When thinking about Memorial Day and the soldiers who have served the USA, all of them have something in common...they volunteered. We are lucky to be currently living in a country where no one is forced to join the armed services. Every single man and woman who serves is signing up as a volunteer (in the end they get paid) but they are volunteering to protect our basic rights. Imagine what our military would look like if these people did not volunteer.
Without the volunteers in our society, imagine where many of the nonprofit organizations, schools, parent groups and military would be. There would be many nonprofit organizations which would have to fold if they had no volunteers. Having a strong volunteer corps allows an organization to begin trusting larger projects to these volunteers and allows the staff to continue working on the day to day operations of the organizations. Volunteers also serve as future committee members and board members and even sometimes employees. By showing strengths as a volunteer, an individual can be seen as a strong asset to the organization.
The impact volunteers have on an organization can also be shown in a monetary viewpoint. According to The Independent Sector, the average value of volunteer time in 2009 was $20.85 per hour. (http://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time) In my home state of Colorado, this average is $21.47. With one volunteer volunteering an average of 10 hours a week, this would equal over $11,000 to an organization.
On this Memorial Day, I will remember all those soldiers who have volunteered their lives to protect the United States. I will also recognize those volunteers which have helped make my job in the nonprofit sector so much better. Over the last three weeks, I have witnessed a volunteer get recognized for over 34 years of volunteer work at my organization, a teenager get awarded as an Eagle Scout after redesigning an outdoor structure for my organization (this student also left for basic training today) and attended the funeral of a volunteer at my synagogue for the last four decades. This Memorial Day, I will honor all the volunteers who have impacted my life and I hope all nonprofit organizations, schools and the military recognize the strength of the volunteers in our community.
Thank you to those that serve in the military and those that serve in all the nonprofit organizations.
This post is written in recognition of my friend and new soldier Spencer Jonscher and in memory of an amazing volunteer and friend, Rose Saper.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Leadership Not Micromanagement
Nonprofits are full of managers... micro managers. How many times does an e-mail go out where staff is carbon copied and then a staff member complains about the words used in the e-mail? Or have you ever dealt with a supervisor who asks you to do something but then asks another employee to work on the same project? What about the times where you write an article for the newsletter but it has to be handed off to three different employees before the final copy looks like someone else wrote it? And then there is the micro managing board who has to have their hands on every single project and program done by the staff.
Rather than building on the strengths of an organization's employees, these employees are always checking and double checking each others work and looking over their shoulders. In a time where nonprofit organizations are cutting their budgets and forcing furlough days on their staff, how can micromanaging be beneficial to the organization? Imagine how efficient nonprofit organizations would be if the staff, board of directors and volunteers rallied around each other.
In a recent class at Regis University, my teacher talked about his organization's collective discussion on what constitutes as a snow day for the organization's employees. The staff sat down and had an open discussion about what they felt was reasonable and came up with a policy they could all buy into. Imagine if the staff was told what the policy was going to be from the executive director or the board of directors.
By opening up the lines of communication, a nonprofit organization's leadership can show they value the opinions of the staff members. The staff will begin feeling like they are being heard and will buy into the vision and mission of the organization's ED or CEO. All it takes is different approach to leadership and much less micromanaging. Let the staff members flourish as individuals and they will become stronger and more motivated employees.
Rather than building on the strengths of an organization's employees, these employees are always checking and double checking each others work and looking over their shoulders. In a time where nonprofit organizations are cutting their budgets and forcing furlough days on their staff, how can micromanaging be beneficial to the organization? Imagine how efficient nonprofit organizations would be if the staff, board of directors and volunteers rallied around each other.
In a recent class at Regis University, my teacher talked about his organization's collective discussion on what constitutes as a snow day for the organization's employees. The staff sat down and had an open discussion about what they felt was reasonable and came up with a policy they could all buy into. Imagine if the staff was told what the policy was going to be from the executive director or the board of directors.
By opening up the lines of communication, a nonprofit organization's leadership can show they value the opinions of the staff members. The staff will begin feeling like they are being heard and will buy into the vision and mission of the organization's ED or CEO. All it takes is different approach to leadership and much less micromanaging. Let the staff members flourish as individuals and they will become stronger and more motivated employees.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Transparency: Not Only for External Shareholders
When viewing the nonprofit sector, one of the biggest weaknesses discussed for most nonprofit organizations is lack of transparency. Most people (including my six teachers at Regis University) describe being transparent as being open to the outside shareholders. This includes future donors, clients and board members but the one group of shareholders which is consistently left out is the staff.
While it is imperative for organizations to provide financial statements, hold open board meetings and be available to answer questions from external shareholders, without staff transparency (and communication) these organizations will continue to fail. In discussing issues which impact many of the nonprofit organizations where my peers work, the number one issue is financial constraints. As nonprofit workers, we are told to cut our budgets or to take some furlough time but then we watch as it seems money flies out the door for executive directors or CEOs or watch as the organization hires a part time employee. Rumors start and people start questioning their own jobs.
What if the executive director was transparent with the rest of the staff about the reasoning for bringing on the part time employee? Why are there external newsletters to show clients how successful the organization is but there aren't any internal communications for the staff to see their work is still appreciated? What would happen if nonprofit organizations worked on being transparent across the organization's entire mission rather than just one sided? How can organizations (specifically faith based) become transparent after so many years of being quiet about the finances and health of the organization?
Next time a nonprofit professional talks about transparency, why not challenge them to look at how they are being transparent on the inside. If we hold each organization accountable, real change can happen for the nonprofit sector.
While it is imperative for organizations to provide financial statements, hold open board meetings and be available to answer questions from external shareholders, without staff transparency (and communication) these organizations will continue to fail. In discussing issues which impact many of the nonprofit organizations where my peers work, the number one issue is financial constraints. As nonprofit workers, we are told to cut our budgets or to take some furlough time but then we watch as it seems money flies out the door for executive directors or CEOs or watch as the organization hires a part time employee. Rumors start and people start questioning their own jobs.
What if the executive director was transparent with the rest of the staff about the reasoning for bringing on the part time employee? Why are there external newsletters to show clients how successful the organization is but there aren't any internal communications for the staff to see their work is still appreciated? What would happen if nonprofit organizations worked on being transparent across the organization's entire mission rather than just one sided? How can organizations (specifically faith based) become transparent after so many years of being quiet about the finances and health of the organization?
Next time a nonprofit professional talks about transparency, why not challenge them to look at how they are being transparent on the inside. If we hold each organization accountable, real change can happen for the nonprofit sector.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)