Social Sector

Best Intentions

I just returned a $9 check to United Airlines.  They had graciously offered me the tidy sum as reimbursement for misplacing my bag for four days in the Rome airport.  After days of promising me that my bag was in luggage delivery van on the way to our hotel I finally embraced the fact that somebody was not telling the truth.  I returned to the airport at my own expense and found the bag in the luggage storage area.

The bag was found sitting on a shelf where it had vacationed for three days.  United’s actions did not match their intention.  I hope my investment makes a difference in fixing their broken system.


We have all had a similar experience.  It can be memorable for the wrong reasons when you are left to your own resources and savvy to solve a problem that was created by a lack of completion.


It is a good reminder to deliver what we promise.  I often receive mail stating that I should expect a follow-up telephone call to discuss a potential donation.  The majority of the time I do not receive the call and can only assume that the organization found other funders to invest in the cause.  The intention may have been honorable by the execution was lacking.

Partnerships

If you could borrow employees from another organization for one project, which employees would you select for what project?  Have you considered bartering for an in-kind trade?  I recently saw an HR representative create a number of employee manuals for local nonprofits who returned the favor by getting their volunteers to support the HR representatives organization’s major public event.

Not everything needs to be paid position- consider what assets you can exchange.

Artists

If you are an artists and look at a block of uncut stone, how do you decide which image to create when you see a thousand possibilities?  An Italian artists today told me that he chooses the form that aligns with his purpose.  Perhaps it is the same for our causes.

Your Story

Storytelling is such an important part of creating connection.  Consider how well we know the adventures of Lewis & Clark because of the journals they kept during their explorations.  If you have read the journals in entirety they are long spells that are mundane.  But what we recall and share are the highlights.  Surviving an early winter passage over the mountains in later-day Montana without rations.  Wintering on the Pacific coast.  Separating into two parties and then being reunited during a clash with natives.

Which stories does your cause hold out front?   Is there a narrative about your enterprise’s founding?  A personal narrative from an individual who was transformed by your organization’s services?  An emotional hook to draw-in your audience and make your work authentic?

TV Time

Have you noticed the extraordinary lengths people will go to to get on TV- even if it is for five seconds.  Our local station does a remote with the weatherman.  Nonprofit organizations rally the troops on a daily basis to show at 5 AM or earlier and perform some mundane activity in the background while the weather report is delivered.  I always wonder what is the return on investment?  Sometimes it feels like the cars that Oprah gave away- everyone remembers Oprah giving away cars, few can recall the make or model of the car.

Would You Rather

The new season of 30 Rock started on NBC this week.  During this week’s episode Liz Lemon is repeatedly asked, ‘would you rather’ questions.  It struck me that the social sector often plays this game on a regular basis.

Would you rather ask your peers for a donation or make cuts to the budget?
Would you rather pay our most important staff member a very hefty salary or have a competitor recruit her away?
Would we rather put up with the inconsiderate board member who breaks the organizational moral or confront him and endure his anger?

We each have our own, ‘would you rather’ moments.  Often there are additional solutions to the question but we are too busy assessing the options place in front of us.

Guest

I recently had the opportunity to visit a nonprofit’s board meeting.  I was not wearing my consulting hat or there in any official role.  I just happen to be in the building and stopped by to listen for a while.  This group is quite open to visitors and there were no awkward glances or looks of disapproval.  What was remarkable was that the board chair spoke very little and when she did it was to direct the conversation into deeper reflection, ask a board/staff member to expand on their comments, or draw-out the expertise of an individual.  It was well done, masterful in fact.  There was no reporting and rubber stamping, this was actual dialogue about the transformational opportunities and challenges facing the enterprise.

What would a visitor say about your organization’s board meetings?  Would they be inspired or rejected?  Would they want to serve or run far away?  Are you using the meeting to tap into the wisdom of the board or simply download the latest updates?

A Different Way

34% of U.S. adults do not use all their allotted vacation days each year

2009 International Vacation Deprivation Survey
Getting some individuals to take a step back, reflect, and recharge does not come easily.  There is always another project to start, a call to return, an email to send.  The lists of ‘to do’ runs like a the crawl at the bottom 24 hour news channel.  

One organization I worked with authorized the Executive Director to call two ‘work free’ days a year.  The intention was for the staff to go to lunch together, attend an event, perhaps take advantage of the ski mountain.  There was a group component and then the option to partake in an additional activity or have free time.  These ‘CEO Days’ did not count against the staff’s personal vacation days and represented a goodwill gesture from the board to the staff.  As board chair I would remind the Executive Director to use the days and sometimes we would discuss a possible group activity for the staff.
Sometimes you have to reprogram the system to get the intended results.  Encouraging staff to take vacation days was not always effective so instead the board manufactured an unanticipated day away from work.