10 Great Tips for Nonprofit Organizations

Our favorite nonprofit guru is David Norgard of od180 which is a consulting firm specializing in nonprofit organizational development. Visiting his website will provide you with armloads of valuable insights. So from David, here are 10 great tips for NPOs:

1. View Your Organization as 4-Dimensional (read complete article)
   Over the years of my service in the nonprofit realm, I have gradually developed a theoretical construct of NPOs which has rung true by way of providing considerable practical value in multiple consulting situations. This construct leads handily to a working definition of what constitutes "organizational management" in the nonprofit context.

   Within the framework of this construct, there are four essential functions in any NPO. Whether they are being fulfilled at any given moment may be (and often is) a valid and important question in its own right. However, it is my working assumption that no NPO can fulfill its stated mission indefinitely without paying some regular attention to all of them. They are: first, the program or programs; secondly, resource development; thirdly, organizational administration; and fourth and finally, organizational design.
    

2. Plan Your Capital Campaigns (read complete article)
   In general, any capital campaign is undertaken to raise money for a project that is especially important and beyond the bounds of what could be expected to be accomplished through the "ordinary" generosity of people's annual giving. The organization is asking its supporters to make an extraordinary gift in order to realize something extraordinary. This is the very first challenge in planning any special campaign. The desired outcome needs to be realistic enough to be attainable and yet grand enough to be compelling.

   -- A compelling case describing urgency and importance
   -- A detailed plan including all phases
   -- Diligent and timely implementation
   -- Sustained focus throughout the execution
    

3. Good Performance Reviews are Ongoing (read complete article)
   Good evaluation is ongoing evaluation, emphasizing positive reinforcement and including timely constructive feedback. It should never prompt comparisons to other notorious annual traditions such as dental check-ups and tax filings.

   In either case, I invite you to reframe your expectations according to a different model altogether. When evaluation is ongoing, the official annual performance review becomes more of a milestone or marker than some major drama that is then documented for posterity and the ongoing discomfort of everyone involved. Ongoing evaluation alters the dynamic - for the better - between supervisor and staff member.

   In your regular weekly or monthly meetings with your direct reports, always take a few moments for review. Don't assume that the person knows you think he or she did an especially good job with that last assignment. Finally, when there is something of major importance in either direction, write a note for your own future reference following the conversation with the staff member. Then, if you keep these notes, you will be fully prepared to write your annual review with ease, accuracy and thoroughness.
    

4. Create a Solid Committe Structure for Your Board (read complete article)
   Who needs yet another regular meeting shoehorned into an already over-extended schedule? No one, I realize. Yet the truth is that boards can accomplish more if their meetings are not always meetings of a committee of the whole. A few key committees with clear mandates can result not only in more productive board meetings but also more productive boards of directors over all. So here is my list of standing committees that I recommend for nearly all boards.
   

   Executive Committee
   Finance Committee
   Resource Development Committee or Advancement Committee
   Board Development Committee (or Nominating Committee)
   Communications Committee
   Program Committee
    

5. Have Foundational Development Practices (read complete article)
   

   --Donor Database
   Today even the smallest nonprofit with the simplest annual campaign really must have a database system that is more than a glorified address book.

   --Program Communications Plan
   If individuals have given or are going to give money to support your program, it means that they have some interest in it. So tell them about it - regularly!

   --The Regular Financial Report
   Provide semi-annual update for major donors and especially involved members. And always make both the most recent audit and IRS Form 990 readily available upon request. Don't make it a test of perseverance to acquire one.

   --Gift and Donor Recognition
   Let them know about the program and the effect it is having on those it serves. Suffice it to say that if you don't make the time and effort to let people know what impact their gift has had, the impact on your organization is likely to be a less than favorable response to the next solicitation.

   --Gift Type & Allocation
   Finally, be clear and stay clear on what type of gift you are soliciting or receiving. If the gift comes as a response to an appeal for a special purpose however, it must be used for that purpose. Too many nonprofits have lost the confidence of the public over this entirely avoidable error. Make sure that you always do what you say you will do with what you receive...even it seems so reasonable - and tempting - to do otherwise. It is a matter of trust.
    

6. Learn to be a Good Supervisor (read complete article)
   Few of us in the world of small to midsize nonprofit organizations have had much training in personnel supervision. We may be trained healers, or educators, or advocates, or clergy, but not managers. Consequently, many of us tend to feel awkward about fulfilling supervisory obligations. If it's going well with a staff member, we may be inclined "to leave well enough alone" and if's not going so well, we may either avoid or confront in ways that are not terribly helpful.

   To supervise well is to set work priorities and performance objectives and to provide the necessary support to staff so that they may make their optimal contributions toward the organization's efforts of achieving its mission and toward their own professional development. This support is both tangible and intangible. It involves providing all of the following: positive reinforcement on work well done; constructive feedback on work not so well done; and needed resources, such as tools, equipment, supplies, and information. Ideally, supervising achieves the optimal balance between putting forth challenges that spur achievement and new capability and assigning tasks that produce stress and burnout.
    

7. Self-Evaluate as an Organization (read complete article)
   The success of any nonprofit is measured, fundamentally, by the good it accomplishes for those it serves. Yet, to succeed in achieving that good, an organization needs to have the capacity to do so. All the functional areas of an organization need to be working effectively and harmoniously together: the program that manifests the agency's basic purpose, the development work that supports the program, and the administrative work that provides the framework for both. With this comprehensiveness in mind, I recommend this four-point evaluation:
   

   Program: Quality, quantity, effectiveness, efficiency
   Institutional Advancement: Support and communications
   Administration: Finance, facilities, technology, staff
   Organizational Identity: Mission, vision, values
    

8. Put a Strategic Plan in Place (read complete article)
   The essential purpose of strategic planning is to answer a basic question: Where do you want to go as an organization? Another way to put it is: What do you want to see happen? That question begs another: How are you going to get there?

   Strategies derive from an organization’s mission, stated purpose, and vision, They must also be consistent with the group’s values and typically articulated in two overlapping ways. A goal is a general statement of intention that is consistent with the organization’s mission and typically is oriented toward one or more target groups. (Example: Improve staff morale.) An objective is an action that serves the purpose of attaining a goal, occurring within a specific timeframe and usually capable of being measured in a quantitative manner. (Example: Conduct annual training for supervisors.) Often, a goal may be achieved through multiple objectives.

   A well-designed strategic plan guides the actions of organizational leaders in such a way that the organization fulfills its mission more fully, effectively, and efficiently. Strategic plans may address a single functional area – program, development, or administration. Alternatively, comprehensive plans will address all three. They also vary by level of impact and length of timeframes.
    

9. Run Effective Meetings (read complete article)
   Before the meeting, prepare an agenda and float it to the other participants enough ahead of time that they can suggest additions (or deletions). When participants know the agenda in advance, they are more likely to believe that their participation is valued and act accordingly. (No one likes surprises in this context.) They are also more likely to come prepared. In the same vein, send out reports and any other materials that will be discussed.

   At the meeting, make sure that everybody has a copy of the agenda and all other documents which will be discussed. In cases such as board or committee meetings, it is often equally important to have materials from prior meetings available as well. In these cases, I highly recommend preparing three-ring binders for each member that contain past agendas, minutes, and reports for the prior twelve months as well as such foundational documents as committee mandates and board by-laws. After the meeting, make sure that absentees receive any and all handouts. This keeps people in the loop for next time.
    

10. Have Healthy Groups (read complete article)
    In the ideal situation, a group forms, organizes itself to work effectively, fulfills its purpose, and disbands upon reaching a happy conclusion. In real life, however, groups have a tendency to get stuck in one stage or another because they are paying attention only to the content of the task at hand and not also to the process by which they are attending to it. Here are the four steps to successful group development. Learning to identify and guide groups these stages allows the work to get done in the most effective way:
    

    Forming
    Storming
    Norming
    Performing
    Adjourning