A great idea worth our support

It's been far, far too long since my last post, but I've been on the road, making up for 3 weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Since the end of March, I've been in Texas, Montana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia doing presentations on Marketing, Generation change and, predictably, Mission-Based Management in Difficult Financial Times.

I read people's attitude about the recession and their nonprofit as very concerned but not terrified, as they were in January. I can't tell if this is because the talking heads on TV are working so hard to find a light at the end of the tunnel, or simply because the severe downward spiral seems to have slowed.

What nonprofit managers are in constant need of, however, is good people, for their boards, their staff and their volunteers. I'm going to start a series on finding and retaining good people here over the next few weeks, interspersed with other postings, as I get back on a more regular schedule.

Let's start with a biggie. Jobs for Change "seeks to spark a nationwide movement toward careers in the nonprofit, government, and social enterprise sectors." This is a project of Change.org, and no matter what your political affiliation, deserves a look and careful consideration. There are hundreds of job listings in the nonprofit sector, some good advice for people who are interested in working in our sector, and the cost of listing a job is currently free and will eventually be less than Monster.com.

The site is currently in beta, so check it out and post any ideas you might have on how to make it better. Having a place where the best and brightest can find a way to work for the common good is awesome, and I wish them huge success.