
Only people who know or work closely with board prospects know whether or not they are strategic thinkers, which puts a spotlight on who is serving on your board governance committee
Identifying strategic thinkers for your board recruitment process will require more time spent cultivating and evaluating prospects and less jumping straight from identification to recruitment

What is standing in your agency’s way of transforming its boardroom discussions from fiduciary to more strategic and generative modes of governance? What are you doing to over come those obstacles? Is your board governance committee approaching its job differently when it considers this question? If so, how?
Please use the comment box below to share your thought and experiences. 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

Crazy non-profit board meetings and some advice for board volunteers

November 7, 2013 erik Board development, Board governance, organizational development, volunteers

Dani Robbins is the Founder & Principal Strategist at Non Profit Evolution located in Columbus, Ohio. I’ve invited my good friend and fellow non-profit consultant to the first Wednesday of each month (or Thursday as is the case this month) about board development related topics. Dani also recently co-authored a book titled “Innovative Leadership Workbook for Nonprofit Executives” that you can find on Amazon.com.

Board Meetings Gone Wrong

By Dani Robbins
regrets Boards meetings can quickly go from productive to destructive in any number of ways. The following are just a few lessons I’ve learned throughout the years and thought board volunteers might benefit from reading:
The morning after is too late
I cannot tell you the number of times in my career that a Board member has called me the morning after a board meeting appalled by something the Board voted to approve the night before, at a meeting they themselves attended. I can absolutely tell you the number of times those very same Board members have voiced their objections in the room: zero!
The next morning is too late. If you do not like the motion that is on the table, it is not only your right to object out loud and on the record, it’s your obligation.
Sometimes individual Board members come up with wacky (read: dangerous) ideas. When those ideas become motions that get seconded is when they go from wacky to possible. Motions that have no second die, and so do the ideas that spawned them.
Motions that are seconded prompt the chair to call for a discussion. If you are uncomfortable with the motion that is on the table, I implore you to speak. Silence is acquiesce. It is usually too late (and much harder) to address something after a vote has been concluded.
When you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there
No written agenda — or an agenda that isn’t followed — practically guarantees a long, meandering meeting that will only serve to frustrate those in the room, but won’t accomplish much beyond that. It’s also likely that such a meeting will not produce formal votes or minutes that capture what the Board has committed to accomplishing.
No strategic plan works the same way. In the absence of a plan, you will have a lot of people working on a lot of things that may or may not align because the Board has not articulated and voted upon a formal direction.
If everyone’s in charge, no one’s in charge
Boards elect Chairs to be in charge (of the Board). It’s awkward and feels weird the first time you chair a meeting, but the weirdness will pass when you begin to lead. However, not leading guarantees the weirdness moves in and sets up shop.
It’s the forth Tuesday at 4; let’s meet!
Don’t have a Board meeting if you have nothing to talk about. If there are no committee reports and no business for the Board to address, cancel the meeting.
At the end of the day, there’s no accounting for crazy
The easiest way to avoid crazy in the board room is to not let crazy on the board. A Board Development plan and a formal process to elect board members will weed out inappropriate board prospects, before they become inappropriate board members.
Time of Death: 2 hours after we started talking about this
Discussion that seems to be spiraling can be stopped by two of my favorite phrases:

“Let’s call the question” which in Board speak means enough talking, let’s vote.
“Let’s send this back to committee.” This phrase, when used by the chair, is a declarative statement that the board meeting has devolved into a committee meeting. When used by anyone other than the chair, it is a prompt to the chair that the discussion has gone on too long. In either case, there should be a vote, reflected in minutes, that the motion was be tabled pending the committee’s review and consideration of the issues raised.

What’s the Executive Director’s role?
Good Execs do their homework before the meeting and usually know how people are going to vote before the meeting begins……which doesn’t ensure they will do so.
If a meeting goes off track, Execs can:

stall by whispering the potential negative impact to the Chair and hoping they agree;
offer to get more information and bring it back to the board at a future meeting; or
recommend the motion be sent back to committee prior to being voted upon.

If you have to, board volunteers can object out loud and on the record but be aware that doing so will spend significant political capital. It also may not help, which does not mean you should not do it.
As mentioned in a post titled “Hiring, Supporting and Evaluating the Executive,”

“worrying about keeping your job precludes you from doing your job. You have to do what you believe is best, based on your experience, information and training, within the boundaries of your role and the law. We all know that any day could be the day you quit or get fired. That can’t stop you from leading.”

What’s been your experience? Have you seen Board meetings go off track? What has gotten them back on track? As always, I welcome your insight and experience.

A brush with history — Nate "Bobo" Smalls — and a non-profit epiphany

November 5, 2013 erik organizational development, volunteers

bobo1 Every once in a while this job allows me to do something fun and amazing. Last week was one of those times. During an organizational assessment project, I had a brush with history when one of my interviewees turned out to be Nate “Bobo” Smalls. Who is this guy? Quite simply, Bobo is one of the last remaining baseball stars from the Negro Baseball League, which is a piece of history that the world tries very hard not to remember or honor. I walked away from my interview with Bobo with goosebumps on my arm.
Of course, I am obligated by a confidentiality agreement with my client. So, I cannot share with the DonorDreams blog audience things like who my client is and what Bobo said in that interview about their organization. However, there are a few things in the public domain about Bobo that are fair game.
I have whittled those few things down into bite size nuggets of wisdom in the next few sections.
Do you know what is wrong with our communities today?
Throughout my time with Bobo, he kept coming back to a central theme and his explanation of what is wrong with the world today.
Apparently, back in the day, our communities were blessed with what Bobo described as mentors. These were older men and women who were wise, and they took it upon themselves to share their wisdom with the world regardless of whether or not they knew you.
bobo2 Bobo recalled every neighborhood having at least one mentor.
They would sit on their porch, and they were accessible to anyone who sought their counsel. When they circulated throughout the community, they would stop young people who they thought were creating mischief or on the wrong path in life and talk with them about the error of their ways.
Our world is a different place today. It operates at a different speed. We build fences around our houses, and many of us mind our own business. We work hard at keeping our nose out of other people’s business.
When I allow my mind to wander beyond Bobo neighborhood construct, I am hard pressed to identify many business professionals who I see mentoring young up-and-comers.
Bobo is right . . . there aren’t many true mentors left.
Talking the talk. Walking the walk.
It would be easy for Bobo to retire to a rocking chair and tell stories. He is one of the last Negro League barnstorming players. He earned his golden years.
Instead of fading away into the pages of history and lamenting the loss of mentors in our society, Bobo goes to work every day in his neighborhood park. With the support of his local municipality and his neighbors, he does outreach work with kids who hang out on the streets. Many of these kids are the same ones joining gangs. He organizes basketball leagues and sports tournaments, and he does a lot of talking and mentoring.
If my grandmother was right and “idle hands are the workshop of the devil,” then Bobo is an angel who is one of those rare people who does more than just complain about what is wrong with the world. He does something about it.
The epiphany
When you look at Bobo Smalls’ career and listen to him wax poetic about his neighborhood and community, it is hard not to walk away without having learned a few lessons. The following are just a few non-profit epiphanies I took away from my time with Bobo:

Your non-profit organization most likely functions in the capacity of those individuals that Bobo described as mentors. Do you take that responsibility seriously? If so, how? By going back in time and talking to a treasure like Bobo, what epiphanies might you experience that could influence your agency’s programming?
You have the personal capacity to mentor a young professional in your place of work. If youth is more your passion, then you also have the ability to get involved in a mentoring-focused non-profit organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. What is stopping you? Once you identify those barriers, what will you do about it?
Many non-profit organizations are really good at assessment (e.g. talking the talk), but fewer are good at implementing change (e.g. walking the walk). For example, I hear agencies complain a lot about the state of government funding today, but they aren’t aggressively changing their fundraising plan. What is your agency doing to drive change? What approaches, tactics and tools do you use? How do you keep yourself from turning into one of those people who complains about everything but does nothing about it?
Collaboration is key to success, and Bobo is a living testament to this. It is true that Bobo took to the streets on his own accord and started the hard work of outreach and programming. However, he quickly engaged others like the city government in a conversation focused on how they could help and sustain his efforts. Who is your agency collaborating with to implement your mission and vision? Is it a real collaboration or is it just a partnership in name only to impress funders?
Persistence is also the key to success. Bobo played for the Indianapolis Clowns from 1965 to 1986. There is a great story about how he invited himself to the Kansas City Royals spring training camp as a “walk-on” player even though the team had a policy of not accepting walk-ons. Does your agency practice tenacity? If so, how?

I ask lots of questions in the aforementioned bullet points. Please use the comment box below to weigh-in with your thoughts and experiences.
The man. The legend.
There isn’t much information out there about guys like Bobo Smalls. Click here to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum website if you want to learn about others like Bobo.
If you want to view a YouTube clip of Bobo talking about his days as a Negro League player, I’ve included this link for your enjoyment:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWxe4qCZak]
Every community possesses people like Bobo. They are a treasure. Can your organization benefit from engaging those people? I suspect you can. When you figure it out, please circle back to this post and let us know what happened.
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

Where do you get your non-profit inspiration?

November 1, 2013 erik Uncategorized

einstein For two days this week, I’ve been holed up in a little room interviewing donors, community leaders, and collaborative partners as part of an organizational assessment project. When you work in a small room for an extended period of time, you tend to notice every little thing. It was during this time that I found inspiration literally painted on the walls, which got me wondering where you and your non-profit organization gets its inspiration?
Today’s post is short and sweet because I am limited in time. I thought that I’d share some of the inspirational quotes painted on the walls of the room where I conducted interviews.
Hope is the thing with feathers,
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.
~Emily Dickinson
dr seuss
When you fish for love,
Bait with your heart, not your brain.
~Mark Twain
Today you are you,
That is truer than true.
There is no one youer than you.
~Dr. Deuss
Promise me you’ll always remember,
You’re braver than you believe,
And stranger than you seem,
And smarter than you think.
~Winnie the Pooh
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
~Albert Einstein
I know that today’s post is a little different from the typical DonorDreams blog post, but working in that small room surrounded by those quotations got me wondering:

Do you have a favorite quotation that you turn to for inspiration when things get tough at your agency?
How do you surround yourself, your employees and clients with inspiration?

Please use the comment box below to share 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

Does your non-profit organization have a culture of philanthropy?

October 28, 2013 erik Fundraising

org culture I love Monday mornings! I wake up, feed the dog and cat, grab a cup of coffee, sit down at my computer and open my email, and most Monday mornings involves watching “Movie Mondays for Fundraising Professionals“. This morning’s video was an interview with Andrea McManus who is the President of The Development Group, a Canadian resource development consulting firm. Within the first 15 seconds of the interview Andrea poses a great question about whether your organization has a “philanthropic culture” or “fundraising culture“.

When I’m conducting a resource development assessment for a client who doesn’t have a strong fundraising program in place, it isn’t uncommon for me to make an observation about the agency lacking a “culture of philanthropy“. When I watched Andrea’s interview this morning, it dawned on me that some of those clients might not have understood what I was driving at.

I love the distinction that Andrea draws in the video. I love even more that she takes the time to share with viewers the nine signs of a strong philanthropic culture.

Do you know what those nine signs are? Does your organization exhibit those nine signs?

OK, I have a confession to make. When I look for philanthropic culture, I use the less formal “smell test,” which is akin to sniffing what is in a Tupperware container in the refrigerator to determine whether or not it is still safe to eat leftovers. Essentially, I knew it when I saw it and experienced it. So, when Andrea said she was going to share her nine signs of a philanthropic culture with viewers this morning, I settled in and prepared to watch the entire 15 minute video.

I highly recommend that you take a moment to watch “9 Signs of a Strong Philanthropic Culture“.

To help whet your appetite, here are three of Andrea’s nine signs:

Your board and agency leadership know how to spell “philanthropy” (While her tongue is planted firmly in her cheek, she makes a great point when talking about this sign.)
Organizational leadership (both board and staff) understand the difference between philanthropy, development, and fundraising.
When a donor calls the main phone line, the person answering the phone knows exactly what to do with that call. They know where to send those calls. They also recognize the importance of that person and treats them as such.

There are six other even more amazing signs. Aren’t you even a little curious? Click here to check-out Andrea’s interview and discover those six other signs.

I’m going to end today’s blog with the same question Andrea poses at the end of her video. What other things (aka signs) do you look for when assessing whether or not a non-profit agency possesses a philanthropic culture? Even more important, how are you trying to instill these things into your organizational culture? Please share one or two of those things 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
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

What don’t you know about your non-profit D&O insurance policy?

October 24, 2013 erik Board governance

insurance1 Just the other day a friend started talking with me about non-profit directors and officers (D&O) insurance. During the course of that conversation, all sorts of things were discussed and at one point I made a mental note to do a little research. Having just finished my homework, I honestly can say that I completely understand why people don’t like insurance companies — this stuff is complicated.

Let me begin by saying to all of my insurance friends out there . . . I love you. I understand the importance insurance. This will not turn into a rant against you or your employers. I promise!

Next let me suggest to all of my non-profit friends — volunteers and professional staff — that you need to be very careful when it comes to D&O insurance. As I’ve just been reminded by Googling around, the devil is in the details.

Here is some of what I learned . . .

Confusing coverage

I didn’t know until a few hours ago that D&O insurance policies are NOT standardized. In other words, what one company covers in their D&O policy may not be covered in another company’s D&O policy.

To make matters even worse, D&O policies don’t really affirmatively list what is covered. In my experience, just saying that the policy covers “wrongful acts” usually results in board members using their imagination. This is where the trouble starts.

Some of the best advise I read online when researching this topic was:

Read the definitions section of the policy
Read the exclusions section of the policy

By understanding “what is what” and “what isn’t what,” you can get a better picture of what your actual coverage looks like.

Typical exclusions

insurance2 The list is long, but the following things are typically excluded from the average D&O insurance policy:

Bodily injury (General Liability)
Property damage (General Liability)
Professional services (Malpractice)
Handling Funds (Fidelity, Bond)
Nuclear radiation, pollution damage
Illegal acts
Dishonest acts
Intentional misconduct
Punitive damages
Fines, penalties and matters uninsurable by law
Failure to obtain adequate insurance
Contract claims
Employee retirement income security act (ERISA)
Antitrust, price-fixing, restraint of trade
Peer review, standard setting
Credentialing, certification
Discrimination
Sexual misconduct
“Insured versus insured”
Injunctions/no pecuniary suits

I found this list in a document published by the Ohio Youth Soccer Association North (OYSAN), which was at one time part of a larger handbook published by the Nonprofits’ Risk Management and Insurance Institute.

If you find yourself saying “Hey, but I need coverage for those things,” then don’t worry because your insurance company is more than willing to sell you other policies to cover those things. 😉

When you assume . . .

You know how this expression ends, and it is very applicable to what most board members do when it comes to D&O insurance.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . a friend of mine was the board president for a non-profit organization that went out-of-business. As the board started down the long, sad path of winding things down, the following facts were discovered:

the executive director hadn’t paid payroll taxes in three quarters
there wasn’t enough money in the bank to pay the final payroll
many vendors hadn’t been paid in full for their products or services

To make a long story short, Uncle Sam always gets his, and you must pay your employees. These things aren’t covered by D&O insurance (in fact, as I recall, the executive director also forgot to pay the D&O insurance premium). In the end, board volunteers were forced to write a number of big checks and those who couldn’t had a lein placed on their house by the IRS.

Ouch!

Best practices?

insurance3 I shared some of my research with a group of amazing non-profit consultants tonight. The consensus of this group of very smart people was that board volunteers never ask the hard questions about their D&O insurance policies until it is too late.

This prompted me to ask the obvious question, “What are some best practices that non-profit boards should follow?” Here is what they said:

Once a year in a board meeting, time should be set aside to review policies and coverages with an opportunity for Q&A.
Boards should pay for a lawyer, who isn’t a board member and who specializes in risk assessment, to review your policies and inform the board about their gaps.
Engage an insurance broker who can help you shop policies and tailor the search to your needs.

Yes, insurance can be boring and board volunteers may not want to do this every year, but the angels of our better nature must prevail. Failure to do the right thing when it comes to D&O insurance and other insurance coverage all too often results in tragedy and hardship for the organization and board volunteers.

What is your organization’s process for renewing insurance policies? How do you educate board members about your agency’s gaps and their risk and exposure? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences.

Here’s to your health!

Does your non-profit have an ‘Abs of Steel’ conference strategy?

October 14, 2013 erik Uncategorized

abs1 The month of October is brutal for me this year. On top of working with my existing client base, I am attending three different conferences in three different regions to help another client with implementation of a specific training track aimed at executive directors and school superintendents. As I attend these conferences, I see non-profit professionals hopping from session-to-session and find myself wondering, “What is their conference strategy?”

When I was an executive director, I loved attending conferences and trainings. It felt like I was nurturing the inner non-profit professional inside of me. However, after a few years on the job, I found an entire bookshelf in my office full of conference materials and notes. I wasn’t using them. I wasn’t referencing back to them. They were just gathering dust.

The analogy I use to describe this useless activity involves the popular “Abs of Steel” workout DVD, and it goes something like this:

For those of you who know me, you know that I do not possess abs of steel. In fact, I don’t possess anything of steel anywhere on my body. So, if I went to the mall and purchased an Abs of Steel workout DVD, some people might consider that a step in the right direction. This is akin to you deciding to attend a conference or training session.

However, if I came home with my new Abs of Steel workout DVD, popped a tub of buttery popcorn, and watched the DVD while sitting on the couch and eating that popcorn, I would be no closer to my goal of obtaining abs of steel. This is akin to you attending a conference, coming home with a bunch of notes and materials, and putting them on your shelf to collect dust.

The reality of the situation is that you need to do the exercises on the workout DVD in order to achieve the desired result. Of course, the same is true with what you learn at the conference. When you get home, you need to turn your new-found knowledge into action. The act of doing what you learned will build your organizational muscles and grow your organizational capacity.

So, what is your conference abs of steel strategy? Do you have one?

todolist After a few years of proverbially eating popcorn on the couch after attending conferences and trainings, I decided to do something different. My strategy was simple. Rather than taking notes on what the trainer was saying, I only wrote down action items that came to mind while listening to the speaker.

These were things I planned to transfer to my To Do List when I got home.

I decided that I didn’t need to write down what the trainer was saying because they were most likely handing out copies of their PowerPoint presentation along with a dump truck of materials. Besides, those notes were no good to me if they were just going to sit on my book shelf and collect dust. Right?

I’ll admit that this strategy didn’t always work perfectly. Oftentimes, I’d get home from a conference and my desk was piled high and my To Do List was long. Nevertheless, I found this strategy to be better than the previous one and so I kept it.

I personally liked the “action-focus” of what I was trying to accomplish.

As I facilitate my sessions and sit in my exhibitor booth during the month of October, I can’t help but wonder what are other people’s conference strategies. Are you popping popcorn or are you doing something else? Are you building your organizational muscles or are you just making yourself feel better because you now own the transformational resource?

Please scroll down to the comment box below and share your conference and training strategies. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Are you addressing symptoms or root causes of your agency’s distress?

October 11, 2013 erik organizational development

Welcome to O.D. Fridays at DonorDreams blog. Every Friday for the foreseeable future we will be looking at posts from John Greco’s blog called “johnponders ~ about life at work, mostly” and applying his organizational development messages to the non-profit community.

In a post titled “Baffling,” John talks about a situation where a CEO was not up for the cultural change in his company. Instead of addressing the real issues, the CEO tried to deal with symptoms rather than the root cause of his employee morale challenges.

Reading John’s post this morning, I am reminded of how many non-profit organizations do the same thing.

We offer employees more in benefits (e.g. extra vacation days) rather than addressing the obvious wage disparity that exists between many non-profits and for-profits.
We offer donors more facts and figures about program outputs rather than demonstrating true outcomes and sharing stories about how our programs have been transformational to those we serve.
We engage in strategic planning and focus on strategies/tactics/action rather than looking deep within our organizations and tackling cultural issues first.

Is your agency engaged in this type of activity right now? If so, here are a few previous posts you may find useful:

DonorDreams: “Mmmmm … strategy for breakfast again?”
johnponders: “Making Breakfast“
The Bridgespan Group: “Four Actions Nonprofit Leaders Can Take to Transform Organizational Culture“

A few quick tips to consider:

Who you have on your bus is important (It always comes back to Jim Collins for me). A strategic plan won’t help you if you have the wrong people on the bus and sitting around your boardroom and staff meeting tables.
The biggest difference between for-profit and non-profit organizations can be summed up in one word — “MISSION“. Doubling down on mission-focus activities and messaging might help you when organizational culture becomes an issue.
Leadership means making tough decisions. It does not mean compromising to make everyone happy.

Are you currently facing an issue dealing with organizational culture? How are you addressing it? Did you read John’s post? What do you think the CEO in that story should’ve done differently? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences.

Here’s to your health!