11 Ways To Get Your Employees To Meetings

What are the first words that come to your mind when you are called into a meeting? If you are like most employees, they are probably "boring," "waste of time," or other similar terms. Yet for all of the negatives, meetings can be quite fruitful.

Talia Y. Leman, in "A Random Book About the Power of Anyone," wrote that there are ways for nonprofit managers to make employees dread meeting less. Some of the ideas come from Ben Hirschfeld of the Lit! Solar Lantern Project, and others are Leman’s own:

• Remember the win/win. Find out what makes individuals tick and help them understand how participating will help them;
• Get on their calendars. Give advance notice, and send reminders;
• Make attendance matter. Prepare agendas to harness the value others bring;
• Make their role matter. Having significant roles with official titles helps them see their contribution as a priority;
• Make it fit. Match people with jobs that fit their skills and interests;
• Make it simple. Break down actions that forward team goals into manageable steps with clear completion dates;
• Double-team mission-critical tasks. Adding a backup or co-leader can make a difference in making people comfortable and getting the job done;
• Take care of the team. Snacks and meals can be helpful, as are practical details about locations, etc.;
• Keep it moving. Respect people’s time;
• Keep everyone in the loop. People like to be part of a winning team; and,
• Build team spirit and show appreciation. Even a simple “thank you” matters.

NPT Power and Influence Top 50 -- 2012

It has been 15 years since The NonProfit Times revealed its first Power and Influence Top 50 list. Since then, past honorees such as Peter Goldberg and Florence Green have passed away, but their ideas are still foundational in leadership, board management, and entrepreneurship.

The individuals represented in this year 's Power and Influence Top 50 represent all of those qualities and more.

As has always been the case with this prestigious list, the honorees will be celebrated next month at a gala at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. For some of these individuals, it's their first time on the list, while others are back for an encore. Let's take a look at some of the powerful figures in the nonprofit sector who will be represented this year:

• Robert F. Ashcraft, Ph.D.-Founding Executive Director at Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation: Ashcraft is turning the academic setting at Arizona State University into a community hub for all things infrastructure and has reached across the border into Mexico to address regional issues regarding philanthropy and capacity building. He is a leader and incubator among his nonprofit academic center peers.
• Diana Aviv President and CEO at Independent Sector: It isn’t easy balancing opposing views in a broad sector, but somehow Aviv pulls it off. The organization is again an important convener of the sector’s power brokers, even if that muscle isn’t used as often as it should be. 
• Dan Busby President at Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability: In one form or another, the nation’s religious community still pulls in the majority of American giving. While there have been some high-profile bankruptcies, the policies Busby has put in place and enforces have staved off the financial scandals that used to come on a regular basis.

We invite you take a look at the full list and see the other nonprofit leaders who were chosen this year. 

Dealing With Office Politics

Office politics: They are a powerful thing in every office and, whether they like it or not, nonprofit managers have to deal with them.

In their book "Make Talent Your Business," Wendy Axelrod and Jeannie Coyle say managers must first acknowledge the existence of organizational politics.  You can't tackle a problem, after all, if you don't believe it exists.  Further, Axelrod and Coyle encourage leaders to show their employees how to navigate the twisted webs of office politics.  They suggest the following tips:

• Clarify and adjust assumptions about organization politics. Yes, people often use political skills for unprincipled self-serving. Employees who can read the dynamics, however, can create and sell effective solutions.
• Help map the bumpy political terrain. Make sure employees get a full view of the landscape, so they know where danger points occur.
• Coach employees to build a portfolio of politically smart approaches. Set a strategy, influence others and adapt familiar skills to political solutions.
• Prepare for and sometimes rehearse the handling of complex situations. Employees will do better after having had the opportunity to fine-tune messages, practice handling questions, listen to opposing views, think through their reactions and adapt an appropriate personal presence.

Site Spotlight: The Resource Marketplace

Today, we want to put a spotlight on one of the sections of our website: The Resource Marketplace. It is important for any nonprofit manager to have a list of contacts that can help with any need that might arise, and that is exactly what the Resource Marketplace can do for you. From accounting services to grant writers, this page has high quality contacts that can immediately help your nonprofit.

When you click on any of the categories in the Resource Marketplace, it will call up a list of matching businesses. This list will contain the company's name, contact information, and a short description detailing what they do. We are constantly updating this list whenever we make new connections, so keep checking if you don't find a service that meets your organization's needs.

Head on over to Resource Marketplace today and see what's available.

Study: Nonprofit Managers Looking For the Door

Nonprofit executives aren't too happy with their positions, according to a new survey from CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and the Meyer Foundation. The report, called “Daring to Lead 2011: A National Study of Nonprofit Executive Leadership," shows that nearly two-thirds of nonprofit managers plan to leave their jobs within the next five years.

One of the biggest concerns these executives have remains their boards. The survey reports that only one-fifth of respondents think their boards are doing a good job. In particular, executives are not confident their board of directors have a plan to pick new leaders. In addition, they believe they are still being cautious with the budget following the recession. The survey states that 65% of executives believe that significant levels of recession-related anxiety remain, though this directly related with the amount of cash reserves on hand. For example, those organizations with more than 6 months of reserves reported anxiety at only 15%, as opposed to 33% with only one month of reserves.

You can read about the whole report on The NonProfit Times website. What are your thoughts on it? Have you been noticing similar feelings of anxiety at your organization? Leave your comments below.

New Nonprofit Management Tips

If you often visit The NonProfit Times on the web, you might have noticed a section of the site called Management Tips.  This page features advice for nonprofit managers on a multitude of different topics, from finance to social media.  We just updated this page with new tips for the following categories:

• Marketing
• Finance
• Social Media
• Revenue
• Planned Giving
• Boards
• Advocacy
• Database

Here's a sample of one of the new management tips for finance:

Reviewing the substantiation rules

The need for nonprofits to prove that they are doing good rather than scamming the general public is an ongoing one. New regulations are passed every year, but at The Georgia Society of CPAs 2011 Nonprofit Conference, attorneys W. Marshall Sanders and Margaret W. Scott reviewed features of a tax law passed in 1993, Section 170(f)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code requiring donors and nonprofits to “substantiate” a contribution of $250 or more if a tax deduction is to be allowed.

The substantiation must include the following:

• The amount of cash contributed and, in the case of non-cash contributions, a description of the property.

• A statement of whether the organization provided any goods or services in consideration of the donor’s contribution.

• If the donee did provide goods or services (other than intangible religious benefits), a description and good faith value of the goods and services. If religious intangible benefits were supplied, a statement to that effect must be supplied.

There are other aspects of the law to consider:

• No particular format is required for substantiation.

• There is no “family foundation exception” to the rule of Section 170(f)(8).

• The burden is on the donor, not the charity, to obtain the substantiation.

• Unhappy taxpayers continue to litigate the rule, unsuccessfully.

• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rigorously enforces the rule.

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To read the rest of the tips, visit the Nonprofit Management Tips page.

For Nonprofit Managers, Trust is Key

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Our distrust is very expensive." When it comes to nonprofit managers and CEOs, this couldn't be more true. Let's face it, for a nonprofit to be successful, its employees have to trust the head of the organization. Without this, performance can suffer and, as a result, so will the organization's mission.

John Hamm (not that one, in case you are wondering), talks about how important trust is for company leaders in his new book, Unusually Excellent: The Necessary Nine Skills Required for the Practice of Great Leadership. As the title of the book implies, it gives leaders nine tips on how to get employees to trust them. Here are some of these tips that Hamm mentions in his book:

• Hamm stresses that you don't have to act like a "boy scout" to gain the trust of your employees. In fact, he writes that the best leaders are those who don't try to act like anybody other than themselves. In fact, it's very easy to see how a manager or other leader who acts too kind might seem suspicious to employees.

• Along the same lines, Hamm wrote that it's important for a leader to look for chances to show that they are human by proving that they have authentic fears, imperfections, and emotions. He gives the example of a CEO named "Carl" who grew up in humble surroundings. Carl always told stories of his hard upbringing while leading his employees, as he knew this would make them feel more comfortable around him; it made him more accessible and, in turn, more trustworthy. To me, this was the most surprising tip Hamm gave; it's something I never thought of before, as we are often taught to hide our emotions from those we work with.

• Another interesting point was Hamm's mention of the so-called "adulterer's guarantee." Essentially, this is when a leader tells an employee that they lied to someone else, but that they would never lie to you. Some think doing this would show an employee that their boss is behind them, but it really just exposes the leader as a dishonest person. If this leader would lie to someone else, why should an employee believe they are not lying to them? And is usually the case with these situations, the story of this incident will spread, hurting morale.

• Finally, Hamm wrote that a leader should never punish "good failures." These are failures that occur despite an organization doing everything right, and are usually associated with taking a calculated risk for a project. By punishing employees for these "failures," employees will be more averse to taking risks in their work. And since risk-taking is the key for any organization's success, this is most definitely a bad thing. Instead, leaders should strive to create a culture where innovation is promoted, so that all these good failures can eventually lead to something successful.

If you are interested in learning more about Unusually Excellent, visit the book's website.

Former Director of Kingman Nonproft Agency Gets Probation

Jeanne Mae Caisse, former director of The Kingman Resource Center, was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to one count of felony theft earlier this morning.  Caisse had been accused of stealing more than $7,000 from the nonprofit organization, which provides services for low-income families; it is funded by other charities in the New York.

Caisse, who was first arrested at Kingman's board meeting last Spring, is just another nonprofit manager who as run into legal trouble lately.  Earlier, we wrote about how Robert Jones, former CEO of the National Center for the Employment of the Disabled, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud in government contracts.  We also wrote about Sheila Kitchens, a nonprofit bookkeeper who was sentenced to three years in jail for computer theft and first-degree forgery.  And of course, there has been legal issues in the past year or so with Larry Jones, former head of Feed the Children.  So when it comes to non profit managers and CEOs, March continues to be an unkind month.

Read the full article on Jeanne Mae Caisse at The Times Union.