Category Archives: collaboration

Board Member: “I don’t understand what we do?” (Part I)

Posted on June 30, 2009 | 2 Comments

HELP by LiminalMike

HELP by LiminalMike

The following is part one of a three-part series on board/staff collaboration. Identities have been concealed to protect the innocent.

“I don’t understand what we do?”

The question hung in the air. The executive director, just three months on the job, did not know what to do with it. It all seemed quite obvious to him and yet this long-time board member was not getting it even though he had been talking to her for the last hour about the organization they were both supposedly committed to.

“Is she stupid?” he wondered to himself. “Or am I the idiot.”

The organization seemed to have so much more potential when he applied for the job—a positive national reputation, a board full of influential community leaders, and nice size cash reserve. But it was all a house of cards. Within weeks his finance director announced a budget shortfall equal to half of the organization’s operating budget. Goodbye cash reserve. Massive staff lay-offs and program changes that immediately followed put that national reputation in danger. And finally, his influential board did not seem very interested in being an influential board for this organization including the person sitting in front of him at this very moment.

Instead of wondering why he and his wife quit good jobs and moved 1000 miles, he tried to push the conversation forward repeating much of what he had said earlier. Speaking slowly and providing extra emphasis to key words like ‘mission’ and ‘program” just in case his board member’s english was not as good as his.

“Our M-N-R program is really the centerpiece of our work, providing diverse opportunities for our participants to connect with professionals in the field…”

He noticed her eyes beginning to glaze over, and began to imagine that he sounded like one of the adults on a Charlie Brown television special: “wha wa wa wha wa wa wa.” But then she interrupted him and nonchalantly dropped a bomb.

“That’s all well and good, but why should I care?”

He stared back.

“Why the !@#$ are you on the board? Why the !@#$ are you coming to meetings once a month and offering stupid ideas that will never happen? Why the !@#$ do you write measly checks once a year when I know that you can easily write three times as much. I’ve seen your house. Why should you care? Why should I !@#$ing care.”

Before all of this came tumbling out, he took a deep breath and instead replied:

“I don’t know.”

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Stop Telling Nonprofits to Act More Like a Business

Posted on June 17, 2009 | 5 Comments

Recycled Stop Sign by Arlette

Recycled Stop Sign by Arlette

I wish someone would stand up at a General Motors or AIG board meeting and say: “You know what guys, we need to act more like a business.” It would be one of those awkward moments where everyone around the table would stare blankly at one another not knowing what to say.

This statement, commonly heard by nonprofits, stinks. It is akin to diagnosing a broken toe by telling the patient she has a fever. All nonprofits must be operationally effective, but this is not what the statement implies. It furthers the perception that if you do not operate with a profit motive you do not understand business. It says: “for-profit expertise trumps nonprofit expertise.” It is one of the greatest barriers to deep collaboration among board and staff members—pitting the knowledgeable business leader against the knowledgeable community worker. Money vs. mission.

We need to smash these stereotypes. Running a non-profit business is different than running a for-profit business; the same way running a food shelf is different than running a theater company. Are there similarities? Of course. When making major strategic decisions do these similarities count? Not really. Board and staff leaders need to learn the business they are in— not just business. This calls for cultivating discussions where progressively more specific questions about the work are asked.

Here are a few questions to get the ball rolling:

• How are the needs of the people we serve changing?

• What are we most passionate about as an organization? How are our passions relevant to the people we serve?

• What are we best at delivering to the people we serve? Is it valuable to them and do they believe we are successful in delivering what we promised?

• What is the source that generates resources for us? For example, is it our relationships or our results? Does it fit with our capabilities and what we are passionate about?

• Are our operational practices aligned with the mission-driven results we seek to create? If not, where do the breaks occur and why?

• What capabilities do we need to develop, hire, or find? Are the existing capabilities we have within our organization positioned in the right areas?

I am big believer in nonprofit business best practices, but I am also big on listening carefully to your organization and letting it teach you what it needs to succeed. The point here is for board and staff leaders to learn the business rather than try to act like one. GM and AIG spent the last few years acting like one and now (hopefully) their learning to be one again.

I can be reached at carlo@creationincommon.com. Thanks to Tweeple @steveames, @TammieJones, @creativecarissa, @padraiclillis, @cic3 and @amyshropshire for challenging my thinking on this topic.

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Send Your Board a Message: Commit or Quit

Posted on June 9, 2009 | 6 Comments

Photo by Angel M. Cuesta

Photo by Angel M. Cuesta

I do not have much patience for a nonprofit board of directors that listens to reports, reacts to decisions, and offers advice. On the other hand, I am inspired by a board that takes action, creates opportunities, and builds relationships. The latter is deeply engaged in the cause, the former likes the idea of it.

It is time that we hold board members’ feet to the fire and send them a clear message: commit or quit—“Either get involved in the life of the organization or go find another cause.” “Either talk to people about what we do or go crawl in a hole somewhere.” “Either…” oh, I could go on for days. Unfortunately, speaking this kind of truth to (nominated and voted-in) power typically leads to: 1) you getting fired or 2) your board members actually quitting. Though it would feel great to say these things, it is not productive.

I used to think that the difference between a board that just shows up (or does not show up) and a board that takes action is the individual people involved. Sometimes it is, but most of the time it is the way a board acts together. For instance, if you showed up at your first board meeting and 45-minutes was spent on giving staff advice on how to give-away tickets to the upcoming fundraising event, you might think that giving advice is your job instead of supporting a successful event. Or you show up and each committee chair refers to the executive director or other staff to give the report, you might think that your role is an honorary one or you are just there to make sure staff does not do anything illegal.

How a board works sends implicit messages about role and expectation. In order to change the message, we have to change how the board conducts its business.

• Crack Open the Board Meeting – Two-hours in a room pushing information at one another is no fun. How about getting committee reports done in 15 minutes and spending the rest of time discussing strategic ways the organization can affect change.

• Focus on Inquiry and Dialogue – There is no prize for the best advice. In order to collaborate together, board members need to stop stating their own ideas and start listening to one another and asking questions. Through deep discourse board members are able to learn about the organization and its cause. Ultimately, they learn how best to work with other board members and staff.

• Build Public Milestones – The goal to increase individual donations may inspire the executive director, but it will not inspire a community volunteer. Boards and staff leaders need to be engaged in a dialogue about the future destinations they wish to reach that will excite the public and advance their cause.

• Take Action with a Beginning, Middle, and End – Bring a sense of organizational journey to board members’ work. Tie committee work to milestones, use benchmarks to evaluate progress, and help them see the results they create.

Finally, I believe most board members are ready to commit. Board member dedication is driven by board culture, that is why it is so important to ask the truly lazy to leave. This is the strongest message you can send to a committed board member: “We value your commitment so much, that we are only willing to surround you with people who are as deeply engaged as you.” This is a message they want to hear.

Carlo Cuesta can be reached at carlo@creationincommon.com

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How Many Nonprofit Executives Does It Take To Screw In A Light Bulb?

Posted on June 5, 2009 | 4 Comments
Warhols Light Bulbs by Zetson

Warhol's Light Bulbs by Zetson

Yesterday, I asked friends on Twitter and Facebook (many who are or were nonprofit executives) to send me punch lines. It was a whole lot of fun to read them. Thanks to everyone who contributed. If you have a punch line to share, please comment (ignore “No Comments”– I am trying to change that with our blog provider.) Thanks, Carlo

How many nonprofit executives does it take to screw in a light bulb?

- One to form a committee, one to form a workgroup, and a third to write a fundraising plan for the lightbulb.

- Lightbulb? I downsized my lamp during the last budget cycle.

- We won’t be able to change the light bulb until our five year strategic plan is done. But we can’t seem to get the plan done because we do everything by consensus, in committee, and we can’t agree. So I’m afraid we will just have to sit here in the dark, talking. Forever.

- The CORRECT form has to be filled out by the person who notices that the light bulb needs to be screwed in = 1. Then that form has to go thru a commitee of 3 and be approved and posted online = 4. Online, it goes to another committe of 3 for scheduling = 7. Once scheduled, it is assigned to the lightbulb screwing in crew = 10. If the CORRECT form was not filled out OR there is not money in the budget for this request, then the person who noticed the lightbulb needed screwing in is an idiot and has wasted everyone’s time. What’s your problem? Its only a LIGHTBULB! Then the request is re-routed to overall SAFETY budget, where it must be sent through 4 levels of administration and presented at the next board meeting = 15 + 10 = 25 ummm…25.

- The staff emanates so much bright light from fast, brilliant work that we hadn’t noticed the burned out bulb.

- One, but only if the grant comes through.

- One, to delegate it to the Operations Manager.

- (Part I) First, the administrative assistant will be asked to research light bulbs for wattage, cost, and illumination. The admistrative assistant will provide the executive director with a list of three different light bulbs to be considered. The executive director forms a task force to consider the recommendation of light bulbs. After a few weeks of contemplation the task force will render its decision and direct the organization as to which light bulb to purchase. The action is tabled the next day when a prominent donor and board member calls, offended that he was not asked to participate in the task force as he has several years of light bulb experience. Another task force is formed to soothe the ruffled feathers with the upset board member as chair. After two weeks, the new task force reaches the same decision as the old one. The development office is then asked to raise the funds necessary to purchase the new light bulb….

- If we form a collaborative, map our assets, identify objectives and funding sources, it should take about…wait a minute, what were we trying to do again?

- (Part II) ….Another committee is created with board members who like to plan parties. The first order of business is set a date and a theme for the light bulb fundraiser. After deciding the fundraiser should be an authentic Hawaiian luau the committee goes about planning the menu including a tofu pig for those who don’t eat meat. The committee designs the invitations, creates guest lists, decides on the venue and picks out the decorations. The organization’s staff does all the work however printing the invitations, creating the mailing labels and putting up all the decorations. At least one board member tells them everything they did was wrong. After the fundraiser, the total money raised is announced and everybody feels great. They came together to solve a problem and all hurt feelings and animosity is forgotten. With both money in hand and a mandate from the organization the administrative assistant orders the light bulb from Office Depot….

- Five, but we’ll spur economic development, engage citizens, provide job training, and beautify the neighborhood at the same time.

- (Part III)…After it arrives the administrative assistant climbs the ladder to replace the bulb only to find it is no longer needed. An intern who was hired a week earlier brought a bulb from home and replaced it herself.

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Faces in the Crowd:How Crowdsourcing Can Impact Nonprofits

Posted on June 2, 2009 | Leave a comment

To say that I’m interested in crowdsourcing for nonprofits is an understatement. Just the idea that organizations can tap into the power of a crowd engaged in a mission-related project or initiative makes me all tingly inside. When harnessed to social networks, it gives volunteering, collaboration, and contributing to a cause whole new meaning.

To that end I’ve collected a few interesting resources and nonprofit crowdsourcing examples (please add more in the comment section):

- Beth’s Blog features a post on how the Smithsonian is employing a crowdsourcing strategy to develop its social media strategy. I read her post the other day, and this is what got me thinking. Here is the video:

- I liked this quote on the Wild Apricot Nonprofit Technology Blog: “the essence of crowdsourcing: that small groups can show more intelligence, collectively, than isolated individuals, and that this ‘wisdom of crowds’ has the power to shape business and society.” They have lots of great links on crowdsourcing.

- Here is a more specific point of view about crowdsourcing from Working Wikily: ” “If you want to know where new interesting useful ideas are going to come from, don’t look at crowds and don’t look at individuals, look at small groups of smart people arguing with each other. Historically that’s been a big source of change.”

- This from the Extraordinaires website provides more insight into the social change aspect of crowdsourcing. Also, they are one of the winners of the NetSquared Mobile Challenge for delivering micro-volunteering oppurtunities through mobile phones: “Crowdsourcing for social good is a relatively new concept, but early experiments have shown tremendous promise. NASA’s Clickworkers project turned space enthusiasts into a high-powered work force. It took them a month to analyze 88,000 photos – a task that took a grad student 2 years to accomplish. ReCaptcha is transcribing old New York Times for the public good. And the World Wide Lexicon has created a system that enables the crowd to translate any written text. It could make mounds of public resources and information available to many more people. We’re just discovering the broad impact that crowdsourcing may have for the social good.”

- Sierra Bravo, a web design firm based in Bloomington Minnesota has its own crowdsourcing strategy for nonprofits — Sierra Bravo’s Overnight Website Challenge, they get 10 teams of highly qualified web designers to build sites for nonprofit organizations.

For me, the big questions are these…

- How will crowdsourcing impact traditional forms of volunteering within nonprofits?

- Does crowdsourcing create a different kind of engagement with a cause than traditional forms of volunteering?

- Can whole social issues be addressed through crowdsourcing making the need for an NGO less relevant?

If you have answers to these questions, thoughts about crowdsourcing, or more examples, please post.

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