Is your strategic plan collecting dust on a shelf somewhere?

December 19, 2013 erik Planning

strategic planning implementation If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it hundreds of times . . . non-profit board volunteers and staff hate strategic planning. Why? The reasons are all over the place, but some of the more popular reasons given are:

there is no time to go through such a time intensive process
the world around us is too chaotic and constantly changing to invest time in planning
it will just go on the shelf and collect dust

When I hear things like this, I can’t help but hear my third grade niece in the back of my head saying, “Really? Seriously?”
It boggles the imagination to think that very smart people cannot figure out why their strategic planning efforts typically end up on the shelf collecting dust. Usually, when I ask people to speculate about why this happens, they often can’t come up with a good reason and just chalk it up to their belief that planning doesn’t work.
Well, here is a hint:

Take a good, hard look in the mirror and you’ll find your answer.

Too many of us treat the planning process as an end, but in reality it should be treated as the beginning.
The following is a list of mistakes that contribute to ineffective strategic planning efforts:

not aligning your agency budget with your strategic plan
not creating committee work plans (or committee charters) with the plan
not linking the executive director’s annual performance plan with the strategic plan
neglecting to develop tools such as dashboards and scorecards to monitor implementation
not aligning your other organizational plans with the strategic plan (e.g. board development plan, resource development plan, marketing plan, program plan, etc)
not including discussions about parts of your strategic plan on the board meeting agenda
neglecting to engage key donors in a conversation about implementation of your plan

So, what is the solution? Quite simply . . . start aligning your strategic plan with everything you can (e.g. budget, performance plans, committee work plans, agendas, etc).
If you are looking for a few external resources on this subject, you may want to check out the following:

The Bridgespan Group: “Living Into Your Strategic Plan: A Guide To Implementation That Gets Results“
Dennis Miller, author: “The Power of Strategic Alignment: A Guide to Energizing Leadership & Maximizing Potential in Today’s Non-Profit Organizations“
LinkedIn group: “Strategic Planning for Nonprofits“

What has been your experience with strategic planning? Is there anything you’ve done that helped your agency maximize its implementation efforts? Please share your thoughts and experiences using 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

Scandal, crisis and abusing your non-profit brand

December 17, 2013 erik organizational development, Planning

crisis2 Sometimes I think the universe speaks to us, and lately it has been begging me to write this blog. Over the last few months, I’ve spoken with a good handful of non-profit professionals who have shared stories of scandal and crisis that would make your toes curl. These stories have ranged from incidents on the front line that made the local newspaper to outright embezzlement.
The tipping point for me was last week when I was visiting a client and prior to the start of our meeting a board volunteer brought up the name of William Aramony.
Now before I proceed let me say that a number of my United Way friends are rolling their eyes right now. I can almost hear them saying, “Come on, Erik. Give us a break. Do you have to tell that horrible story again? It is so 20th Century and stuff for the history books.”
crisis3 For the record, I agree with my United Way friends. If you don’t know about William Aramony, what you need to know for this blog post is:

He was an iconic CEO of United Way of America
He was accused of wrongdoing
It was a national news story for a long time
He ultimately resigned and served a little jail time

The details of the scandal aren’t important here. What is important is that this scandal occurred in 1990, which is more than 20 years ago. Heck, Bill Aramony died in 2011. But this story has legs as they say in the news industry.
The board volunteer who raised the specter of Bill Aramony last week did so almost as if that news story had just happened recently.
I am trying to make the following points:

People have long memories
Donors are often not very forgiving
Scandals can do long term damage to your brand

Perhaps, I am a cynic on this subject, but I believe that all non-profit organizations are likely to experience scandal at least a few times in their organization’s life span. There is bound to be an incident where accusations are made and lawsuits are filed. When you deal with employees, there is likely going to be a messy HR issue from time to time.
I think Abraham Lincoln put it best when he said:

“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”

So, what should a non-profit do to prepare itself?

You should have written policies designed to minimize your liability and exposure.
You should have plans designed to help guide your agency through crisis (e.g. crisis communications plan).
You should review yours plans and policies every year.
You should be sitting down with your top donors every year just to touch base and see what they’re thinking.

Plans & Policies
crisis1 You can probably spend the rest of your life writing policies, but let’s not get carried away. Here are a few questions I suggest you ask as you start going down this road:

Do you have a criminal background check policy when it comes to your employees, volunteers and board members?
Do you have policies pertaining to the safety and security of your clients?
Do you have policies that address the subject of injuries?
Does your organization utilize technology? If so, do you have policies addressing the use of technology?
Do you have an employee handbook or employment policies?
Do you have a written crisis management plan? If so, do you review it often with staff and clients? (e.g. fire drills, etc)
Do you have a crisis communications plan?
Do you have appropriate insurance coverage? How do you know? How often do you review it?

I suspect you have some of this in place and the rest is on a to-do-list somewhere.
This is not work for your board to tackle. It is committee work. If you don’t believe in standing committees of the board, then it is task force work.
But the bottom line is that it is WORK. Work to develop them. Work to regularly review them. Work to monitor them and assure compliance.
Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work because it only takes one good crisis or scandal to do series damage to your non-profit brand.
If you don’t believe me, go ask your local United Way executive director to tell you about William Aramony. Just be prepared to get an earful. 😉
Has your organization (or another one in your community) ever had to dig out of a big hole created by crisis or scandal? If so, how long did it take? What did you do to reset the playing field? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.
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

Is your organization well positioned for strategic planning?

October 10, 2013 erik Board governance, organizational development, Planning

readiness1 I believe there is a misconception out there about strategic planning because I keep running into executive directors who think just because the current plan is expiring that is must be time to begin work on a new strategic plan. I also oftentimes run into folks who believe it is a perfect time to start planning when their agency is experiencing instability, blurriness, and confusion. In my humble opinion, there is a time and place for strategic planning and embarking on this journey at the wrong time can be at best frustrating and at worst damaging.

Readiness questions

Just the other day, I was talking with a friend about this issue, and they asked the obvious question, “How do you know when the conditions are right?” I started off saying something stupid like: “You’ll know when the time is right.” I knew it was dumb advice as it was coming out of my mouth.

So, I went home and started digging through my library of planning materials. I came across an old strategic planning document from a previous employer who had partnered with BoardSource to create the manual. So, you know it is good stuff. 😉

readiness3 As I had hoped, I found a section titled “Key Questions to Assess Readiness and Capacity”. Here are those questions:

Do your regular board meetings (apart from retreats) include at least one strategic, or “Big Picture,” issue on the agenda?
Is your current strategic plan based on realistic and comprehensive assumptions about the agency and its external environment? What considerations are missing?
How might changing demographics and other economic, social, and political trends affect a constituent, client, or membership base that provides a primary revenue stream?
What goal should the agency strive to achieve for financial reserves (for example, at least one-half of the operating budget)? Are there some potential revenue streams to consider?
Are new priorities clear and the proposed means of paying for them realistic? Which programs should be self-supporting? Which might be operated at a loss in order to fulfill the agency’s mission?
What metrics do you use to monitor organizational effectiveness?
Have you considered all the options and chosen a planning method (aka planning model) that works best for the agency? Are you flexible enough to combine approaches if that suits our culture?
How do you include board members who are not on the planning committee as participants in the process?
What performance measures should be included in your strategic plan?
How do you keep our strategic plan active and visible within and outside the agency?
How often do you conduct strategic planning? Does that cycle make sense for the agency?
When you are ready to undertake a planning process, are you clear about why you are planning?
Are you clear about the roles of the board, executive director, and staff in strategic planning? Do you honor the distinctions?
Have you used consultants in the most effective ways possible? If you have never used a consultant, should you consider doing so?

I’m not thrilled with these questions because I think they blend together two different issues — capacity and readiness. So, if you’re just trying to decide whether or not your agency is ready to start down the strategic planning road, I suggest you and your board governance committee spend some time chewing on questions 7, 8, 11, 12, and 13.

The other questions are important, too. I just think the five question I just highlighted cut to the heart of the matter.

We’re not ready, but we still need a plan!

If your board governance committee determines that you’re not ready, but you see difficulty down the road and think you need a plan to guide your efforts, you may not be out-of-luck.

You should look into developing a short-term tactical plan focused on the next 12 months.

Perhaps, a business plan or a something addressing a specific agency function (e.g. resource development, program, facilities, etc) might be a better use of time for you and your volunteers.

Did you mention consequences?

Earlier in this post I said, “. . . there is a time and place for strategic planning and embarking on this journey at the wrong time can be at best frustrating and at worst damaging.”

I been down this path many times, and I encourage you to please learn from my mistakes.

If you start down a strategic planning road when you aren’t ready to do so, I’ve seen the following things happen:

It feels like you’re spinning your wheels, and you end up spending LOTS of time of stuff that you thought were obvious.
Volunteers get frustrated. They feel like they’re going nowhere fast. Some even express that it is a waste of their time.
I’ve seen board members resign in the middle of difficult strategic planning processes.
I’ve seen major disagreements result in boardroom rifts.
I’ve also seen executive directors get fired.

How has your agency determined readiness? Do you have other questions to add to the list? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts 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

Non-profit governance: The work of the board, part 5

October 2, 2013 erik Board governance, Planning

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 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.

Governance: The Work of the Board, part 5

Setting the Mission, Vision and Strategic Plan

By Dani Robbins

strategic planning Welcome to the final post in our five-part series on Governance. We have already discussed the Board’s role in Hiring, Supporting and Evaluating the Executive, Acting as the Fiduciary Responsible Agent, Setting Policy, and Raising Money. Today, let’s discuss the Board’s role in setting the mission, vision and strategic plan.

As previously mentioned, Boards are made up of appointed community leaders, who are collectively responsible for governing an organization. As outlined in my favorite Board book Governance as Leadership and summarized in The Role of the Board, the Fiduciary Mode is where governance begins for all boards and ends for too many. I encourage you to also explore the Strategic and Generative Modes of Governance, which will greatly improve your board’s engagement, and also their enjoyment.

At a minimum, governance includes:

Setting the Mission, Vision and Strategic Plan,
Hiring, Supporting and Evaluating the Executive Director,
Acting as the Fiduciary Responsible Agent,
Raising Money, and
Setting Policy.

One of my goals for this blog is to rectify the common practice in the field of people telling non-profit executives and boards how things should be done without any instruction as to what that actually means or how to accomplish it.

What “Board members being responsible for setting the mission, vision and strategic plan” means is:

The Board sets –meaning discusses and votes to adopt or revise — the mission statement, which answers why your organizations exist.

The Board also sets the vision of the organization. A vision statement is a description of what the organization will look like at a specified time, usually 3-5 years, in the future. There are two minds in the field as to if a vision statements should be a Utopian view such as “an end to hunger” or a more concrete view such as “to be the premier youth development organization.” I lean toward the latter; I find it challenging to set goals to get to Utopia.

The Board votes upon the strategic plan, after participating in a strategic planning process “in which the board, staff, and select constituents decide the future direction of an organization and allocate resources, including people, to ensure that target goals are reached. Having a board-approved, staff-involved strategic plan that includes effective measurements and the allocation of resources aligns the organization, provides direction to all levels of staff and board, and defines the path for the future of the organization. It also allows leadership, both board and staff, to reject divergent paths that will not lead to the organization’s intended destination.” (Innovative Leadership Workbook for Nonprofit Executives)

The process — and the document — can be very long or very short. In fact, I have a new theory that the longer strategic plan is, the less likely it is to be used. For my clients, I recommend a 4-5 meeting process: We start with setting or revising values, vision and mission and end with assignments, measurements and due dates.

Please do not accept a plan that does not include assignments, measurements and due dates. If you cannot answer the question “How will we know when we get there?” you will not get there. A plan without measurements, assignments and due dates is just a list of goals that are unlikely to be accomplished.

For information on what should be included in the process, please click here.

A strategic plan should be a living document that guides the organization and provides a point for ongoing programmatic and organizational evaluation. It should not sit on a shelf.

All organizations should have a strategic plan.

Strategic plans get everyone on same page as to where you are as an organization and where you are going. They allow the group to decide the goals moving forward; create measurements to determine if you met your goals and assign responsibility and due dates for specific goals.

Strategic planning is a process that results in not only a document but also a shared understanding among key stakeholders.

In the absence of that shared understanding and agreement, there are still moving parts, but they’re not aligned. The absence of a plan sets the stage for people to do what they feel is best, sometimes without enough information, which may or may not be right for the organization. It opens the door for one person’s vision to get implemented and others to feel unheard or unengaged. The absence of a plan allows for major decisions to be made on the fly and for potentially mission driven decisions to be compromised. As we all know, movement goes in other directions than forward.

What do you think? As always, I welcome your insight and experience.

Obamacare and your non-profit organization

September 23, 2013 erik Planning

obamacare1 I am not a healthcare expert, and I promise not to play one today. However, the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) has been mentioned in passing a handful of times in meetings I’ve had with non-profit board and staff members over the last few months. Of course, when things like this happen, it tweaks my curiosity and normally ends up here as a blog post. Today, I thought I’d quickly touch upon the quickly evolving topic of healthcare and the non-profit sector and how everyone needs to start paying attention.

In my experience throughout the last few decades, I’ve seen non-profit organizations occupy two very opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to healthcare and employee benefits. These two generalizations can be summed up as follows:

They are expensive and the agency does everything in its power to avoid offering them to its employees.
They are provided to employees generously as a way to compensate for low wages and entice employees not to leave for better salaries in the for-profit sector.

There is an increasing number of news stories about Obamacare as we inch closer and closer to implementation of the law. As this happens, it is top of mind for executive directors and their non-profit boards. As I mentioned in the introductory paragraph of this blog, I’ve heard both board and staff members mentioning things in passing on this subject.

Of course, the thing that worries me most is that all of the passing comments I’ve heard involve verbiage such as:

We’ll see if . . .
Obamacare might . . .
We’re not sure, but if . . .

I recent read an online article published at Online Athens, which is the website for the Athens Banner-Herald newspaper, about non-profit organizations and what the Affordable Care Act means for them. It was this paragraph in the story that sent chills up my spine and inspired this blog post:

“Local nonprofits contacted about the tax credit were unaware of their eligibility and did not want to comment at the time of publication.”

Let’s please face facts:

Many non-profit organizations are small, under-resourced, and fragile.
These organizations tread water on most days and celebrate just keeping their doors open for another few months.
These agencies don’t have their eyes on things like the Affordable Care Act because throughout time much of what the federal government has done only applies to larger employers with 50 or more employees (and many non-profits aren’t this big)

The Athens Banner-Herald did a nice job of making this point when they ended their article with this:

“There is no requirement on employers to provide health insurance, but there is a penalty under the Affordable Care Act’s employer “shared responsibility” provisions for employers with 50 or more full-time employees that do not provide a minimum level of insurance coverage that goes into effect in 2015. The Act does not require employers to provide health insurance to part-time workers and nonprofits that employ fewer than 50 employees will not be subject to employer-shared responsibilities.”

Regardless, the fact of the matter is that ALL non-profit organizations need to start paying attention and educating themselves about the changing face of the healthcare sector.

obamacare2 Why?

There is this thing called the “individual mandate“. To make a long story short, this means that most Americans will soon be required to have some sort of health insurance coverage. It also means that health insurance coverage will soon be on your employees’ minds. So, don’t be surprised when you start to hear things around your proverbial workplace water cooler like:

Why doesn’t our employer offer us health coverage?
Would it be cheaper to talk to our employer about adding employee subsidized health benefits or purchasing a policy through the government-run insurance exchange?
Since my agency can’t/won’t offer health benefits and I now have to pay for private insurance, I wonder if I can push for a better year-end raise to help offset some of these new costs?
Can I still afford to work in the non-profit sector? Or should I be looking more closely at sector jumping and applying for jobs that offer health insurance?

Sure . . . you may be a small non-profit organization with fewer than 50 employees, but don’t think that none of this is going to effect you. None of this is meant to serve as commentary. I am only trying to make the point that every agency should start thinking about healthcare as changes start to occur and they lead to unanticipated questions and additional changes.

My best advice is to start educating yourself about the Affordable Care Act. Take a few small baby steps and start reading articles and attending free webinars and seminars on the topic. BE PROACTIVE! The following are just a few online resources you may want to check out in your spare time:

Online Athens: “Affordable Care Act offers tax credits to nonprofits“
Blue Cross Blue Shield: “Health Care Reform and You“
Kaiser Permanente: “Understanding the Affordable Care Act“

Let’s use today’s blog post as a starting point for many small non-profit organizations. If you currently work at an agency focused on helping with implementation of this new law, please use the comment box below to share a few thoughts or point folks in the direction of online resources. If you’ve attended a webinar or workshop and learned something worth sharing, please consider taking a moment to share it here.

Here’s to your health!

What is your non-profit vision?

September 16, 2013 erik organizational development, Planning

vision As with most things in this world, there are different schools of thought on different things. While working with a client recently, I was reminded of the two camps that non-profit professionals tend to fall into when it comes to writing vision statements. So, I thought it would be fun this morning to explore both perspectives.

On one hand, you have the folks who believe a vision statement must focus on the community and the future state that the non-profit is striving to bring to the community. While digging around on the internet for examples, I came across great examples at Top Nonprofits blog in a post titled “30 Example Vision Statements“. The following are just a few examples from that post:

Feeding America: A hunger-free America.
Human Rights Campaign: Equality for everyone.
Make-A-Wish: Our vision is that people everywhere will share the power of a wish.
ASPCA: That the United States is a humane community in which all animals are treated with respect and kindness.

Wow! Big expansive visions. They are packed full of inspiration, and clearly explain in just a few words to donorswhat they are investing in. They are chock-full of aspiration, and guide the organization’s decision making.

Of course, this isn’t the only way to write a vision statement.

On the other hand, you have folks who believe a vision statement should focus on the organization and the change it strives to bring to itself and its clients. The following are a few more examples that illustrate this way of thinking:

The United Way of Elgin will be a recognized catalyst for mobilizing resources to build a healthier, more compassionate community.
Greater Elgin Family Care Center is known in the communities it serves for high quality, patient-centered care, delivered by a team of competent and committed staff. GEFCC will grow responsively and responsibly to fulfill unmet health needs, enhance community relationships and maintain financial viability.
It is our vision that the Rappahannock Youth Symphony will become a major regional youth orchestral organization that nurtures young talent and enriches the greater Fredericksburg community through the performance of orchestral literature.

OK . . . perhaps, these vision statements aren’t as grand as the ones previously cited, but they are certainly very utilitarian and functional. I suspect donors are no less inspired by these visions, and the organization is much clearer on what decisions it must make and actions it must take to get from point A to point B.

Let me be clear. I find both schools of thought to be perfectly acceptable when it comes to writing non-profit vision statements.

Is your organization reaching the end of road with its current strategic plan? Have you fulfilled your vision? Are you getting ready to develop a new vision and plan?

If your answer is ‘YES’ to the previous question, my first piece of advice is to make a conscious decision about which school of thought you subscribe. Recognize that you are at a fork in the road and must make a decision on which road to travel. Once you make this decision, then you may want to check out some of the following resources on how to go about developing and writing your vision statement:

wikiHow: “How to Write a Nonprofit Vision Statement“
Brainzooming: “Strategic Planning Doesn’t Have to Kill Creativity“
Brainzooming: “What Are We Trying To Say?“

How is your non-profit vision statement written? To which school of thought do you subscribe? What process did you use to develop your vision statement? How do you use your vision statement?

Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

What are your non-profit agency’s foolish consistency and hobgoblins?

August 23, 2013 erik Fundraising, Planning

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 “Adoring Hobgoblins,” John dissects the following quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” He explains to readers that consistency can be a good thing, but it suddenly becomes a bad thing when it interferes with our good judgement and results in poor actions.

Reading this Emerson quotation set my mind down two different paths this morning. So, what the heck? Let’s go down two roads this morning.

Don’t have a written resource development plan?

It is a best practice in my book to engage board members and fundraising volunteers every year in a process that results in a written resource development plan (aka fundraising plan). It should provide definition and explanation to the revenue side of your agency budget.

Do you know how many non-profit organizations — big and small — with which I’ve worked that don’t do this? OMG . . . it is a crazy BIG number.

So, what do those organizations do if they aren’t operating with a resource development plan?

Yep . . . you guessed it. They are relying on “consistency” and sometimes it is “foolish consistency“.

For example, one organization I worked with many years ago didn’t see the need to develop an annual fundraising plan and pointed to their special event fundraisers as something they’ve been doing forever. One of their events had been run for more than two decades.

Their conclusion . . . “why waste time — that we don’t have — on writing this stuff down, especially when it hasn’t changed in two decades?”

hobgoblin Well, huh? Let me see here. Every good planning process begins with an assessment /evaluation which springboards off into goal setting, strategy development and action planning. If the organization I just referenced hadn’t been so “foolishly consistent,” they would’ve seen the following:

The revenue from their signature event plateaued 13 years ago and has been in steady decline ever since
Many of the people attending their event sit at corporate tables, and they do so anonymously. There were no strategies in place to capture individual donor data, which means the cultivation effect of that event is lost on those people.
Many of the individuals who were die-hard supporters of that event were likely capable and willing to contribute more, but there were no upgrade strategies in place. So, money was being left on the table.
There were hundreds of donors over a 20 year time span who had attended this event a few times and then stopped. There were no strategies to re-engage those lapsed donors either in the event or other places in the agency’s resource development plan.

If I’m not mistaken, these four bullet points are the personification of that “hobgoblin” in Emerson’s famous quotation. And, boy oh boy, what an ugly little hobgoblin it is.

I know that some people think of planning processes as a “foolish consistency“. I obviously DO NOT! In fact, I see it as just the opposite. A well-run planning process of any kind should:

help your organization look at things differently
keep a fresh perspective
engage in dynamic brainstorming
inspire change that keeps your agency’s growing

This brings me to the last portion of Emerson’s quotation “. . . adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines“. I would love to add the words “board volunteers and agency staff“.

small mind The board members and executive director of the agency I reference in the example above certainly were “little“. I say this because their “foolish consistency” and unwillingness to do any assessment and planning had locked them into being a certain size. When you looked at their agency budget, they had brought in the same amount of revenue for the last 10 years.

Think about that for a moment. When you factor in inflation, this agency was contracting and raising less and less money every year. Foolish? Yes! Hobgoblins? Yes!! YES!! Little? Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!

If your agency operates with a December 31st year-end fiscal year, then your budget construction process should be starting soon. If this is the case, then your resource development planning process should also be starting soon.

Do you need help with that planning process? If so, I know someone you should call who can help . . . you know who I mean. 😉

The other road referenced?

In the beginning of this blog post, I said John’s post centered on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quotation set my mind down two different paths this morning.

When I first read John’s post, I immediately thought of how many times I’ve heard from non-profit board members, executive directors and fundraising professionals the following words:

“That’s not the way we do things around here”

Not only are these words (or other words that sound or mean the same thing) the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, but they are downright poisonous to your non-profit organization.

I’ve run out of space, but luckily Seth Godin did a nice job of succinctly and eloquently addressing this issue on his blog. If you have 15 more seconds, then you really need to click-through and read Seth’s thoughts on these nine dangerous words.

Can you identify your agency’s “silly consistencies“? If so, what are they? Can you describe those hobgoblins? If so, what do they look like? Please scroll down and share your examples and thoughts as well as what you plan on doing about it in the comment box below. Why? Because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Non-profit Governance: The Work of the Board, part 3

August 8, 2013 erik Board governance

Governance: The Work of the Board, part 3

Setting policy

By Dani Robbins

policies1 Welcome to part three of our five-part series on Governance. We have already discussed the Board’s role in Hiring, Supporting and Evaluating the Executive and Acting as the Fiduciary Responsible Agent. Today, let’s discuss the Board’s role in setting policy.

As previously mentioned, Boards are made up of appointed community leaders who are collectively responsible for governing an organization. As outlined in my favorite Board book Governance as Leadership and summarized in The Role of the Board, the Fiduciary Mode is where governance begins for all boards and ends for too many. I encourage you to also explore the Strategic and Generative Modes of Governance, which will greatly improve your board’s engagement, and also their enjoyment.

At a minimum, governance includes:

Setting the Mission, Vision and Strategic Plan,
Hiring, Supporting and Evaluating the Executive Director,
Acting as the Fiduciary Responsible Agent,
Setting Policy, and
Raising Money.

One of my goals for this post is to rectify the common practice in the field of people telling nonprofit executives and boards how things should be done without any instruction as to what that actually means or how to accomplish it.

What setting policy means is:

The board discusses and votes to approve (or not) all policies and plans. Policies are usually recommended by (and often written by) the CEO, also called the Executive Director. Plans are usually drafted by committee. Both must be approved by the Board.

Procedures, on the other hand, are set by the CEO, often in consultation with the staff. The difference is the difference between the rules and the law. You can get fired for violating a policy (law), but not usually a procedure (rule).

Policies, plans, and procedures set the boundaries for people to act.

policies2 I recommend organizations have the following policies:

Personnel
Financial
Crisis Management and Communication
Conflict of Interest
Confidentiality
Whistle Blowing/Ethics

Policies dictate what happens in defined set of circumstances. I occasionally get calls from people who want to create a policy they don’t really need because they are trying to avoid addressing an issue directly. Do not create a policy to avoid having a conversation. Have the conversation, and then decide if you need a policy.

That said there are policies you definitely need.

For example (and among other things), the personnel policy determines what benefits staff get; the financial policy sets who can sign checks and for what amount; the crisis communication policy determines who speaks for the organization; the crisis management plan dictates what to do if there is an intruder; the conflict of interest policy states how conflicts are managed; the confidentially policy requires a process to protect information; and a whistle blower policy provides a path to report violations.

A reporter sticking a camera in the face of your most disengaged staff member is not the time to decide who speaks for your organization. Having a crisis communication policy will make all the difference in the organization’s ability to continue to provide services after a crisis, and the community’s ability to be confident in your ability to do so. The absence of a single point of contact allows for a variety of messages from a multitude of people — who may or may not be affiliated with your organization — to be shared with the community, which at a best will dilute your ability to control the story and at worst will open the door to a new set of issues for people to judge you by. As all of our moms taught us, a reputation takes a lifetime to build and just a few minutes to destroy.

plans1 Policies address today. Plans take you into the future.

I recommend organizations have the following plans:

Board Development
Marketing
Resource Development
Strategic Plan
Succession Plan

Plans determine what path you will follow in what circumstances.

For example (and among other things), a Board Development plan dictates what process will be followed to bring on new Board members; a marketing plan determines what materials you will create and how they will be disseminated; a resource development plan lays out how you will raise contributed income; a strategic plan states where you are going as an organization and how you plan to get there; and a succession plan ensures continuity by outlining how leadership will be perpetuated.

Plans, policies and procedures can address or eliminate many of the issues that come up on a day-to-day basis that distract from your mission and moving the needle for your community.

What’s been your experience? As always, I welcome your insight and experience.

Is your non-profit good at the Why-How-What?

July 24, 2013 erik Board development, Board governance, Planning

A few days ago I bumped into a non-profit friend who had recently viewed a TED Talks video on YouTube featuring Simon Sinek titled “How great leaders inspire action“. It was obvious to me that this was a TED Talks video that I needed to view because it had inspired her to take action. Not only was she talking to everyone about what Simon calls the “Golden Circle,” but she had also shared the video with board volunteers as a precursor to a strategic discussion.

I think there are three things that make this video so contagious and easy to watch:

The idea of the “golden circle” is easy . . . What-How-Why.
These ideas are woven into many non-profit professionals’ DNA.
The speaker does a nice job of relating What-How-Why to other companies and their successes (e.g Apple)

Early in the video Simon says,

“Every single organization on the planet knows WHAT they do . . . Some know HOW they do it. Whether you call it your differentiating value proposition, you proprietary process or your USP . . . But very, very few people or organizations know WHY they do what they do. And by WHY, I don’t mean ‘to make a profit’. That is a result. It is always a result. By WHY I mean what is your purpose? What’s your cause? What’s your belief? Why does your organization exist?“

I’ve done a lot of strategic planning over the years. I’ve also done lots of tactical planning. And Simon hits on a super powerful idea with his What-How-Why.

what how why Those organizations that excel at strategic planning have a very clear understanding of what they do, how they do it, and why they exist. However, those organizations that are little fuzzy on these ideas do a lot of wrestling with themselves. Sometimes countless hours are spent at the 50,000 foot view talking about these issues . . . and for good reason! Without clarity on What-How-Why, there is no way you can set goals, develop objectives and write action plans that are meaningful in any way, shape or form.

Some of you might be scoffing right now and asking, “How in the world can a non-profit agency not know ‘WHY’ they exist? It is as simple as revisiting their mission statement!”

Well, not so fast, my friend. There are at least two situations that come to mind where this simple idea starts to get blurry.

Some organizations have LONG histories and over the course of time their mission changes. For example, the March of Dimes was founded to address polio and today it exists to improve the health of mothers and babies. When this happens, sometimes the shift isn’t as clear as it was for March of Dimes . . . the ‘WHY’ gets fuzzy . . . and the challenges ensue.
Some organizations experience mission creep because their resource development strategy wasn’t well-defined and board members let staff chase all sorts of funding opportunities regardless of what it was for or what they do. The end result kind of looks like a McDonald’s restaurant that also sells electronics and chiropractic adjustments. In short, the ‘WHY’ gets fuzzy.

I believe that good non-profits revisit the questions of What-How-Why on a somewhat regular basis. I applaud my non-profit friend for using this YouTube video to frame and stage an engaging boardroom discussion. If you have a little time today, I suggest you click-through to YouTube and view the video. If you like it, then forward it to your board president and have a discussion with them about its value. If you’re both excited and engaged, then share it with your board and talk about it as a group.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4]

If you end up doing any of what I just suggested, please circle back around to this blog post and share your experience in the comment box below. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Is “fear of failure” defining your fundraising program?

June 18, 2013 erik Fundraising, Planning

Last week I was on the road working with clients. One evening when I was out to dinner, a revelation about your fundraising program struck me like a bolt of lightning while in the restroom of a restaurant. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. I was thunderstruck in the bathroom. Inspiration came in the form of a little sign sitting by the sink.

This is kind of what that sign looked like:

I’ve been chewing on this question for a week now, which tells me that there is a good blog post somewhere in there. 😉

Failure and your fundraising plan

The first flurry of thoughts that ran through my head pertained to many fundraising programs I’ve seen throughout the years. Here are just a few questions I find myself asking about many agencies’ annual resource development plans:

Why are they running so many special events?
Why aren’t they measuring return on investment (ROI) on each of their events and campaigns?
Why aren’t they evaluating and critiquing each event and campaign?
Why aren’t they innovating and trying new things (e.g. email, social media, etc)?

I’m now wondering if the answer to these questions is that we’re afraid of failure, and it is just easier to keep doing the same thing over and over again. After all, if we evaluate and ask questions, then shouldn’t we “do something” about those things that don’t look so good?

As for innovation and trying new things, there has to be all kinds of “fears” associated with venturing off into the great unknown. Right?

I know that talking about those things we’re afraid of is difficult for many of us. It is this simple truism that keeps countless counselors, therapists and psychologists employed every year. However, I encourage you to take 30 seconds our of your busy day right now and consider these questions and the possibility that your fundraising program is in the grip of fear-based decision-making by staff, fundraising volunteers, and board members.

What would you do . . . if you knew?

What an interesting question to ponder. Dontcha think?

What would I do, if I knew, I could not fail?

Let me step off that cliff first. The following is a list of things (as it pertains to non-profit management and fundraising) I thought of in 30 seconds:

I would call the top 10 most influential people in town and ask them to join my board or get involved in some aspect of my fundraising program.
I would kill every special event fundraiser that was older than 5 years old and replace it with something new and fun.
I would calculate ROI on every event and campaign and stop doing everything that didn’t bring me at least a 75% return (and I’m talking about using both direct AND indirect costs in that calculation)
I would find the time to add an ePhilanthropy aspect to my annual fundraising plan that includes blogging, social media, email and website (and I’d add a robust evaluation component to this program).

Now it is your turn. Please take a few second to contemplate the question at hand. What would you do? Once you have one thing in your head, please scroll down and share it in the comment box below. Let’s inspire each other today.

Here’s another thought. Why not start off your next board meeting and all of your upcoming committee meetings with this question. You might just be surprised by what your volunteers tell you. If you do, I hope you’ll circle back around to this post and share what they said.

Here’s to your health!