Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research

Guest Blogger: Roberto Garcia

What happens when the fair organized by the local nonprofit raised a million dollars in the first three hours of the event; there is 10,000 people enjoying vendors, kids are coloring their faces; and then out of left field a person falls from a jumper and brakes a leg?

A situation like this can make Risk Management a risky business.

I had the pleasure to sit through a presentation on Risk Management at the San Diego Nonprofit Human Resource Management Symposium. The speaker talked about the “Risk Factor” which means being afraid of everything your nonprofit does at all times, because everything can go wrong at any given point (such as the situation I introduced this blog with).

However, an organization can never know all the possible outcomes, positive or negative, of doing an event, of running a program, of partnering with another organization. Therefore, nonprofits should not only be comfortable exploring new options, but also being prepared with a sustainability plan just in case the inevitable happens.

To further pursue this idea of risk management, lets say that an organization has the best program for youth development. The program has been running for 3 years now, and it has had the same program manager during this time. Suddenly, this manager is offered another position and leaves the job. What happens now? Is all the knowledge running away with your program manager? Where is all the information needed to run this successful program?

Nonprofits need to always look into the future, and a sustainability plan is a perfect solution to address problems that will arise in the future. Organizations need to encourage its employees to document their activities, processes, and other useful information. In an event that any of the team players that make the nonprofit run leaves, there is a system in place that can easily be undertaken by the next person willing to fill-in the shoes of the person that is no longer with the organization.

With those thing said, the last thing that I would like to address is the importance of partnerships. When it comes to running programs, coordinating events, and engaging in nonprofit work in general, partnerships are a great way for nonprofits to share the costs, share staff time, and most importantly share liabilities. Organization can outreach to other nonprofits to part take in activities that will benefit both. As such, each organization needs to be comfortable in taking risks with one another. Furthermore, organizations working together need to have similar interests, have similar information, and have a similar plan. If all of these things fall in place, nonprofits can work efficiently towards meetings their goals, while at the same time fostering relationships with their partners.

Guest Blogger: Roberto Garcia

I thought I had some knowledge on Employment Law Practices such as hiring interns, dealing with volunteers, and wage law, however this workshop led by Christopher W. Olmsted, Esq. at the San Diego Nonprofit Human Resources Management Symposium, opened my eyes to potential legal problems that nonprofits deal with on a daily basis but are virtually unaware off.

One of the hot topics in the nonprofit world is: how do we survive the current economic crisis? Most organizations have turned to volunteers and interns to fulfill duties that used to belong to former employees.  Other organizations are using their volunteers to expand the scope of their mission work, and to open new opportunities for young talent. Volunteers and interns are a great source of labor for nonprofits as long as they provide services without the contemplation of pay. Mr. Olmsted mentioned that a simple volunteer and intern job description should suffice in avoiding any legal problems in this area.

Nonprofits can also use independent contractors to provide some needed services as long as they are not treated as employees. This type of practice is a great incentive for nonprofits to reduce their costs. Nonprofits need to be clear on the distinctions between employees and independent contractors to avoid legal action.  These distinctions include: an employee is subject to control over work done and manner of performance but an independent contractor has a separate business, needs minimum supervision, and it is only present at the organization for a brief period of time.

Mr. Olmsted also touched upon a very important issue for nonprofits, overtime. The fluctuating schedule of nonprofit employees has historically been present since the dawn of time. It is no surprise that most of us work well beyond an eight hour day, we put in extra hours as “volunteer” work, and we flex our time to accommodate most of our responsibilities (out of the goodness of our hearts). However, if the organization does not have an accurate time keeping mechanism, it can suffer severe sanctions from the Federal Department of Labor, the State Department of Industrial Relations, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Therefore, it is very important that the organization and its employees follow overtime rules that will keep both parties happy. Employees will be more content and will have less burnout, and the organizations will improve its efficiency. The key message Chris provided is follow the labor law code to improve employee relations and avoid legal troubles.

Guest Blogger: Geraldine Evans

I am ashamed to admit that Diversity wasn’t a priority to me prior to this workshop. Of course I valued and encouraged diversity in my life but never really gave it too much thought at work. I recruit and hire the most qualified candidate without regard of color, gender, or socio-economic background. However, it wasn’t until Lisa Brown Morton’s presentation that I realized that Diversity is not just a check box in a report or a buzz word to toss around as we describe our organization, true Diversity is a powerful business tool!

Why is diversity important in today’s business world? Diversity is important because…

• Demographics – Within the next five years we will witness a max exodus of top executives who will be replaced with executives of diverse backgrounds
• Mission – Reflecting our community’s diversity can help improve our programs’ impact
• Competition – Diversity fosters innovation and productivity
• Moral – Diversity is the right thing to do

In order to take full advantage of the power of diversity we must be prepared to use it strategically. First, we must be honest with ourselves and understand WHY we want to undertake a diversity initiative and what diversity means for us.  We are prepared to move forward with the initiative when we are able to articulate how diversity will enrich our programs or organization. What elements of diversity does the organization or program need? Is it gender diversity, background, culture, etc.? Remember diversity is not just color or gender but anything that helps round off or enrich your organization.

Second, diversity efforts must be embraced by the entire organization, especially top leadership and board of directors. Does leadership support the initiative enough to make it a core leadership competency? A successful diversity initiative is HR led but staff driven.

Third, make a commitment to create a diverse slate of qualified candidates, based on identified organizational needs. Remember, you want to use diversity to enrich programs and the organization.

Lastly, build and nurture elements of inclusion within your organization’s culture, for example, mentoring, diversity awareness training, succession planning, effective communication training.

Diversity is not just a buzz word; it’s the smart business thing to do but be patient, real change takes a while but it’s most definitely worth it!

Guest Blogger: Geraldine Evans, Girl Scouts San Diego-Imperial Council

I attended the employee retention session at the Nonprofit HR Symposium at the University of San Diego hoping to gain some new insights on how we can retain our #1 asset–our people. At this session Karen Kramer Horning taught us the “five keys to employee job satisfaction.” I wanted to attend this session to gain some new tricks because as the primary recruiter at my organization, keeping employee talent is very dear and near to my heart. Happy staff means happy managers which means I don’t have to recruit and can concentrate on all those other important human resource tasks.

Karen Kramer Horning’s session emphasized that the key to employee job satisfaction and retention is simply COMMUNICATION. As HR professionals it’s our role to ensure that managers are communicating effectively with the staff and that we, HR, are able to assess the needs of our staff and can give them a voice at the leadership table.

So, what is the role of HR? HR is responsible for making assessments and making recommendations. It is our responsibility to maintain the balance between working on behalf of management and being an employee advocate. HR is to be professional, friendly, approachable and most importantly “tuned in” to the needs of both organization and staff.

As for the five keys to employee satisfaction, they are:

Compensation – Compensation in employee retention is not about a figure, but about compensating employees fairly so that pay is not an issue and staff members can concentrate on the work and their lives.

Job Security – A special issue with our current economy! Don’t forget about communicating and connecting with staff after a reduction in the workforce whether voluntary or involuntary. Whenever there’s a change those that remain will feel a little on edge and insecure. Make sure to check in with them and communicate, communicate, the state of the organization. Communicate with staff until the last fear has been appeased. If staff are not fearful they can concentrate on the work.

Career Path – We’ve all heard that nonprofit careers have limited growth potential. While that could be true it terms of vertical promotions, it doesn’t mean that you can’t gain skills that prepare you for a higher position in another organization. As HR we encourage managers to have a career path discussion with their staff so they can help staff gain the experience and skills that will continue to challenge them.

Communication – As nonprofit professionals we work in this sector because we feel connected and passionate about our organization’s purpose. It’s the responsibility of the CEO and executive leadership to maintain that constant flow of communication so staff can stay engaged and fully connected with the mission.

Work/life balance – This issue resonates with every employee regardless of sector. We all seek a balance in life but in nonprofits its challenging to do so because of the scarcity of resources within many organizations.  Being conscious of work/life balance and what is important to our staff is very critical. As HR we can educate our leadership to communicate with staff and be aware of what is important to each staff member. We must make sure management is aware of workload, levels of stress, and staff desires.

Remember that maintaining a staff member’s performance could be as easy as having a discussion about their personal goals or allowing them to leave work 30 minutes early on Wednesdays so they can take their daughter to ballet class. Employee job satisfaction is not always about $, be creative. Talk with your staff!

Guest blogger: Jessica van der Stad

The first break-out session I attended was “Employee Recruitment Best Practices: Face-to-Face and Through Social Media”. The session featured two excellent presenters, Laura Gassner Otting from the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group and Emily Davis, from EDA Consulting and YNPN San Diego.

I have met Emily before through other nonprofit conferences and her work with YNPN San Diego. For anyone who has not heard of YNPN or been to a networking event, I encourage you to check them out. At the very least, subscribe to their listserv as it a fantastic resource if you are involved in the nonprofit sector of San Diego. (Especially if you are hiring!)

Laura and Emily offered a great overview of the recruitment process that I found particularly interesting as I am in the process of taking a new position.

The ladies presented these steps:

1. Scoping the Position – Know exactly who you need to hire

2. Building a Diverse Pool – Engage in deep and diverse outreach to find active and passive jobseekers

3. Making Wiser Choices – Perform detailed interviews with potential candidates

4. Checking Your Instincts – Go with your gut feelings backed by substantial facts

5. Getting to Yes! – Make an offer in a timely matter, knowing the candidate will accept

6. On-boarding – Create a smooth transition for both new employees and existing ones

I think all too often employers forget to follow through with #6. The employee recruitment process does not end with the candidate accepting the offer. If the employee is not made to feel welcome and given the necessary resources to establish themselves in the new organization, the will lack commitment and ultimately end up moving on. The same goes for existing employees, if existing employees are not made to feel secure and involved with the change of leadership, they make consider looking elsewhere as well. I think this is especially true with upper-level position hires.

Unfortunately I was not able to stay for the second breakout session as the office was calling and I was on deadline to get the monthly newsletter out on time. I do, however, look forward to attending next year’s session as a more seasoned nonprofit manager.

Guest Blog post from: Jessica van der Stad

Last Wednesday I attended the Nonprofit Human Resources Management Symposium at the University of San Diego (USD). I truly am amazed at the quality and quantity of conferences USD hosts each year for the nonprofit community. The HR Symposium was another testament.

The Symposium announced the results from the 2010 Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey conducted by the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research and Nonprofit HR Solutions. Whether you are in the nonprofit HR field or not (myself being in the later category), the results of this survey are quite intriguing.

In the opening panel discussion, the 3 researchers (all USD Ph.D students) discussed the results of the study. I won’t go into too much detail as the entire survey can be purchased through Nonprofit HR Solutions.

In an overview – the survey reviewed the nonprofit employment practices of over 500 nonprofit organizations across the nation. The results are a representation across the sector by size, sub-sector, and location.

Key findings include:

• Staff Size and Projected Growth for 2010-2011
• Recruitment Strategies and Budgeting
• Key Staffing Challenges
• Staffing Resources and Management

The area I found particularly interesting was Recruitment Strategies. Most of us are familiar with the various free or low-cost web-based resources out there for recruiting new or replacement employees (Jobing, CraigsList, Idealist, CareerBuilder, etc.). I never realized, however, that for upper-level jobs, a more direct approach is also used.

Search Consultants (or more bluntly “headhunters”) are quite common in the for-profit hiring process. More recently, nonprofits have caught on to what large big-name corporations have known for decades: a professional search conducted by an outsider can turn up a larger pool of qualified applicants in a shorter period of time than a search performed by an in-house employee, as an addition to their normal job responsibilities.

To be quite honest, I am just not sure how I feel about such a process. A professional search seems to contradict the more personal culture that characterizes the nonprofit world. I only worked briefly in the for-profit sector, but the system of hierarchy and ruthlessness is the one reason I left.

I need and want to be passionate about my job. As many of you can attest, it is not about the paycheck, or the fancy office, it is about the mission and purpose of the organization. How can a search consultant, who ultimately has no personal connection to the organization, express that passion and find a candidate who shares it?

I have no doubt that a search consultant would be able to find a perfect candidate in regards to experience and skills. But without passion and commitment, the candidate would essentially fail in the organization regardless of their qualifications.

I would be intrigued to hear from anyone who has recruited or been recruited in the non-profit field from a professional “search consultant”. What was the experience like? Would you undergo the process again?

Date: June 16, 2010
Time: 1-5pm
Place: University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences
Cost: $50 - Click Here to Register

This symposium will be framed around results from the 2010 Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey conducted jointly by the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research and Nonprofit HR Solutions. This national survey of nonprofit employment practices provides insight from over 500 nonprofit organizations and is representative of nonprofit organizations across the sector by size, subsector, and location.

Key findings from the survey include data about:

• Staff Size and Projected Growth for 2010-2011
• Recruitment Strategies and Budgeting
• Key Staffing Challenges
• Staffing Resource Management

Following a panel discussion, attendees will be given the opportunity to attend smaller seminars conducted by nonprofit HR experts from San Diego and across the country and themed around the following issues.

Recruiting and Maintaining a Diverse Workforce (Lisa Morton, CEO, Nonprofit HR Solutions)

Pay for Performance (Joe Brown, Principal, Slope Resources)

Employee Recruitment Best Practices: Face-to-Face and Through Social Media (Laura Gassner Otting, CEO, Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group & Emily Davis, President, EDA Consulting, Founder and Board Chair, YNPN San Diego)

Essential Employment Law Practices For Non-profit Organizations: How To Avoid Getting Sued (Christopher Olmsted, Partner, Barker, Olmsted, and Barnier)

Risk Management Basics (Ann Shankin, Director of Loss Control, Nonprofits’ Insurance Alliance of California)

The Role of HR in your Organization and How it Impacts Employee Retention (Karen Kramer Horning, Principal Consultant, NextLevel HR)

Work with Me: Working Together Across Generations (Sherri Petro, President, VPI Strategies)

By Holly Hoffman, Doctoral Student and Volunteer, Caster Family Center for Nonprofit Research

The Sixth Annual Nonprofit Governance Symposium was held on Friday and Saturday, January 8-9, 2010 at USD. The symposium focused on helping attendees bring successful governance to their organizations.  Participants had the opportunity to attend sessions on a variety of topics including finance, collaboration, and social media.

In one session, the staff of the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit Research presented their research on current trends in the nonprofit sector.  Attendees learned the revised IRS 990 form now requires nonprofits to have policies and procedures on areas such as record retention, executive compensation and conflict of interest.

Here are some samples to use when writing these policies for your organization.  All samples are free except when otherwise noted.

• Whistleblower Protection (Also available from NCN)
  
• Conflict of Interest (Also available from the IRS)
• Executive Compensation
• Board Member Compensation (Fee)
• Record Retention and Document Destruction
• Gift Acceptance

Form 990 To-do list from Nonprofit Accounting.

Samples of other useful documents for nonprofit organizations such as board development plans and employee policies and procedures can be found on the Caster Center’s website.

The Caster Family Center for Nonprofit Research recently released a report about the impact of the economy on San Diego nonprofits.

The report and presentation can be found on the Caster Center website.

The event was covered by the Union Tribune and San Diego reader website.

Laura Deitrick, Director of the Caster Center was also featured on KPBS discussing the report.

GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS IMPACT ARTICLE

DECEMBER 2009

GEO ASKS: Janine Mason of the FIELDSTONE FOUNDATION

In this month’s GEO ASKS, we talk about coaching with Janine Mason, executive director of the Fieldstone Foundation. The foundation focuses on humanitarian issues, community and education, culture and arts, and Christian Ministries. It invests in organizations serving the communities where the Fieldstone homebuilding companies do business: Southern California, Salt Lake City and San Antonio. With a deep commitment to convening, collaboration and community building – as well as leadership development – the Fieldstone Foundation delivers support through financial grants and leadership training programs for nonprofit executives and staff. The Fieldstone Leadership Network was created in 1994 as a vehicle for peer learning and now includes 900 professionals. The network involves three programs: Executive Learning Groups, The Coaching Network, and Crossroads and Turning Points (an executive management and leadership seminar series). Our conversation focuses on The Coaching Network.

GEO ASKS: What inspired the Fieldstone Foundation to offer coaching for nonprofit leaders?

MASON: Almost 20 years ago, the CEO of the Fieldstone companies was involved in an executive learning program with other CEOs in homebuilding. It was the early 1990s and our industry was not doing well, but his involvement with this group helped him and our business considerably. We realized that providing a similar program for nonprofit leaders would be a creative way for the Foundation to support our communities. We launched the Fieldstone Leadership Network in 1994 in partnership with nonprofit professionals as a vehicle for peer learning. It was an immediate success, but our participants wanted more. We expanded to include an emerging leaders program and, in 1996, a coaching program as well.

GEO ASKS: How does The Coaching Network work?

MASON: Our coaches are all graduates of the Fieldstone Executive Learning Groups. They’ve received rigorous training in consultative coaching – and they get ongoing support through quarterly meetings. The coach is matched with another executive director, the “coachee,” and the pair commit to 12 months of confidential, one-on-one meetings. They address personal and professional issues. They problem solve. They plan for the future – for the coachee as well as the coachee’s organization. There’s real flexibility built into the program but we stipulate that the coaching team meets in a neutral place and for at least four hours per month. The program includes organizational self-assessment tools and a 360 degree professional assessment and feedback from the Center for Creative Leadership.

GEO ASKS: What makes a great coach?

MASON: Great coaches have significant leadership experience. They are respected in the community for their experience, professionalism and trustworthiness. Great coaches have quite broad and flexible views of problem solving. They’re strong listeners – they’re “ask assertive” not “tell assertive.” The best coaches do not try to solve problems for their coachees. Rather, they serve as sounding boards and apply critical thinking to the problems. They ask questions, they probe and they create a supportive intellectual environment where the coachees can think through what their options are.

GEO ASKS: And what makes a great coachee?

MASON: Great coachees are leaders who want to learn. They are genuinely interested in the process. They’re willing to devote the necessary time to the experience and honor the commitment over the long term.

GEO ASKS: How do you make your matches?

MASON: The match has a little bit of magic in it. I can explain what we do to make the matches, but I can’t always explain the magic. We have an application that gives us basic information about the coachees and their organizations, issues, priorities and goals for the coaching program. Then we have two facilitators who review these applications and call all of the applicants. The facilitators spend quality time on the phone digging a little deeper, exploring special requests, understanding learning styles, and identifying any constraints and opportunities the applicants envision.

After we make the match, we meet with our coaches and discuss the assignments. We invite feedback from our team and have the opportunity to make changes based on knowledge about the participants and their organizations that other team members might have.

We’ve found that the most successful matches place coaches in situations a bit outside of their element. If the coach and coachee work in different fields, we find that coaches are less likely to try to do direct problem solving. They’re forced to use theory and questions instead, and both the coach and coachee end up learning more.

GEO ASKS: What’s the connection between the Fieldstone Foundation’s coaching program and its grantmaking?

MASON: From the outset, we were very deliberate as a grantmaker that our grantmaking and leadership development programs were distinct, with no bridge between the two. We didn’t want people to think they could sign up for a Fieldstone Leadership Network program and get their foot in the door for a grant. This would be a disaster for the coaching program since, as I mentioned, coaching only works for people who are sincere and authentic about wanting to develop their leadership style and knowledge.

GEO ASKS: What kind of investment has this required from the foundation?

MASON: Coaching is really cost effective. All of our coaches are volunteers. Many of them have participated in a Fieldstone Leadership Network program and want an opportunity to give back to the foundation and help someone else benefit as they feel they did. We do hold trainings for our coaches every other year, and pay those facilitators. We also pay for the 360 degree review from the Center for Creative Leadership. We invest foundation staff time in meeting with our coaches so that we, as a foundation, stay engaged with the work. And we also hire our facilitators to conduct phone conversations with the coaches and coachees.

But we do all of this of The Coaching Network for less than $5,000 per year.

GEO ASKS: Why have you and the foundation stuck with this work for so long?

MASON: It’s fabulous, deeply rewarding work. We are a small private foundation, and this program has an impact greater than anything we could ever buy. Our commitment to coaching reflects Fieldstone’s grantmaking values. We’re relational. We wanted to support the sector by helping to develop and support leaders. We know that it can be very lonely at the top.

Our greatest success has been in nourishing communities – nonprofit professionals who know, trust and learn from one another. These relationships continue and deepen over years, and even decades, and the ripple effect is profound. The community we build is really a spider web of relationships. Coaches are connected to coachees, but also to other coaches. Coachees often want to become coaches and then start building that network and those relationships. The new connections strengthen the primary and the secondary relationships.

We’re not just giving away knowledge. We’re building communities. For any grantmaker deeply committed to a specific community, coaching is worth exploring.

GEO ASKS: What’s your favorite coaching success story?

MASON: I’m not sure I have a favorite, but I’ll tell you one of the most recent successes, and one that really gets at this issue of community building.

At our last quarterly meeting with our coaches, the struggle of the work was heavy in the air. It wasn’t just a room full of coaches. These are all senior nonprofit leaders, working long days running organizations, delivering services, raising money. It was a great meeting and we were about to conclude when one participant turned to a colleague and asked, “Are you okay?” It triggered a conversation, with everyone contributing. The group ended up staying and talking – and coaching each other – for another two hours. When these leaders finally walked out of that room, they looked like physically different people.

The coaching program allows coaches to help their coachees. But they also are helping each other as a group. And what happened in that room is, I think, a metaphor for what happens out in the field. We’re building community, support, knowledge sharing and trust. The relationships created help provide the energy and camaraderie our nonprofit leaders need to succeed in their work. The Fieldstone Foundation feels lucky to be part of that.

Janine Mason is executive director of the Fieldstone Foundation. Fieldstone Foundation is actively seeking other foundations that would be interested in bringing these types of leadership development programs to their communities. To discuss possible partnerships, contact Janine Mason at 858.404.8056 or JANINEM AT FIELDSTONEFOUNDATION DOT ORG