Research shows that it takes 18 to 24 months for an organization to repair its image after a scandal. Is your organization considering risk management when you make strategic decisions?

Lights Out

Have you ever noticed how quickly our attention focuses on what is not working when almost everything else is functioning appropriately? The squeaky door, disgruntled staff member, miffed donor, misspelled word, or flickering light. I noticed last night that one strand of lights on our Christmas tree was out. After taking a focused approach to dealing with the problem and checking multiple connections, I realized that the cat was sitting on a branch inside the tree. Now the cat was the prime suspect. The rest of the tree was aglow and decorated, nothing had changed but the lack of illumination from 50 small bulbs. My methodical process turned into frenzy and I rapidly began replaying the scene from the film Christmas Vacation when Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) looses his composure and karate chops the antlers off the display of reindeer in his lawn and punches his fake Santa. Before I took any irrational actions I realized another possibility. Perhaps it was not a single bulb and upon replacing the fuse there was once again light.

I try to remind myself of the quality of the problem. Is it a high quality problem- the staff member wants more responsibility and therefore complains, the donor has a great idea about how their funds could have been used more effectively, multiple sightings of the misspelled word in your brochure reassures you that people are reading your material. The Christmas tree was still upright, decorated, symbolizing a tradition that was important to our family. A ten cent fuse was all that was required to fix the lights. What to focus on is within our control and perhaps we are too quick to see the big picture and the opportunity. Frankly, the fact that the broken strand of lights on the tree are now blinking provides great humor.

Lonesome Dove

I am always struck by the ending of the mini-series Lonesome Dove (adopted to TV from the novel written by Larry McMurtry) when the reporter from San Antonio asks Captain Call if he is a ‘man of vision’. The Captain reflects on all he has seen and witnessed during his life in the 1880’s West. He retorts “hell of a vision” and wanders off.

So often we want the quick and easy answer. Provide us with the lesson learned, the ‘one thing’, the new association and we will be on our way. The short one-line answer always seems so powerful and convenient since it does not force us (the listener) to anything more than pause and then continue with our current course of action.

I am reading the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell and he discusses the need for an individual to accumulate 10,000 hours of practice before a person typically reach a level of competency to be considered an expert. To put this into a timeline, this usually equates to ten years in most individual’s lives. The eulogy seems to epitomize a summation of a lifetime of experiences without having lived the journey. Anything Captain Call had said would have been deeply unsatisfactory as as synopsis of all he had endured. Three quarters of the key characters from the start of the series are dead and buried, he has traveled the width of the United States (as we know it now) twice, driven a couple hundred head of cattle to Montana, survived epic weather, and generally lived a lifetime of experiences. His expertise seem beyond words.

Day-to-day I find myself in meetings where key decisions need to be made. An item comes-up for discussion and a course of action needs to be selected. I have always been inspired by the person who could ask the question that needed to be considered but had not been brought forward yet. I would leave the meeting thinking ‘why had I not considered that?’ I started to equate some of theses moments to personal experience and background. A good team should have a variety of perspectives and it would make sense that every participant should bring a unique question. What is shifting my thinking today is the thought of expertise. The more meetings I attend, the more decisions that are made, the more results tracked, and the more case studies I read the greater my repertoire. Eventually, I find myself waiting to hear the group’s discussion and then ask a question or two that has not been discussed but experience shows needs attention. Only through my march to 10,000 hours do I have the scaffolding being built around my own vision. If Captain Call had turned and told the report everything he knew at the end of his journey and then sent the report on the way up the trail the reporter would still be at hour number one. Perhaps we have all survived our share of endless deliberations or too many meetings but we are also moving closer to becoming experts.

As the motto of the Hat Creek Cattle Compan reads: Uva Uvam Vivendo Varia Fi (We are changed by the lives around us).

Being Stuck

I drafted a post yesterday about the slippery slope of nonprofit organizations taking a stand on issues in a public forum. I spent some time looking into the recent Proposition 8 controversy in California and the backlash on members of the Church of Latter Day Saints for their role in advocating for a particular outcome. Despite my best diplomacy I was unable to craft a reasonable post that addressed the role a nonprofit organization needs to consider when taking a ‘side’ on a controversial issue. The national media attention and energy surrounding Proposition 8 had me writing in circles and at the end I was sinking into a hole. All this made me think about how the language we use when we meet as an organization. How do we speak to each other in a committee meeting or board meeting compared with our one-on-one conversations? One observation I notice to be accurate is that the real decisions are made in the parking lot or lobby after the board meeting adjourns. I use the think this was an insult to the organization and the other board members but now I believe there is another perspective. Sometimes we communicate more effectively in a small group standing around in a public location. We quickly get to the point and make our case and usually we are talking with people we feel can influence the outcome. What if we were able to have a ‘parking lot’ conversation within the structure of a board meting? How do we hear from everybody and get their insights without an edge towards parliamentary procedures? Sometimes the best decisions are made while standing on a street corner.

Just Give Something!?

Today’s Wall Street Journal announced the anticipated drop-off in corporate giving. What struck me is the psychological blow (as well as financial impact) of being the person or corporation that must ‘quit’ giving to a cause especially when you have invested in the effort for years. The obvious friction of needing to save a balance sheet and yet fill the desire to support those in need is the issue of the day. Perhaps a fundraising strategy for the end the year fundraising campaign may be to ‘just give something.’ For all the time and energy we as nonprofit organizations have invested in getting people to be consistent donors perhaps the time is now to make sure the relationship continues even if the threshold for a contribution drops. A smaller gift that keeps an individual involved does far more than loosing touch all together. Hard decision sometimes require unique solutions. What if your social enterprise works first and foremost to maintain the number of donors and then works in a targeted manner with key donors to reach the fundraising dollar goal (or as close as possible)? See how many contributors and supporters will stay involved (even at a token gift level). It is much easier to raise their giving levels when times get better than to start from a very thin base.

As Red Green says on his PBS show- ‘I am pulling for you’

Mountains on the Horizon Lines

Driving across Eastern Idaho today I saw the Grand Teton’s appear almost as ghost mountain on the horizon. I was at least 100 miles away but the image struck me and reinforced the importance of setting significant priorities. I experineced an almost unconscious gravitational pull toward these peaks even when the road took me north of these magnificnet mountains. I was aware of their presence even when they were in the rearview mirrior. One can see how the early mountain men were drawn towards Jackson Hole and surround landscape by the simple appearance of large mountains sitting on the horizon and visible from many perspectives.

What if we set strategic goals and initiatives as grand as the mountains and everyone within eye-sight gravitated towards them? What if those who could not see them but heard about them came to see them with their own eyes? How would this change your future?

Big Decisions

I met with a client the other day that has been firmly committed to pursuing one strategy for over two years. In discussing their dedicated commitment to the initiative and the lack of results in obtaining the outcome we uncovered an option that was a complete paradim shift and may delivered their intended outcome almost immediately. By being an outsider to the organization and knowing little about the long history and complexities of the processes and procedures that had taken place to date, I was able to ask a couple questions and immediately offer some ‘what if’ suggestions. The client scurried away to evaluate taking immediate action and considering its feasability. Suddenly, one could see all the energy and sense of purpose come back into the eyes of the organization’s representatives. They were ready to get work and finally breach the mental and planning log-jam that had held their organization and mission hostage.

• Be bold enough to reach outside your organization and to consult with individuals who you believe offer a unique and meaningful view point. An offer to buy an ‘outsider’ cup of coffee can allow for amazing results.
  
• Consider an alternate mode of planning or decision making. I posted a copy of a presentation on strategic planning that provides and overview of different models. (See the Strategic Planning Overview Presentation on the side bar)
  
• Meet with other nonprofit organizations and discuss opportunities to collaborate, consider overlaps and efficiencies.
• Ask staff, board, donors, volunteers what your organization should do if it could do anything. Consider the opportunities and evaluate how it differs from what you currently do well.
  
• Network with a couple organizations and hire a consultant to facilitate a group planning session. Each group may plan specifically for their organization but then has a larger group of peers to report back to and test some of their key ideas. Organizations can enjoy the economy of sharing the expense of a shared consultant but also spend time customizing their plan to specifically fit their organization.

An episode of SpongeBob SquarePants highlights a trend that seems to envelope the nonprofit sector during the economic downturns. Best I can tell this change is driven by the fear of revenue/fundraising shortfalls. I have watched well designed and competent organizations throw away their trusted playbook and ‘strategically’ address the economic crisis with the same appearance of a Kindergarten class scattering across a playground at the start of recess.

Back to my epiphany as I watched Sunday morning cartoons and I took in the management styling of Eugene Krabs, CEO of the Krusty Crab who becomes mesmerized with the sudden appearance of a single patron at the Chum Bucket (home of Mr. Krab’s evil enemy and ineffective proprietor Plankton). The Krusty Crab is functioning with its usual base of customers and apparently meeting a basic level of profitability as Mr. Krabs continues to employee SpongeBob and Squidward. The appearance of a new customer who develops a taste for the fare at the Chum Bucket causes Mr. Krabs to abandon his business plan and attempt the usual assortment of hilarious antics to win-over the Chum Bucket’s sole customer. I will not give away the ending for those of you lucky enough to be casual observers of SpongeBob but the results are predictable.

Although the comic version is humorous and entertaining in the eyes of the intended audience, sophisticated nonprofit organizations seem to posses a uncanny ability to reproducing the plot of this Nickelodeon show as if they bought the production rights to the script. Fundraising plans are abandoned, strategic plans are tossed (if they are not already covered in dust), board votes are ignored or overturned within days of their approval. The reports of fundraising goals being missed by 20, 40, 60% in the past month or quarter are encouraging a new type of planning- one presented to me as the ‘burning platform’. Apparently, years ago an oil platform caught on fire in the North Sea. Workers on drilling platforms are trained to never abandon the platform. The reason being that jumping hundreds of feet off the platform into the North Sea is considered deadly and survivors of the fall will succumb quickly to the near freezing waters. With fire reaching the crew cabins the choice was to stay and face the inferno or to risk death by jumping into the sea. A sole survivor made the jump but obviously against all training and only with flames at his back. Many nonprofits find themselves headed into a year-end fundraising campaign and wonder if they should pay for the mailing or just start holding out a hat by their front door and save the stamp. This is truly a moment when nonprofit boards and staffs can come together and make wise decisions or run a bucket brigade worthy of a Three Stooges episode.

Borrowing from the comedic mantra of well know performer, I suggest that you might be showing signs of being a dysfunctional nonprofit organization if:

• Your organization starts to chase the ‘big money’ even when they have no existing relationship with a major funder. Organizations seem to gather the annual reports of other nonprofit organizations in the community and start looking for anyone of capacity not on their current donor list. Desperation is usually not a driving force for donors and in a year like 2008 you have plenty of competition. Holder your existing donors close, be transparent, communicate actively, share the difficult decisions you are facing and make them aware of the great decisions you have made already. Few donors and funders are going to be surprised by your request to maintain last year’s giving level but few will respond to the panic of an unknown organization (think the recent bailout debate taking place in the corporate world).

• Abandon all principals within the strategic plan. If your vision, mission and core values reflect what your organization does best in the world then they should be celebrated and serve as lighthouses during the storm to guide you. Too many organizations consider tossing everything overboard in order to survive. Does it matter which port you are sailing to if you just tossed out all the passengers and cargo? Who invests in vessel that has lost all purpose? What if you are more certain than ever that the mission of your organization is appropriate and delivering a service that your organization is uniquely qualified to deliver. These are the times when we rally around the ‘best’ first and foremost because we cannot imagine our community without those services.

• Program and service decisions are made using the single metric of potential revenue generation. Those programs that are profitable stay and those that are not get cut. Many organizations find themselves removing their very own foundation with this approach and then wondering why the whole structure collapsed. Hard choices are required when a budget needs to be reduced but these decisions need more detail than revenue projections. What if you asked your organization what the most important initiative was that needs to be achieved under the tenure of this current board? What is your organization’s competitive advantage? What does your organization do best in the world? If your mission and vision are appropriate, what commitments do you need to make before all others? I would argue these are equally important questions to be used along with the balance sheet.

I spent a couple days in the caverns of the Grand Hyatt in Washington DC attending the BoardSource Leadership Conference., a gathering of members of the nonprofit community. I attended the usual mix of wonderfully enlightening and informative presentations that make you want to change the world today and the occasional presentation worthy of downloading a new iPhone application just to pass the time (if the cell signal had reached three stories underground). Although I uncovered a couple chapter’s worth of information worth sharing and hyperlinks to add to a future posts, one of the themes that resonated deeply with me was the role of social networking. I will note that lots of focus was given to the topic of donor retention and surviving the economic downturn. In case it is keeping you awake at night I offer a synopsis of a keynote speech made by the Pew Trust’s (www.pewtrusts.org) Executive Director Rebeccal Rimel who said that a reduction from donors and foundations is certain and any group with fore-thought should be preparing a worst case, mid case and best case scenario for their immediate future. Rebecca went on to urge all nonprofit organization’s to be transparent and advise your donors about your challenges and engage them as partners as you plan for the future. On a more optimistic note, I offer some observation about our future leaders.

What grabbed my attention most was the role of social networking and its current impact on the social sector. Cause related community building and peer-to-peer giving weaved its way into every Q&A session. As somebody who was not an early adopter of all the leading social networking sites and a firm member of Generation X I feel a bit like I am painting by numbers. The always connected Millennial generation appears to be playing on a blank canvass with completely original compositions and the rest of us are trying to evolve as quickly (or sometime resistantly) as possible. The first presentation worthy of mention was lead by Paul Schmitz and David McKinney of Public Allies who did a great parody of the PC and Mac media campaign. Paul, complete withe bow tie and jacket took on the role of a stuffy, old-school, traditional 501(c)3 organization attempting to recruit members of the younger generation to its board. Channeling the best of PC’s persona, C3 as Paul referred to himself explained that trustees at his nonprofit organization held board meetings and ate lunch at an exclusive private club, built friendships with a round of golf after their meetings and apparently never spoke of the impact of their nonprofit’s work. Playing the equivalent of the Mac in this playhouse skit, David was a younger, more vibrant, cause related organization attempting to connect with generation X and Y by inviting them to join a community committed to solving a problem and making a difference. Taking a much more active grassroots approach, board members interfaced with the organization’s clients on a regular basis, voted on Bylaw changes via email, worked in a variety of task force settings, measured the success of the organization on multiple platforms and were constantly connected to an ever expanding group of community and online advocates. The skit ended with the question: Is your board a Mac or PC? Highlights from the remainder of the presentation included data from BoardSource revealing that 2% of nonprofits organizations report having members under 30 years of age on their boards and 36% report having board members between the ages of 30-49. With an untapped demographic some great opportunities present themselves in the form of programs like AmeriCorps where 500,000 younger adults have participated (a greater number than those that have served Peace Corp over its 40 year history). So what are the central themes to engaging younger talent? Look at your Board Culture, Organizational Culture and Diversity. The culture of the organization tends to be the biggest challenge for most organizations when it comes to attracting younger leaders. Invest in diversity and inclusion realizing this initiative it is an action and not as an ideal. At the end of the day, the next generation provides a greater chance of increased sustainability for most organizations.

The second transformational presentation was done by Tom Watson who wrote the book Causewired. Tom’s is a true early adopter, from his days on Usernet in the 1980’s he has been in the middle of the technological and social network hub ever since. The central focus of Tom’s presentation and book focus on the role social networking sites play as a younger generation focuses on changing the world. The research presented show the power and reach of the social networking community. Looking specifically at Facebook and its Causes application which currently has 13.5 million users, the biggest cause is currently represented by the 3.7 million individuals that have joined Eric Ding’s Campaign for Cancer Research and raised $75,000. Tom spoke about the viral impact of the Causes application. Anyone can launch a cause for free and develop a global following with a laptop and online access. Imagine the cost of reaching the 3.7 million followers involved in Eric Ding’s model if we used the techniques of a traditional nonprofit marketing and advocay campaign? 3.7 million followers is a commodity that provides instantaneous relevancy- you have my attention when you speak for that many members. The undeveloped potential of many of theses cause comes when you consider the financial contributions made by the group. Is 2 cents per member (as an average when you divide members by the amount donated) a great return on investment? Would your organization be able to survive on such a fundraising ratio? What would your organization do with 3.7 million members? What potential opportunities exist with a massive membership base? At the same time, how committed is the membership for a cause when the only barrier is ‘one-click advocacy’? I click and therefore I show my support but nothing else is required of me. Is this more of an American Idol form of global change, the ultimate in popularity contests? How do we take individuals from being members, wearing the causes logo on theei Facebook homepages to truly committed advocates? The most successful social networking campaigns have demonstrated the ability to attract massive amounts of traffic willing to join a cause but less certain is the impact. A few highlighted organizations Tom considered successful early adopters and great examples of tapping into the network. Save Darfur, the Nature Conservancy, Stop Global Warming. Check out more about Tom at www.causewired.com.

A paradigm shift is taking place. Is it a tremor or a magnitude 8.0 earthquake? Some of what was spoken about at the conference feels much like the technology bubble of the late 90’s when you saw meteoric rise of multiple companies. Books like Jim Clark’s New New Thing felt new and innovative and yet ancient history at the same time. What platform do we use to invest our time and energy is certainly an on-going debate. Perhpas it is time for me to eat some Halloween candy and checkout my Facebook page and consider the future.

Thank you for reading-