Nonprofit Spark radio show

Find examples and figure out what you like about them

2012-02-07T10:07:00.001-06:00

I always look forward to Tom Kuhlmann's blog posts which get emailed to me. He suggests today that one way to build better e-learning courses is to find some good examples, break them apart to figure out what works, and then build your own courses from there.

Here's the post: Let Others Inspire Your Interactive E-Learning.

Apply what he says here to reviewing websites or e-newsletters. In the recent website redesign show with Christine Durand of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, we talked about how helpful it was that she and the staff there looked at other sites and then discussed what they liked, what worked and why. The discussion was fruitful, educational, and engaging.

Find website designer who has process for getting the work done

2012-01-31T17:27:00.002-06:00

It's one thing for a website designer to know everything about the technical side of site development and all the possible bells and whistles you can use. It's quite another to find a website designer who will guide you through a meticulous process that includes defining what your goals are, determining what the content will be, and what the best way to deliver that content is.

On this week's show, Christine Durand of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) describes the recent website redesign project for her organization. She was very happy with their website design company who listened carefully, made suggestions, and even created two mock-ups for MCN to react to.

This show will help nonprofit leaders who are about to redesign their websites as well as those who are setting one up for the first time.

Get coaching for e.d. who avoids individual fundraising

2012-01-23T11:15:00.002-06:00

I have been thinking about an executive director I knew who was accomplished in every way but one: individual fundraising. She was not willing to meet with individual donors although she was a master at building relationships with professional donors: family foundation leaders, and corporate and foundation program officers.

When I encouraged her to call monthly donors and go beyond signing thank you notes to them, she didn't do it. When I suggested she set up a simple, regular e-brief to deepen relationships with donors of $500 or more a year, she didn't do it. She effortlessly shared charming stories about recipients and insights about her nonprofit with professional donors but was unwilling to do this one on one with Mary and Joe Smith. When the board started pushing for an increase in individual contributions, she left the organization.

Despite all her skills and abilities, this executive director was not able to overcome her fear of personal rejection and bigotry about wealthy people (and we're all bigots about someone). At least, she couldn't overcome these on her own.

When you see this resistence in an executive director, you must intervene and connect her/him to a professional coach immediately. No nonprofit can afford to ignore individual giving to their organization but neither can it afford to lose a talented leader who performs well in every arena but this. And where do you find a coach? There are free ones, standing by to make a difference, through the Coach Initiative.

It's possible that if the board had insisted the executive director seek coaching, she would have acted insulted and left the organization anyway. But just think what would have been possible for the leader and the nonprofit had she accepted coaching: An unprecedented enthusiasm for authentic relationships on behalf of the mission of the organization and a significant increase in contributions.

Do association videos make the case for support?

2012-01-04T13:32:00.002-06:00

Here's an association video which is entertaining, lively and well produced. I estimate it cost the organization somewhere between $20,000 to $30,000 to produce. It strives to make the case for more state and federal funding of transportation infrastructure. Or at least I think that's what the intention was. I assume the link was sent to legislators either from the association itself or via its members.

View it here.

I appreciate the tremendous amount of work that went into the logistics of producing this. The camera crew went to different locations to shoot. They found and prepped the people in the video. Or they found actors. They spent days editing all that video and combined it with static photos. All in all, the video probably took 200 hours of the video company's time and I would estimate some 40 hours of the executive director's time.

Now, having given all that credit where credit is due, I also don't believe it persuaded any legislator or citizen to invest in transportation. I do believe, however, that it made association members feel good that something clever was produced about something they desperately want to see happen. They ponied up the money for the production of lots of videos like this, so the money is being spent as the executive director said it would be spent.

A good use of time and special project money? If it's designed to appease members, yes. If it's designed to actually make a difference in getting infrastructure funding, no. To me, it's not a good use of time or money if I were the executive director but then again, perhaps there's little else to work on when federal and local officials are deadlocked or moving very slowly on transportation funding.

What are you doing with that video?

2012-01-04T13:02:00.002-06:00

Just got a referral to a potential client yesterday from a friend who said, "I told them you could produce videos for them." Well, yes I can, but there needs to be an awfully good reason to go to the time and expense of producing one.

Having a video on your website no longer has the wow factor it once did. Does it wow you anymore when you go to a site and see one? Somewhere along the line, people jumped from text and image communication to video. In between the two, however, is a far less expensive choice: A photo and an audio recording/podcast. It's much easier to produce and edit and therefore, much less time-consuming and expensive.

Here's a video produced by my radio show sponsor that is a good use of the medium. Two companies are merging and the video with the two CEOs introduces the combined company. It's the right message from the right people at the right time. Check it out: CliftonLarsonAllen merger announcement

That's what business communications is all about: The right message from the right people at the right time - with the right medium. And that's what communication professionals know and what amateurs don't.

What's the problem with complaints?

2011-12-21T20:29:00.001-06:00

Two of my clients received complaints in the past couple of weeks. One sent an e-newsletter out and someone didn't like one of the items in it. The other held their annual convention and a member called and complained about one of the speakers. Everything else about their projects worked and yet, they're fretting over the complaints. I don't get it.

Complaints are an opportunity for a conversation with someone who cared enough to say something. Mostly, when people complain, they have an unmet expectation. Find out what that is and address it in the conversation or email exchange or letter. Look at the expectation objectively and determine if there's something you can be responsible for about that unmet expectation and then own up to it. Otherwise, let it go.

One or two complaints isn't a good reason to panic, get off track, change course, come up with new policies. Take them in stride, give them some thought, and then choose to incorporate them as suggestions for improvement or not.

If you never get a complaint, then worry about that. It means you're not taking risks, trying new things, or being responsive to changing times. Worse, it could mean no one gives a damn about what you do.

A smart delegation cycle to make managing easier

2011-12-13T14:24:00.000-06:00

I have two guests on the show this week who divide delegation into three parts: 1) Agreeing on expectations, 2) Staying engaged, and 3) Creating accountability and learning.

Jerry Hauser, CEO of The Management Center, and Monique Ayotte-Hoeltzel, an executive vice president at Teach for America, have given a lot of thought to delegating and have learned to do it well. They describe the delegation cycle and how to let employees go whom you can't delegate to. Our conversation almost made me want to manage a staff again. Almost.

This show about delegation and letting people go is for every manager who worries about or has been accused of being the dreaded micromanager.

Listen now.

Repeated text changes increase chance of errors

2011-12-08T09:53:00.002-06:00

One of the things amateur communications people do not know is that the more they fuss with copy while laying out brochures, e-newsletters and web pages, the greater the chance for typos and errors.

When design is involved, changing even just a few words or a paragraph can force other text off the page, or cause a photo to disappear with an accidental click, etc. And suddenly, what should have been a simple two-hour project becomes the project of the day.

Write your text in a text editor, like Notepad, with no formatting and read it, print it, review it, edit it. Use an inverted pyramid writing style with the most important information at the beginning because once you import text into the layout software, you may have to chop off the end to fit the column. Collect your photos and graphics in the same folder and prioritize them in your mind as to which ones you can live without if you run out of space on the page.

The point is to get your content honed before you import it into your online or desktop publishing software and then you can concentrate on making it fit and look pretty. Online software with HTML code running in the background can be especially problematic if you keep editing.

Resist the temptation to move into layout mode before all your content is in hand and edited. You will have fewer errors and spend far less time on your communications projects.

Make one non-profit staffer accountable for content governance

2011-11-30T23:18:00.000-06:00

My show next week with Clinton Forry focuses on content management for websites. It's a description of a wide communications umbrella under which text, images, and graphics intersect with users. Since we have such easy access to information from sources all around the web, it's very easy to grab it and make pages grow with useful material. It's also easy to become a thief in the process.

Make someone on staff accountable for what goes on, stays on and comes off your site. It's called content governance. He or she has to be part lawyer, part editor, and part librarian. I advise the content manager to keep track of how much time various tasks take as well. You'd be amazed at the hours that are required to govern a great website. Very few managers understand the risk of paying so little attention to the text, photos and graphics on their site. Lawsuits are just waiting to happen.

Baby Boomer's bleak legacy

2011-11-20T19:30:00.000-06:00

I met four Millennials this week and all of them are underemployed. One just started at a nonprofit making $24,000 a year. That was the salary I got a few years after starting my career in 1980. A 1983 salary level for a smart, energetic 2011 college graduate is wrong. I didn't even ask them how much debt they took on to graduate.

It's tragic that Baby Boomers were able to start and build careers right out of college but so many of our kids can't do the same. I remember how excited I was when I got my first job and how I was able to use my journalism knowledge and skills right away. I knew I had a long career ahead of me.

How bleak these times must feel to Millennials but also, for Baby Boomers who now have to keep working to financially help out those Millennial children who can't get their careers started.

What a mess. Boomers aren't capable of cleaning it up either - too slow to change, too pompous to listen, too certain that coming up with solutions requires HARD WORK and angst and their purported invaluable experience.

How about figuring out a way to get out of the way, Boomers? That'll bring some hope to your younger siblings and children.

Board responsibility and Sandusky nonprofit

2011-11-14T12:35:00.001-06:00

Just read a passionate opinion piece in Nonprofit Quarterly about the possible culpability of the board members of Jerry Sandusky's nonprofit, Second Mile. According to Rick Cohen, at least three incidents of sex abuse were reported to the organization. It's sickening and infuriating that staff and board members can be so blinded by a founder's star status that they don't act first on behalf of children.

There is no "spin," no rationale, no pr guru in the world that can turn this around for Second Mile.

Read the opinion piece by Rick Cohen in the Nonprofit Quarterly daily e-newsletter.

Coaching an investment in rare breed of leaders

2011-11-07T15:44:00.003-06:00

I've relied on coaches to help me over a hump, face a problem, or act as a sounding board over many years. It never occurs to me to spend time or energy on going it alone when I'm stuck; an objective coach, who is in my corner, is extremely helpful.

So I am surprised and disappointed when I still run into nonprofit leaders who think that using a coach is an admission of incompetence or "there's something wrong with me." Seriously? Is there something wrong with Michael Phelps or other world athletes?

There's a national organization, The Coach Initiative, that represents highly skilled, master coaches who are willing to coach any nonprofit executive (and her staff people) in North America who asks for it. They'll do this for up to 90 days for free. The Coach Initiative is having a heck of a time keeping the volunteer coaches busy.

In the for-profit sector, companies have used coaching to improve individual performance for years. In the nonprofit sector, coaching solutions for leaders is still very rare. Board members approve paying for strategic planning and fundraising consultants but what good are they if the executive director hasn't addressed, say, a lack of confidence or an inability to delegate?

It is possible to devise a performance review strategy for executive directors that includes coaching. It's an expression of respect and support, and an investment in a rare breed of leaders whose performance makes or breaks their nonprofits.

The automatic objection leaders come up with - "We can't afford that" - is overcome by the fact that some great coaching doesn't have to cost a dime. Contact The Coach Initiative to learn more.

Reconsider producing multi-page company publications

2011-10-24T16:42:00.000-05:00

A sales rep for a national company recently and proudly handed me a 36-page company report. It is a tome about the history, values, products and services of the company. It clearly is the work of about a dozen people spending at least 150 hours writing and editing copy; shooting and gathering images, and designing, proofing, printing and distributing it to multiple locations throughout the U.S.

Sad to say, people outside and inside the company will, at most, skim it. There's a new trick to producing content for communications projects, whether in print or on the web. It has to be immediately useful, pertinent and attractive so readers spend time with it. Otherwise, you're wasting resources.

I appreciate the quality of the work that went into the publication and feel wistful about the days when I worked on projects like that. There was a time when readers lingered over well-written text and images without asking, "What in this for me?"

Drop the "shall" from policies

2011-10-18T11:38:00.000-05:00

Why do so many nonprofit leaders promote policies that use archaic language? They usually talk like normal people with occasional jargon thrown in, like "sustainability" and "social enterprise." Yet when it comes to policies, they use a bunch of significant shalls: "The committee shall do this" and "The president shall do that."

Writing policies doesn't mean you have to suddenly make lofty declarations like you're a British judge wearing a black robe, white wig and pince-nez.

A policy that uses archaic language is confusing. When it's time to refer to it, everyone looks and says, "Huh?" And then they debate what it means. Worst of all, it is heavy-handed and top-down. How does this match up with the values of most nonprofits in America where inclusivity and shared leadership is the norm?

Who can comply with something they don't understand? Write policies in such a way that people can understand and embrace them.

Here's an example of a policy I wrote for an organization that is both clear and useful. It leaves no doubt why some board members are chosen as emeritus members. That's the point of a policy - that there is no question left in the reader's mind what it means and intends.

Making Twitter useful for me

2011-10-07T17:25:00.002-05:00

It's been nine months and I'm finally figuring out tweeting and Twitter. I installed TweetDeck and now have a regular feed. I'm following about 100 people - increasing every day - who write about content management, nonprofits, news, training design, graphic and web design, typography, copywriting, editing - all the topics I love to read about and focus on with clients.

I've learned to watch for story ideas and guests for my show. I've learned to jump quickly to links and take in a lesson of the day on some topic. Twitter can be a great learning tool if you learn how to sift and sort quickly and also, un-follow the folks who don't say anything funny or useful.

Best of all, I'm learning to share what's happening in my life on the fly. I work alone a lot, head down on some client project and for an extrovert, it's tough to spend days not sharing what just happened, what cracked me up, what's going on around me. With Twitter, I get to express it and I tell you, for an extrovert like me, it's a gift to know someone's listening.

Basing decisions on facts, not optimism

2011-09-28T10:27:00.004-05:00

While working on projects to test the usability of a new website and a new online learning program, I ran across articles and blogs by experts who say you have to watch what what users do, not listen to what they say about the sites.

Users will say, for instance, that they loved the new website but it was clear to the experts who watched them that they had trouble navigating or finding what they needed on the site.

It's called the "optimism bias." Here's one of the better articles about this phenomenon.

I can see now that I experienced this as an executive director. I often based my decisions on how I was feeling about a program (it will work someday!) despite what was quite observable - the financial statements that were telling me something entirely different.

A good role for board members is to listen for this optimism bias.

Tips for self-editing your speeches

2011-09-28T09:55:00.001-05:00

Came across this handy video today. Damn good advice - even if you don't write a lot of speeches. Check it out. The source: Ragan's HR Communication.

Do your homework before contacting the media

2011-09-22T10:32:00.000-05:00

Just received an email from a publicist representing a book author who specializes in astrology and healing. She's suggesting her client for my show, focused on nonprofits. I think the publicist simply went on the WebTalkRadio website and emailed the various hosts and never did the homework to find just the right hosts.

It's clear the publicist hasn't bothered to listen to my show. She wants a courtesy from me but isn't courteous enough to have done some homework to know how her client would or wouldn't fit on Nonprofit Spark. She wasted her time and mine, and made her author look bad.

If you want publicity for your organization, get to know the media you want to approach. Reporters or talk show hosts like me are open to story and guest ideas but only if they're a fit. And you'll only know if your idea fits if you consume the media. We can always tell the amateurs who don't.

Trust and the Bader-Meinhof phenomenon

2011-09-19T10:40:00.001-05:00

The Bader-Meinhof phenomenon has been showing up everywhere for me since the interview I did last week with Dan Collins from FreshTracks about trust and teams. Several times a day since last week, I hear people use the word "trust." The interview and subsequent mentions of trust have caused me to look at my relationships and past work experiences and for the first time, I can see that every breakdown has had to do with a lack of trust.

As with a lot of Brits, Collins is low-key but what he has to share on the show, Creating Successful Teams with Trust, is critically important. Our relationships cannot thrive without it. We cannot succeed without it.

Trust is the root of flourishing and dying relationships and yet we take it for granted and rarely address it when problems arise.

Use Charting Impact questions for a nonprofit start-up

2011-09-09T12:40:00.002-05:00

The Charting Impact questions developed by Independent Sector, the BBB's Wise Giving Alliance, and Guidestar can be used to write a business plan for a start-up or new program within an organization.

Take a look:

1) What is your organization trying to accomplish?
2) What are your strategies for making this happen?
3) What are your organization's capabilities for doing this?
4) How will your organization know if you are making progress?
5) What have and haven't you accomplished so far?

Answering these questions before you apply for a 501(c)(3) with the help of people in your community who know a lot about what you're trying to do would be your organization's first major accomplishment.

Nonprofits operate within the context of a community to make a difference in that community. They will not be successful in the long run without community buy-in from the very start. Talk to experts in that field. Talk to nonprofit leaders doing something similar. Talk to community foundation program officers. With these questions and your best answers in hand, you'll show how committed you are in your conversations with them.

Get in the door by saying, "I have an idea for a new nonprofit to do X and I'd value your opinion about this."

If you are unable or unwilling to think through the five questions and engage community leaders, then it's predictable that your new organization won't fly. It'll limp or never get off the ground.

Here's a great primer on email acquisition practices

2011-09-01T16:23:00.000-05:00

Three great points about adding folks to your e-mail database: Read Am I Being Spammed by My Priest? A Lesson in Email Acquisition Practices.

Not crazy about the magazine e-readers

2011-08-30T11:05:00.001-05:00

Ever get your favorite association newsletter and magazine delivered by email? You think you're getting a pdf document but no, the organization has moved to an e-reader software instead.

Here's what I mean: Pit and Quarry magazine.

To me, this choice is far more about editorial vanity than a reader service for most organizations. It presumes members want to play with a new tool and that they're dying for the content in current and back issues. The cool factor doesn't last long as you try to read an article; it's a lot of work to read a publication with this tool.

Done well, association publications should be pertinent for a given moment in time. The only thing worth saving is "how to" or educational features which can be separated and recreated as stand-alone lessons for a related Web page.

This is a case where technology hinders editorial intent.

Creating slots for nonprofit interns

2011-08-30T10:28:00.000-05:00

Dr. Rob Manzer is on this week's show talking about a major initiative his organization, the Texas Association of Nonprofits Organizations (TANO), is promoting to members. It's all about creating slots for interns as a capacity-building strategy for nonprofits. By slots, he means year-long full and part-time positions for college students or recent grads. He created slots in his organization and even has an intern managing interns. To succeed, Manzer says the unpaid internships must support the interns' academic work.

TANO produced a video presentation about the capacity-building internship initiative. View the video.

Making executive directors happy through coaching

2011-08-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

A wise, seasoned board member once said to me that he believes a board's job is make sure the executive director it hires is happy. This from a gruff, ornery but beloved senior citizen who's been a public servant and board member for decades.

My interviews on this week's show with two business coaches reminded me of this somewhat quaint idea that when a leader is happy, she's effective, confident, decisive, focused and even, inspiring.

Boards pay for strategic planners, fundraising consultants, website designers and more without paying attention to the hidden cost of adding to an executive director's frustration, burnout, uncertainty, frenzy and more. Board members need to hire a great leader and then pay attention to his well-being.

My guests this week make a convincing argument: Board members should pay for a coach to support an executive director in addressing what's making her unhappy. The greatest strategic plan in the world won't impact the organization as forcefully as an unhappy or happy executive director.

Non Profit Website Design: Examples and Best Practices

2011-08-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

Non profit websites share many of the same best practices as any website. They need to be user friendly, easily navigable, and use appropriate fonts, colors, and other design elements. But often a non profit website needs to offer more than your typical corporate site.

Read more: Smashing Magazine

(An oldie but goodie!)

How board members know if the nonprofit is a cult

2011-08-11T10:48:00.005-05:00

Nonprofit leaders who exhibit cult-like behavior miss opportunities to receive contributions of all kinds. To them, life is full of limits and has to be controlled and so they cannot see what's hanging, ready to be plucked, right before their eyes. Or sitting right beside them in a meeting.

I've watched this nonprofit behavior for years. It's why we still have cancer, hunger, illiteracy, homelessness, and more. These leaders have no interest in or the skills required for solving these problems. Bandaids, yes. Solutions, no.

How do you know if you're one of those leaders? Oh, wait. That's not the right question because cult leaders won't care to know. But for board members who do, here are some indications that your nonprofit is missing out on considerably more revenue:

a) The leader tells you that she is just too caught up in a certain problem (often one that seems unsolvable) to explore possible contributions.

b) The leader or staff immediately, and I mean immediately, shut down a suggestion about doing something new to raise money with "We don't do that kind of thing here."

c) The leader wants to study the ethics of an idea to stop the action.

d) The leader and staff become very angry and "deeply offended" by board members who attempt to encourage more individual giving developing a succinct description of the organization or attractive material.

e) The leader and staff ridicule creative board members behind their backs but feign interest in front of them.

f) The leader and staff resent and ignore suggestions from program officers that encourage change.

g) The leader and staff do a half-hearted job on board-directed projects with lots of sighing. Oh, and eye-rolling.

I could go on. If you are a board member who is in this situation, walk away and spend your energy elsewhere. Your spiritual and physical well-being is of the utmost importance. Your relationships with your spouse, children and friends are precious. Be a hero for them, not for cult people.

Let go of the cult lest you also become blind to the opportunities Life is hanging, ready to be plucked, right before your own eyes.

How to be a guest on Nonprofit Spark

2011-08-03T14:12:00.003-05:00

I'm committed that every show is useful to my listeners. My guests are nonprofit volunteer leaders or paid executives who do something really well and are able to describe that clearly and concisely. Nothing is more helpful, as far as I'm concerned, as one person sharing simply with others about what works for them.

The other type of guest I want are consultants or nonprofit sector "experts" who can get down to the nitty gritty of how to do something. How to do an executive director performance review. How to build an individual donor base. How to use cloud technology. Part of that also gets at the "why:" Why a board has to have a conflict of interest policy. Why the executive director has to be a fundraiser. Etc.

The more genuine and generous the guest, the better the interview. Along the way, you get to plug your organization, consulting service or book.

Nonprofit Spark shows cover a wide range of topics but often, hone in on problems that most frustrate staff and board members. If you have solutions to those, then contact me and we'll talk about putting you on the show. Almost every guest tells me afterward that the interview was "delightful."

Grateful for the generosity and candor of my guests

2011-07-27T12:14:00.000-05:00

When I jumped into doing this radio show, I knew I could count on the generous nature of people working in the nonprofit sector. There have only been a few instances in nine months where my request for an interview was ignored or turned down.

My guests usually respond within hours, take time to talk with me ahead of the interview to develop the show's direction, and then give me all the time in the world for the interview itself. They are not showing off. They are giving themselves away to an audience of people they most likely will never meet nor do business with.

It's their candor that moves me the most. When you hear them, you know their intentions are pure.

Five ways you can become a great radio guest

2011-07-20T21:50:00.003-05:00

Brad Phillips of the Mr. Media Training Blog interviewed a radio station reporter/producer in D.C. who shared five things great radio guests do well. I wholeheartedly agree. Read the blog post.

A perfect nonprofit video

2011-07-18T13:21:00.003-05:00

I am not a fan of most nonprofit videos as they often are amateurish and take far more time to produce than they're worth. I'd rather see staff developing stronger photography skills and building a powerful library of visual assets instead and then getting clever with the photos. Either do videos well or don't do them at all. How do you know if you've done well? Ask people if they were moved or inspired by it and even, compelled to take action after watching it.

Here's a video by BDDP Unlimited and Solidarites International, however, that is well-conceived, clever and pointed. To me, it's perfect in every way.

My inspiration: Design.inc Blog

2011-07-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

Craig Evans is a young graphic and web designer from the UK whose blog, Design.inc Blog, includes fun samples of design that's he's spotted and made comments about. He opens my eyes.

For instance, choose the logos category in the blog and take a fresh look at the Amazon.com logo.

It's delightful to see how clever people can be and makes me sigh with pleasure.

My inspiration: Live From Daryl's House

2011-07-16T11:38:00.004-05:00

I am enthralled by Darryl Hall's web program, Live From Daryl's House. When he pulls his musician friends and guest artists into his home studio to play together, it really is about masters who create and play on the fly - the kind of play we experienced as kids. They're relaxed, respectful and trusting and most of all, they expect to create something extraordinary.

How many teams are this effective let alone bring strangers into their midst to produce delightful music (or conferences or board retreats or client services)?

Minnesota's compromise budget: $1B less for human services

2011-07-15T10:18:00.003-05:00

I wrote in my last post about a tectonic shift that's occurring in how governments will budget and how nonprofits will be funded (and how Baby Boomer nonprofit leaders who rely on government funding don't seem to get it).

The compromise budget that we're seeing right now between Minnesota's governor and leaders of our House and Senate relies on more borrowed money and time. We'll have a massive deficit to address again in two years. The one good thing about the shutdown is that all Minnesotans have become engaged in discussing this intractable problem.

Minnesota Budget Bites, a service of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, lists the major elements of the budget, including a $1b reduction to health and human services.

I'm not an economist nor a political pundit. The plain fact is that continued deficits, like credit card debt, don't build a future of possibilities for Baby Boomers' retirement nor our children and grandchildren. Every adult knows this. I don't care which political party addresses this in my state or nationally. We're in the worst kind of dilemma and eating each other alive is just subterfuge for not accepting responsibility for the choices all of us have made.

When people step up with new thinking and new actions, what's predictable is that we'll eat them alive.

How can I help, Millennials and Generationals?

2011-07-13T11:35:00.001-05:00

After interviewing Nathan Hand and Rosetta Thurman for this week's show, I became so enthusiastic about the future of the nonprofit sector in America. This despite my state's government shutdown that's killing local nonprofits and businesses and dire predictions that what's happening here will happen throughout the U.S.

Generationals and Millennials understand nonprofit best management practices; they are saavy about new technologies and work efficiently; they want to dive feet first into the core work of nonprofit organizations. Frankly, it is a huge disservice and even an insult to limit Millennials, in particular, to traditional structures and career paths.

It is perhaps a betrayal, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for Baby Boomer peers to deal well with the current tectonic plate change in how nonprofits will be funded. They don't really see it - they still think it's about Republicans versus Democrats.

Uff da. It's like observing the Slowskis, the turtle couple in Comcast cable ads, who still live with a dial-up modem when everyone else is using high-speed connections.

Generationals and millennials - let me know how I can help you step up and take over. I'm with you all the way.

Shutting down websites is a third finger up to Minnesotans

2011-07-07T13:59:00.001-05:00

What happens to the websites of the various Minnesota Departments during a government shutdown? For most of them, very little. Their sites are up and available to the public that paid for the content.

The folks at the Departments of Administration, Attorney General, Corrections, Education, Employment & Economic Development, Finance, Health, Housing Finance Agency, Human Services, Labor & Industry, Management & Budget, Revenue, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs simply added a note about the shutdown and even, in some cases, pointed out that the site was not being maintained. The Agriculture Department left its site well enough alone. It's comforting to know they all understand their role as stewards of the information.

But then there are the arrogant departments which won't give us access to their sites. Commerce is characteristically cold and blunt. Natural Resources is uncharacteristically dramatic. The Human Rights site is empty; evidently, since the staff doesn't have the right to work, citizens don't have the right to content. Public Safety's website is elusive; maybe it'll appear out of nowhere this weekend. Finally, the Pollution Control Agency decided to stick it to Minnesota businesses by making compliance darn near impossible. Must you be so predictable?

Shutting down state department websites is wrong and just plain dumb. These department directors have now tipped their hands with the third fingers straight up at Minnesotans. We hear you loud and clear, directors. The shutdown is all about you.

Embezzlement despite a board of really smart people

2011-06-29T16:12:00.002-05:00

There's a story in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and other newspapers about an executive director and associate director who embezzled some $66,000 from 2007 to 2010. The organization protects land in the St Croix River Valley area in western Wisconsin.

Among other things, the executive director spent $13,000 on health products and supplements, stereo speakers for his home, daily coffee and lunches and a $5,000 bike tour. He also flew his associate director, with whom he had a personal relationship and who oversaw expenditures, to Georgia to meet him at the end of the tour.

The walls started tumbling down when the federal government began to scrutinize the organization for misappropriation or misuse of funds. Clearly, the feds have a darn good system for catching thieves.

The board has several attorneys on it, a retired banker, a retired corporate executive and other smart people and yet, the theft occurred. So how can it happen? Any number of ways:

1) A treasurer doesn't look at credit card receipts or the credit card bills. When there's no CFO on staff, the volunteer needs to do this.

2) The staff looks the other way instead of bringing their concerns about an affair, lunches, and travel to the board president. Especially in a small organization, a staff doesn't miss much.

3) There isn't an enforced policy about requiring two signatures for checks over a certain amount.

4) The auditor wasn't thorough (and I'm going to check in with my LarsonAllen friends to learn more about that).

It's a sickening feeling to have to confront someone we've trusted. It makes us doubt ourselves and other people. Some volunteers and co-workers never get over it.

The board members who fired the executive director asked him why he did it and his matter-of-fact and arrogant response must have made their hearts sink: "Because I could."

I hope to get the new interim director on the show to talk about this. It would be incredibly generous if she could share their experience and what they learned. I'll keep you posted about that.

Charting Impact: A glimmer of hope for solving the world's problems

2011-06-22T15:39:00.003-05:00

There's a new online tool for nonprofits that is nothing short of stunning. It gives me a glimmer of hope that the nonprofit sector is maturing enough to solve rather than serve the world's problems.

Charting Impact requires nonprofit leaders and staff to think clearly about their work, and then succinctly define and describe it. Further, it provides a way to track what they want to achieve and what's already been accomplished. The tool takes nonprofits way beyond a focus on "outputs" or "numbers served" to describe what their impact is in the community. Rather than communicating how many hot meals were served, for instance, nonprofits also describe their aim, strategies, internal capacity and more. This is the information today's donors want but can't get their hands on.

The Charting Impact tool is the result of a collaboration of national heavyweights: Independent Sector, Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, and Guidestar.

The tool requires answering five questions that are deceptively simple:

1) What is your organization aiming to accomplish?
2) What are your strategies for making this happen?
3) What are your organization's capabilities for doing this?
4) How will your organization know if you are making progress?
5) What have and haven't you accomplished so far?

Some 50 nonprofits have used the tool and posted their answers in a report format on the Charting Impact website. The tool initiates a discussion among staff and board members and what happens is that in the process, they become clear about what they're not clear about. What a discovery! Frankly, I'm going to use the questions for my business and radio show. Clarity is priceless.

So far, most of those 50 nonprofits have not answered the questions well and that's not a criticism; it is very difficult to be rigorous and precise. I admire them for struggling with the tool and posting their best efforts for the world to see. During a webinar today about Charting Impact, the CEO of Independent Sector said the questions have worked their way into all facets of her organization.

AHEAD Energy used the tool well and I encourage nonprofit executives and board members to review it on the Charting Impact website. I am inspired by its answer to the first question, "What are we aiming to accomplish?" Here it is: "The ultimate goal for AHEAD Energy is a world in which there is universal access to life-enhancing energy." Simple and very powerful.

Three reasons for nonprofit blogs

2011-06-15T15:49:00.003-05:00

Here are a few reasons for organizations to have a blog.

First, the leaders can authentically share who they are and what they know and build credibility for the organization. Executive and program directors often have a depth of knowledge about issues affecting people that they have no consistent way of sharing with everyone. A blog makes a connection between what leaders know and what their constituents need to know.

Second, the blog becomes a library for the authors and readers. For instance, a leader writes about a great newspaper article and publishes the link to it so everyone has the chance to read it. The leader can later think, "Where is that article about X? I want to refer to it in my speech." She can return to the blog and find it. Posts can be categorized as well so everyone can limit their reading to one topic, for instance: "I only want to read everything this leader has written about fundraising."

Third, it helps leaders clarify their thoughts over time. There's nothing like the writing and editing process to formulate our thinking, question our beliefs, and figure out what we're asking of people. As a leader and organization changes, posts can be corrected, or connected and built upon. Blogs technically are as fluid and organic as our ongoing learning.

Some advice: Don't start a blog if you can't post at least three or more times a month and if you don't like to express yourself through writing. Don't use a blog to say how great you and your organization are. A blog should be fun to write, provide value, and be of service to an audience that will then want to connect with you time and time again.

A couple examples of good nonprofit-related blogs:
• Bob Ottenhoff of Guidestar: http://ceo.guidestar.org/
• The Duck Call: The Big Duck Blog written by team members because teamwork is a value of the company: http://www.bigducknyc.com/blog?page=1

What goes around . . . taking board members for granted

2011-06-12T10:25:00.002-05:00

Now that I'm a board member, I'm on the receiving end of emails and phone calls from a nonprofit. For the first time, I can see how my communication affected my own board members over the years.

When I get the organization's communication, it feels like I've just been brought into the middle of a conversation. It takes me a while to catch up: What are we talking about? Why does this matter now? What do you expect from me? It's really quite disruptive and rarely comes with a warm-up reminder.

This is not a criticism, just a bit of self-reflection about how I took for granted that my board members were ready at any moment to respond to my needs. It's all the more amazing that they stuck with me over the years when I interrupted their workflow without a second thought.

Study shows Facebook providing mixed value to nonprofits

2011-06-09T14:54:00.002-05:00

Idealware, a company that helps nonprofits make well-informed software decisions, conducted a study in February 2011 of 505 nonprofit staff members about their Facebook strategies. Among the findings of Using Facebook to Meet Your Mission: Results of a Survey:
• The majority of respondents attracted new event attendees, driving traffic to petitions and websites, and building awareness about their nonprofits with their Facebook pages.
• 66 percent of advocacy organizations saw an increase in people taking some noticeable form of action.
• 29 percent saw an increase in donations.
• 40 percent had success converting "fans" into donors or volunteers.
• 40 percent felt that Facebook helped them understand constituents better (not a lot of engagement going on).

The result that makes the most sense to me is how effective Facebook can be for advocacy organizations. A Facebook page focused on influencing legislation is highly focused, taps into people's passion so they're naturally engaged, is easy to update. It's the best use for the social media tool, it seems to me. Twitter is a nice advocacy companion as well.

Nonprofit Spark blog and radio show wins Excellence Award

2011-06-09T12:59:00.001-05:00

This blog and radio show just won the 2011 Excellence in Communications Award from the Midwest Society of Association Executives (MSAE). I am so pleased that my association peers have honored this work.

It's because of my membership in MSAE that I first explored podcasts as a learning and marketing tool. Over the years, I've noticed that the most useful learning among members happens in hallway conversations and in roundtable discussions. It is adult learning at its best. "Here's how we solved that problem" and "We tried something new and it's worked out great." Adults love hearing about what works so they can do their jobs better.

Nonprofit Spark is designed to facilitate that same kind of conversational learning, born out of a generous community of MSAE members who support each other. You can listen in on useful conversations via the podcasts and read up on my own insights about what works in this blog.

Spark Plug Consulting, my company, specializes in facilitating member sharing via communications and training. Nonprofit Spark is my way of demonstrating a great way to do that in addition to making a weekly contribution to nonprofits worldwide. It sure is fun doing what I love to do!

Seek happy board members!

2011-05-31T10:16:00.002-05:00

How often do we seek out board members who have a particular talent or connection without considering whether they're happy? Paula MacLean, on this week's show about board recruitment, points out the value of choosing positive-minded board members. They make meetings more enjoyable and can see the nonprofit through good times and bad. My first guest exemplifies this perfectly. She's upbeat, creative and a delight to be around.

Looking back, I can recall years when my board members loved coming to meetings and so did I. We shared a good laugh at every meeting, even when income was down or the economy bad. Everything was possible. It's that type of board that makes being an executive director a very rewarding experience.

Now that I think about it, "happy" may just be the number one requirement on the list of qualities and experiences we seek for all new board members.

Cloud technology makes nonprofits efficient

2011-05-24T13:02:00.003-05:00

My guests on this week's show focus on how online software and apps can make an organization operate more efficiently. Jim Coningsby of PNOLA in New Orleans uses Salesforce to manage volunteer and donor records online; Google's Blogger for his blog and Google Apps to coordinate calendars. The tools empower his volunteers with the information they need at the moment they need it. The two Jims who are employees of PNOLA also are empowered to update and distribute information no matter where they are.

PNOLA is a nimble organization and has been able to get by with little administrative staff because the software does a lot of the work. They haven't spent anything but time in learning to use it.

Tal Frankfurt of Cloud for Good seized the opportunity that comes along with these free, open source apps and softwares and is now showing nonprofits how to use Salesforce and other tools. He's working with small organizations and very large ones (like Yale University). Frankfurt used Google Sites, another free tool, to create his website.

Efficiency is the name of their game and mine. We can't imagine why so many organizations waste hours researching specialized nonprofit databases and spend thousands of dollars on them. That's nuts.
Nonprofits need systems that can be adapted to their needs today and then in two or three years as things change.

Look to the cloud for free or inexpensive tools and start making them work for you. Spend more time on doing great work and raising money for it.

By the way, the Salesforce Foundation gives away licenses to their software to nonprofits.

How an association leader knows it's time to move on

2011-05-19T12:38:00.001-05:00

When the executive director of an association doesn't like her members anymore, it's time to move on. She can no longer be effective in standing for members' success. It's a major breakdown of integrity that affects the organization and the leader.

It shows up in confused committee and board meetings, complaining staff, and lackluster member participation.

A sabbatical might help. Saying what needs to be said could clear the air. But mostly, it's caused by fatigue from staying in once place too long and not being responsible for it.

Continuing to work at what no longer makes us happy is spiritual suicide.

Temporary nonprofits create imperative for participation

2011-05-17T09:25:00.002-05:00

One of the guests on this week's show, Jessica Jarrett of the Creative Advocacy Network (CAN), knows her nonprofit was born to live a short three years. Her job is to capture the energy and passion for the arts in a three-county area around Portland, Oregon and get legislation passed for a $15-20 million annual designated state fund that supports the arts.

When you look at the CAN website, you'll see how many organizations are engaged in making this happen in addition to public figures like the mayor and business leaders. You'll also read statistics about citizens' support for the arts, the result of two different polls. They were so smart to include this listening phase into their plans because not only did they collect useful information but the polls engaged people in thinking about the arts.

It's amazing how an imperative like a three-year deadline can move people into action. Enthusiasm is high. The sense of urgency is clear. The need for donations from arts lovers is obvious.

I've no doubt that the state arts fund will be established in the next legislative session in Oregon. And then Jessica and her board can either dissolve the organization or reinvent it. This is the new nonprofit: nimble, responsive and truly engaging.

Nonprofit budgeting a year-round process

2011-05-14T11:28:00.001-05:00

My guests on this week's show on budgeting bring home the point that a budget may be set at one point in time in a fiscal year but should be worked with throughout the year. Nancy Engelken from Housing Colorado! is the most articulate guest I've interviewed for Nonprofit Spark. What a discovery!

I appreciate how conscientious she is about tying the budget to strategic and fundraising plans. Too often, we create a budget over here while the strategic plan is over there, and the fundraising plan is down the hall. And she works with that budget via her financial statements all the time to ensure that she ends the year with a balanced budget. No surprises for her board.

Jason Spessard has the kind of expertise that many organizations can benefit from. I'm a big fan of outsourcing bookkeeping and accounting functions so staff and resources are freed up to provide services. I had to laugh when he said about budgeting, "Start with the revenue." Indeed, I have been guilty of what a lot of managers do - laying out the expenses and then padding revenue because we just don't want to cut anyone or anything. That method can only work if we actually write and implement a plan to generate the extra revenue. But how many of us take those extra steps?

Getting down with Legos

2011-05-10T10:40:00.002-05:00

I stopped at the Apple store today in the Mall of America to talk to a Genius. I passed the Lego store and wow! It's an attraction in and of itself and worth the price of a ticket to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. It's a world of imagination above and around you - fantastic!

I remember fondly bringing my son there when it first opened and how delighted he was. He played with his Legos by the hour; I'd find a steering wheel under the couch and he knew exactly which Lego set it belonged to.

Feeling stuck? Get down on the floor and create something with Legos!

Here's a video for you:

No shame in being new, small and nimble nonprofit

2011-05-05T11:34:00.001-05:00

One of the mistakes I see a lot of newer nonprofit leaders and board members make is making decisions based on what they know large, older organizations do. This can be quite unwise as the newer nonprofit and the older ones are in completely different stages of development.

So, the new agency volunteers attempt to imitate the silent auction of the larger agency without the benefit of the years of volunteer and reputation development of the older group's event.

Or the new agency has 600 donor names and they invest in a major donor database like the older agency. Unfortunately, they don't have time to learn to use it nor the breadth of experience to know how to make the most of that investment.

Or the new agency board and staff spends lots of time formalizing policies before they need many of them. They read "nonprofit best practices" and get carried away.

Or the new agency staff and its committee spend resources on a big website before they have enough content to justify it.

My advice is not to spend one nickel on anything until you need it, and, for really new organizations, not one minute on anything but providing services and then telling people about it. The simplest systems do just fine early on.

There's no shame in being new and small and nimble - and looking like it. It has integrity and gives you an authentic foundation to build on. It matches your stage of development and relieves a lot of stress as you focus on what matters most in the moment.

My fingers did it - that's my story and I'm stickin' to it

2011-05-04T16:23:00.000-05:00

Anyone ever have the experience that your typing fingers have a mind of their own? What's that about?

I just edited an e-newsletter that featured a new member and his phone number was wrong. Now, I had gone on his website to find it, and typed it in as I was looking at it. How in the heck was there such a disconnect?

Also, I just saw an email I sent in which my fingers inserted a word in a sentence that had no business being there. No idea where it came from nor can I blame that instant fill-in-a-word feature that shows up on my iPad.

Sigh. Maybe our new technologies are developing mini-brains in our fingers.

Plan nonprofit auctions so leaders can build relationships

2011-05-04T15:13:00.001-05:00

Sherry Truhlar of Red Apple Auctions is so enthusiastic about silent and live auctions that I actually found myself looking forward to working on an upcoming one for a client. She's the first guest on this week's show followed by Jon Carson of the online auction site, BiddingForGood.

I have many memories of auctions and I did I fairly good job of making them interesting for the newspaper publishers, editors, advertising sales reps and others who stopped in to bid in the midst of a larger convention. I always had an intern help with it; lots of communications students see them as a great resume builder. This gave me plenty of time to interact with the bidders, many of whom were also my annual donors.

The key to making auctions work for the organization in a long-term way is to make sure the executive director and other key staff people are freed up to build relationships during the event. Auctions should be part shopping, part friendraising or it seems to me, we've missed the point. Our jobs as leaders and board members is to make sure the organization is sustainable over time.

What small nonprofits should do with a spare $500-$3000

2011-04-25T15:50:00.002-05:00

One of the best investments organizations can make is having a professional shoot photos that capture who you serve and what you do. Ideally, the photos should go well beyond posed images; those typically don't move or inspire people at all. You want images that stand out and say something unique about your organization.

Action shots of volunteers - like a tutor reading to a child, a cook in a food-stained apron stirring soup, or a teenager with a dirt-smudged face and shovel - speak volumes about the difference people are making for people. They stand out among the myriad of images we're bombarded with every day.

Ideally, the photographer would shoot photos throughout the year to capture the variety of services you offer at different times of year. Professionals can work well in different lighting situations and they're very, very patient about getting just the right shot.

Just because we can all point and shoot a camera, doesn't mean we should, at least where quality images that tell a story are concerned. I'm a horrible photographer and so appreciate the skill of a good one. It's a level of mastery that is worth paying for; you'll use these assets again and again.

Don't forget to get signed releases from the folks in the photos!

Miami Dolphins "Special Teams" volunteer program this week on Nonprofit Spark

2011-04-25T14:37:00.001-05:00

It was one of the more delightful emails I've recently received. The media relations person from the Miami Dolphins wrote to ask if I'd be willing to feature the year-old Miami Dolphins Special Teams program on the show. This unique volunteer management program for nonprofits in the area has enlisted 3,100 volunteers who have contributed an amazing 41,000 hours of community service in 12 months.

This is an example of engagement at its best.

This week's show, then, features an interview with the Adam Grossman, the vice president of public affairs for the team, and one of the Special Teams volunteers. What inspires me most about this is that Adam and his colleagues are genuinely thrilled by the difference the volunteer program is making in the community.

The dangerous game of the Three Cups of Tea author and his nonprofit

2011-04-18T23:58:00.003-05:00

I didn't see yesterday's 60 Minutes story about Greg Mortenson and his schools for girls in Afghanistan but the big red flag for me is that his $15 million Central Asia Institute has only three board members and he counts himself as one of them. There is, in essence, little governance over this international agency. Who does that? Well, someone who is naive, unwilling to be held accountable, and in over his head.

I've hung around too many reporters not to be skeptical about the veracity of what he wrote and whether he's done everything he's said he's done. More than that, though: I've worked with too many respected and effective nonprofit leaders not to recognize early on that something was off about why and how he started the organization in the first place. I became very ill at ease while reading Three Cups of Tea, so much so that I had to put the book down.

Here's the other thing that's making me uncomfortable - the photos with American military and the schmoozing with Pakistani military and Afghan tribal leaders. Two feet in three camps, flattery and fame. All for the sake of his schools?

I think Mr. Mortenson is playing a very dangerous game, whether he knows it or not, and somebody's going to get hurt. I hope it won't be American soldiers.

Using media advocacy to cause sustainable change

2011-04-18T12:14:00.001-05:00

I have a place in my heart for traditional media. Newspapers, radio and television still reach a huge audience of people, far greater than almost any one nonprofit can reach through social media. And yes, I mean traditional media using print, the airwaves and Internet. So I was pleased to discover the Institute for Public Strategies. The organization is very effective at earning the media's attention to engage a community in a conversation about a public health issue and solving it. In a very big way.

My guest this week is Brenda Simmons, describes a couple examples of how projects earned media attention and how she coaches a select group of community advocates to speak out about issues and solutions.

The best thing about hosting this show is that I get to have great conversations. There's nothing I'd rather do. And just about every time I finish an interview, the guest says, "I really enjoyed that." People love talking about what they love to do, and I am delighted to make that happen regardless of whether they work at for profits, as does Robbin Phillips of Brains on Fire who was on last week's how, or nonprofits, as Brenda does.

Taking the risk out of event planning on this week's show

2011-04-13T11:01:00.001-05:00

A lot of nonprofits don't have professional event planners on staff so this show is for the folks who get stuck with planning a retirement party or anniversary celebration or a fundraising event. My two guests, one a professional event planner and the other a sales person for a major hotel chain, talks about some details that every person needs to pay attention to.

The first guest, Kathy Sheridan of Sheridan Association and Meeting Services, hones in on contracts and how she writes her own clauses into the contracts. Melanie Weber of the Crowne Plaza Northstar Hotel describes how to work effectively with the hotel so the event runs smoothly.

I share, too, about a few of the things that took me by surprise when planning events. In event planning, the devil is truly in the details.

A memory of a volunteer in honor of National Volunteer Week

2011-04-12T10:24:00.002-05:00

The volunteers I remember the most are those who made me laugh out loud. I laughed again today thinking of one who had recently retired from a journalism career involving newspapers, radio and teaching. Dave was a board member of the Minnesota Newspaper Foundation. I was the executive director.

Dave and a couple other board members (all white) thought it would be a good idea to design a Saturday workshop to train the reporters and editors of inner city, minority-owned newspapers just like we always had for weeklies and small dailies throughout the rest of the state. For some reason, these minority publications never registered so perhaps, went the thinking, we needed to create something special.

So Dave and I went to lunch with a formidable black publisher of a family-owned paper. Dave laid out this great workshop idea and as the publisher listened and stared at Dave, beads of sweat started glistening on Dave's forehead. He started stammering and finally blurted out, "Maybe this wasn't such a great idea."

And the publisher, who is sweet as can be with women and spoke kindly to me that day, proceeded to slice and dice Dave for thinking minority papers needed help, for all the times the dailies in town
covered black shootings and crime, etc. The publisher remembered that Dave had been both a beat reporter and a city editor of a daily in town.

After lunch, Dave looked completely rung out and in the understatement of the year said, "Well, that didn't go well." I burst out laughing and he began to laugh as well.

Needless to say, this passionate, generous, gung ho volunteer pulled the idea of inner city training off the lunch table.

The fading paradigm of the for- and nonprofit divide

2011-04-01T17:24:00.002-05:00

My recent conversation with Robbin Phillips of Brains on Fire got me thinking about the disappearing divide between corporations and nonprofits. Her business and mine are "for profits" but we think in terms of human connections and stories, a view that is often seen as the property, so to speak, of nonprofits. We make a living at it but so does the executive director of CARE or the Girl Scouts.

Robbin is as inspired by the story of Fiskars, the 350-year old maker of scissors, as she is by that of Love146, the nonprofit with the goal of ending sex trafficking. I'm as inspired by engineers who invent solutions to stormwater pollution as I am by the loving counselors who calm hypersensitive children.

What a false paradigm I've been thinking inside of: That for profits and nonprofits are really different and never the two shall meet unless a grant is involved.

To me, as I ponder this, there is no difference between for profits and nonprofits where inspiration and human connection thrive.

I'll send a free copy of the book Robbin co-authored with her colleagues to the first person who responds to this post and can tell me about their favorite Nonprofit Spark episode.

The book: Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable Word of Mouth movements.

Start fresh rather than condense long training into short

2011-03-31T14:02:00.002-05:00

It can take 10 times longer to condense a half-day training program into a 90-minute program than it does to create the 90-minute program from scratch. Sound counter-intuitive? Consider that it makes sense because the shorter program is actually a NEW one.

The same holds true for a day-long program being condensed into a half-day program, etc.

I spoke with a client the other day who spent hours combing through a 90-slide, half-day training program to figure out which ones he wanted to use for a shorter webinar. But the problem with using existing slides is that the slides dictate the content, not the other way around. It's backward.

What makes condensing particularly heinous is combing through slides you didn't create in the first place.

Here's the better way to go about this. Think NEW and answer the question: What do people have to know or be able to do as a result of this short training program? Don't do anything else until you've answered that question.

For instance, "By the end of this program, the learners will be able to speak persuasively to their legislators about why they should fund charter schools."

After that, write three concise objectives, e.g. "We'll achieve this goal by 1) defining three key points to share with legislators, 2) discussing how and when to get an appointment, and 3) role playing a conversation with a legislator."

Having done this, is it that tough to create new slides? If by chance you created the original slides, you might recall a few you can reuse. But again, be smart about your time. It takes minutes to make a new slide and often lots more time to find an earlier one which may then need to be adapted.

Reusing content is a nice idea but crazy if it dictates the design of a training program, a Web site, a meeting, a magazine article and other media.

Taking down the show's Facebook page

2011-03-30T14:20:00.002-05:00

Well, I've asked the WebTalkRadio programming coordinator to remove the link to the show's Facebook page. It was an integrity issue for me to have it, publicize it and then use it only to promote a particular show. It's bothered me since I went to this network in January. I'm going to stop posting on others Facebook pages as well until I'm ready and willing to truly "engage."

I was spurred on to take action today after my conversation with next week's guest, Robbin Phillips of Brains on Fire, a word of mouth and identity company based in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Brains on Fire folks and their clients demonstrate authentic engagement and put everyone else's vapid attempts to shame.* She talks about creating movements rather than pushing out campaigns, about building communities rather than databases. Facebook "likes" are meaningless if those folks don't also get into action on behalf of your cause. Phillips emphasizes quality versus quantity and I felt such relief when she talked about it; I tell some clients this and they look at me like I have two heads.

Go to the Brains on Fire Web site and also listen in to Nonprofit Spark next week to learn how Fiskars (scissors) and Love146 created movements that bring passion and communities to life. Then have colleagues and volunteers listen to it as well so you can sit down and discuss what kind of movement you can create to end the injustice your organization addresses.

Wrestle with the question: Can our organization become a movement?

I am giving away a free copy of Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable Word of Mouth Movements. Just reply to this blog post with a comment about what I wrote.

* See an earlier post about Sharpie pens.

Best of Nonprofit Spark a lesson in nonprofit growth

2011-03-28T16:37:00.000-05:00

The fun thing about this week's show is that it blends three past interviews so you can hear enthusiastic leaders who represent stages of growth for young nonprofits, from an initial startup to a five-year old nonprofit and then a 10-year old one.

Each executive director addresses how the organization started, the hands-on work they're doing to build it, their boards and key decisions they've been making.

Alicia Hansen, Gibson Fay-Lablanc, and Whitney Smith are passionate, committed leaders who exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit that thrives in so many new and emerging organizations. It was a delight to interview them and I hope they inspire you as much as they did me.

Quit pretending that Facebook is a nonprofit "engagement" tool

2011-03-23T15:58:00.001-05:00

I'm just about to take down the Nonprofit Spark Facebook page as it's only purpose is to say what shows are about to air. It's dumb. I can do that with this blog and Twitter.

The point of Facebook is to engage constituents in a dialogue but frankly, I don't have time for it nor am I arrogant enough to think people are dying to engage with me. Truth be told, most radio show listeners indirectly comment by listening again and again, or not.

Equally truthful, most constitutents and donors aren't all that interested in Facebook engagement with the vast majority of nonprofits either. The folks either continue contributing or they don't. That's how they share their opinion.

For a lot of nonprofits, and for profit-making companies as well, Facebook comes across as an amateur way of trying to get attention: "Hey, talk to me, look how great we are." I got news for you: People already know you think you're wonderful.

All the hype around social media, and in particular, Facebook, applies to large scale national and international efforts to engage a smaller group of people among thousands who are passionate about, say, Haiti or green energy. And these successful social media efforts are orchestrated by very professional, full-time staff who keep a USEFUL, INSPIRING, THOUGHTFUL conversation alive.

Let's quit pretending that Facebook is an engagement tool for most nonprofits.

Go out and talk to people. Nothing takes the place of real conversations with real people.

Reviewing a "perfect" Web site with Tim Spell of Nonprofit CMS

2011-03-21T12:46:00.001-05:00

This show is like a workshop that examines what one Web designer believes is a Web site with a perfect home page and just-about-perfect inside pages. What a fun interview.

Listen in here.

It's one thing to hear a designer talk in general about Web sites but quite another to review an actual site. The suggestion he made about making sure our sites have a "call to action" caused me to immediately go to my own Web site to insert some.

I'd be willing to do this topic again if you have a Web site that you're willing to have critiqued so you and everyone else can learn from it.

Wasting millions with Pink Bubble thinking

2011-03-20T13:12:00.002-05:00

Think the organization you work or volunteer for is too "pie in the sky?" Well, it's got nothing on the Northwest Area Foundation. Maybe I should create a "Pink Bubble" award for nonprofit leaders - whether at foundations or 501(c)(3)s - whose feet never touch the ground and who fritter away millions in dollars, community volunteer hours and lost opportunities.

A column in the March 10 issue of The Chronicle on Philanthropy focused on the Northwest Area Foundation's report about its failed experiment started just over a decade ago to reduce long-term poverty in the region it serves.

A new foundation president and CEO at the time, Karl Stauber, and his board decided to stop making millions in grants to existing nonprofits: they were convinced they could do a better job solving community problems. Silver-spoon, idealistic staff pulled together local stakeholders to lead Northwest Area Foundation community-based initiatives among eight states.

The foundation is based in St. Paul, Minnesota where I work and live. I clearly remember hearing the news about the Foundation's change in focus and thinking, "What planet is this new guy on and what did he say to win over his board?" My heart sank and I wondered if James J. Hill was flipping over in his grave. It is his millions that are the source of the Northwest Area Foundation.

The Chronicle column, by Leslie Lenkowsky, never once mentions the name of that foundation president nor any staff person nor any board member who spent $200 million over almost 10 years on this failed experiment with communities who were viewed as petri dishes. It's so typical for observers within the nonprofit sector to be polite and refer to a foundation as an "it" rather than name names and hold actual people accountable. Everyone's (understandably) afraid of pissing off someone in the foundation community.

Now, Mr. Stauber has moved on (although he managed to remain within the incestuous Foundation community) and the Northwest Area Foundation took a new direction in 2008. The board and staff are once again making direct grants to "proven or promising organizations doing effective poverty reduction work in their communities or in the region." Welcome back and thank god.

Download the repentant report "Gaining Perspectives: Lessons Learned From One Foundation's Exploratory Decade."

The report is the ultimate case against nonprofit sector Pink Bubble thinking.

Women's Philanthropy pioneer Martha Taylor on this week's show

2011-03-13T12:43:00.004-05:00

My conversation this week on the show is with a pioneer in women's philanthropy, Martha Taylor. She recognized the importance of encouraging women to give generously and wisely more than two decades ago. She established the Women's Philanthropy Council, the first women's major gift program at a coed university system. And she and her colleague, Sondra Shaw-Hardy, established in 2004 what would become the Women's Philanthropy Institute which is now part of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

It should not surprise us that women donors have a different mindset about giving then men but most nonprofits still treat them the same. Here are some of the ways they're different:

• Women like leaving money to charities in their wills. They're fearful of running out of money and also, they see estate planning as a reflection of what they value in life.
• They like more personal contact with the organization, getting to know staff and even, volunteering for it before they give.
• Women like to give advice and to answer surveys.
• They are sensitive to how they're addressed in letters: John and Mary Smith, Dear John and Mary, etc.
• After raising children, philanthropy can be the most satisfying thing in women's lives because they get to carry their values to the next generation.

Tune in to the show to learn how Martha encourages major and planned gifts from women.

Enthusiasm is the fuel for staff and volunteers alike

2011-03-02T13:29:00.002-06:00

Is there anything more delightful for a nonprofit manager than eager, capable volunteers who jump at the chance to help? This kind of magic doesn't happen by accident. It starts with the staff's own enthusiasm about what's possible for the organization and it becomes infectious.

The absence of enthusiasm is a warning sign of burnout and frustration. The trick is to be self-aware enough to notice the lack of energy and know a way to plug back into it. Maybe you need to use some vacation time. Maybe you need to meet with a recipient to see the difference you're making. I know for me, all it takes is a decent night's sleep.

Most people who know me describe me as enthusiastic and that is just fine with me. Enthusiasm comes from two Greek words "en theos" which mean "In God." When I am enthusiastic, I'm doing the Creator's work and tapping into my noble purpose: Inspiring learning, communication and action so life works for people and organizations.

A cozy radio conversation with Jerold Panas

2011-02-23T12:58:00.001-06:00

I warmed up on a cold Saturday by conversing with Jerold Panas. He's forgotten more than most of us will ever know about fundraising.

He is hopeful about raising money in tough economic times because he has the research and experience to prove it. He emphasizes that nonprofit leaders need to get close to their donors by visiting with them. He describes the magical partnership between the CEO and board member who call on prospects together. He also provides a do-able idea for a monthly letter to top donors and prospects.

I could have talked to him for a week. What a treat. The show airs beginning next week.

Show about understanding a balance sheet requires a balance sheet

2011-02-18T14:45:00.003-06:00

The show next week on understanding a balance sheet will work best if listeners download the balance sheet we're referring to. Here it is, for ABC Organization. The balance sheet is a wonderful nonprofit management tool.

Download the balance sheet for the 2/21/11 show.

The interview with Terry Fraser of Larson Allen, a show sponsor, was less nerve-wracking than I thought it would be. I really do freeze with math anxiety when I'm handed financial statements. It's taken years of practice to learn to relax, take a breath, and concentrate on each line item. Truly, it's easier for me to speak in front of hundreds of people - obviously since I have a radio show that thousands listen to!

Nonprofit board president should have the executive director's back

2011-02-15T12:00:00.000-06:00

One of the duties of a board president is to empower the executive director and have her back. For instance, he should speak up for her if a board member is complaining or gossiping. The president can listen to the person's concern and determine if it's a personal grievance or something the board as a whole should address. If not, then the president should correct the bad behavior. It doesn't work for the executive director to deal alone with the complainer who is, after all, her boss.

If left unchecked, a disgruntled board member can foster dissent among the entire board and next thing you know, the meetings turn ugly and everyone's on pins and needles. The nonprofit, in essence, gets put on hold.

The worst possible situation: When the board president is resisting change, complaining, refusing to communicate with the director and committee chairs, etc. In that instance, it's up to the board members to correct the president.

Continued complaining and lack of healthy participation means it's time to replace the board member, president or not. Just do it. Use the bylaws and nominating process to elect the next board president. It's just that simple.

I've never seen it in writing, but really, the duty of the board is to see to it that the executive director wins.

Reading a nonprofit balance sheet

2011-02-14T22:27:00.000-06:00

Uff da. I have an interview tomorrow with Terry Fraser of Larson Allen about how to read a balance sheet. I'm one of those people who has a lot of math anxiety so there I'll be, asking an accountant about reading a balance sheet as I'm hyperventilating while recording. I'd rather give a speech in front of 1000 people than read financial statements or have to explain them.

I wanted to do a show on this topic because I'm certain there are thousands of board members who can't read financial statements and don't want to admit they don't understand them. Frankly, I've been to training programs about nonprofit finances and they're not helpful in any lasting way. The lingo is so unfamiliar that listening to an accounting trainer is like Charlie Brown listening to his teacher; all we hear is "whaa whaa whaa." The mouth moves, the sound comes out, but the words don't register.

Terry most likely will be the only guest on the show; it'll air in two weeks.

Passing out with Powerpoint presentations

2011-02-14T11:33:00.000-06:00

Just got a note from a friend who's going to teach a course using curriculum developed by another trainer. She said he sent her his Powerpoint presentation of 186 slides for the first training segment of the morning. 186 sleep-inducing slides. I want to pass out.

She's better off creating a new Powerpoint presentation of about 20 slides; picking and choosing among his encyclopedia of slides will take a good two days of work otherwise.

Memories of great board presidents

2011-02-07T11:33:00.001-06:00

I interviewed Fergus McCann of Beauty Night yesterday. He the co-chair of the board of this 10-year nonprofit in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was a delight to listen to as he reminded me of board presidents and members I've worked with who made my work in nonprofits such a pleasure.

I can see I took for granted their generosity. It's the common human trait of volunteers, so much so that when a one comes along who isn't generous, he or she stands out like a red scarf against white snow. I have no idea what motivates the few-and-far-between stingy folks to volunteer. Thank goodness, they're rare.

A show on being a great board president is being posted next week.

Nonprofit Spark show on replication

2011-02-02T16:25:00.000-06:00

This week's show on replication was really interesting to produce. I couldn't have found two more different guests or organizations although they have helping young women as their focus.

Whitney Smith of Girls For A Change typifies the emerging nonprofit leaders who seems to have a knack for being responsive and taking risks without losing a lot of sleep over it. They leap, but not foolishly so, into what shows up and trust their model, their partners and the clients to make it all work. They also have a love of practical efficiency; they measure and make the biggest impact with the littlest possible infrastructure. Whitney's organization has gone global in 10 short years and there are only nine staff people!

Peggy Hill is in charge of replicating a decades-old Nurse-Family Partnership program into 30 states in the past five years. So much evaluation and longitudinal evidence to rely on and take on the road!

I'll have to do a show on program evaluation. I am so impressed by the commitment these organizations have to measuring results

Go and listen to the Nonprofit episode on Replication.

Affordable nonprofit Web sites are possible

2011-01-26T16:02:00.001-06:00

If you're in charge of a newer nonprofit, please start with a simple Web site using the blog technology WordPress or a software called Etomite. Look specifically for a Web site designer who works with these because these designers are oriented to providing simple, useful solutions. You might even start with a Facebook page and just work from there for a time.

Web sites for newer organizations should reflect where you're at in the life cycle of your organization. The content you put on your site will change and grow as your nonprofit grows. It should adapt as much as you're adapting and learning.

Many Web site developers want to lock clients into specific parameters, text and art long before some clients are ready. You'll end up with empty pages, content that gets old quickly and a site that you can't change. Be particularly wary of accepting the donation of a Web site and Web pages by, for instance, the son of a board member who heads off to college and is not interested in helping you with his Web site creation.

Early stage nonprofits are still figuring out their case statement, testing their programs to see what produces the best results, flexing their fundraising muscles and so on. It's not the time to have a site that's heavy and unchanging. It's like teenagers buying a house when they're not ready for home ownership.

Your actions and community conversations are the most critical elements of early-stage nonprofit public relations. Quit fussing over your Web site. Get it up. Put some basic content and contact information on there and then get busy producing and sharing results that impress people the most.

Confusing passion with commitment

2011-01-20T18:37:00.018-06:00

I was in a meeting recently with two leaders from a nonprofit. We were discussing hiring a fundraising staff person and the executive director was considering an internal candidate who had a lot of passion for the organization. For her, it was a primary qualification. For me, it raised a red flag.

Passionate people often can't be objective. Synonyms for passionate are ardent, fervent, vehement, heated, and emotional. One guest on my radio show called these folks "true believers." Program staff can be and maybe even have to be passionate. But fundraisers can't afford to be.

Fundraising professionals must be committed, not passionate: to the mission, to understanding different points of view, to seeking common ground and making connections. A committed professional can serve your organization well even though he may have worked for an adoption agency, then a museum, then a public policy think tank before he wants to work for you.

The quality of great fundraisers, which makes passionate people wince, is an ability to effortlessly move among all kinds of people with various points of view. They constantly listen for and ask themselves, "What connects them to our organization?" And then they connect the dots in such a way that different donors say "yes."

Looking for a successful fundraiser? Then find someone with a commitment to bridging people and values. Passion has little to do with it.

Improving media relations serves customers, constituents

2011-01-19T23:17:00.002-06:00

When the media come calling, answer.

I have been a bit surprised by the number of times I email or phone nonprofit executives - including communications staff - which go unanswered even when my inquiry clearly identifies a radio show. Being interviewed on a show or quoted in a newspaper builds your credibility, shows what you know, and positions you and your organization as an expert.

I can't imagine any instance where nonprofits shouldn't appreciate the opportunity to build relationships with the media, both locally and nationally, when contacted. Nor can I imagine anyone being so busy with their work that they can't make time to talk to the media.

These lost opportunities to shine make my heart sink: Funders, board members and constituents miss the chance to be proud of the nonprofits they support.

Giving up the busy work for fundraising

2011-01-15T12:38:00.003-06:00

I remember a time I used to keep myself very busy as an executive director and as a development director setting up database fields and developing policies to manage contributions. And then I'd tweak them, share them for feedback, revise them and so on. Along the way, committee members would ask for reports to help them understand how much money was coming in. So then we'd spend hours verifying donations in the database against those shown in the accounting system and so on.

In the middle of all the busy work, I had succumbed to magical thinking: all development activities had equal value and the time spent managing donor information would produce results like the time spent building relationships with them. In fact, putzing with databases doesn't raise a cent.

Nonprofit leaders need to make sure they are proactively scheduling more conversations with donors and potential donors every week than they are on internal conversations about systems and processes which will never be perfect and always "tweakable."

Enough of the "make work" activity. Go out and build relationships. It's far more rewarding.

Association logos and graphic standards

2011-01-12T23:20:00.000-06:00

You know it's time to consider a new logo when you have to keep changing and manipulating it for different uses. Your logo may have been designed years ago when Web sites and e-newsletters didn't exist and handing out organizational giveaways wasn't common. In the course of a year, you might have the original version on your stationery, another on the Web site, a third and fourth on brochures, mugs and shirts. The plain fact is that some fonts and colors just don't translate well to these different mediums.

Consistency in design is the sign of a professional organization. Find a graphic designer who specializes in logos. Show the person all the different ways you use it. Consider that you don't need to spell out your name; your four-letter initials may say it all. You may end up with two versions but you'll then be clear about when you'll use which one. It's worth the money - you work with it all the time, after all.

The designer may suggest a whole new look to make all of it work and you should be open to it. I would not ask all members for a lot of input - what do farmers know about graphic design, for instance? Perhaps an ad hoc committee could help.

Starbuck's logo change and a current Web site redesign project prompted me to write about this. Did you see that Starbuck's has eliminated the name and blown up the size of the siren (mermaid) instead? They're still using their trademark dark green.

Nonprofit strategic planning 2

2010-12-23T11:22:00.003-06:00

I interviewed Paul Hamann of The Night Ministry located in Chicago for the January 3 show on strategic planning. He was honest and generous in sharing about the strategic planning process his organization used from 2009 to 2010. His interview will be paired with Jim Troxley's. Together, they provide what will turn out to be a roadmap about strategic planning: perfect, since strategic planning itself provides a roadmap!

Here's the podcast on strategic planning.

Strategic planning radio interview a media relations model

2010-12-17T12:50:00.003-06:00

Just recorded a great interview with Jim Troxel of Millennia Consulting based in Chicago. What made it a great interview? His answers were direct, on point and without jargon. He also spoke quickly and had a sense of when to stop talking. Radio interviews are a give and take so the audience pays attention and feels like their own questions are being asked and answered.

Ever wonder why the media go back to the same experts time and again for interviews? It's because those experts do what Jim did. Newspapers and broadcast stations have to convey pertinent information in a way that flows so smoothly that the audience sticks with the story from beginning to end. Finding a source who makes that job easy is a dream come true. Very little editing is required.
Jim's interview is part of Nonprofit Spark's first show of 2011 about strategic planning. I can't wait for you to hear it; it'll be available January 3.

Nonprofit Spark moving to WebTalkRadio

2010-12-07T12:47:00.003-06:00

Nonprofit Spark is moving to WebTalkRadio starting the first week of January. There's no live show with this network, simply podcasts. The reality is that there were 6,343 podcast listeners in October compared to an estimated 1,500 live listeners. (Update 12/09 - just under 8,000 listeners in November). Understandable; what leader or board member of a new or emerging nonprofit has the time to tune into the live show on a Thursday afternoon?

I will miss the excitement of a live show, though; you never know what will happen. Last week, my phone spontaneously disconnected just as I was about to interview the second guest. Fortunately, my engineer was right there backing me up by switching on the show's music as he waited for me to come back on the line.

My commitment is that the growing repository of podcasts will train and inspire a new generation of nonprofit leaders and board members. This new network boosts the potential of reaching hundreds of thousands of them each year.

Nonprofit Spark on Webtalkradio: Same name. Similar format. New location.

Nature and cosmos images keep me grounded

2010-12-06T20:59:00.002-06:00

I selected the Nature desktop pattern and Cosmos screensaver on my Mac yesterday and LOVE them! Just when I'm starting to fret about something or someone, I'll look at the changing image in the background and I stop fretting.

There are images of stones, a snow leopard, desert sand, a temple on a lake and more on the desktop pattern. There are stunning planets on the cosmos screen saver. How petty my concerns are and how small and finite I am. The natural world goes on. My problems and I are nothing in comparison to such beauty.

Mostly, I switch to feeling grateful and calm. Lovely, especially at this hectic time of year.

An effective year-end fundraising strategy with donors

2010-11-24T13:17:00.001-06:00

I received an email from Ophelia Dahl of Partners in Health thanking me for my contributions to the organization and inviting me to join her and Jola Mukherjee, PIH's Chief Medical Officer, for a conference call next week. They'll give a report of all that the organization has accomplished in 2010. There will be time for donor questions as well.

A simple RSVP link as well as a separate link to the conference call (where I can submit a question beforehand) was included.

What a great idea. Hearing the voices of the organization's leaders creates a powerful connection and can have much more impact than a typed thank you note alone.

Say goodbye to difficult donor and membership database

2010-11-22T15:03:00.004-06:00

Here's a hard and fast rule I've learned the hard way: If a software or online system, e.g. a membership database program, seems too complicated and hard to use for you, it is. You're not dumb - trust yourself.

If the vendor rep doesn't make sense and doesn't tie the system directly to your organization, that's a red flag for how the company will listen to you once you own the product or start using the service.

Finally, if you choose the software or service anyway, make sure the vendor breaks down the training into learning chunks. Chunk one addresses what you need to do first and you'll go do that work. Chunk two should focus on what you need to do next when you're ready to work on that days or weeks later. And so on.

Otherwise, a comprehensive training program is like training a new employee on her first day about how to use the copy machine which she won't actually use until days or even weeks later. There's no point to training her until she has to use it. Mostly, learning sticks only when we need to know it.

It's my feeling that the days are gone when we have to be stuck with software programs or systems that are just too big or complicated for us. Open source software has opened up a myriad of elegant, affordable business solutions and with a little more digging, you can actually find one or piece together a couple that can work for you.

Checking out Wufoo with MSAE

2010-11-16T20:25:00.002-06:00

I sat in on the Communications Networking Group of MSAE today to learn more about Wufoo, a site where you can develop html online forms for member surveys and the like. They don't refer to it as a survey instrument but it certainly can be used for that purpose. The elegance of the tool is impressive. As with SurveyMonkey, which is anything but elegant, there's a free but limited level of service.

What's really great about Wufoo is that you can use an editing palette and watch the changes on the form before your eyes. A lot of tools make you jump away from the page to make changes and then you save those, jump back to the original page to view your changes, and then jump away again to make adjustments. Back and forth. It's frustrating.

It's astonishing how many free and modestly-priced business solutions there are online, including this Google Blogger tool I built this blog in. They boost efficiency so everyone can get projects completed in so much less time and for so much less money.

As always, the tool can be cool but the content is Queen!

Web site designers: The techie versus the artist

2010-10-27T13:20:00.007-05:00

When you're seeking a Web site designer, keep in mind that some of them are very knowledgeable about programming language but aren't artistic. You can count on them to come up with some ingenious programming solutions but you'll have to show them how you want your pages to look.

Other designers have a great sense of color, text, formatting and user interfaces but they can putz for hours on end playing with them and they'll charge you for every minute of that putzing.

Both types can get carried away with all the possibilities of Web design and they'll know if you don't know what you're talking about. So here's my pitch: Hire a communications professional like me because we're trained to bridge the gap between technology and design, to be clear with directions, to edit content to the core, and to set deadlines and meet them.

The reason a lot of Web site projects turn into nightmares for organizations, especially trade associations, is because a communications professional is missing in the project equation. Why would a physical therapist or dentist know about Web design? They don't, anymore than I know about muscles or molars.

Hire me and you'll save time and money in the long run.

Business communication is about the recipient

2010-10-26T13:14:00.001-05:00

Here's a novel idea for people who aren't communication professionals: Communication is about the other person, not you. What do I mean?

When it's about you, communication happens just so you can get it off your desk and complete your project. "Whew. Got that done on my checklist." Like notifying association members about award winners one month before the awards ceremony in a plain text email. By golly, at least you can say the awards judging project is done

Here's another example: Sending out a weekly email or monthly newsletter with nothing new or useful in it just because you live and die by a schedule. Again, that's all about you.

When communication is about others, you consider the impact of the wording, the design, and the timing. Your email, for instance, is going to land in an Inbox full of far more timely, pressing emails which are expected. Those that aren't timely or pressing are as rude and irrelevant as someone barging into your office right now and talking about his car problems. Do this enough and you lose the respect of your audience; it's the behavior of an amateur.

Communication is about the other person.

Hyperfocused LinkedIn social media groups work best

2010-10-22T15:36:00.002-05:00

I've figured something out about LinkedIn groups. Some work. A lot don't.

Here's what works: Focused and, even better, hyperfocused members who join to share information about a specific type of work or area of interest. I am part of an e-learning LinkedIn group that's fantastic because people ask specific questions about e-learning tools and projects they need advice about. Other members post very useful answers and opinions.

Conversely, I've joined a few other LinkedIn groups that don't work because the group membership is too varied and the discussion topics too wide-ranging. A lot of discussion posts go unanswered; there aren't enough members who have anything to say about fundraising and the new Urban Institute Report and how to use social media and just about every other nonprofit topic you can think of. The Chronicle on Philanthropy's LinkedIn group is an example of this; at some point, perhaps, the editor there will figure out the need to hyperfocus.

When you think about it, we all love to find "our people" and exchange ideas about our work. It's energizing, useful and worth our time to hang out together at a conference or online.

Mission moments on board agendas

2010-10-20T11:25:00.001-05:00

Gibson Lafay-Blanc of The Telling Room in Portland, Maine was a guest on the 4th episode of Nonprofit Spark, my radio show. He mentioned that he includes what he calls "mission moments" on every board agenda which involves sharing a story about how the organization made a difference with someone. It's a great way of re-inspiring board members who otherwise spend their meeting talking about finances or strategic directions or fundraising and the like.

Interestingly enough, the board I serve on is going to add another meeting to the calendar in 2011 so that we can have more time to hear from program staff about the direct service they provide homeless families. We didn't use the term "mission moment" but it's the same idea.

If your board energy is low or meetings are too structured, consider that members need to be inspired. Add a face to the facts and data on your agendas. Tell a story to keep them connected to the human beings they're work affects.

Measure the learning for webinars, too

2010-10-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

It seems that a number of trainers who use a webinar format don't feel that it's real training. If they did, they'd want to measure whether people learn or not. Every webinar system I know of allows for an evaluation at the end of the program and yet, most trainers only use it to ask things about the webinar experience, whether it was useful and/or whether the learner would recommend it to others. Those are helpful, but the important thing to find out is if people actually learned something.

Keep in mind that training is about performance improvement. Presentations are not.

Include in the online webinar evaluation three or four questions about the content to see if your audience can answer them correctly. For instance, what is age discrimination? What state agency regulates crop dusters? What are three things to do when X happens? Give them multiple choice or yes/no options. But measure the learning, for heavens sake.

If webinar participants can't demonstrate they learned from you, why do you care if they liked the webinar? How nice. But you missed the mark and so did the webinar.

People complain that there's not enough time for all that they want to do. Well, they can save themselves lots of time by eliminating training programs from their schedules that don't actually train anyone about anything.

Help people use what they learned

2010-10-04T16:29:00.004-05:00

How do you make sure people use what they learned? Here are three ideas to consider, keeping in mind that training is about improving performance.

1) During the training session, have them practice doing what you want them to do back on the job. Give them an opportunity to do it a couple times, either alone or in pairs, so they build confidence. Don't just tell them how to do something. Good grief.

2) Offer the training just before they actually have to take those actions or do a project using their new knowledge, skills or abilities. That way, it's fresh in their minds. For instance, offer "How to budget" training three to four weeks before they have to turn in the budget.

3) From the start, have the training follow up scheduled. The follow up is designed to give them time to try the new skill or behavior, report back on how it went, and review key points or answer questions about what didn't work. This can be done by conference call. It can be an online quiz you design in SurveyMonkey. It can even involve turning in a sample of their work. This step should be required and scheduled four to six weeks out from the first part of the training.

Dwell in the present and future

2010-09-29T09:32:00.005-05:00

Got a call from a sales rep today asking to meet with me for 10 minutes so he could talk about telecommunications and more specifically, Sprint phones and service. I'm a one-person shop and I made a decision four years ago to choose Verizon and I've been happy with my choice. This year, I added a MIFI wireless connector to my Verizon package, renewed my Verizon contract and I'm happy with that choice as well.

I share this because his call reminded me of a rule I've developed as a one-person business: Don't dwell on decisions you've already made. Do I have the right phone? Did I buy the right printer? Did I choose the right Web site design? Enough. It's a second-guessing game and puts one foot back in the past. Small business owners and small nonprofit leaders must concentrate on the present and future at all times.

I only revisit decisions when the time is right. When my Verizon contract renews in 1.5 years, I'll take a look at alternatives. I'd love to have an iPhone, for instance, which would force a switch to AT&T. I'd jump if there was a special offer like six months free which would offset the cost of leaving my Verizon agreement. Otherwise, as long as my little system of phone and wireless is working and supports my daily activity, I'm going to concentrate on generating business instead.

There is no future for an organization when it's leader dwells in the past.

Asking for money takes practice

2010-09-22T10:27:00.001-05:00

A lot of nonprofit leaders would rather jump off a cliff than ask for money. They'll keep themselves very busy doing everything but raising money. Executive directors of smaller nonprofits are impacted the most by this reluctance because no one else can take their place in a conversation with potential donors.

Struggling with a limited budget every day is far worse than identifying potential donors and connecting with them. It's like struggling with your weight and continuing to eat a cheeseburger instead of a salad.

Consider that it takes practice to ask for money. Start by collecting stories about how your organization has impacted people. Then practice sharing those stories with your friends, spouse, staff. The end of every story must include an "ask." For instance, "Are you interested in joining us in impacting more people like Mary by contributing $100 (or $1000 or whatever you think they can give)?"

The more you practice, the greater your results will be. With every gift, you'll be empowered to give up your reluctance to ask for money. You'll learn that it's a privilege to ask for money and to encourage generosity.

Your own views about money and what's possible for your organization will transform.

Embezzling an increasing problem at nonprofits

2010-09-18T13:02:00.001-05:00

Jeff Tenenbaum was on Nonprofit Spark Thursday and said that his law firm is dealing with an increasing number of embezzlement cases in nonprofits. It's a horrible breach of trust among some of the most trusting people in the world - those who work at nonprofits.

I remember speaking with a university professor in Michigan a few years ago who talked about the department's bookkeeper who had steadily stolen money from the school over the course of years. She was well loved, trusted, and the go-to person time and again for financial information. The theft and later imprisonment of the bookkeeper devastated the professor and her colleagues. She said they struggled with trust issues, blame, guilt and self-doubt at work and at home.

"We're really smart people and couldn't believe someone we respected had been lying to us the whole time."

Embezzlers don't just steal money from an organization; they steal life from their community.

I'll do a show about internal controls and embezzlement in October. It's an insidious crime.

First Nonprofit Spark radio show archived

2010-09-10T18:22:00.000-05:00

My first radio show went off without a problem yesterday. My guests were great. The podcasts and webinars I produced over the past couple of years was great training ground. I've always said that webinars should be like radio shows.

I am counting on the generosity of nonprofit leaders and organizations to supply suggestions for content and guests and, after having worked in the nonprofit sector for 25 years, I know that I can. The single, most reliable quality among nonprofit leaders is generosity.

Here's the link to the first episode, "Introducing the World of Nonprofits."

Got the show's Facebook page up with a vanity URL thanks to some 32 friends on Facebook who "liked" the fan page.

Still have more nonprofit associations to reach out to so their tell their members about the show. Spread the word!

Organizing stock photos and other design files

2010-08-31T09:57:00.002-05:00

I've downloaded enough stock photos now to realize that I need a good categorizing system. I've got close to 300 images and multiple versions of several of them. They're divided into "people" and "everything else." It's not good enough anymore because I'm taking too long to find what I want and I'm hesitant to download any more.

In the process of checking out an online source for stock photos, stock illustrations and fonts, I noticed the site's handy categories. Veer.com has stored images within 20 categories that make complete sense to me so I'll use them as well. Here's a link to the Veer Web site and categories.

Organizing "visual assets" so you and others can find what you need quickly is an art and a science. The key is that the name of the folder and file should mean something right away to everyone.

I once had to share desktop file folders with a guy who used the oddest nomenclature for file names. In the case of photos, I'd be looking for one of children playing games at the nonprofit picnic, for instance. He'd named the photo something like "brick building." No date. No reference to "picnic." Photos were scattered all over the place. He worked for me for about nine months and I had to let him go as the file sharing had become completely unworkable.

For a small organization, a lack of efficiency can mean the end of it.

Your "About Us" page on the Web site from ReadWriteStart

2010-08-28T09:40:00.001-05:00

A column in ReadWriteStart focuses on the "About Us" pages of startup Web sites. Audrey Watters frequently visits them and looks for the following on that page:

Who are we?
What do we do?
When did we start?
How do we do it?
Who's on the team? Including photos.

She goes on to say that the About Us page may be THE opportunity to really humanize our companies. Here's a link to the column: http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/08/what-does-your-about-us-page-s.php

I haven't run across anything that told me so succinctly what the About Us page should accomplish.

Nonprofit Spark ignition almost ready!

2010-08-26T15:31:00.004-05:00

My new radio show is almost ready for lift off. Nonprofit Spark has forced me to go outside my comfort zone. It's not about calling people who've never heard of me for sponsorships or content help. Nor is it about choosing an opening song and photo, creating a show banner or even writing copy for my radio show home page.

It's the idea of marketing myself and becoming visible to a national audience that is pushing me beyond the very Midwestern belief that everyone's raised on here: never stand out. It's not directly spoken of but certainly is present as you receive a frown, frozen stare or cold shoulder if you do anything to attract attention to yourself - unless called upon. "Never stand out" is the reason the most highly visible people in the country live on the coasts.

I take comfort in knowing that my national presence will be on radio so I can still remain fairly invisible. It's not exactly a transformed point of view but one I can live with here in Minnesota.

The show will air on Thursdays on the business channel of the Voice America Talk Radio network. I'll post the exact Web link once it's ready. It starts September 9 at 11:00 Pacific, 1:00 Central, 2:00 Eastern times. The best part is that each episode is uploaded to iTunes so nonprofit leaders can listen to the podcasts at their convenience.

Train the trainer shoveling pasta tip

2010-08-19T16:16:00.000-05:00

If you find yourself saying, "I've got a lot to cover" as you plan your training program, then consider that you have too much to cover and you need to pare it down. It's a challenge to edit your content, I know, but you'll be much more effective if you do.

You don't have to yap, er, talk about every piece of content. One topic might be fine as "cheat sheet" for later use. Another topic could be a game that you let learners run loose with, like a "where's Waldo" hunt for information in a big new manual you're handing them. That way, they're getting familiar with the manual without you having to say, "Chapter 4 is about xxxxx. Chapter 5 is about xxxx."

Learners get full fast. Too much content is like being force fed a third plate of spaghetti. Can you hear the groans?

Training the trainer resource for subject matter experts

2010-08-12T12:46:00.005-05:00

I love working with people who are great at what they do and want to train others to be successful, too. In trainer language, they're "subject matter experts," or SMEs.

So, for SMEs, here's the first book I recommend you read from cover to cover so you understand the essential piece about training adults: Telling Ain't Training. It's easy to understand and describes how to engage learners so they actually learn and produce results. The authors are Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps.

You can be a great presenter and get five-star ratings and yet, completely fail to cause a change in behavior or performance back on the job. You see, presenting isn't training either. The intention of presenting is to entertain, inform, educate, or persuade. Training is about helping people do something well.

When you see people's eyes light up because you're providing them something that they can immediately apply, you'll be hooked on training. And your audience will get hooked on you.

Enjoy!

iPad, iTouch, and iPhone delight

2010-08-10T09:00:00.038-05:00

This has become a common scene in my life: I'm in a room with two or three others and we're playing with our Apple devices and showing each other how we use them. And there's no other verb for it but "playing." My sister has an iPhone and shows her app for stargazing. Another has an iTouch and I've let him pick up on my wireless connection via Verizon MIFI. A 15-year-old, he's delighted to jump on the Internet and explore a couple cool Web sites. I wave my iPad and show them how great it is to read the New York Times, email or a book on such a beautiful, big screen.

Earlier in July, I played this same game while visiting relatives in Oregon. My cousin actually favors reading books on his iPhone because he has it with him at all times and doesn't need the light on while reading in bed so his wife can sleep. Are you kidding?? Look at a book on the iPad! His wife showed me great apps for nature sounds that calm you down so you fall asleep.

And anytime, I can walk into an Apple store and start talking to employees and customers just as naturally as can be to compare what we know and ask about what we don't. "How do you do X? Have you tried Y? Look at this. How cool is that?"

We'll do this by the hours - and if you don't use Apple devices, then you have no idea how enthralling they are.

The enthusiasm, playfulness, and discovery of these "toys" is contagious and oh, so delightful. They sure make me happy!