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Dear
“Change” Colleague, The
coming new year will bring change to many communities and organizations.
There is little doubt that 2009 will be different than 2008. Click
on the titles on the right to read about the impact of…
Revitalizing Your Volunteer Leadership
Appreciating a New Executive Director
Making
a Change in Your Programs
Do
you have questions about organizational and leadership change? Contact
us through LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com
for more information. You can still access previous issues of On-the-Go
eTA by clicking on the title at the right.
Revitalizing
Volunteer Leadership
Creating
term limits in your board, advisory council guidelines, etc. for volunteer
leadership is a good idea for four reasons:
Volunteers …
- Need a legitimately sanctioned way to gracefully leave and pursue
other interests
- Can leave and upon being invited back, return with fresh new
ideas and perspectives
- Open up a seat at the table for new leaders with new vantage
points
- Who are newly recruited, in addition to volunteer leader alumni,
result in an expanded network of friendship and sustainability.
An
added advantage of bringing in several new volunteer leaders at one
time also provides the opportunity to raise the commitment level in
involvement and contributions.
Click
here
for more detail on the preparation for, recruitment and successful
participation of new volunteers to revitalize your leadership.
Apreciating
a New Executive Director
Hiring
a new executive director is an important job for every volunteer leadership
body – and they’re doing it a lot.
The David and Lucille Packard Foundation surveyed a sampling of social
profit organizations and found that 40% had experienced a change in
executive directors within the last 3 years. Such change can revitalize
an organization and bring…
- Skills and Experience
A new leader often brings resources in areas not previously
as strong, which could broaden the services offered to the community.
- Vision and Energy
Most new executive directors are excited about the opportunity
to lead an organization forward and can be inspiring.
- Connections
A new executive may have existing connections and want
to bring new members onto the board or new experts into the organization.
In
addition, change often will occur as a result of new executive directors
taking these actions shortly after their arrival:
- Organizational assessment
A new leader may want to undertake a thorough study of
the inner workings of the organization in order to learn more
about its potential for effectiveness. This could include a description
of all staff roles and financial expenditures.
- A strategic action plan
This may be a new step for an organization or it may
be a reworking of a previous strategic plan. This assessment of
community needs and resources may result in new programmatic priorities.
Making
a Change in Your Programs
After
an assessment and strategic action planning, an organization may
new or modify current programs to respond to changing demands. The
following table may be helpful in preparing to implement program
change.
| Considerations |
Action
Steps |
| Community |
- Investigate how community problems have changed.
- Research whether your programs make a relevant impact
in diminishing and resolving the problems.
- Avoid duplication of similar services with other organizations
and find ways to partner based upon each others’ strengths.
- Once program adjustments seem feasibly beneficial to community,
develop a mechanism for evaluating program success.
|
| Staffing |
- Determine skills, knowledge and experience needed.
- Review current staff attributes to identify skills transferable
to new programs.
- Identify areas that require new employees.
- Determine space and equipment needs for new staff.
|
| Financial
|
- Build a budget to cover expenses for new or additional
programs.
- Identify potential funders.
- Create a fundraising plan.
- Develop a long term plan for how the new programs will
sustain themselves.
|
Let
us know
Contact
LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com
and share your advice for organizations undergoing
change.
(LEADline
is sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service
through its Resource & Fund Development Initiative.) We would
be happy to answer questions or to give you more support.
Thank you for your interest in On-The-Go eTA. We encourage you to
send this and other issues of OTG
eTA to friends and colleagues who would
benefit from the information. Also, if you’re on information-overload,
you may request email
removal. Otherwise OTG e-TA will be back
soon with another edition.
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IN
THIS ISSUE:
click
on titles below to read full articles
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Revitalizing
Your Volunteer Leadership (cont.)
The
following guidelines are relevant to all volunteer leadership recruitment
efforts. These guidelines should be modified as necessary to conform
to the particular culture and purpose of the organization.
- Maintain an up-to-date list of potential candidates, including
the particular skills each one can bring to the organization.
This list is often generated by the Nominating Committee or the
Advisory Council Development Committee.
- Develop a background information form for Advisory Council leaders.
The form should request biographical information, why they want
to join, what they hope to bring to the group, what they would
like to get from their experience, as well as space for any questions
they might have.
- Reference major strategic goals for the organization. List skills
that would be highly useful to the group (e.g., especially in
a lean economy, finding leader candidates with the fundraising,
access to wealth and people skills to raise resources would be
especially timely).
- Assemble a group of influential community members and brainstorm
a the list of potential candidates.
- Once vetted to avoid any conflict of interest – e.g.,
on the Advisory Council of a project with a similar mission, a
vendor of the organization, etc. – ask if they’d be
interested in meeting with executive volunteer leadership and
the executive director to explore mutual interests.
- One goal of the meeting would be to determine the prospect’s
personal volunteer goals and interests. Once understood, there
could be an exploration of the organization’s objectives.
If there’s overlapping enthusiasm and interest, invite the
candidate to review literature, volunteer position descriptions,
application/nomination form, etc. for further reflection.
- During this reflection / decision period, the prospective volunteer
leader could be offered the opportunity to attend a Council, Board,
etc. meeting. Keep these actions in mind should the prospect come
to a meeting:
- Let current members know that a potential new member will
be attending.
- Consider nametags to help the potential new member become
more easily acquainted.
- Introduce the visitor before the meeting and welcome them
at the beginning of the meeting.
- At the end of the meeting, ask the potential new leader
if he or she has any questions and express appreciation for
them attending.
- Provide names of current Advisory Council members whom a prospective
new leader might wish to contact with any questions.
- Shortly after the meeting, call the prospective new leader to
determine if he or she wishes to join the team. If yes, retrieve
the completed application form. Provide applications from all
candidates to the group for their review, nomination and election.
- Welcome newly elected leaders both personally and officially
by letter. Invite them to an interactive, interesting, efficiently
organized Orientation. Share subsequent meeting schedules, list
of committees
and responsibilities, etc.
- Activate new leaders immediately with a specific project while
their enthusiasm is at a high point. Identify 2 or 3 projects
that fit their skills and interests and your project needs. Then
let them choose. Options are essential to Baby Boomers and appreciated
by everyone.
(Adapted from the Free Management
Library, Carter McNamara, Ph.D.)
Resources
The National ASK (Awareness, Skills, Knowledge) to Sustain Institute,
sponsored by Corporation for National and Community Service,
provided by Campaign Consultation, Inc. 1998, 2002
The
CNCS Resources Now! National Institute, sponsored by Corporation
for National and Community Service, provided by Campaign Consultation,
Inc. 2005-07.
Learning
Products and Services
LEADline:
(Learning Experiences At a Distance) LEADline is
designed to give information fast. Have a resource & fund
development question? Use LEADline and within 24 hours you will
receive response and advice from a fundraising professional.
Contact us LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com
GIZMOs:
(Giving Information for Zooming Mission Objectives)
GIZMOS are resource and fund development tools for you and your
volunteers. They are tangible products in packets, pocket brochures,
CD-ROMs, games, etc. They feature a myriad of fundraising topics
such as The Case for Support, an interactive online resource.
View and use our newest GIZMOs at www.CampaignConsultation.com/GIZMOs/
The
Chronicle of Philanthropy:
Everyone who comes to a Resources Now! National Institute
gets a free subscription to the Chronicle for a year. Participants
in CNCS Campaign Consultation workshops receive the latest issue
free of charge plus a $20 discount on one year’s subscription.
Workshops/Clinics:
The Corporation for National and Community
Service (CNCS), through its T/TA service provider Campaign Consultation,
Inc., offers a three-hour workshops and clinics for those interested.
Online
Courses/Webinars:
Web course delivery of topics pertinent to resource development
such as — Build Fundraising Volunteer Champions
and Cause Related Marketing and Corporate Partnerships.
Available
through the Resource Center at http://nationalserviceresources.org
Read
Back Issues of OTG e-TA
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