Leadership and nonprofits

Last night's class at Kellogg was on Leadership in Nonprofits. It's always a lecture I look forward to....seems to hit a response chord with the students. Last night less so, since most of the students were exhausted from their Net Impact conference work.

But the discussion did move well, and I was intrigued that most students felt that the key leadership skills for nonprofit leaders and for-profit leaders are the same. This is a gradual trend over the past 4 years....more and more students see the intersection between the two kinds of organizations and wider and wider, and I think that's the way it should be.

I'm in the air most of the week, Sacramento, Tahoe, Chicago (5 times at O'Hare) Hilton Head, Ann Arbor. First talk is on Trends and Decision-Making in Nonprofits. Second one is on Ethics in Nonprofits. Interesting groups, too. We'll see what kind of push-back I get....

Off we go, into the wild blue yonder....

When Mondays are as good as Fridays

Yesterday, I was at the NetImpact Conference in Evanston. I was moderating a panel on the Tech and Philanthropy. (I mentioned this a few weeks back). The panelists were amazing, as are their organizations.

Linda Erlinger, Executive Director of DonorsChoose.org
Jessica Flannery, co-founder of Kiva.org
Dennis Whittle, founder of GlobalGiving.com

All these organizations are on the cutting edge of philanthropy, taking the p2p model and using it to connect donors and individual needs and recipients. The middle-person is out of the loop--and I think that is a good thing.

What struck me most, though was the passion that all three of these wonderful people bring to their work. They simply LOVE what they do.

I reminded me of a saying my grandfather used to have...he told his grandchildren to find something to do where "Mondays are as good as Fridays"...I've told my kids that, and I wish more people could say TGIM rather than TGIF.....

And nonprofits, with our mission, our passion, our good works offer such places. IF we remind our employees (who are also mostly overworked and underpaid) of the point: the mission, and the results of the mission being done.

Check out the websites---they are fascinating places.

Better website content?

Techsoup has a great set of articles, tools and suggestions on ways to make sure your website content is up to best practices, and meets the wants of your audience. A really good step by step guide.

This is a must for small, emerging organizations, but also a great review for any nonprofit with a website, new or old. Check it out, and while you are on the site, sign up for the free weekly newsletter.

I see such a range of quality in nonprofit websites. Some are great, some look like they were put up five years ago and left alone. I saw one yesterday for a national organization that was....hopeless. Hard to navigate, boring content, didn't answer questions, ugh.

Make sure that your site doesn't face the same fate....

The IRS is comin'

Excellent article in the October 12 issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy on the IRS's increasing efforts to audit and watch nonprofit activity. They are particularly concerned with excessive exec pay and inappropriate loans to ED's and board members. The Director of the tax-exempt office, Lois Lerner has added nearly 12% more staff in the past year, mostly to the audit division. And, it appears that size does not matter: the IRS is going to audit large and small organizations.

The point? Make sure you are clean, clean, clean...and ready to cooperate.

An organization on whose board I served until September got an audit inquiry letter from the IRS last winter. I was audit committee chair at the time, so was closely in the loop. After one conversation, and shipping a few documents, the IRS said no problem, have a nice day. Why? Because we were completely clean, transparent, and totally cooperative. The "anomaly" they saw was easily explained, but at the same time there was nothing else to make them concerned.

Don't think that, because you are a small organization, or because your organization is new, or because you do good works (who doesn't?) that you can ignore the IRS rules and regs. You can't, and you put your mission in peril if you do. Remember, we have a special tax status because we are special organizations. We have to act like it and merit the community's trust in us.

I recently listened to an exec rant about how the IRS should spend its time on auditing big business, not charities, and how she was going to "stick it to them" if they darkened her door. She talked about calling her Congresswoman, and writing letters to the editor. I suggested that she might just put all that energy into making sure her audit committee had its records in order.
She bristled, and I told her she sounded like the driver on the highway who, when pulled over by the trooper for speeding, didn't argue that they were going too fast, but that others were going even faster. The law is the law, and the IRS's job is to enforce it.

And our job is to meet both the letter and the intent of the law. If we start feeling our good works give us a hall pass...let me change my metaphor....a get out of jail free card, we're both wrong and wrong-headed.

The charitable sector, and every one of us in it, needs to be above reproach, not looking for an angle. And if we screw up and the IRS notices, it's our fault, not theirs.

Fundraising, Firefox and other tech thoughts

There's a great Fundraising Toolkit available on Techsoup....these people are very good at what they do. This is a deep and wide set of resources for getting started, networking, going after grants and individual donations. Definitely take a look.


For newbies, Techsoup is an amazing resource for all things tech--as well as lower cost software---as well as pretty good soup recipes. Seriously. Check them out.

In other news, Firefox 2.0 is out, (and available in about 3 days) and I'm looking forward to taking it for a spin. I've used Firefox for 3 years now. No crashes, no bugs, no viruses. And a much, much better product that IE. In fact, the new IE-7 has tabbed browsing, something that has been in firefox for three years. In general, I love open source software. I use Firefox, Nvu (HTML editor), Thunderbird (email) and have just started running Open Office, which is really impressive. My experience with open source is that it has been cleaner, faster, safer and more innovative, and...it's free.

I really believe that nonprofits can benefit from using open source. Philosophically it's right up our alley, the cost is right and the quality is high. I urge all my clients to try one app, then another. I understand the IT people's concern, but I can tell you I've never had a client complain.

A great repository of open source apps (some VERY technical, others for regular users) is available on SourceForge. Take a stroll through it.

Cleaning out....and remembering

This week is a long time coming...I'm cleaning out my office in early prep for moving to Virginia. I'm going through client records, financial reports, old software, and many, many books and journals.

Because I had so much storage space, I tended to keep rather than pitch, resulting in a journey down memory lane when I looked at client organization lists from 1985, booted up disks (with some difficulty) from 1990 with strategic planning reports, and leafed through journals that hyped the new and unknown entity called the "Internet".

Fun to remember all the great people and great organizations I've been privileged to work with. Great to see how far the sector has come. A bit depressing to know that my time on the field of play is limited--and that some of the changes I hoped to be part of will probably not come in my lifetime.

But overall--a good feeling. Cleaning out takes longer than it should; so many ways to get distracted. But it really is beneficial to pause and reflect now and then.
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Backup your backup

My last post was on a fateful day. About two hours after I posted, my hard drive on my laptop failed. Ugh.

But not as bad as it could be, since I had backed up the previous Monday. I had to leave town for Seattle and Idaho almost immediately, but had a hard drive on order. I thought through which (few) files I had worked on between the backup and the crash, and figured it would be no big deal. I knew that reformatting the hard drive and installing all the software would be a pain, but that's tech.

Being on the road for 6 days with no laptop felt like walking through the airport in only my boxers, but I was grateful for friend's laptops, and my thumb drive (which had all my training presentations on it.

Got home on the 12th, worked on the reinstall for a bit and then dropped it again to go to Boston
. Got home monday and spent some time before heading to Kellogg for a great class. Tuesday I really hit it, and then the realization smacked me in the face:

I had only backed up SOME things, not EVERYTHING. My email was gone, my newsletter mailing list (some 1400 people) was two months out of date, my podcast recordings had vanished, etc.

My fault. I was in a hurry, and didn't double check what I had backed up.

Double ugh.

So, now, two weeks later, I'm back up with some digital wounds to heal. Regular readers know I rant about backing up and disaster plans.

From now on, I'll rant about having a backup (person) check your backup.

Finding Community in the Sixth Circle of Hell

I'm heading home from New Paltz NY....beautiful area...and, it's fall, so the colors are amazing.

Yesterday though, was a different story. O'Hare went down early in the day, and was backed up all day long. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, most delayed. My commuter flight from Springfield to Chicago was cancelled, as were the next two, so I drove the 200 miles, and then dropped myself into the inferno. Lines were 15 minutes for the bathroom, an hour for customer service....you get the idea.

I was standby for a flight at 4:00 that actually left at 6:30. After two gate changes, the plane actually arrived, off loaded the passengers and loaded the lucky ones with boarding passes. When all of them were on board, there were about 40 of us waiting for an unknown, but small, number of seats. Since we had trekked together from gate to gate, and had depended on each other for information, we had developed a loose bond.

The gate agent explained that he had 6 seats.

He started calling names.

The first person stood up-----and the group broke out in spontaneous, sustained applause. Good for you...a pat on the back, a high five. Smiles all around. The other 5 people got the same reaction as they were called to board. The 34 of us who were left didn't quite want to leave, to spoil the moment....it sure turned a long day into a memorable one for me.

What power community has.

Mission mania

Last night my Kellogg class were told to find really bad missions online to bring to class and discuss. I had them critique them before class, and then we talked about them after I gave my spiel on what I think needs to be in a good mission statement.

Sadly, the students had NO trouble finding awful mission statements. Some were hundreds of words long. Some were nearly unintelligible, the grammar was so bad. Some talked about the founders but not what the organization's mission is. Ugh.

If you haven't checked your mission for a while, take a look. It may be a candidate for improvement.

Off tomorrow on the start of what is essentially a two week speaking and kid visit tour. Tomorrow I head to New Paltz, NY for a meeting of nonprofit financial managers. Friday to Quincy University in Quincy Illinois to talk about management. Should be fun.

The next generation....

Sorry, not Star Trek, but I will use the term "engage", although it doesn't sound as good as when Patrick Stewart says it....

We need to engage our young people in charity, on all levels. While schools encourage/require high schoolers to volunteer, and college campuses overflow with opportunities to help, each family should look at ways to help their children fall into the good habit of charity.

Carol Weisman has the prescription and the how to in her terrific book:

Raising Charitable Children

This is a really good resource for your community, your workplace, your book club, your civic group, your united way or your family.

Check it out!

Keep those airlines in the black

I'm sitting here on a beautiful Saturday fall afternoon, organizing the details of my ridiculous travel schedule for the next eight weeks. I'm looking forward to every gig, but I counted right at 40 flights between now and the end of November, and in there I'll also be driving up and back to Kellogg (a 440 mile RT) 5 times.

I have a pile of books to read, and a lot of writing to do, but I've found with my last two books that I don't write as well or as long on planes or in hotel rooms as I used to. Could it be I'm actually getting old?

Oh, new book due out March 1. I think I'm more excited about this book than any prior one. More in future posts.

Reading Suggestions

Been reading a lot this summer. With my book clubs on hold, I've had time to read other stuff I had piled up.

Three Recommendations for the curious nonprofit mind:

First, The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki. Really interesting in general, this has great application to organizations. I've been telling people for years to involve their entire staff more in discussion, debate and decision. I feel so validated! My better self-image aside, this is a good read.

Second, The Tipping Point, by Malcom Gladwell. The author also wrote "Blink" and I like his writing style. This book will make you think more about small improvements and asking people what they want...it could make all the difference.

Third, The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson. Brand new, this book made my head spin with its implications for the world around us. For most of us, the nonprofit business applications are minimal, but the concepts presented me with a new way of thinking about the economy and the society our nonprofits work in. The author is the editor at Wired, my favorite magazine, and he had an ariticle in the mag a couple of years ago. My son Ben (the Microsoft guy) and I read it on vacation in New Hampshire, and stayed up til 3 one night talking about the implications.


Enjoy your reading, and if you have a book that you like and would recommend, post a comment....

Checking back in

Time flies. Since I last posted...

Been on vacation with the fam, visiting kids around the country, finishing up my new book (due out March 1..more on that later...developing a new set of publications and podcasts...also more later... taking two kids to college in the same week (3200 miles total), written a play, and started this fall's class at Kellogg.

And tomorrow, I tackle a new computer (first one in 8 years) in the house.

So I haven't written for a bit, and I appreciate those of you who wrote and said you missed my musings. I did too, and I hopefully am back much, much more regularly.

In terms of things that you, the reader, might actually care about---nonprofit stuff--- I continue to be amazed at the resourcefulness of many of the organizations I work with. Too little money, too much work, not enough time. And yet people stick to it.

Coolest thing that's coming up (other than the weekly gig at Kellogg) is that I get to moderate a panel at the NetImpact Conference in Chicago next month. The panel is on "Internet Philantrhopy: A New Model for Donor Engagement" which is great, but the panelists? Wow. Check it out:

The Chair and CEO of GlobalGiving.com
The Chicago director of DonorsChoose.org
The Founder of Kiva.org

If you haven't been to these sites, check them out. I am absolutely sure they will change the way people give money, and in the process threaten the heck out of United Way, Foundations, and traditional fundraisers. I am so pumped to meet and hear these people.

The panel is the end of October. I'll post about it, for sure.

But I'll be back tomorrow as well.....

Lessons from Boston

My absence has been a combination of being really sick for the past week (I haven't had even a cold for two years) and going to my daughter's college orientation at Boston University. Wow.

This is my wife's and my third kid, third college, third orientation. I always remember my orientation to Penn. My Dad drove me up, we unloaded some boxes, shook hands, and he drove off. I had four days until class, (it was Labor Day weekend) didn't know a soul, and had no idea what do or where to go.

Now, not only do the kids get a summer orientation, but when they arrive on campus (also on Labor Day), their "welcome" schedule looks exhausting.

Good. That's the way it should be.

Two lessons from BU for other nonprofits:

First, why shouldn't we make the effort to welcome, I mean really welcome the people we serve? How many of our constiuents feel more like me in the fall of 1970 being dropped off alone than they do like Caitlin this fall? Think about it: how many of your staff other than the nominal greeter really welcome a new client/student/patient/ etc? How many really make sure that they know where they are going, have their questions answered?

Second lesson was a marketing one: The woman in charge of food service was talking to the parents about food choices, healthy eating, variety, etc. My ears perked up when she said this "We never, ever change a food offering without first talking to a group of students. We value their input, since the food is going in their mouths!"

I LOVED that, as well as the other administrators who obviously spend time, have weekly coffees, get out of their offices and mix with the people who are the most important on campus, the students and faculty.

Good lessons from a great university

Hanging with the Brits

Two days, two great classes with nonprofit staff and trustees from the U.K. Great people, great issues, great missions, great passion, great questions.

All the same. Here, there, everywhere. That may sound trite unfair, but really the key issues are the same here as in the US.

For readers in the US, here's one of the first questions of today.

"I'm sure that in the US this doesn't happen much, but here I have a problem with my board not knowing where the line is between policy and management."

Sound familiar? I can hear you nodding.

Good people, well intentioned, doing things that need doing that no one else will. That's our sector.

Wherever your plane lands.

Heading East

I leave a bit later today for London, to do two days of lectures and play a couple of days with my wife and daughter.

The UK nonprofit sector mirrors the US in many ways, and have special issues as well. The Brits are smart enough to have their own ministry just for charities (there are many days I think that would be a good idea here). They have problems with funding, with retaining staff, with getting good board members totally engaged: sound familiar?

But the biggest difference is the level of optimism in every conference, at every lecture. DESPITE the things that plague them, the Brits are pretty much always "stiff upper lip", they make a joke, give you a big smile, and laugh at their problems before buckling down to fix them.

A lot lower whining factor than I see here in the states. I wish I could bring that back across the pond.

On strike

No, not me, but I did love the op-ed piece by Robert Eggar about this very subject in the current issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Eggar (and his organization, DC Kitchen) has acted on what I’ve been saying for years and years and years. We in the nonprofit sector enable our own under-funding by saying "yes".

What I mean by this is that by agreeing to continue to do mission when we are more and more grievously under-funded, over regulated and generally dumped on, we act like any other enabler: we feed the beast. Eggar had had enough and went on strike.

My son Adam recently bought his first (used) car. He researched, shopped and focused on a 3-year-old sedan offered for sale at a used car lot. Adam negotiated hard, and got the price down. But does anyone believe that the car dealer sold Adam the car for less than they paid for it? Of course not. That would be suicidal for the business.

Soooo, what about us? Why do we so happily (or at least willingly) hop on the slippery slope of saying “yes” year in and year out to government, foundation, or corporate funders no matter what the reimbursement level is? Is it because we ourselves sacrifice time, talent and treasure to work or volunteer in a nonprofit, so that if the organization has to sacrifice as well it’s OK? Or is it that we believe so strongly in what our mission does that we think the world will end right here, right now if we cease a particular service?

I am well aware that there are other customers for a used car, and often only one customer (read: funder) for a particular service. But one of the reasons we can be pushed around by that one funder is that we never, ever, seriously push back. We whine, we moan, but only among ourselves. We form state associations to lobby for more government funds, but when did you ever hear an official of those associations preach actual peaceful resistance? Where are all the boomers who resisted and protested everything?

Why am I so passionate about this? Because the steady decline in level of funding in relation to actual costs, the assumption that nonprofits can and should be perpetually poor (unless they are universities or large medical facilities) is insulting and demeaning to the people and the causes we serve.

So, go read the Eggar piece, and think about saying no more often. There's a lot of power in that word.

A busy season, and miscellany

Since my last post, my daughter graduated from high school, her oldest brother was in town for 32 hours from Seattle, her other brother left for his summer internship in Huntsville AL, we had a graduation party at our house and went to 5 others.

Whew. Feels like board meeting, annual meeting and audit time all rolled into one, but with a lot more love and emotion. And better food, too.

So, after 19 calendar years, and 39 kid years, our three are done with a pretty good public school system. No more parent-teacher meetings, PTO events, Fund raisers on Saturday morning. Weird.

I'm on the road to San Francisco today to do some nonprofit business development training tomorrow and Thursday. Then Saturday, I head for London for my annual lectures to UK nonprofits. Always fascinating to see the similarities and differences. We come home in time to turn around and go to Boston the following week for Caitlin's orientation at BU. This will be good month for United Airlines.

Interesting article on nonprofit mergers in the Christian Science Monitor. There was a frenzy of this in the early-mid 1990's and the tactic seems to be re-gaining popularity.

Excellent tech help.

The latest edition of By The Cup from Techsoup arrived yesterday. I spent some time looking through the articles and think these two are of importance.

First, a great, in depth discussion of an important issue: Removing Spyware, Viruses, and Other forms of Malware. A must read, very in depth with good resources.

Second, if you've been thinking about adding podcasts to your site, or for your various audiences, here's how to do it, step by step. http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articles/internet/page4542.cfm
I've been recording podcasts to add to my site for a week or so, and this article is excellent.

Good to read or to archive for future use.

Memorial Day thoughts-nonprofits filling the gap.

Happy Memorial Day.

I know that relatively few of us go to national cemeteries on this day of remembrance, but please take a moment and have a good, long, look at one of the flags that adorn our towns and cities today, and remember those good people, current and past, who have protected our liberties.

Which brings up another mixed news thought: the number of new nonprofits who have sprung up to fill the gaps in services for our current and former military. Now, the government SHOULD be doing these things, but they don't so who fills the gap? Nonprofits.

Take, for example, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund

Formed initially to make unrestricted grants to families of service personnel lost in Afghanistan and Iraq (since the death benefit was so low), the Fund changed direction when Congress responded by raising the benefit. It has begun construction on a world-class rehab center to work with those military personnel.

"who have been catastrophically disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The center will also serve military personnel and veterans severely injured in other operations and in the normal performance of their duties, combat and non-combat related."

How much did this cost? Over $35 million, all in private donations. Should the federal government be doing this? Of course it should. But they aren't and these people can't wait for Congress and the Pentagon to dither, so a nonprofit was formed and is responding.

Sounds a bit like Katrina without the wind and rain: A crisis, government unresponsive, nonprofits jump into the fray and deal with the issue. Good for the Fund, and for the other nonprofits who are helping our service men and women.

Finally, no matter what you may think about the war, don't take it out on the troops. Support the troops, and if you oppose the war, let your elected officials know.

But support the troops. Even if our own government sometimes short-changes them.