Here is an oldie but a goodie.

My partner Padraic and I wrote this article for the Nonprofit Quarterly on branding back in 2005. It captures the idea that a strong nonprofit brand goes beyond good marketing. First and foremost, it’s about deep organizational development.

Go here to take a look.

Volunteers are no longer an after thought or a minor tactic for organizations. The nonprofits I am working with all are looking to transform and advance their volunteer programs. But there is definitely some trepidation about the value of this resource, if volunteers can be depended upon, if they can do more than very basic tasks e.g. “lick envelopes”, and if they can leverage more staff capacity rather than use it up.

I think we have to break with past stereotypes and rethink how we can leverage this incredible resource. Here are three “what Ifs” to help do that:

What if… we think of our volunteers as collaborators rather than free labor.
We ask them to join us to develop solutions to chronic issues in how we deliver our services. We invite them to strategy sessions, rather than provide directives. We delegate authority to them to take action.

What if… we raise the bar for who gets to volunteer and what is expected of them. I know, I know, this isn’t very Minnesota nice of me, but how about demanding results and becoming known as the place where only the best volunteers get to give of their time. We set the expectation that they get to apply their highest level of skill to the biggest challenges the organization faces.

What if… we merge our human resource, volunteer coordination, and resource development functions. Or at least, build strong cross-functional collaboration among these areas in order to imagine how to get the most from our volunteers. We help staff learn how to maximize the efforts of their volunteers. We measure volunteer activity in real dollars setting benchmarks for how much volunteer time (i.e. volunteer dollars) that needs to be raised each year.

These are just a few thoughts. Please comment and share your “What Ifs” for rethinking volunteers.

Unlocking Shadows by Zen

Imagine that seated at your board meeting is a product marketer who is an expert on how to manage global brands. She is sitting next to a lawyer who is a specialist in intellectual property. Next to him is a community activist who is an outstanding civic organizer. Great people brought together to do great things. What happens if their individual talents outstrip the actual performance of this board of directors?

Board members need to believe that their talents will create something meaningful and impactful. As a group, they need to see how their abilities come together into a useful whole that guides the organization forward. Otherwise, their talents are wasted and the desire to participate suffers.

The typical board meeting is set up to convey, receive, and process large amounts of information in short periods. Rarely are meetings set up to cultivate deep discourse and creative thinking. It is impossible to strengthen an organization’s capacity if it is without a board of directors that has time to think, talk, and act together. The challenge is knowing how to promote creative ideas that lead to innovative approaches within the constraints of available time and focus. Overcoming this challenge requires a change in how nonprofit boards operate.

Many nonprofit boards are successful at unlocking innovation by creating a big picture that they can easily reference in order to see how major actions across the organization relate to one another.

Mission & Strategy Model

For example, boards need to see how their efforts to develop people (new members and staff leadership) will influence how they raise funds and how raising funds and developing people affects (and is affected) by how they oversee resources. More importantly, the board needs to see how these activities connect to organizational priorities defined by its mission and strategic goals.
Through this “big picture,” individual members have a reference point in which to gauge performance, track results, and trace issues; the board as a whole has a common framework that fuels discussion and collaboration. Without it, boards are stuck in a cycle of constantly needing to be reoriented to the issues of the moment, offering general and unfocused advice, thus finding their ability to take action on important issues in a timely manner severely limited.

Here are four ways a board can develop its ability to see the “big picture” and unlock innovation:

Engage the Cause – Even though they may never be cause experts, board members need to build a working understanding of how the organization delivers value. This is about creating opportunities for program and service experiences that give members direct contact with staff and participants. Here they can see how dollars work, why staff are so important, and where investment must occur.

Make Plans that Foster Orientation – Creating continuity from board meeting to board meeting is essential. Strategic plans that align goals, actions, and outcomes to specific indicators and benchmarks help board members identify where the organization is at and how they can contribute to forwarding the organization’s overall strategy.

CONNECT Instead of Meet – To make the most of board members’ time, meeting agendas need to focus less on reporting and more on facilitating discussion that helps board members address system-wide issues, coordinate action across functions, and adjust the overall strategy based on changes in the external environment as well as the organization’s performance.

Motivate Action through Compelling Outcomes and Goals – Along with seeing the big picture as a board, committees and taskforces need to know what success look like within their specific efforts and that the goals they are striving to achieve are meaningful. Clear and compelling outcomes and goals motivate action; they deepen engagement and get members past the demands of the work itself. Muhammad Ali once said “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” Boards need to remain focused on the “mountains ahead.”

Every volunteer board member has an innate desire to apply his or her creative self to making a difference. Board development that focuses on unlocking innovation applies board members skills, expertise, and life experiences to challenges that grow their individual gifts and deepen their ability to govern as a group. By rethinking how a board operates, the right balance can be struck between the efficient use of time and the desire to affect an organization’s future.

An edited version of this article appeared in the spring edition of the newsletter for the Minnesota Council for Nonprofits.

Creation In Common's Nonprofit Branding Model

Six years ago, I wrote Building the Nonprofit Brand from the Inside Out and its time to revise it. Much has changed in the area of nonprofit marketing, communications, and branding.

Before I start my revision, I welcome any thoughts on the topic. Please read the article and send your comments. I will attribute any insights on this blog before relaunching the article.

Thanks,

Carlo
carlo@creationincommon.com

Recently, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Saint Cloud launched todaysdeeds.org. This website encourages people to share stories about the good deeds they have witnessed in their community. These stories are then emailed out to friends and family who in turn are encouraged to participate. Creation In Common developed this strategy as part of a comprehensive branding effort for the organization. Please take a visit, share a story, and pass it on to your friends. www.todaysdeeds.org

[This posting appeared as an article in the Fall 2009 edition of Guild Notes, the quarterly newsletter published by The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts]

“We’re not a fundraising board.” If I had a nickel every time board members have said this to me, I would be able to fund their organizations.

The perceived difference between an Opera Board of well-heeled community leaders and a Community Arts Board made up of the rest of the unwashed masses has driven the myth behind what effective fundraising looks like within an arts institution. This frame of thinking drives the notion that the Opera Board has the money, clout, and know-how to fundraise whereas the Community Arts Board is not wealthy, does not know anyone who is, and feels it lacks the basic skills to make an ask. In reality, the pedigree of your board member has less to do with your fundraising effectiveness than the intrinsic way they are motivated and the systems and process that are used to harness their passion for the cause. I have observed in organizations big and small that it is rare to find the board member who is automatically ready to fundraise which makes it leadership’s job (i.e. the board president, development committee, executive director, etc.) to cultivate board members’ engagement in the fundraising effort.

Here are three strategies to do this:

I. Help Board Members Understand What Connects Them to the Cause
In order to broaden your donor base, you must first deepen your relationship with each board member. It is important to think of the board member as your most important major donor, no matter how much money he or she gives. If your board member is not ready to share his or her time, money, and influence they will not be able to convince others to do the same.

When cultivating a major donor it is important to understand what motivates him or her in relationship to your cause. The same needs to happen with the board member. It is often assumed that when they agree to join the board they are already connected to the cause, but often they are not and most of the time they have very little understanding of the unique value being created by the organization. Hearing stories about the organization’s work and witnessing value being delivered to the community are important ways to help educate board members. It is also important to have conversations with them to learn how they perceive the needs that the organization is meeting, the values that guide the work, and why it is important for the organization to exist. By understanding their point of view on these matters, leadership is able to find the right incentives that will help engage each individual. In addition, it helps the board member and leadership develop a consistent narrative about the organization that can be communicated to potential donors.

II. Help Cast Them in the Right Fundraising Role
When board members talk about fundraising, they often focus on asking for money. In some people this creates an immediate paralysis, yet it is only one part of the process. Through my work with a variety of organization’s boards, my colleagues and I have identified four different roles board members can play in the fundraising process based on their natural strengths and capabilities.

Board members who are Connectors know how to work a room and listen for opportunities. They feel most comfortable being greeters at events, helping to develop a prospect list, or hosting a small gathering in their home. Storytellers love using words to paint pictures for others about the impact of the organization. They excel at standing up and speaking at board meetings and events about the life of the organization or helping write a solicitation letter. The Visionaries are strategic thinkers who know how to position what the organization needs to accomplish with the value it will create. They do well in situations helping the donor understand why their investment is needed and what it will accomplish. Finally, Closers are not deterred from their goal. They are very good at understanding the circumstances of a meeting with a potential donor always looking for the best way to position the ask.

When board members are able to see how their strengths can be engaged in the fundraising effort, they are more willing to engage in the process. It is important to note that it is leadership’s job to identify the variety of roles a board member can play, but the board member must be given the opportunity to choose the role and not be forced into it—here success in a role is critical to ensuring they will continue to be a part of the process.

III. Build a Fundraising System that Helps Them Improve
Finally, it takes a systematic approach to fundraising to help Board members improve. When given opportunities to repeat the same fundraising activity in a consistent way as well as debrief openly with other board members, they are able to go deeper into their role and recognize how what they do contributes to the whole effort. Scatter-shot approaches to fundraising lead to disengaged board members because these kinds of efforts only promote a succeed or fail mentality. Systems help leadership and board members evaluate progress and make adjustments as they come to understand what works well and what needs improvement.

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All board members need help understanding how they connect to the organization’s cause. By showing them how their personal strengths can match up with different roles in the fundraising process, they can improve their efforts by playing their role in a larger donor cultivation system. Now, when a board member says “We’re not a fundraising board,” you know it is time to bust the myth.

Article by: Carlo Cuesta, Creation In Common Managing Partner. www.creationincommon.com

Innovaton by Vermin Inc

Commit 72 minutes per day to innovate and create a new future for your nonprofit organization. 72 minutes away from putting out fires and reacting to the economy; 72 minutes from the daily grind; 72 minutes focused on challenging assumptions and generating new ideas; 72 minutes building on what your organization is best at; 72 minutes that in a year from now will create deep and meaningful opportunities and 5 years from now will be known as that game-changing moment in your organization’s history.

Background

Ben Cameron, the Arts Program Director for Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, recently captured the real task ahead for the nonprofit sector during these difficult times. In a speech to a group of Minnesota arts leaders he said: “the single biggest challenge lies in how to balance an increasingly perilous equation: managing short-term survival, while pursuing long-term transformation.

He went on to say:

“The groups most likely to survive will innovate—not chasing the flashy or new but truly innovate—a process that Richard Evans describes as “new pathways to mission fulfillment, discontinuous from previous practice, resulting from shifts in underlying organizational assumptions”—a precise and useful delineation of what innovation should really mean—and that is achieved most often, according to futurist Andrew Zolli, by organizations who assemble teams comprised of very different perspectives and histories focused on a common problem, teams focused on base hits rather than home runs, and who rarely simply adopt best practice, recognizing best practice as outputs, not inputs. The groups most likely to survive will embrace a higher risk tolerance —-risk, not irresponsibility but pushing past our comfort zones, armed with our best instincts, our best data, the counsel of others more expert than we–knowing as we do that a business that does not risk does not grow, a relationship with husband wife or partner that does not risk does not grow, the artist who does not risk–however capable– is doomed merely to technical excellence but never achieved the true artistic moment for which we all live and work.”

Off script, he encouraged us to devote 15% [72 minutes per day] of our time to this effort so that “we will remember these times, not as an ordeal for survival, but as a renaissance.”

Commit Now

I am committing 72 minutes per day to create new models, methods, and tools that will build nonprofit organizations’ capacity to engage the public.

What are you committing to? Tell me.

Send me an email (carlo@creationincommon.com) or tweet me on Twitter @cmcuesta (use hashtag #72mins) or leave a comment on this blog.

Tell me that you are willing to commit and what you are committing to. Also, if you feel you are unable to commit, tell me what you think the major barriers are.

Go here to read the full transcript of Ben’s speech. The event he spoke at was through the arts learning xchange series presented by Minnesota Community Foundation and Arts Midwest with support from the Wallace Foundation.

“What we got here is a failure to communicate” said the Board President slightly chuckling at his own joke.

“Actually, what we have is a failure to listen” the Executive Director answered back.

Time for polite conversation was over. The Executive Director believed that the window for proactive solutions was beginning to close and the door to crisis management was about to open. This organization was heading for trouble. For the past half hour their conversation had gone round and round about how best to engage the Board in fundraising, and more specifically helping to cultivate new donors.

The Board President took a deep breath and began again: “We’re not a fundraising board. That’s the reality…”

“Nor is this Board engaged around our cause.”

“Yes,” only slightly agreeing “but most care deeply about the people we serve.”

“Deeply enough to help us avert a crisis?”

“I don’t know. What do you think we should do?”

“I don’t know.”

The conversation came to a halt. They each looked away from one another. Then the Executive Director decide to try a different approach:

“When you look at our organization, what engages you the most?” he asked.

The Board President was not sure. “There are so many different programs and services we offer. They all do good work…”

“But is there an experience that you had over the course of your tenure on the Board, that makes you think ‘ah, yes that’s why I’m doing this!’”

“That happened early on before I was even on the Board” he began. “I was on a tour of one of the centers and I met a young man who told me a little about his life before he came here. He was doing drugs, dropped out of high school, and started hanging out with a gang. It seemed that the whole world gave up on him and he gave up on himself. He somehow found his way to one of our centers, got a job, was encouraged to stay away from the gang, finished high school and went onto college. What struck me the most is that he could of very easily had been a headline in the newspaper, something I would have overlooked. But there he was standing before me—proof that no life should ever be thrown away.”

“‘No life should ever be thrown away’” repeated the executive director. “That’s a great story. That’s why I’m here too.”

Being completely upfront and honest, the Board President said: “My time on the Board hasn’t lived up to that moment; not that I need to have those kinds of experiences everyday but I really hadn’t thought about that encounter in a long time.”

“We need to change that” replied the Executive Director.

And the conversation begins.

Please Help by Dave Knapik

“We’ve already tried that, it didn’t work.”

The board member smiled back at the organization’s marketing director and thought: “you may have tried it, but did you do it right?”

The marketing committee meeting was approaching its conclusion and nothing had been accomplished. The first 10 minutes were spent on waiting for people to arrive and picking through a box lunch, 15 minutes on the marketing director bringing everyone up to speed, and the last 30 minutes spent on people offering up ideas on how to help the organization “build awareness”—none of which was focused and all of which put the marketing director and her half-time assistant on edge, fearful that they were about to have a lot of tasks dumped on them.

The board member glanced at the clock on the wall and thought about the important presentation she needed to prepare back at the office. She was not sure why she agreed to sit on this committee, other than the fact that she has 25-years in brand management and product marketing and thought she could help the organization out. She tried to push the meeting forward: “What are our next steps?”

Recognizing they were out of time the marketing director replied: “We should schedule our next meeting?”

As she was leaving the building, the board member ran into the organization’s new executive director. “How was the marketing committee meeting?” he asked.

“I’m not sure I’m the right person for this job” she replied candidly.

“Did something happen?”

“No, nothing happened.” She paused. “I have so much on my plate right now at work; I am going to be out of the country quite a bit over the next twelve months so it going to be hard for me to be active.”

“We can really use your expertise. You have so much to offer.”

“Really? It didn’t seem that way to me” she thought to herself “and by the way, I want the last hour of my life back.”

She could see the concern and disappointment on his face. She smiled at him and said: “I will help you find a replacement.”

HELP by LiminalMike

“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.”