How can we celebrate?

We’re knee-deep in conversation these days with a group that’s approaching its 30th anniversary. In better times, this would have been an occasion for hoopla – for throwing a party to celebrate accomplishments, gather together old friends, forge new relationships, reconnect with alumni, maybe get a little press, and even, dare I say, raise a little extra dough to jumpstart a reserve fund or a capital drive – something out of the ordinary.

But these days?

We’re in year two of the drought here in the nonprofit trenches, and it’s like the 16th mile of a marathon – we’re not close enough to the other side to see it, and we’re not at rock bottom – but we sure as heck have a clear view of what that looks like.

I’ve been having a lot of conversations since the new year with fellow nonprofit leaders, and they always start the same way. “How are you? Are you OK?” they cautiously enquire, and when I affirm that – to my surprise – we’re still standing, they acknowledge that they’re about the same.

But sure, we can pick up our heads to see that we’re still upright (for those of us that still are); yet at the same time we’re trying to duck and cover from the tsunami that rumor has it is coming, especially as the City and State pass along their fiscal fissures to the nonprofits in their midst.

So…celebrate?

• The fact that we still have a (reduced) paycheck, for those of us who still do?
• The fact that we’ve all made some pretty hard choices, and grappled with mission vs. bottom line in an even more ruthless way than before?
• The fact that we’re still making a difference, for those of us that are still in business?

Yes, celebrate.

Celebrate the fact that nonprofits, now even more than ever, stand for, and enable, the best in the human spirit. The capacity to give, the value of equity, the urge to make the world better.

And that each of us in the nonprofit universe, whether staff, board, or volunteer, has committed, for better or worse, to making space in our lives to bring about positive change.

So, getting back to that anniversary – how can we celebrate?

Maybe the right question is – how can we not…?

Board Chair – Not Just A Pretty Title Anymore…

Under the “no good deed goes unpunished” department, the PTA at my children’s school noticed how adept I was at directing their annual fund drive, and asked me to consider running for PTA President next year.

My immediate response was not just “Are you kidding, I have two kids and a full-time+ job!!” – which is the case for many parents – but also “I’m already a Board Chair, and one cause for sleepless nights is enough.”

And then I started thinking about the relative strains of running a nonprofit vs. running a nonprofit board.

By agreeing to take on the top voluntary position in another nonprofit, clearly I’m a sucker for the social good…but somebody’s got to do it. So which one is more nerve-racking? It’s been a constantly shifting toss-up over the past year.

There’s something about being responsible for a domain you can’t quite control – your team (fellow board members) are all volunteers, and the staff doesn’t really work for you – that makes chairing a nonprofit board a very delicate balancing act. And in this day and age when nonprofits across the country are struggling with very difficult decisions based on scarcity, especially stress producing.

Wistfully, I thought back to the days when staff seemed totally capable of running the joint and as board chair it felt like all I had to do was provide a patina of respectability (show up at meetings, testify at hearings to bring the weight of the board into the room, etc.). Now I’m integrally involved in judgment calls on cash flow, fund development strategy, and shifting political relationships.

And to add to the burden, not only do I run a nonprofit, but it’s a nonprofit that coaches other nonprofits on governance and fundraising concerns. So it’s a particularly fraught position for me – but I’m not alone.

For all of us who steer our own nonprofits, this is an especially tricky pathway to navigate – because we know how we run our own castles, and this isn’t ours. We might be the chair, but we’re not the boss. And because we’re steeped in board-staff best practices, we do in fact hesitate to wade into the day-to-day, even if we know how to do it “better.”

It makes me respect my own board chair, who is also a nonprofit leader, even more for keeping her hands off when she could clearly wade in and improve the product – and cut off my authority in the process. Gee that’s a difficult line to walk.

Having a leadership commitment in the nonprofit sector in a dual capacity leaves me feeling guilty a lot of the time – I wish I could pour my creative resources into my board service as much as I do my nonprofit, but there’s only one of me. And then of course there’s those pesky family obligations. Which brings me back to the PTA.

I respectfully declined the top leadership post but offered to head up the nominating committee – because I know what it means, and what it takes, to lead. And I’ll help to find the right folks to do so.

Nostalgically yours for the old days (or what I remember of them with rose-colored glasses)…

Let’s Not Think About The Bigger Picture…or…The Bad News About Siloing Events

When the going gets tough, the tough hunker down.

That’s certainly been true for those of us running nonprofits these days, and it’s part of what’s enabled us to make it this far, in these slings-and-arrows-of-outrageous-fortune times.

But sometimes, hunkering down is not what’s called for.

One year in to the special events cycle in the downturn, essentially, Cause Effective is increasingly being called on to help groups reassess their event plans. In 2009 many nonprofits just ran their events – in shock – trying to see what would happen.  But now that it’s a year later, they’re taking a step back.  What actually should we be doing, with our event, our annual fundraiser, our upcoming anniversary, given current conditions?

We were asked to evaluate and make recommendations about a group’s major gala the other day, under just these premises.  But half-way through the conversation, the board fundraising chair burst out with a complaint about the direction the conversation was going: “We need direct help with our event – not all this big picture thinking,” he vented.  He went on to explain: “We need a big boost from our event this year, so let’s limit our conversation to that.”

But, but, but…..

Events work when they fulfill institutional goals, not just provide a good time for attendees with a little money made on the side. They take a lot of human labor, and often a fairly substantial cost outlay – so it’s especially important, in strapped times like these, to make events do double, triple, even quadruple duty. Such as…

• Net $80,000
• Provide an opportunity for board members to bring their friends to a “good news” kind of occasion (as opposed to witnessing the counseling of people who’re likely to lose their homes)
• Give the executive director a chance to schmooze with major donor prospects and get an agreement to have lunch later in the month
• Allow a board member who’s cycling off to give a serious board prospect the “inside scoop” on how worthwhile his service has been 
• Expose the organization to positive press coverage in a highly controlled situation
• Begin a relationship with a celebrity host that can be parlayed into an exclusive dinner with high-rolling guests a year down the road…
• And more (you get the picture)

Achieving numerous benefits from one special event is still possible, in this day and age – but only if we lift our sights from the event itself to the institution that houses it. What are your institutional assets? Resources and constraints? Goals and major imperatives for organizational development? Events can serve as a great public forum for realizing gain on multiple fronts, but we have to drive towards that end – it doesn’t just happen without strategic large-scale thinking.

I think we all know now that economic conditions are not going to get better very fast. Hopefully it won’t get that much worse, or at least not lurch as erratically from one bad news indicator to another, but the light of recovery for nonprofits, unfortunately, is not just around the corner.

Given that, doesn’t it make sense to make every expenditure of human energy, every occasion, count?  And count in the big picture way, not just as a one-time generator of ticket-sale revenue?