Social Sector

My Nonprofit

Michel Martin on NPR’s Tell Me More program discussing President Obama’s address to the business community introduced one of the guests as the owner of two nonprofit businesses.  I gave me pause, can one ‘own’ a nonprofit?

The concept of owning a nonprofit is like laying claim to the sun.  One cannot posses the enterprise and it does a disservice in my mind to assign ownership to a cause established to serve the public trust.  By conferring dominion to a single individual we take the greatness out of the entity.  None of us are able to own a nonprofit.  It exists to meet a need that has a qualifying public benefit.  The concept for a social sector cause may originate with a founder but by incorporating as a nonprofit, the founder is conveying their idea to the public.  It is the ultimate gift.  If they wished to retain ownership then a for-profit structure provides far greater protection of competitive advantage and proprietary information.  If the social sector wishes to fully realize the magnitude of its influence and reach, it must be done by recognizing its dependency on others and not by building fortresses on the highest hills.  Seth Godin found a far more eloquent way to express our need for inter-connectedness and building community in his blog post today.

Being Prepared
Planning is knowing what to do when you get there. Panic is getting there and not knowing what to do.
-Simon Sinek
A colleague pointed out that one typically attracts that which you are are prepared to handle.  Do you have clarity about what you are going to do when you reach the destination you have talked about for years?  Few of us would travel to Hawaii and step-off the plane without some sense of purpose.  Am I on vacation, transferring planes, coming to live, or on assignment?  Why talk about a destination without having context for what value a new platform will offer?  Write it down, assemble images, draw-up an acceptance speech, and have suntan lotion in the bag.  Be prepared for success or else you might appear like the keystone cops responding to a house fire.

Surging Ahead of Just Keeping Up?

Attending a board meeting for an independent school today, I was struck by the realization that we had not only accomplished some of our strategic initiatives but had surged off the scale.  Incredible momentum.  How had we done this?  The Head of School has been telling the school’s story for years and expressing a vision that far exceeded the scope of the plan.  He was dreaming big but not focusing on the details.  He could tell his audience why the project was important.  At the right moment a confluence of circumstances such as budgeting (a reduction in building costs), momentum  (very motivated donors), and talent (board members with immense experience as project managers) produced an oppening to realize an even greater dream.  Equally important was the attribute of trust.  The Board and Head of School trusted that the vision was revolutionary and essential.

The Head of School has been telling the school’s story, creating a following of those who were ready to invest in taking the dream across the matrix and into reality.


How big is your enterprise’s dream and who is sharing the vision?

Great Question

I had the pleasure of facilitating an advisory session for a growing company that provides essential back office services for social sector organizations.  One of the session attendees asked a compelling question of the leadership team, ‘if you could work for another company, who would it be and why?’  His query sent me on a mental job hunt.  Who would I want to work for?  What do I perceive to be valuable in another enterprise?  Is what that organization posses tangible or intangible?  If it is concrete then it is probably easy to import to my company.  Better base salary, more generous vacation package, dynamic social media presence, more donors.   Where it gets tricky is when the thing you value is abstract.  Another cause’s sense of purpose, organizational culture, collegiality of the team, sense of significance, identity.  It is often these intangible pieces that serves as the gatekeeper between good and remarkable.

Which organization/cause would you want to work for and why?

You Count
How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next RenaissanceI caught a segment of yesterday’s WHYY Radio Times interview with Parag Khanna.  He is a Senior Research Fellow in the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation and just published a book titled, How to Run the World.  The concept that he discussed and impressed me most was the influence of the citizen’s of the United States when it comes to financially supporting Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) across the globe.  According to Parag Khanna’s research, the contributed income from American citizens vastly exceeds the aid offered by the government of the United States and overshadows all other countries.  America remains the sole super power when you measure the generosity and giving patterns of its citizens in their capacity to support international causes and relief efforts.  The philanthropy of the people shapes our country’s policies in ways I had never fathomed. 

The Importance of Storytime

A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn't in Providing an Excellent Education for All

The field of education is receiving a lot of attention right now.  Education budgets are being cut as states try to balance their fiscal houses, assessment scores of US students are being compared to those of the rest of the world, and the President spoke about education reform in the State of the Union.  Online course options are ever expanding, charter schools are competing for students and sustainability, and movements such as StudentsFirst are launching to significant media coverage.  Wendy Kopp recently authored, A Chance to Make History an interesting book from her perspective as a leader with Teach for America.  The Lottery and Waiting for Superman are now mainstream films that are part of our daily discussions.

Many great ideas are being surfaced in this period of high anxiety and a collective consciousness towards education.  Other brilliant causes within the education sector are being left in the shadows.  A specific reason for success and failure may not exist but there are certainly clues.  I was struck by the comments of Nicholas Kristof in his interview with Randi Zuckerberg at the the World Economic Forum in Davos.  When asked how groups should distinguish themselves from other similar movements, he suggested that humanitarian groups needed to do great work on the ground but also practice the art of storytelling.

What is your story?

Watch live streaming video from worldeconomicforum02 at livestream.com

Highlights

I was playing Air Hockey on an iPad with my son this morning.  Everytime I scored, my son pushed a button to skip the slow motion replay of my goal.  When he put the puck in the net, he watched the highlight with much interest and enthusasim.  

I made me wonder how often the organizations I support push out their highlights and ignore those of their partners and other members of the sector.  

One of my favorite models for promoting other organizations’ great works came from Scenic Hudson.  They designed a gala fundraisier that was entirely focused on presenting the accomplishments of their strategic partners.  Using a larger platform, Scenic Hudson helped build awareness and visibility for smaller but equally important enterprises.

Robert Egger in Begging for Change, makes a compelling case for not seeking all the attention and money from your community.  Rather establish a balanced approach that occasionally brightens the house lights so everyone knows who else is seated in the audience.

Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient, and Rewarding for All

Who to Invite?

I have heard lots of invitations from speakers at the World Economic Forum to ‘join their cause.’  This feels remote and challenging.  I am not all that motivated to join based on just the facts they are reciting.  If I understood what these causes believe and I shared their belief then the causes and I are joining efforts.  It is now a shared experience.  The relationship is established on a totally different paradigm.  I do not have to do all the work.  It is a joint responsibility to engage our respective talents to benefit those who share our belief.

Are you just handing out lots of invitations to people to join your cause or are you encourage those that share your beliefs to partner?