The Bamboo Project Blog

Collaboration Redux--What if Funders Worked Together?

Commenter Elizabeth from the Great Bay Foundation suggests an interesting twist on collaboration (scroll down to Comment #26) that I think deserves some additional exploration.

While non-profits are increasingly encouraged to form partnerships in responding to grant applications and delivering services, there is no corresponding coordination of resources on the funder side of the equation. I see this all the time in my work with Department of Labor-funded programs where it's more common than not to have several grants funding virtually the same thing, but only for the "start-up" phase, often leaving non-profits in the lurch when it comes to building up to a sustainable program.

To address this issue, Elizabeth suggests that funders should collaborate to fund various phases of a particular initiative so that non-profits are in a better position to build the capacity and infrastructure to support longer-term growth. For example, one funder might fund the "start-up" costs of a particular initiative, while another might come in a year or two later to provide resources that support expanding the idea.

What I think is interesting is that in the corporate world, for-profit companies are often able to access large sums of capital at various phases of their organizational growth through venture funding, etc. While there may be some strings attached to that funding, in general they are able to go to their "funders" and say "This is what we want to do and this is the money we're looking for to do it. Want to pony up?"

Non-profits generally don't have that option. Instead, some funder puts out a request for proposals, describing in sometimes excruciating detail exactly what they want. Non-profits are then forced to create a program that meets those requirements and tries to make it "fit" their mission. Then they get money for a year or two to do what the funder decided they should do. And if the non-profit isn't able to locate a new source of funding (which is often difficult, given that funders aren't talking to each other and they each want to put their own "stamp" on what the program should be), then the program is generally finished once the intitial dollars dry up.

I think it would be really interesting to see what would happen if funders coordinated their resources, just as they expect NPOs to do. The question is, what is the mechanism for making that happen?

The Leadership Deficit

Over at the Social Edge, Mark has started a discussion about "Profit for a Purpose" and asks about how non-MBA execs can develop the skills needed to run a non-profit that will generate revenue. Elizabeth (in the second comment on the page) brings up a larger point--namely the dearth of leadership talent in the non-profit sector.

According to the Summer Issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, as with every other American organization, the impending retirement of the leading edge of the Baby Boom does not bode well for non-profits.

"To understand the magnitude of the leadership deficit and why it will intensify, we need to examine what shapes the supply of, and demand for, nonprofit leaders. The supply side of the story begins with the baby boom generation. Because of the boom, the pool of American men and women of prime executive age (34 to 54 years) swelled to 35 million between 1980 and 2000. But the first wave of this nearly 80 million-strong generation is now turning 60, and because the boomers did not have as many offspring as did their parents, the cohort that follows them has a lot fewer people. From 2000 to 2020, the number of people in the prime leadership age bracket of 34 to 54 will grow by only 3 million (author cites a study by the Committee for Economic Development, May 2005) . . . nonprofits will require 78,000 new senior managers in 2016 alone, up from 56,000 in 2006 and more than a fourfold increase since 1996. When the leadership needs of each of the coming 10 years are added together, the total comes to 640,000 new senior managers - a 140 percent increase in the current population of nonprofit executives." So, the question is, where will these executives come from?"

Indeed. Where WILL they come from. The Review has some thoughts:

"Up to now," states Tierney, "nonprofits have tended to draw their leadership from a relatively small circle of friends and acquaintances. Although personal networking is an essential element of any recruiting process, it will not produce all the leaders needed in the coming decade."

Tierney then suggests that "three significant pools of new leadership talent are already available": (1) the baby boom generation (a recent study by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures found that baby boomers want to continue to work after retirement age; (2) many people at the midpoint of their professional lives (article calls these people "midlife career-changers"); and (3) young managers in training (according to the article: "In 1990 there were 17 graduate programs in nonprofit management in the U.S. Today, there are well over 90, and more than 240 programs offer courses. Source for these statistics is H. Joslyn, from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Jan. 8, 2004).

For my money, one of the greatest resources will be retiring Baby Boomers who want to make a difference. There are already programs that are looking to help these individuals make the transition, including the Wilson Center for Social Entreprenurship, which is focusing specifically on helping "experienced" business people make the transition into the non-profit world. For such recruiting efforts to be successful, however, I think that non-profits will have to seriously examine their approach to attracting and retaining talent, including how they structure the workplace to appeal to Baby Boomer sensibilities.

Interestingly, I think that non-profits could be in a BETTER position than many businesses if they play their cards right. Many polls indicate that Baby Boomers are interested in spending their later years doing good in the world, so working with a non-profit is an obvious selling point. But I also think that non-profits may have cultures that are more supportive of exploring alternative work arrangements than some businesses. I do think that there will be a need to focus more on staff capacity-building and development, however, because many Baby Boomers also indicate that they want to continue to develop their skills, even in their "second careers" and non-profits are not necessarily known for their training or for being on the cutting edge.

What would be interesting, I think is if the non-profit world worked together to create a sort of "career exploration program" that helped retiring execs to re-assess themselves and their career goals and then helped them to explore the various non-profit opportunities that might satisfy those goals. Regardless, to address this looming shortage, non-profits will need to start working now, as they're already lagging in comparison to business.

Teens & Technology

I do a lot of work with youth employment and training programs. One of my major clients is Job Corps, which operates mostly residential training programs for economically disadvantaged youth all over the country. I've also helped design U.S. DOL-sponsored youth training programs in local areas working with smaller, community-based organizations.

In the years that I've been working with youth programs, I have been consistently saddened by the lack of training in technology that's provided to these kids. There seems to be a pervasive belief that they just need to "learn a trade" because they are not capable of something as "complicated" as technology. It seems enough to these programs for their students to learn how to send e-mail and how to use Word to type a resume. Yet if The World is Flat is to be believed (and I think that it is), this means we are  preparing many of these students for lives of economic hardship because we are failing to equip them with the skills that they need to be successful in a knowledge-based economy.

One of the reasons for this failure, I think is because the staff who work with these students are often themselves not particularly tech savvy. Compounding the problem, I've found, is a need to be "in charge," that for whatever reason seems to be particulary strong when staff are working with disadvantaged youth. Maybe it's the fear that if the staff person isn't in control, the sage on the stage, then the kids are going to take over the class. Or maybe it's a feeling that these kids can't have much to bring to the table. I'm not sure. What I do know is that they are not getting the same education and advantages that their suburban peers enjoy.

I thought of the issue this morning as I was doing some surfing and stumbled across this great project just started by Jeff Scorer.  Jeff has  launched Teentek with a group of 19 middle school students to explore the use of new media by having students talk about cool technology using Web 2.0 tools.  As he wrote last year when he was considering the idea:

"The class would consist of everything 2.0. Really bring all these new tools into the hands of the students and let them experiment with them. At this point I envision a blog with a title Tech for Teens or something like that. The students would create podcasts about technology tools, do how to screencasts for teens, talk about research skills  and other sites besides Google to use for researching homework. I would love to have a weekly video podcast doing like a CNET style review of the latest teen gadgets. The new cell phone, the new mp3 player, or the hottest new online game."

The project is now up at TeenTek and based on what Jeff has found, his kids are loving it. I think that, in part, it's because he's teaching them what he calls 21st century skills--how to USE the technology in ways that are meaningful for a new world:

"Skills like learning to comment appropriately. Writing for a worldly audience, producing content for others to use. We talked about how students will respect information if you give them the power to “own” the information. When you hand the power of information over to students and you have the discussions that come with the power of information you eliminate a lot of your problems."

For most of us, technology is a vehicle for expressing yourself, which is something all young people want and understand. Creating opportunities for them to learn technology, information gathering, writing, speaking, etc. in the context of exploring what interests them offers real opportunities for both teachers and students that I find are often lost on many of the youth programs with which I work. They're so focused on teaching kids a "trade," that they lose sight of the more global skills of thinking, problem-solving, communicating, etc. that would actually move these disadvantaged youth to a better life.

I know that there are programs that do focus on these skills, but there aren't enough of them. I also believe that there are ways to integrate these ideas into every youth program that are not being explored.

Several years ago I was working with Lehigh University on a project and we pitched the idea of running a summer youth program on careers where we would have young people assess their interests, values, etc. and then identify careers that interested them. They would then go out and produce some kind of product--a newsletter using desktop publishing software, a website, a video--to research the career from their perspective and to share what they'd learned. Sadly, we didn't get funding for it, but it's something that I think is even more viable with today's technology.

It used to be that cost was the limiting factor, but when you can get a digital camera  or microphone for less than $100, a digital video camera for less than $300, a laptop for less than $1,000 and you can store and share your creations for free or a pittance, cost should be much less of an issue. At this point I think the barriers are human--a lack of vision, lack of staff skills and an unwillingness to move out of traditional ways of teaching these young people. Even more than that, I'm afraid that there's a sense that these youth simply are not capable of learning these skills because if they don't have a high school diploma, how can we expect them to learn how to use a camera?

I think this is shortsighted thinking, having found that these kids are DYING for a reason to learn. A few years ago I designed a Job Corps program using the technology they have--PowerPoint--where students had to produce a presentation on the career they were considering. They had to present their career and were videotaped doing it. Next to the social entrepreneurship program we designed for them (a story for another day), this was their absolute favorite project. We had kids who, within a week, went from knowing NOTHING about PowerPoint to embedding audio and video and using all the slide transitions they could find. Not always the PRETTIEST work (a slight sense of nausea was an occupational hazard as we watched some of these), but the kids were expressing themselves in ways they never had, and learning technology in a flash. And they LOVED to share the video--the looks on their faces when they saw what they had produced brought us close to tears on many occasions.

Why don't we do more to tap into what they love, using that as an opportunity to learn these kinds of skills? I'd love to see a youth program that was teaching young people how to write their own blogs or do their own podcasting. Or a summer program where they designed their own vidoe game. Think about how cool that would be and for once, I don't think you'd have to pay kids some kind of incentive to show up every day to the program.

So a very long post to say this--I think that technology offers some amazing opportunities for all of us, but in particular I think that we should be doing more to use Web 2.0 tools with the young people in our programs. I know that many non-profits are serving youth and I wonder how they're using these new technologies to expand young people's skills and equip them with the skills of the 21st century. I'd love to do more with this, as it's one of those things that's near and dear and I can't seem to find enough organizations willing to travel the road with me.

Photo courtesy of Circulating

 

When A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words, You Need Flickr

I'm a wordy girl (in case you hadn't noticed), but there are times when you need to say it with pictures. For years you've been able to get stock photos on the Net, many for minimal cost. But there's a revolution afoot in the world of on-line photo use and sharing and it's name is flickr.

flickr allows people to upload and share photos online and in the past year or so its membership has exploded. Aside from the obvious beauty of having (usually) free access to some great photography, the clear advantage of a site like flickr lies in the social networking opportunities it provides. But how to get these things going for your organization?

From a purely practical, how do I get and use photos from flickr, you won't find anything better than Beth's guide. After reading her advice on creating presentations, you MUST check out her screencast tutorial that teaches you exactly how to get started finding and downloading fabulous photos in minutes.

To add to the discussion, Deborah has a few things to say about the Creative Commons license (Beth talks about it too) and you might also check out what Micah has to say about how MoveOn.org is using flickr. Check out this example of an online photo contest--how could you do something similar to promote your cause, market your agency, or share your good work. You might also want to do some social networking of your own by checking out one or more of these non-profit groups.

I'd be curious to learn more about how other organizations are using flickr. Drop me a line and let me know.

NOTE--Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk via flickr.

A Brave New World

I consider myself a fairly tech-savvy person. I've had e-mail since 1995, was doing webcasts in 1999. I'm usually one of the first people in my circle to say "Have you tried this?" But I have to say that I'm almost overwhelmed lately by the tech tools that are available for non-profit use and by the world of possibilities that they open up.

A few years ago, a blog entry on technology tools would have taken as much space as my earlier discussion about Policy & Procedure manuals. But in the past few years, technology and it's potential for good have just exploded in ways that require more than a single blog entry to cover.

The buzzword I'm beginning to see crop up lately is "the on-demand non-profit." While I have an idea of what this means, I still wanted to see what others were thinking, so a Google search (another technology boon) was in order. For the most part what I uncovered was  technospeak that I think would overwhelm the average ED. What it basically comes down to is this . . .

Up until recently, for you to have technology to operate your organization, you had to buy servers, hardware, software, etc. This required a substantial capital investment and the services of at least one full-time IT person. In the past few years, however, we've seen the rise of web-based software that is sold to you as a service (or even available for free in some cases), which has capacity to substantially increase your capacity while simultanously decreasing your costs. Once you sign up, your service is generally up and running for you to use either instantaneously or pretty close to it. And many of these tools make information and services available anytime, anywhere (hence the phrase "on-demand").

The beauty of this new generation of web-based applications is that they put robust technology into anyone's hands for a fraction of their previous costs and with much less hassle. Take newsletters. In the past, you had the costs of writing, printing, and mailing the things. You had to maintain your contact list in one program, write your letter in another. And maintaining your list could be a nightmare. But now there are programs like Constant Contact that give you hundreds of e-mail templates, tools for managing your list and the ability to track the success of your campaign in a simple, easy-to-use package that can cost as little as $15/month, depending on the size of your list.  And you can try the service out for free for 60 days, which means that you can try the solution BEFORE you buy, a feature that you haven't had with technology solutions of the past.

This is an example of how you can use new technology to do something you've always done more quickly, effectively, professionally and cheaply than you have in the past. But some of these new techologies open up possibilities you may never have even considered.

Take using multi-media . . . Previously we talked about YouTube, which allows you to post videos on-line for free. But you can also do podcasting for next to nothing (something I plan to do here in the not-too-distant future.)

For about $45 I bought a microphone and headset that plugs directly into my computer. With this, I was able to record a little two-minute practice talk. For FREE (do you hear me, FREE!) I downloaded the Audacity sound editor onto my desktop, which I then used to edit my podcast, removing the "ums," smoothing out the sound a little, basically making myself sound like I know what I'm talking about. Then for $5/month, I can upload this podcast and other sound clips on the Hipcast site which will host them and allow me to post them on my blog. When I want to share them with other listeners, the site will automatically embed a little player into a blog entry, which vistors can then click on and listen to anytime they want.

I should tell you that with absolutely NO EXPERIENCE, it took me about 2 hours to record, edit and upload a 2-minute practice podcast. It's taken me longer to put together a piece of Ikea furniture.

My point here is this--and it's one I want to explore in some depth--new technologies are putting some major capabilities within easy reach of the non-profit world. They are relatively easy to use, expand your reach and create options you may never have imagined. But for many non-profits,  it's hard to see the forest for the trees. You're so busy doing what you do that you don't get the chance to really think through how this stuff could help. So my plan for a while is to help you do that. With your help, of course. If you have experience in using some of the technologies we're going to explore (good or bad) let us know. Or if you're looking for some particular problem or issue to solve and want to know how tech could help, let us know that, too. If I don't know the answer, then that's what the web is for--someone, somewhere does.

I think it will be interesting and fun to spend some time on. I always love thinking about how we can do things differently and better. Somewhere I think you could find some gold.

So let's take a look at this brave new world and see what it can do for you.

Non-Profits shoot themselves in the foot

I recently wrote about my experience contracting with non-profits and the importance of the human capital investment non-profits must make. I want to continue on another theme that reoccurs often-partnerships and/or the failure thereof.

Non-profits are often competing against each other for the same philanthropic dollar or government grant so rivalries develop. But far more often, I find that the devotion that brought staff to a non-profit also seduces them into believing their way is the only way. I've seen great partnerships break-down over questions of case management, assessments, etc. I have one thing to say about that--get over yourself! The person you are helping more often than not will need more resources than you have, so partner with the other resources in your community that can help them. If you open yourself up a little, a change in viewpoint can often be enlightening.

Before you stop partnering or let differences in approaches stop you from partnering ask yourself if the differences are really that big or is it a question of your ego? I know that's hard because I've had to learn that lesson a few times.

I work with a great, well-meaning and sincere group that provides services to women. They have managed to anger most everybody they've ever worked with because of their no "compromise, its their way or no way" attitude. They are even proud of it! That kind of thinking is not going to work in the new world we're all living in now.

As I mentioned in my other post, I work in government and there's a definite trend toward requiring partnerships for government grants. I think it's high time. PARTNERSHIPS MAXIMIZE RESOURCES.

A great consultant that helped us set up youth partnerships gave this example. If your organization spends $3500 to outreach  a target group of youth that another youth organization already attracts and your organization provides services that the other youth organization needs, then it makes sense to partner for referrals. Then there is $3500 you can put toward the services both your organization's value. There will be trial and error but it's worth it.

Tools & Resources--Do You Write Stuff Down?

A while ago, we were discussing the 6 Boxes and how organizations have to pay attention to each one in order to be successful. We talked about organizational and individual expectations and how they have to be at the core of whatever you do.

The next big box to open up is the Tools and Resources box. That is--what tools and resources do your staff have available to them to meet the individual and organizational expectations you've set?

They're Boring, but You Need Them--Policy & Procedure Manuals
One of the first things I ask when I start working with clients is about their policies and procedures. More specifically, are they written down? Ten years ago, I would have been shocked to hear that the answer was "no." Now I assume that it will be.

From my experience, most nonprofits feel that they don't have the time to have a written policy and procedure manual. It seems to them like it would be a waste. But a written policy and procedure manual is one of  the major ways you can communicate with staff about your expectations for how your organization will operate. This is particularly important given the amount of turnover we often see in nonprofits (a topic for another day). If everything you know about how to work with your customers resides in Jim or Jane's brain, you're up a creek when they leave. And if other staff don't know to ask Jim or Jane or maybe Jim doesn't like the new person, then it's highly unlikely that the job will get done right.

Policy and Procedure manuals may be boring and time-consuming, but they also ensure that your staff knows what they're doing. It's one of the first tools they need to meet your expectations.

What's the Biggest Challenge Facing Non-Profits?

Last night I attended a Town Hall meeting for Non-Profits to discuss developing a national agenda for Non-Profits. The organizers were wonderfully efficient at getting our input. I always love to attend a well-facilitated meeting that allows for interaction between dedicated people. I heard a lot about the problems facing non-profits and a heard a lot about what's right with non-profits. The meeting was both thought-provoking and reaffirming.

By the way, I am not the regular author of this blog; I am a friend and a fan of non-profits. I guess you could say I am in the non-profit world vicariously. I have dealt with non-profits from a funders' perspective. I'm with a governmental organization that has contracted with local non-profits to provide services to people seeking employment. These contracts have been some of my organization's greatest successes and worst nightmares. But one thing has always been true, the sincerity of the people we contracted with was never a question. Unfortunately most of the time a contract failed to perform was a question of capacity-not capital capacity, but human capacity. Over the years, I've seen great endeavors die because of a lack of management talent. Whether we were talking about volunteers, paid staff, or the need for innovation, success comes down to the people inside your organization doing and creatively managing the work. 

Interestingly, that was one of the conclusions of last night. Also, there was a great deal of talk about innovation and being more like business. Personally, I'm not such a great fan of business as a model for non-profits except in one respect-innovative for survival in a changing environment. There's a lot in common between the local non-profit bemoaning the new non-profit competition taking funders away from "tried and proven" organizations and American industries such as GM. Those industries lost their "customers" to those who adapted and provided better choice. There was a time when GM didn't think you'd buy a Toyota. They were wrong.

The 21st Century of globalization has taught business that they can't count on their customers because infinite choice and market is available to the American consumers and American non-profits need to learn that lesson. That's another post though. My point here is that your non-profit is not going to stop change in your environment by remembering the good old days. Adapt or die. And if you die, who will be there for the people you help? Best way to adapt? Invest in your people. Hey, that isn't always financial. It's also about making an environment that attracts the people you want and need. Surprisingly, you've got a lot to offer that money can't provide- satisfaction and fulfillment (stop laughing, it's true). The need for purpose is in the people who work for you, those who volunteer for you, and those who give you financial support. Start looking at putting some assets into that human capital account. By the way, innovation is not an event that happens outside of human thought. Invest in it.

If your interested in the non-profit congress conference and the results of the town meetings across the nation, go to www.nonprofitcongress.org.

What is Your Real Work?

Jeff quotes Duct Tape Marketing:

. . . stunning businesses understand that no matter what they think they sell, they are really in:

 The information business. The community-building business. The experience business. The transformation business. . . .

and suggests that this is good advice for non-profits. I agree and want to take the idea a few steps further . . .

First, I think that what business you're in may depend on the customer you're dealing with. From Jeff's perspective, your customer is your donor and in that case, you need to think through what kind of business proposition they expect from you. At the same time, many non-profits provide services to people--in that case, the "nature of your business" may change, and change dramatically from who you are to your donor.

The trick in all of this, of course, is not to become a split personality. Figuring out where you can be in the same kind of business for all your customers would be ideal. But I think it's important to recognize, too, that depending on your mission and who you're dealing with, you may need to offer a different value proposition to each of your different groups.

Another thing to keep in mind is that these ways of doing business create a variety of synergies that you may need to explore. You may see yourself primarily as being in the community-building business, but in order to do that, you may also need to be in the information business. Each can build off the other and there's value in thinking through in what ways your organization may be a piece of all of these things.

What If You Were in the Information Business?
If you're in the information business, you need to focus on putting timely, up-to-date, relevent information in the hands of your customers. That information needs to be presented in a way that is useful to the customer. It needs to be easily accessible and easy to understand. It needs to provide the customer with the means to do what she really wants to do, and in a manner that makes it easy for her to do it.

  is in the information business. They have info on cancer facts, statistics, symptoms, treatments, legislative updates, etc. Part of their goal is to educate and that puts them squarely in the information business.

What If You Were in the Community-Building Business?
Community-builders are focused on the strategies for creating and strengthening partnerships, on helping people feel like they belong to something special and worthwhile. They provide the venues and means for creating connection and for helping people become part of something bigger than themselves.

  is in the community-building business. They help people connect to others who share their interests and passions. They prominently feature members on their site and provide access to affinity groups and community-building tools like blogs. You can send e-mails that help your favorite charity, engaging your friends and family in the experience of community, too.

What If You Were in the Experience Business?
Organizations that are in the experience business focus on evoking strong, memorable feelings in their customers through the use of products and services that stimulate the senses. Often these experiences are customized to the individual needs of a particular customer, making it even more likely that customers are engaged by the process

is in the experience business--they send donors pictures of "their" child, updating them frequently on how the donation is helping the child go to school or get medical care. Not only are you helping children, you're also getting to have the experience of "adopting" a child who is uniquely yours (at least according to the marketing campaign).

What If You Were in the Transformation Business?
Non-profits in the transformation business are engaged in the business of change. They are providing customers with products and services and experiences that help them transform into something else, something better and closer to where they want to be.

Many non-profits are in the transformation business--their goals are to help people "turn their lives around" in some way or another. The trick of being in the transformation business is two-fold--actually creating the transformation (sometimes easier said than done) and then telling the story of what you've done.

So what business are you in?

Make the Tech Work for You

Back to one of my favorite topics--using technology to get your message out. . .

Jeff talks about three ways to make e-mail work for you.

Brad discusses optimizing viral e-mail campaigns. Take a closer look at number one and think about how you could partner with a company donor in this way.

Beth shares some ideas on how to use technology to share notes from conferences. Think bigger, though--these are also great ways to capture the ongoing knowledge of your staff on a regular basis.

And for fun and learning, although not necessarily technology-related, check out some non-profit horror stories. Please don't let these happen to you.