Board response to the economic meltdown

A recent article advocates that with the financial difficulties confronting nonprofits now, it is an important time for board chairs to recognize their critical role in guiding their organizations. The author, Terrie Temkin, advocates that now is the time to call a special meeting to discuss the issue and to keep the conversation focused on strategic issues (not budget cuts...the ED should do that work). Here are suggested discussion questions:

• How well are you meeting your key commitments to the community?
• Are some of your programs and services more closely aligned with your vision and values than others?
• Which, if any, of your programs and services pay for themselves?
• What is the relationship between the financially viable programs and the programs most closely aligned with your vision and values?
• If you were starting the organization over from scratch tomorrow, what would the organization look like?
• Where have you been focusing the majority of your resources? Why?
• Where should you be focusing your resources given the financial picture and its impact not only on your organization but on your clients?
• If your revenue streams are not as diversified as they should be, what can you do today to change that?
• Should you consider merging with another organization or sharing backroom services?
• If so, with what organizations should you be talking and what might you propose?

How you are you responding to the current financial challenges? Is your board proactively discussing these issues?

Turmoil has prompted decision-makers to think outside the box office

A recent article in the LA Times relates how economic turmoil is pushing arts organizations to be more creative in their revenue generating efforts. Confronted with the challenges ahead, now would appear to be a good time to try a new approach or new idea. We know our bailout for the nonprofit sector isn't forthcoming, but in difficult times, creativity can flourish. Have you thought about new ways of raising money for your nonprofit? How do you plan to adapt in the next 12 months?

Nuts and Bolts of Building Your Nonprofit

If you are an employee or board member of a nonprofit organization, you may benefit from attending this 2008 workshop series: The Nuts and Bolts of Building Your Nonprofit. This comprehensive series consists of eight classes led by experts, covering fund development, marketing, employee benefits packages, municipal grants, creating a non-profit organization, accountability trends, program evaluation and fund development research tools.
Co-sponsored by the Southeast Steuben County Library and the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, with assistance from Three Rivers Development Corporation, the morning and afternoon workshops will be held from September 23 through December 10 in Corning, NY. Thanks to the generous financial support of the Community Foundation, which has supplemented class costs, the fee for each session is minimal: $5.
For the complete course schedule, plus registration information, please click here.

ED Group Planning Meeting Set for Oct 23

Save the Date! The Council of Community Services of New York State (CCSNYS) and The Institute for Human Services (IHS) would like to invite nonprofit executive directors in Steuben, Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler, and Yates Counties to a planning meeting regarding the formation of an executive directors group in the Southern Tier. The Oct 23 meeting is a follow up to a recent survey and will be hosted by the Institute for Human Services, 6666 County Road 11 in Bath at 10:30 am. The meeting agenda will include: a discussion of the recent survey results; overview of other executive directors groups and their structure; and next steps for a possible regional group. Interested in attending?

Register Here!

State and Local Funding Program

The Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County is hosting a forum, "Outlook for 2009 State and Local Funding", on Thursday July 17th from 1-3pm at the Tompkins County Public Library in Ithaca. Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, Tompkins County Legislature Chair Michael Koplinka-Loehr, Budget and Capital Committee Chair Nathan Shinagawa, County Administrator Steve Whicher, and George P. Ferrari, Jr. the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County will be facilitating the event.

This is an interesting and timely forum, especially with the funding challenges ahead. Perhaps the group would like to explore the possibility of holding a program with a similar focus in the future.

Share Your Feedback on an Executive Directors Group!

The Council of Community Services of NYS (CCSNYS) and The Institute for Human Services (IHS) have formed a new partnership. As a part of this partnership, IHS is now a CCSNYS association member. Now when your organization joins or rejoins IHS, you will also receive a CCSNYS membership (2 for 1). CCSNYS and IHS are also working together to convene an Executive Directors Group for the Southern Tier. Please take a few minutes to share your feedback by completing the survey. Thank you for your time and consideration.

The Young and The Restless

The Chronicle of Philanthropy's latest article on leadership does a great job of pulling together the loose ends of the debate around succession planning and leadership that nobody really wants to talk about...

"Younger people talk much less about a crisis in people retiring,
younger leaders think the crisis is that existing organizations are getting
stale. The nonprofit sector has been incredibly neglectful about innovating
for leadership."

The leadership deficit - and the discord between current leadership's definition of how to "lead" their nonprofit and the "up and comers" definition about what it takes to lead a successful nonprofit in a new environment is driving studies, articles, websites, and over 40,000 results on a recent GoodSearch query!

Only 1 in 3 young nonprofit workers aspire to become an Executive Director. What is keeping young leaders from wanting to ascend to the "power position"?

1. The work is long and hard - are there ways to work smarter and achieve greater success? They think so. Have you talked to them lately?


2. The leadership models never change - what can we do to attack the "way it's always been done" mentality? How can you slot new leaders into existing positions when new skill sets may not "fit" perceived "old" needs?


3. There's no future in it - there's no clear career map for current leaders' retirement plans (many say they will take other jobs in the sector) or future leaders career "ladder" ( "I've got to tell you the truth. I'm under 30. Are you going to give me a shot?")
   

The dialogue is picking up some steam. The Institute for Human Services in Bath is focusing their annual conference on leadership and succession planning. Syracuse is also doing a good job of engaging young voices in the community revitalization process...The Young Nonprofit Professionals Network is out there supporting new leaders - and everyone is allowed to be on the listserv. If you're a current nonprofit leader, why not join this group - listen in on the conversations?

What is going on in your region?