60 Straight-Talking Insights About Nonprofits (46-60)
As I just hit a rather significant birthday, I wanted to share some of the honest, frank, even blunt insights I’ve gained in all my years as a volunteer, staff and board member in a countless number of nonprofits. Posts, stories, perspectives and especially partnerships are all welcome. The last of four installments:
46. Sorry all, I simply cannot finish this list. I’m just too burnt out. Your staff may not say this out loud, but it likely manifests itself in dozens of different ways every single week.
47. Review your staff benefits annually and conduct a survey to ascertain what staff cares about most. Do not ensure you are competitive with other like organizations, ensure your benefits are even better. You will quickly discover the returns will come back to the organization tenfold.
48. Never allow sick staff to come to work. Don’t even allow them to work remotely. Nonprofits love to play the “who cares the most about our mission” game. It’s resented by staff and losing proposition for your organization. The #2 way a leader can demonstrate they care about staff is insisting their health comes first. The #1 way a leader demonstrates this is by modeling this behavior. “Do what I say, not what I do” has never engendered good practices, and never will.
49. Make it your business to have a system in place that ensures staff are taking ALL their vacation time. I always made sure my staff did, and always left weeks of my own time on the table. See #48 on modeling behavior.
50. INVESTMENT IN YOUR STAFF’S HEALTH & WELL-BEING IS AN INVESTMENT IN THE SUCCESS OF YOUR MISSION. STOP PAYING LIP SERVICE TO IT AND PRACTICE IT IN DEMONSTRABLE WAYS.
51. Everything is changing and evolving at an alarming speed. If you’re doing things pretty much the way you did 5-10-15-20 years ago, you’re probably not up to speed. Just a hunch.
52. Invite an outside professional to conduct an annual intake of your organization. Trust me, you’re too entrenched in the day-to-day to see the forest through the trees. An outside and supportive observer will be the best friend you ever had.
53. Switch up your auditors every few years. It is such a pain in the butt, I’ve been there, and it will pay huge dividends to ensure you’re keeping up with advancement in accounting methodology.
54. And this is true for everything already mentioned – talk to your staff. They know the what’s what. Trust and empower them to speak up and take on leadership roles.
55. “THE GREATEST DANGER IN TIMES OF TURBULENCE IS NOT THE TURBULENCE. IT IS TO ACT WITH YESTERDAY’S LOGIC.” …‘ Peter Drucker
56. During every discussion, ask yourself over and over again if you’re listening, or merely waiting for your chance to speak. Be diligently honest with yourself. Then start listening.
57. One should always feel free to ask someone to reiterate what they just said. Create an environment where others feel they can do the same with you. There is no harm in asking someone to repeat themselves – it means you actually care what they’re trying to say.
58. Create a staffwide system for communication, and put a member of senior management in charge of it. You want to know what folks are thinking, and they want to know they’re being heard.
59. Create an office definition for “gossip,” and make it absolutely intolerable.
60. POOR COMMUNICATION IS ENDEMIC IN MOST NONPROFITS - IN MOST PLACES EVERYWHERE. THERE IS VIRTUALLY NOTHING THAT CAN’T BE RESOLVED IN COMMUNICATION. MAKE THIS YOUR TOP ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITY, AND SEE HOW QUICKLY #1-59 START FALLING INTO PLACE.
Contact Andrew Stern at astern@inheritance-consulting.com and let’s begin!