Nonprofits Need to Embrace Innovation

Innovation… it’s a word that generally brings to mind a for-profit corporation such as Apple or FaceBook, not so much a nonprofit organization. But innovation is essential to the success of a nonprofit: creative solutions for challenging problems, timely response to new opportunities and changing community need, creative partnerships, and the urgent need to improve business systems and reduce operating costs. Innovation needs the right Petri dish in which to cultivate; in other words, the right culture and leadership. Elements that create the best climate for innovation include:

• an openness to change by the board of directors and management team and all the messiness that comes with managing change,


• a diversity of thought and perspectives,


• a forum that encourages / invites creative ideas from every corner of the nonprofit (including the front line team, clients and volunteers),


• a willingness to take a calculated risk and fail at times,


• a comfort with involving all constituents and actively communicating with them about challenges and changes, and


• a shift from dependence on strategic planning to strategic thinking. What tools can help you?


• Build a diverse board and continually bring on new board members.


• Establish a consent agenda and move past agendas that focus on reporting on past performance and focus on the future.


• Pursue ongoing professional development for the board and leadership team including team building activities.


• Establish ground rules at planning sessions and new planning approaches that encourage looking at challenges and opportunities in new ways; and encourage breakthrough thinking.


• Use business plans to evaluate new opportunities and ventures and mitigate the risk.


• Understand the complexities of managing change and become very proficient at change management (including the engagement of constituents). You’ll find some great articles, tools and templates for business planning, board/leadership development, strategic thinking and consent agendas in the NorthSky Online Resource Center at http://www.northskynonprofitnetwork.org/resource.php

Navigating a fleet of projects

The bay is starting to look blue (and almost tempting) and I can envision the day (maybe just weeks away) when boats begin to dot the horizon again. As I navigate through my typical work week, it does feel like I have my own private fleet of projects that I'm sailing through an ocean to a final destination. My regatta is made up of various sizes, shapes, and crews but all with one hope: a successful landing with an intact cargo and satisfied passengers.

So is the life of a professional project manager. Constantly planning, launching and bringing in a project. (Hopefully, on budget, on time and meeting the team's expectations.) It's hard to predict the conditions we'll encounter. Sometimes it's smooth sailing the entire way; other projects are not so lucky and are battered by storms and change.

Successful project management is partially a mindset and approach-- knowing how to pull together the specific steps and "to dos" and then walking through a systematic process for each individual step.

It's also an understanding of the tools that are available to help you manage the project. Tools such as flowcharts, worksheets, gantt charts, online meeting scheduling, and document sharing sites. The range of options is impressive and often overwhelming.

The final ingredient is style; understanding the nuances of team facilitation and how to engage, motivate and move a diverse group in a progressive fashion to achieve a shared vision.

Over the next month, we are offering several professional development resources focused on project management. If you missed Robin Grinnell's project management and facilitation sessions on March 17, 2011, you'll find her materials in the NorthSky Resource Center at www.northskynonprofitnetwork.org/resource.php Andy Wolber will be back on April 14 with another technology webinar: Managing Projects with People Beyond Your Walls. Sign up at: www.northskynonprofitnetwork.org.

You'll also find business planning templates in our resource center. Feel free to share any other resources that you've found useful. Happy sailing!

Ah, the world of databases....

Can't live with them, can't live without them. But we all know that our ability to effectively manage the constellation of constituents: clients, donors, volunteers, and staff that comprise our nonprofit's universe, is at the mercy of the database we've chosen and our skills in using it.

This month we have the opportunity to learn more about selecting databases and one in particular, Salesforce. Technology consultant, Andy Wolber, will be leading two webinars on March 10 as part of the NorthSky Professional Development series: www.northskynonprofitnetwork.org

Salesforce is a database we have experience with at NorthSky, having launched it here last fall. It's growing in popularity with nonprofits throughout the country; it's very robust, handling an array of organizational needs -- from marketing and sales, to project management and evaluation. While we don't engage in fundraising here, its fundraising capabilities also appear strong. We've only begun to dig into all of its capabilities but we are excited about the possibilities of having an integrated technology approach that links our website, email marketing and evaluation system together. We'll be launching our new website this Spring so watch for that.

Join us on March 10 to learn more about databases including Salesforce. Anyone else using Salesforce? Anything to share?

It's Always a Good Day When My Technology Works

If I can just successfully log in to my email, catch a cell signal, and launch that web meeting connection, I feel pretty powerful. A true technology master ... and I've barely begun my day.

How did we ever become so dependent on technology? Well, I'm certainly a few steps behind many people, perhaps a little ahead of some. I'm forced through my work at NorthSky to use tools I'd probably never try and to actually lead (good grief) some aspects of our technology development. I've struggled to learn many things that I've felt hopeless to master only to have that energetic rush that occurs from a successful download or set up.

Everyday, I find something new to help me in my work-- some little technology tool or trick. An invaluable resource in my education has been technology expert Andy Wolber who will be launching his 2011 NorthSky technology webinars this month. These are great sessions starting with an "Introduction to Google Aps for Nonprofits" on Feb 10. Check out the schedule at our website: www.northskynonprofitnetwork.org.

Here's hoping you have a good technology day with lightning speed connections and no computer crashes!

Can we learn anything from political campaigns?

It's election season and once again we're being bombarded by phone calls, mailings, radio and television ads; all focused on capturing our attention and influencing our vote. With every candidate driving to be successful on November 2. It triggers the question, doesn't it? How do we launch a successful campaign for our own cause or nonprofit organization? How do we borrow the best from political strategists and effectively use their techniques to advance our mission and forward our cause?

Andy Knott, executive director for The Watershed Center, led a great professional development session at NorthSky last week on Grassroots Advocacy. Some tips he shared:

• Build your advocacy network by identifying and recruiting individuals who support your cause and share your passion. How do you find these folks? By going public with your cause --perhaps through an education session, event of some sort, or media story.
• Carefully craft your message and train the members of your network to deliver it. Don't assume that they can convey your message effectively: arm them with materials and train them to deliver the message.
• Communicate with and build relationships with politicians and opinion leaders. Use letter writing campaigns, phone calls and meetings to get to know one another.
• Build coalitions with other organizations who share your mission and support for the cause. List and publicize your coalition partners to gain support from other individuals and organizations.
• Meet with officials at the local, state and federal level. Remember: you'll have more impact if other coalition members and constituents participate. And, develop a print piece that you can leave behind.

Successful grassroots advocacy depends on relationship building and using others to deliver your message over and over again. You need to become an exquisite communicator with the ability to infect others with your passion. It takes time and energy.

Other suggestions to share?

Look Out the Window

The view can be not only inspirational but an education. We all forget to do it. It’s easy to become absorbed by the internal workings of our organizations. We respond to our clients, staff, donors and other constituents and increasingly view the world through a narrower lens. Overtime, we may base decisions, conclusions, and recommendations on an internal perspective without drawing information from a broader environment.

Yet, to gain a truly comprehensive and objective mindset, we need to open the window, watch and listen to what’s going on outside. We need information and knowledge from the larger world.

Exceptional nonprofits are in touch with the outside world in a way that others are not. They regularly receive and internalize information on community need, perceptions, and behavior. They monitor and anticipate trends and are masters at adopting change and best practices. They establish listening posts and viewing stations and use exquisite listening skills to process incoming information to perfect their strategies. So, how do they do that?

1) Establish creative and active listening through informal meetings, town meetings, focus groups, surveys or key informant interviews with a wide range of people.
2) Create a culture of non-defensiveness and receptivity to change by rewarding adaptability, encouraging information exchange, and incentivizing continuous learning.
3) Set up listening posts encouraging customer and public suggestions through comment boxes, email, survey or a dedicated phone line. And then, review and respond to the information you receive.

Most importantly, get out of the office mentally and physically. Talk to people, listen to them and observe. You'll learn a lot!

Push for More Productive Meetings

Life intensifies in the summer as we try to juggle work and home life during the short, sweet vacation season. Yet, it’s nearly impossible to cancel every meeting and postpone every project until the fall. One high leverage opportunity—get better at conducting meetings and work sessions. You’ll feel better about scheduling the time and the team will be more energetic, enthusiastic and productive. Here are some techniques I’ve found to be helpful.

1) Always, always have an agenda with clear objectives for the meeting. Send it out ahead of time; help the team prepare to use the time well by supplying any documents or pre-reading that you can.

2) Identify a good location that provides quiet space, no distractions, reasonably comfortable seating (preferably with a table) and a flip chart/ white board for capturing ideas. An excellent (and greener option) is to use a laptop and projector to capture brainstorming ideas electronically and project them up on the wall for the team to reference.

3) Set ground rules and post them. It will be easier to pull folks back on to the agenda if the team has agreed to “stay on the subject.” If you have “chatters” who dominate the discussion, a ground rule about sharing speaking time, assists the chair in cutting them off.

4) Start and end on time; don’t reward latecomers. Be respectful of those in attendance and get them out the door as promised.

5) Keep a meeting record of decisions, assignments and next steps. Distribute it in a timely manner. Again, a laptop can help efficiently capture meeting ideas in one smooth key stroke, so to speak.

6) If the agenda just isn't working, stop and revise it. Don’t waste time on discussion items that are not helpful. Learn to read the group and improvise as needed.

7) Learn and use online meeting tools. Doodle.com and meetingwizard.com are great free tools for scheduling meetings. Meeting wizard also has tools for creating agendas and minutes.

8) Use online meeting tools to work on documents together online. Google Docs and pbworks.com provide real time access to documents and project work. The team can update and revise documents together. You can post the project workplan, meeting schedule and other team information.

Budgets are tight, time is compressed, and we are all protective of our schedules. Gain the reputation for scheduling and conducting valuable meetings. You’ll have better attendance and more enthusiastic participants.

Any tips to share for more productive meetings?

Results-oriented Nonprofits Lead in Performance!

The pressure is on nonprofits to capture data and report outcomes. Well, let’s be honest. The pressure has been on for quite awhile. Increasingly, our funders, accrediting agencies, and legislative bodies have required nonprofits to capture and report results. Now, it’s becoming more and more mandatory to actually use our data to improve performance! A series of studies report that nonprofit organizations that collect and use performance data to improve service delivery, business systems, and leadership practice, actually do perform better! Amazing! It works! But where to begin?

I think it's important to start with our clients. How well are we doing with them? Are they satisfied? Can we improve? What else do they need? Are we getting results? Collecting this information relies on communicating with users of our services. It can be as simple as capturing point of service surveys or as complex as tracking users via longitudinal studies. Regardless of the research tool, it's critical that clients are comfortable providing honest feedback and that we solicit it in an objective, unbiased manner. It's also important that we are open to acting upon our findings and making changes as needed.

In the NorthSky Online Resource Center, you'll find a number of tools to assist in collecting client satisfaction data. Check it out at http://www.northskynonprofitnetwork.org/resource.php
and share your own tools and ideas by posting them here.

Enjoy the spring!
Pam Evans, NorthSky Principal Consultant

Change is in the Air...

It’s the planning season with nonprofit teams throughout our region working tirelessly on new initiatives, partnerships, and strategies to bolster performance and address a dramatically shifting environment. The NorthSky team is involved in some of this work and we’ve been dazzled by an impressive display of innovation, open-mindedness, and yes, dare I say it, courage!

Change isn’t easy for anyone. And as dramatic as it sounds, it does take courage. Whether you’re the change agent championing a new approach or initiative that the rest of the team isn’t quite ready for, or the “changee” being pushed to do things differently; it’s tough work. Even the most positive change, such as moving to new office space, using new computer technology or enhancing management systems, can be uncomfortable and challenging.

Yet, being effective change agents and understanding when it’s time to take on change, is an essential skill and competency for nonprofit leadership. It’s an ongoing part of our nonprofit world and we need to be very good at it.

Some suggestions that come to mind as you embark on a major change:

1) Involve folks in the change. While it may be tempting to go underground and map out the strategy in a bunker, the more you involve people along the way, the more engaged and supportive they will be…even of unpopular changes. Let them help identify challenges and develop solutions.


2) Navigating successfully through major change requires superb communication skills. Understand all your constituent groups and how to effectively reach them. Listen and respond to their concerns. You may not be able to meet everyone’s needs but you can provide clear information and a forum to hear their issues.


3) Be honest even if it’s a difficult message to deliver.


4) Stay focused on your mission and your clients/ customers. While internal changes to operations, staffing, or structure, may be uncomfortable, if it means a better, more secure, or stable way of serving the community, it will be easier to accept.

We’re all going through a great deal of change right now. Any other suggestions to share?