by Susan Detwiler | Jan 20, 2024 | governance, nonprofit, recruitment, sustainability
credit: John Quidor
Blog Post Updated 1/20/2024
In Washington Irving’s story of Rip Van Winkle, old Rip goes off hunting to the mountains, encounters supernatural beings, drinks of their keg of brew, and falls asleep. Upon awakening, he returns home, only to find that 20 years have passed and the country is no longer beholden to King George III but is instead a republic with George Washington at the helm.
Imagine yourself, 20 years from now, returning to the nonprofit of which you are a part. Would you recognize it? Is the mission the same? Are its values the same? Would you still want to support it?
Organizations review their missions regularly; that’s a good thing. Nonprofits must evolve over time or risk irrelevance. But there is a difference between evolving to better serve the greater vision and doing a complete about-face on what that greater vision is.
This is the imperative of board recruitment: Do your new directors aspire to the original vision of the institution? If not, the organization may, in the words of Nonprofit Quarterly, be hijacked.
Consider the American Bible Society, which moved from a nonsectarian mission to distribute bibles to one that overtly espouses an evangelical point of view. As Ruth McCambridge relates, the move has been gradual, but appears caused by having individuals with a particular point of view on the board. These individuals in turn recruited like-minded other directors, until board level decisions began reflecting their particular view, affecting all their programs and policies.
This very clear example is a cautionary tale.
Whom your board recruits today affects what your organization looks like 20 years from now. Each successive board moves the institution forward, and the tiny shifts build up over time.
Diversity of viewpoints keep the organization from shifting too far in one direction or another. The vibrant discussions that diversity leads to is one factor in ensuring that each decision is thoroughly examined. Diversity of experience, viewpoints, skills and aptitudes keeps organizations relevant. It’s also a way to keep the vision front and center.
Recruitment is a fiduciary responsibility and a crucial investment in your future.
Sign up here for other hints about building a great board, or balancing growth and caution. Or if you want a no-obligation conversation about board relations, let me know.
by Susan Detwiler | Mar 2, 2020 | leadership, nonprofit, Planning
Do you have a contingency plan?Â
Are you prepared for coronavirus disruption?
Talk about Covid-19, aka Coronavirus, is in the news, on our lips, in our social media feed, and on our minds.
It’s also on the minds of people running companies, preparing for when staff may be cut in half as the virus runs its course.
Is it on YOUR mind?Â
It should be. Demand for your services may go up just as your staff is out sick. Attendance at exhibits and shows will decline. Staff will request working from home. Your special event may need to be cancelled.
This article in Inc. magazine focuses on how businesses are planning to cope with the disruption, but the message needs to be heard by nonprofits as well: Supply Stashes, Temperature Checks, and Coronavirus ‘Czars’: How Companies Are Preparing to Keep Employees Healthy and Business Strong
Now is the time for boards and executives to focus on how you will cope as the virus spreads. If it turns out you don’t need your contingency plan, that’s even better. And now you’ll have one for the future.
Do you have a contingency plan? Are you carving out time to plan for a potential epidemic? Share it! And if you see an article you think everyone should read, please send it on.
More eyes – more articles – more wisdom!
Susan Detwiler
by Susan Detwiler | Feb 2, 2020 | collaboration, nonprofit
Anchor institution? Small and scrappy arts organization? Can working together vitalize both?
“Anchor institutions†are the major, long-standing nonprofit organizations. Hospitals, universities, United Way, community foundations. They work hard to be engines of growth for their communities, often buying from local and/or minority and/or women-owned businesses, re-purposing old buildings, employing more local individuals. Economic drivers.
But what about the arts?
This article from Non-Profit Quarterly shows that anchor institutions frequently ignore cultural-, social-, and community-based methods of building up the community. Meanwhile, arts and cultural institutions such as museums, artist groups and specialty theater groups, have been using non-economic methods for years.
Cultural institutions – especially smaller, younger ones — also struggle to revitalize their communities while avoiding gentrification.
In the words of the author, “with an explicit equity focus, this result can be avoided.â€Â Anchor institutions and cultural institutions can learn from each other.
Regardless of which kind of nonprofit you are – a large, anchor institution or a cultural institution – if one of your strategic goals is to build a stronger, vital community, this article has food for thought.
If a you want to have a board session to assess your role in revitalization – or any other aspect of planning — please let me know. I’m happy to talk.
Watch for more posts about important articles. If you see an article you think everyone should read, please send it on. Or if you want to talk about facilitation, governance or planning for your organization, I’d love to have that conversation.
More eyes – more articles – more wisdom!
-Susan Detwiler
by Susan Detwiler | Jan 5, 2020 | governance, mission, work
I love Erin Rubin‘s article in Nonprofit Quarterly: Libraries, in a Move for Equity, Scrap Late Fees.
First, because I have an affinity for libraries and I love watching them evolve with the times.
Second, because it has an important message for every nonprofit:
Are you living your mission?
“At their midwinter meeting in 2019, the American Library Association issued a resolution stating the imposition of monetary library fines creates a barrier to the provision of library and information services,†and recommended that libraries “move towards actively eliminating them.
Late fees are antithetical to the mission of a public library. Late fees are a barrier to providing free and open access for all patrons, especially to low-income individuals.
It’s an interesting innovation for libraries with a profound message for all nonprofits.
When was the last time you looked at your processes and procedures to see if they fit with your mission? What are you doing as ‘business as usual,’ that is actually at odds with the impact you want to have?
You can use this example from libraries across the United States to introduce the idea to your board and staff. What are WE doing out of habit or received wisdom ™ that we should eliminate or change?
If this article has provoked some thought, please let me know. If you bring it up to your staff or board, I’d love to hear how it’s received.
And if another article has caught your eye and made you think, pass it on.
More eyes, more wisdom.
Susan Detwiler
by Susan Detwiler | Dec 16, 2019 | innovation, nonprofit
I don’t know how to use the information in this Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) article. But it’s intriguing enough that I wanted to bring it to YOUR attention.
Local Government Artist-in-Residence Programs Must Include Opportunities for Public Sector Innovation.
The premise is that having artists at the table enhances the work of civil servants, policy makers and public sector employees. Policies and programs can be more innovative by having creatives participate in developing them.
The authors suggest that governments move the “artist-in-residence†concept away from the narrow field of a particular medium. Instead, have them use their creativity to develop new ways of looking at ideas and projects.
The rapid change of society requires creative responses.
As I read the article, I started thinking about how this could be applied to nonprofits of all kinds. Can bringing artists onto the board bring another level of creativity to planning? And even though many arts and cultural institutions are founded by creative people, they may stray too far from the origins and remove all artists from the board. And the rapid change of society needs creative responses.
This is an article worth reading and musing about. I hope you agree.
Susan Detwiler
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