by Susan Detwiler | Aug 25, 2010 | nonprofit, philanthropy
When I was growing up, any time I wanted to prove that the fact I had just spouted was true, all I needed to tell my Dad was that I’d read it in the New York Times. I’m pretty sure he knew that sometimes I just said that to get him off my back, but there’s no doubt that a trusted outside source can still go a long way toward bolstering your case.
Take, for instance, dealing with a board of directors that’s reluctant to try something new, or when a director or volunteer questions your wise counsel.
For example, I’ve advised several smaller nonprofits to accept online donations. There’s the usual grumbling about security concerns and that credit cards take too much out of the donation. But pointing to studies that show the advances in credit card and online donations go a long way to convincing the nay-sayers.
This study by Blackbaud (The Blackbaud Index of Online Giving) is a good one to show your reluctant boards. It’s particularly good to show to small and medium-sized nonprofits, whose peers had their online contributions increase by an average of 7%, year -over-year.
Personal experience, industry knowledge and good research is a hard combination to refute.
by Susan Detwiler | Aug 13, 2010 | management, nonprofit
Ever read or hear a statement that just begs to be quoted? When it happens to me, I may not know when I’ll use it, but it’s just so appropriate to something that I have to write it down. I may be watching TV or a movie with my husband, or reading a novel. It may be in a nonfiction book or a random sentence in a magazine.
This time, it was a line in an early episode of the FOX drama, Bones. Dr. Walker, head of the fictitious Jeffersonian Institute, was finally fed up. He had already explained, many times, the priorities of a case to his extremely intelligent and all-too-eager-to-argue staff. He had other constituents to serve; he knew what had to be done, and he had to ensure their completion.
I’m not saying please, I’m not being reasonable, I’m making the decision, he declared, and walked out of the room.
Harsh. However, in a situation when someone has to stop the wheels from spinning, the executive makes that decision. Definitely, concretely, and in no uncertain terms. There may be fallout, but the job of the executive is to make the hard decisions and anticipate and mitigate any negative effects.
It’s not fun to be the dictator, but as Dr. Walker (or the show’s writers) illustrated, it is sometimes part of the job.
What hard decisions have you had to make on behalf of your organization? What might have happened if you hadn’t stepped up and taken charge?
by Susan Detwiler | Apr 20, 2010 | miscellaneous, nonprofit, philanthropy
So many possibilities in each of our futures. The Association of Fundraising Professionals was a great conference for confronting some of these possibilities. So here’s an invittion to think about it. Thoughtful Philanthropist
by Susan Detwiler | Apr 5, 2010 | miscellaneous
Congratulations, you’re about to end the meeting on time. But wait! Before you adjourn, you have one more task.
Set up the follow-up.
Successful follow-up is when everyone does what they’re supposed to do, based on what happened at the meeting. That means:
- Set up the follow-up
- Make sure there are good minutes
- Personally contact each person with an assignment
Set up the follow-up. This happens AT the meeting, before adjournment. Make sure everyone is clear on his or her assigned task. A quick itemization works: Joe, you’re going to meet with the Mayor. Sandy, you’re going to prepare an announcement about the new mission statement we just approved. Mary, you’re going to work with the bookkeeper, get her up to speed on the credit card process, and test it before it goes live.
Next, assign a ˜buddy’ to make sure that everyone who wasn’t at the meeting will be contacted and brought up to speed: Jack, can you call Mark and let him know what happened tonight? Jean, can you get with Judy? etc. It’s a great way to reinforce that this was an important meeting. Things actually happened here and you think it’s important that your nonattendees are also in the know.
Now you can go home. But you’re not home free.
Make sure there are good minutes. Minutes are the records of your actions and assignments. They’re not verbatim recitations of every word. Instead, they provide a sense of what occurred and what the group decided. If you follow the agenda, the minutes can record a) whether a discussion ensued, b) any motions that were made, c) the results of any votes, and d) any assignments that were made.
Any action items and decisions should be set off in some way, often in bold italics. At the end, reiterate any action items, so you and your attendees have a single place to look them all up quickly.
Don’t reiterate information items! Attach committee reports and financial reports, and reference them.
Next, as committee/board chair, take those action items in the minutes and get moving. It’s your job to be in touch with everyone who is supposed to do something! Make sure they:
- Know what they’re supposed to do
- Have the resources they need
- Know the timeline
- Can report at the next meeting
As a final follow-up, at least a week before the next meeting, contact them again.
- Make sure they’ll have a report in time to be distributed at least 3 days BEFORE the next meeting
- Ask how much time they need at the next meeting.
- Use that information to start creating the next agenda.
Then¦.start the process again.
Congratulations…with this follow-up, you’ve completed a full cycle of creating a well-run, productive meeting. You’ve figured out why you’re meeting, and who should be there. You’ve set up the meeting to be successful. You’ve created a timed agenda — and stuck to it. You’ve made sure that the time spent at the meeting is productive. You’ve allowed everyone to have a voice. You’ve ensured that the decisions and assignments will be completed.
Be proud! And pass it forward. Your successors will be in a much better place for your having paved the way.
My colleague, Susan Sherk, and I are presenting more detail on meeting management at the International Association of Fundraising Professionalsmeeting in Baltimore, on April 12, 2010. Join us in BUZZ Theatre, and then meet us at the Bloom Metz Consulting exhibit!
by Susan Detwiler | Mar 17, 2010 | management, miscellaneous, nonprofit
Cheating the Meeting Reaper : Avoiding Death by Meeting IV
Let’s see¦right place, right time, right people, few topics, timed agenda¦what else do you need for a good meeting?
Aha! Control! Yes, all the good intentions in the world aren’t going to keep your meeting on track. This is the job of [pause for effect] Super Leader!
All kidding aside, the meeting chair is responsible for keeping the meeting on track. In a board meeting, that’s the President. In a committee meeting, it’s the committee Chair. Make no mistake, though, someone has to be in charge, and that someone has to make it known that he or she is in charge.
Start on time. This simple step sets the stage, and lets the attendees know you mean business. Don’t wait until everyone gets here. It’s discourteous to the people who came on time, and encourages everyone to dawdle. A corollary to this rule is: Don’t go over what’s already been covered in order to bring people up to speed. It takes up time, and rewards the dawdlers. Eventually, attendees will learn that they have to get to the meetings on time.
Assign a Queue Keeper. When discussions ensue, this is a way to keep order among the many people who want to speak. We all know committee members who dominate discussions. Those who rarely speak up may find their voices trampled by the dominant speakers. The solution is to have a designated Queue Keeper. Each attendee who wants to speak raises a hand and the QK puts his/her name on the list; each person has an opportunity to speak in turn. This method serves several purposes.
- Each person is assured of an opportunity to speak.
- People no longer have to spend their attention and energy getting noticed. Instead, they spend their time actually listening to the other participants in the discussion.
- Because there is time between wanting to speak and when that thought will be spoken, people jot down their ideas so they won’t forget them. This means that when they do speak their minds, their contributions are more concise and precise.
Using a Queue Keeper may feel awkward the first few times, but the benefits will soon be apparent to everyone.
Stick to the timed agenda. Periodically reference the agenda and the time, so attendees are also aware of its status. If you’ve slightly misjudged the amount of time it will take to get through a subject, there may be some slack elsewhere. But if a topic starts getting very lengthy, act appropriately. There are four main possibilities.
- The subject warrants more serious discussion than originally thought. In that case, table the topic until the next meeting, when you can give it the attention it deserves.
- Attendees are repeating previously made points. Here, the Chair has to stop the discussion by saying, does anyone have anything new to contribute? If not, will someone call the question?
- There isn’t enough information to really come to a conclusion, and the discussion is spinning its wheels. In this case, the Chair has to stop the discussion and put it back to committee “ either the originating committee or an ad hoc committee for this particular topic.
- Rarely, you may have a fourth situation. You may encounter an urgent question for which a lot of discussion still needs to take place. In this case, you can decide to drop a later agenda item, or conclude that a specially called meeting for this particular topic should happen very soon.
The important thing to keep in mind is to give each agenda item the appropriate attention. Big items should be given enough time for productive, substantive thought and discussion.
Of course, in the case of committee reports, an agenda item may take too much time because the speaker is running over. Then the Chair should politely, but firmly, ask how much longer this will be since we have many items to cover, and request only the highlights. As a committee report, the information should have been sent out in advance anyway, and the speaker should only be hitting highlights unless a vote is needed.
Finally, end on time! Meeting management is not rocket science, but it does take control. It means the Chair should be firm and consistent. There may be an occasional grumble the first few times you stop a discussion. But when your meeting ends in 90 minutes, instead of 2 and a half hours, your attendees will thank you!
Only one more topic left in Cheating the Meeting Reaper! Follow-up. Stay tuned.
My colleague, Susan Sherk, and I are presenting more detail on meeting management at the International Association of Fundraising Professionals meeting in Baltimore, on April 12, 2010. Join us, and then meet us at the Bloom Metz Consulting exhibit!
Recent Comments