Category Archives: Nonprofit/NGO/Agency Management

I’m a volunteer & you should just be GRATEFUL I’m here!

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On a LinkedIn group, someone asked for a resource to help with volunteer evaluations (forms, policies, etc.). A couple of folks, myself included, responded with some references/resources.

And then came these two comments:

(1)
Volunteers generally do not expect to be evaluated, after all, they are doing the organization a favor.

(2)
As someone who has volunteered in over 30 organizations in a large array of positions, some with intense responsibility, if I had to be vetted each time I volunteered, I would never do any of it. In fact, if I had been appraised, they probably would have disqualified me in the first place when in actuality, I did better than some of their paid and “experienced” staff. It is not worth my time to go through that nonsense, I am a volunteer for goodness sakes. Whenever someone imposes requirements, I just walk away. I have sat on advisory boards of non-profit organizations, as well, and have been entrusted with finances, operations, etc., if they had said you will have to go through some job interview hoops, I would have just laughed and also kept my wallet closed to any further contributions.

Volunteer managers have been working to raise the standards of volunteer involvement schemes for a few decades now, often with success. Yet, there are still oh-so-many entitlement volunteers, those folks who think organizations should take ANY volunteer and whatever that volunteer offers, and simply be grateful for what they get. No standards, no quality control, no performance measurements when it comes to volunteers. To demand quality from volunteers is insulting.

For me, as a volunteer management practitioner and someone who is committed to the success of nonprofit organizations and NGOs, I’m only to happy to show those people the door. I don’t need nor want their services as a volunteer. My organization — and those it serves — deserve better.

Nonprofit organizations are businesses. They aren’t there to be nice, they are there because they are necessary. A nonprofit has a mission — to house stray animals and reduce pet over-population, to present quality, professional theater performances, to educate people about HIV/AIDS, to provide care for victims of domestic violence, to keep a local environment clean, to help family farms survive even the worst economic times, to keep a state park clean and vibrant and accessible, and on and on. For a nonprofit, that mission trumps everything else — including the egos of entitlement volunteers. Nonprofit organizations have very limited resources to meet their mission, and they cannot waste those resources waiting and hoping entitlement volunteers maybe possibly might spare some time this week to staff the information booth at the local fair or come to the board meeting or counsel clients or attend a training or coach a youth soccer team or lead a childcare class or raise the money they have committed to raise or follow the rules.

Let’s say it again: volunteers are not free. An organization has to expend a lot of time and resources to involve volunteers. Organizations have to provide at least one staff member to supervise volunteer work and ensure volunteers don’t do any harm. Staff has to develop activities for volunteers to do — activities that often would be probably be cheaper and done more quickly by staff themselves. The organization has to monitor the volunteers and record their progress to the board and donors. And they must make sure the work volunteers undertake is of the quality and type the organization’s clients deserve.

Therefore, organizations want the people who volunteer to be worth all that investment of time and money. They want volunteers to take their commitment seriously, finish what they’ve started, and continue to support the organization, as volunteers and, maybe, as donors. They don’t want volunteers who aren’t going to show up, who do substandard work, who won’t be on time, who won’t follow policies and procedures, and who will reduce the trust and respect clients, donors and partner organizations have for the organization — those volunteers not only aren’t worth the effort, they aren’t worth the damage they may do.

When I am in charge of recruiting and screening volunteers, I have raised the bar high for applications – and the higher I have raised the bar for new volunteers, the more strict I’ve been regarding standards, the more hoops I’ve required volunteers to jump through with regard to reporting and work quality:

  • the less volunteer recruiting I have to do
  • the fewer conflicts among and with volunteers I’ve had to deal with
  • the fewer volunteers that drop out mid-assignment
  • the fewer volunteers I’ve had to let go (in fact, I’ve had to fire a volunteer just once)
  • the higher the quality of the volunteers contributions
  • the happier volunteers have been (based on their comments and how long they volunteer)
  • the less time I spend trying to put together reports showing volunteer effectiveness (because they provide the information automatically; I always have the information on hand, ready when needed)
  • the less time I have to spend trying to restore the faith of clients, staff and the general public in the work of the organization, and in volunteers in general, because of volunteer missteps

Nonprofit staff should never be afraid to say no to an offer of volunteer services. They should remember that their organizations and those they serve deserve the very best when it comes to services, including services provided by volunteers. And there are plenty of people out there ready to jump through your hoops and commit to quality volunteer service — and have their own service evaluated.

A version of this blog appeared 11 August 2010

Also see:

Corporate Volunteer Programs: What Do Nonprofits Want From Them?

In defense of skills over passion

No more warm, fuzzy language to talk about volunteers!

Can Komen recover?

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No matter how you feel about abortion services or Planned Parenthood, you have to agree that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation handled its decision-making and communications regarding its defunding of Planned Parenthood very, very poorly:

  • They did not discuss the decision with their affiliates, let alone involve those affiliates in the decision. Some of the affiliates (Oregon and Connecticut, and perhaps more) even issued press releases after the Komen headquarters announcement asking for their HQ to reconsider. When your organization’s own affiliates are asking PUBLICLY for you to reconsider a decision, you have made a grave error.
  • They gave contradictory statements about why they were defunding Planned Parenthood. Sometimes they said it was because of a new policy not to fund any organization under investigation by state or federal authorities – yet they had no plans to discontinue funding for Penn State! They said the decision wasn’t political, nor because they had hired a dedicated, outspoken advocate against the right to abortion services – Karen Handel – who retweeted this on her Twitter account, contradicting Komen’s statements about this NOT being a political decision:

Scaled

The original image from Lisa McIntire

Today, Komen somewhat reversed its decision regarding Planned Parenthood, but left the door open to stop funding the organization after the current funding cycle. It has not gone unnoticed that Komen has also stopped funding stem cell research. It has also has not gone unnoticed that Karen Handel is still a senior vice president at the Komen foundation.

This PR nightmare is not over for the Komen foundation. Can the foundation rebuild trust with the thousands of women who are saying they will never support the organization again? Can it successfully make this switch in its work, avoiding any organization that garners criticisms from far-right religious advocates, and therefore be the target of women’s rights advocates?

How should have Komen handled both this decision and the communications of such? Or is there any way for them to have done this without suffering such massive fallout with so many (now) former supporters? Share in the comments section here.

Also see: How to Handle Online Criticism.

Volunteerism-related research wish list for 2012

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I’ve blogged about what I learned or relearned in 2011 that I want to take into 2012.

Now, here’s a wish list for volunteerism-related research that I hope organizations like the Independent Sector, any ARNOVA members, The Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR), and others will delve into in 2012:

  • what are the top three factors are that keep nonprofits, NGOs, schools and other mission-based organizations from involving more volunteers
  • what are the top three factors are that these organizations feel affect their retaining of volunteers
  • if these organizations honestly believe their volunteer force needs to represent a diversity of ages, cultures and backgrounds; and if so, why, and if not, why not
  • what training all staff at an organization need in order to involve more volunteers and better support volunteers (not just the person in charge of recruiting and managing volunteers)
  • how these organizations know if their volunteer engagement is successful or not, how they define that “success”, how they know if there is a problem, etc.
  • how often these organizations revisit and revise their employee, volunteer and client policies with an eye, specifically, to safety of each of those groups
  • if such organizations have an online discussion group or intranet for their volunteers (would love to know how many have such versus how many don’t), and if they do, how they view the group’s effectiveness as a way to communicate with volunteers

I would love to know, through a survey of volunteers:

  • how many read and send email most every day
  • how many use Twitter
  • how many use Facebook
  • how many would feel comfortable using Facebook, Twitter or any social media as a part of their volunteering, versus those that would NOT want to do so (I’m hearing from many volunteers who are saying they do NOT want to mix the two)

I’ve already offered what I would love for someone to research re: microvolunteering, that I think would actually be of value to the charity sector.

If anyone does actually do this kind of research – as opposed to the oh-so-tired what motivates volunteers research that I AM SO TIRED OF – I will be happy to promote your work every way I can, because this research is needed. Greatly needed. We thirst for this data… I would dance for this data…

And for individual nonprofits, NGOs, schools and other mission-based organizations involving volunteers: why not create a free survey on SurveyMonkey and find out for yourself what volunteers are thinking about your organization, what Internet tools they use, what tools they might like to use with your organization, etc.? And share what you find? Your volunteers will see it as volunteer recognition.

Survival Strategies for Nonprofits

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I’ve seen two blogs in the last two weeks regarding survival strategies for nonprofit organizations (NPOs), non-governmental organizations, (NGOs), community based organizations (CBOs), charities, etc., per the current dire economic climate.

I was unimpressed with both of them. They were all big picture ideas that lacked specifics (Refine your mission! or Merge with another organization!). Mission-based organizations are looking for ideas to do next week, to save or make money now.

These blogs also talked about volunteers only in terms of saving money – get volunteers to do those things that, in better economic times, you would pay someone to do.

So I came up with my own ideas, based on what I’ve experienced or observed at other organizations, to help a mission-based organization survive these tough economic times:

  • Make sure your web site and all of your social media activities emphasize what your organization is accomplishing, in detail, rather than your desperate need for funds. If someone looks at your web site, it should exude impact and results, not desperation. People and organizations are cutting back on donations, but they are NOT eliminating giving altogether; they want to give where they know their money will make a real difference. If your web site & social media activities aren’t emphasizing results and opportunities, and isn’t showing exactly what donations pay for, you are regularly missing out on donations.
  • Are you charging for activities and services as you should? For instance:
    • Organizing an activity for a group of volunteers from the local branch of a national bank requires a huge amount of time and resources on your part, often to create an activity that your own employees could do more efficiently or an activity that’s actually not critical to the organization – the activity is to give the group a feel-good experience, but it’s at your expense. Are you charging the corporation a fee, even a small amount, to cover some or all of these costs? Be ready to show a detailed lists of what the costs are for your organization to create this group volunteering activity.
    • Corporations frequently ask nonprofits to collaborate on a project, to advise the company on an activity, such as the development of new software or the launching of an event. For anything that is going to require staff to spend more than an hour on a corporation’s project, ask the corporation to cover the staff person’s time. Consider this: if you wanted the company to do a project for your organization, they would most probably charge you for that service – so why not ask them for the same consideration?
    • What about training for volunteers – what are the exact costs of this, and should you be asking volunteers to pay for some of these costs, even a small amount? Would a corporation be willing to give you a donation in return for saying that they “sponsor” all volunteer training?
  • Does your organization have a service or activity it could sell, for a fee? For instance,
    • If you are a women’s shelter that involves volunteers as counselors to victims of domestic violence, could you market the training you provide to these volunteers to local businesses, corporations and large government offices, as professional development for their employees? Those organizations could pay to have your trainer come onsite to their companies and train their staff regarding recognizing domestic violence, how to make referrals if they see an employee in need, etc.
    • If you are an animal shelter, would area dog trainers be willing to come onsite for a seminar on pet safety or pet training, providing their one-day training for free, with the seminar fee going to your shelter, and the trainers being allowed to pass out advertising about their training to attendees?
    • Do you charge even a nominal fee to those that want to use your company lunch room or common room bulletin board to advertise local services? (restaurants, pet boarding, printing, apartment finders, etc.).
    • Do you have a large space you could rent to other organizations and companies for events, meetings or storage?
  • Ask employees and volunteers for ways to cut expenses in the coming weeks and the coming months. Have them look at their individual program and department budgets and come back to you with ideas of ways to eliminate expenses. Let them submit ideas on-the-record and anonymously. Open ideas up to discussion (on a private online discussion group, for instance, or over lunch – and, of course, staff should provide their own lunches). You might be surprised at just how much money could be saved per the ideas of your own employees and volunteers.
  • Give each department or program a required target for expense reduction. 10%? 20%?
  • Do the written job descriptions for every employee and high-responsibility, long-term volunteer role at your organization reflect reality? Have every employee and high-responsibility, long-term volunteer review his or her job description and edit it to reflect what they are actually doing, to note what they can’t do but feel is still essential, and to note what they aren’t doing, and don’t feel they should be doing, but that’s still listed in the description. Are some staff duplicating each others’ efforts? Should some roles be combined (and, therefore, some positions eliminated or cut back)?
  • Could your organization afford unpaid furloughs for employees? Many employees would welcome unpaid days off to lengthen their holiday time off or their paid vacations. Ask employees for their feedback about the consequences to your clients and programs if they took an unpaid week off — or two weeks off — in summer, for instance.
  • Look at your printing costs. How much of what you are producing in print form could be offered online, with anyone who wants such printing it themselves (and paying for that printing themselves, either from home, from their work, from a public library or from a copy center?)? How much of what you print is actually being read – and should you reduce the size of your printed publications? Is your printed annual report really necessary this year? Do any of your volunteers, including board members, or family members of your employees work at large companies or institutions that might be willing to donate their onsite printing equipment to produce your program brochure? Do you charge the public or donors for any printed report that is more than 10 pages?
  • Be specific on your web site about your organization’s costs. How much do you spend each month on electricity, for instance? Post the cost to your web site and note that you are looking for an Electric Angel – someone willing to sponsor your electricity bill for next month, which will allow you to do whatever it is you do to add value to your community or the planet. Before doing so, make sure your utility use is efficient – is the office thermostat set to a energy-efficient setting?
  • Put a temporary moratorium on furniture purchases of any kind. Post your furniture needs to your own web site and to a freecycle online group for your area. Use your social media to discuss such as well.
  • It may be in the best interest of your organization to scale back, postpone, or even eliminate a service, program or activity. A nonprofit theater may need to scale back its season by one show. Another organization may have to eliminate or scale back an annual onsite event. This may be your opportunity to become even more focused on your mission. Look at how much every program or activity costs, in detail, and think about way to reduce those costs, or evaluate the consequences of scaling back, postponing or eliminating that program or activity in relation to your organization’s mission.
  • If you are thinking of involving more volunteers, don’t think of it as a temporary solution; think of it as a permanent re-alignment of your organization. If you decide that you are going to reserve certain roles for volunteers – for instance, all pro bono consultancies that will support staff, all front desk/phone staff, all bloggers, all conference support staff, etc., make it a permanent change that will last even when the economy gets better. Volunteers aren’t free. In fact, this realignment regarding volunteer involvement will cost money – perhaps more money than you are probably spending now to support and involve volunteers (they will need to be screened, trained more than once, supervised and supported!), but perhaps the savings from elsewhere can pay for this.
  • Be explicit to board members and the press about any cut that is going to affect the scope or even the quality of your organization’s service. It may sound great to an outsider for your organization to eliminate paid positions, while you know that the consequences to clients, the community or the environment will be devastating – think about how you will make those potential consequences crystal clear and very public. That can affect the thinking of an annual large donor that’s considering scaling back on their donations to your organization soon.
  • Get the press, government leaders and corporate leaders onto your location and viewing your work. I don’t mean fundraising events – I mean you need to invite them all to observe program activities, to attend a volunteer training, or to view for themselves your organization in action. The press wants something visually-appealing: people moving or laughing, or people being very expressive. Government leaders and corporations want to see something that is representative of your organization’s impact. Make these invitations in a friendly, no-pressure way, and do NOT ask for donations in the invite nor during the site visit. All you are doing is building connections and interest, so that when the time does come to ask for a donation, you have a relationship with the potential funder, and the organization understands your organization’s work.

You should have detailed information about your current expenses and a tracking system that allows you to see – and share – exactly how much money you are saving each month and each quarter over the coming year. In sharing that information, tout not only how lean and efficient your organization is; also note what the consequences are of these cuts to clients and the community. When announcing cuts, you don’t want to give the impression that your organization had been wasteful or frivolous in its spending previously – and with these cuts, now it’s not. You also don’t want to send the message that your organization can cut and save its way out of its financial challenges.

If you do end up cutting back or eliminating a program – and cutting employee positions – be as generous as possible with departing staff. You are saving your organization from financial hardship but putting employees into financial hardship:

  • Contact a temp agency or any employment agencies in your city and ask to arrange immediate onsite interviews for staff you are laying off, so that when you lay off an employee, you can hand that person a card and say, “This person is waiting for your call after our meeting to set up an informational interview, review your résumé and talk about employment openings and temp opportunities.” If there are no temp agencies in your geographic area, talk to your board members and see if they work at companies that have highly-skilled HR people, and if the company would be willing to donate this person’s time to do at least two job-coaching sessions with departing staff, regarding preparing résumés and LinkedIn profiles, the best online job boards to use and using social media for job searches.
  • Write each person a letter of recommendation and write a recommendation on his or her LinkedIn profile.
  • Give laid off employees at least three weeks salary and payment for all unused vacation (and remember that they will be out-of-work for MUCH longer than that, in all likelihood).

What are your ideas for saving money ASAP for nonprofits, NGOs and charities, so that they can survive the ongoing financial crisis? Be specific.

Recruit board members to be board members, nothing more

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I have heard many representatives of nonprofit organizations say things like:

  • We need an attorney on our board, to take care of all our legal issues.
  • We need a PR person on our board, to help with marketing.
  • We need an IT expert on our board, to also help with IT issues.

In fact, there’s someone on the TechSoup community saying something like this now. And my response is: No, you do NOT. There are many reasons this is a BAD idea, and this article from Hildy Gottlieb, “Finding Pro Bono Help through Board Recruitment,” details why better than I can say myself!

Yes, it is a great idea to seek pro bono help for your nonprofit or NGO! By all means! You can get volunteers who are accountants, experts in public relations, and even lawyers to help your nonprofit organizations. But there is a BIG difference in recruiting a volunteer for his or her expertise, so that he or she will provide your organization that expertise, and recruiting a volunteer to serve on your board.

Board members are there to govern –

to lead and guide the organization towards the community’s highest

aspirations. Board members are not there to do the work that should be done by

staff and/or volunteers.

More at “Finding Pro Bono Help through Board Recruitment.”

Also see:

  • Pro Bono / In-Kind / Donated Services for Mission-Based Organizations:
    When, Why & How?
    There are all sorts of professionals who want to donate their services — web design, graphic design, human resources expertise, legal advice, editing, research, and so forth — to mission-based organizations. And there are all sorts of nonprofits and NGOs who would like to attract such donated services. But often, there’s a disconnect — misunderstandings and miscommunications and unrealistic expectations that lead to missed opportunities and frustrating experiences. This resource, prompted by the topic coming up at the same time on a few online discussion groups I read, is designed to help both those who want to donate professional services and those who want to work with such volunteers. It’s applicable to a variety of situations, not just those involving computer and Internet-related projects.
  • Short-term Assignments for Tech Volunteers
    There are a variety of ways for mission-based organizations to involve volunteers to help with short-term projects relating to computers and the Internet, and short-term assignments are what are sought after most by potential “tech” volunteers. But there is a disconnect: most organizations have trouble identifying such short-term projects. This is a list of short-term projects for “tech” volunteers — assignments that might takes days, weeks or just a couple of months to complete.
  • Recruiting Local Volunteers To Increase Diversity Among the Ranks
    Having plenty of volunteers usually isn’t enough to say a volunteering program is successful. Another indicator of success is if your volunteers represent a variety of ages, education-levels, economic levels and other demographics, or are a reflection of your local community. Most organizations don’t want volunteers to be a homogeneous group; they want to reach a variety of people as volunteers (and donors and other supporters, for that matter). This resource will help you think about how to recruit for diversity, or to reach a specific demographic.
  • Using Third Party Web Sites Like VolunteerMatch to Recruit Volunteers
    There are lots and lots of web sites out there to help your organization recruit volunteers. You don’t have to use them all, but you do need to make sure you use them correctly in order to get the maximum response to your posts.

It’s About Respect

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This is a followup to my blog A Stupid Name for a Service for Nonprofits, regarding the unbelievably-poorly-named online volunteering service, Pimp My Cause.

The issue isn’t just about a service using language that is anti-women and, indeed, anti-children. It isn’t just about this service using a phrase that means to market women and children for sex. The issue isn’t just about lack of respect for women and children.

The issue is about respect for the third sector.

The work of nonprofits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charities and other mission-based organizations – the third sector – isn’t a pastime. It isn’t a hobby. Indeed, sometimes a nonprofit cause does become fashionable – suddenly, the media and celebrities may want to talk about getting rid of landmines, or HIV/AIDS, or immunizations, or breast cancer, or returning war veterans, and lots of flavor-of-the-day social entrepreneurs want to jump on the band wagon, with everyone wearing a particularly-colored ribbon, with lots of bumper stickers for the cause showing up on cars and SUVs, lots of shirts or shoes sporting a particular logo… but that spotlight doesn’t last. Long after the high-profile campaign by the department store or the software company or the talk show host or the singer or the actor has ended, these organizations will still be working, day-in, day-out, on a variety of worthwhile, even vital, causes.

Often, the work of nonprofits not only doesn’t catch on as fashionable or hip – it may even make people uncomfortable, because it addresses a not-so-hip issue, like child sexual exploitation and human trafficking – but nonprofits, NGOs and other mission-based organizations keep working year-after-year, without big-time donations or media campaigns.

The third sector isn’t perfect, but it serves society and the environment in ways that the for-profit or public sector cannot. Some causes are best addressed by the for-profit sector, some are best addressed by governments, and some are best addressed by mission-based organizations – and many are best addressed by all of these sectors working in partnership.

People that work for nonprofits aren’t simply nice people who can’t get jobs in the private sector. They are often highly skilled and experienced experts in their field – child psychology, emergency logistics, crisis communications, theater and dance as tools for community education and empowerment, arts management, social media to build awareness about HIV/AIDS, maternal health, organic agriculture, and on and on. They deserve to be listened to and consulted on actions that are going to involve them or effect them – and that includes being consulted by donors about new programs and projects donors want to fund.

The third sector has its own jargon, its own lingo. And different fields within the third sector each have a jargon or lingo all their own. And when you are talking to the third sector, you had better know that lingo and that culture: For instance, when you are standing in front of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, you don’t talk about drunk driving accidents; you talk about drunk driving wrecks, crashes… deaths. To do otherwise is highly offensive. If you use the term SME, you need to know what it means to the organizations and third sector experts you are talking to: Small and medium enterprises? Subject matter expert? Social Market economy? A Linux firewall?

In summary: if you are going to work with or for mission-based organizations, whether as a volunteer or as someone marketing services to them, you need to do your homework about the sector’s work, it’s language and it’s culture. The third sector deserves respect from the for-profit sector, including corporations, from the media, from the government – from everyone. To not spend time researching the sector and consulting with its members shows profound disrespect for the people working in such, and the people being served by such.  

No one who respects nonprofits, NGOs or other mission-based organizations would ever name their service Pimp My Cause.

Also see: How to Do Market Research–The Basics. I hear there’s some really good books and classes on this subject as well.

Finally, a shout out to the nonprofit FAIR FUND, a leading girls empowerment and anti-human trafficking organization that works to keep girls safe from exploitation. When I let FAIR FUND know about “Pimp My Cause”, they were ALL OVER IT. Follow @FAIRFund on Twitter and consider supporting them with a donation!

 

Basic Fund-Raising for Small NGOs/Civil Society in the Developing World

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Some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) to online forums for community-based organizations (CBOs) in developing countries, whatever the subject, are regarding funding.

In addition, the first impulse of many small non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seeking funding is to request the contact information for possible funders, and once they find the name of any company they think gives grants to NGOs, these NGOs often write immediately to the company with a desperate please for funds. This approach often harms the NGO, rather than garnering any support at all. Not only do these please rarely attract funding, they can turn funding sources against the NGO altogether.

After seeing these questions and messages again and again over several years (I’ve been on the Internet since about 1994) I drafted a list of basic tips for fund-raising for small NGOs – it was 15 pages long. Now, years later, it has evolved into 31 pages. It is a PDF file.

The document is meant to provide very basic guidelines for small NGOs in the developing world regarding fund-raising and adhering to the basic principles of good governance, and to point to other resources. By small NGOs, I mean organizations that may have only one paid staff member, or are run entirely by volunteers; and may or may not have official recognition by the government. These organizations are extremely limited in their resources, and are often in unstable environments and/or serving profoundly poor populations. Certainly medium-sized NGOs could use it as well – organizations that may have two or three paid staff members.

Please note that this document is NOT written for nonprofits serving the “developed” world — organizations serving communities in North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand or Japan would probably not find this document particularly helpful, as it has been prepared to make recommendations relevant for nonprofits serving in a developing country.

This document is also not for organizations that send volunteers into developing countries to work. This document will not help you fund the trips of such volunteers. If you are such a volunteer-sending organization, see funding your volunteering trip abroad and fund raising for a cause or organization for more helpful information.

THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT A LIST OF FUNDERS/DONORS.

Let me repeat that: THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT A LIST OF FUNDERS/DONORS.

It is, instead, a set of guidelines on how to prepare an organization in a developing country to be attractive to donors, how to search for potential donors and how to approach such potential donors.

The document includes:

  • A list of activities an NGO should NEVER do regarding fund-raising
    (& how I know if an NGO has actually read this document!)
  • How to network among various sectors in your country and establish credibility to insure fund-raising success
  • The absolute essential preparations to solicit donations, both locally and from international NGOs working in your geographic area
  • Establishing credibility and a reputation of integrity, transparency and accountability
  • How to find donors that would be interested in your NGO and how to make contact with them
  • A warning about fund-raising scams
  • Online resources for detailed tips on writing funding proposals
  • Suggestions regarding volunteers in other countries fund-raising on your NGO’s behalf (new chapter added October 2011)
  • Online resources for further information

Once you have received this document, please do NOT distribute the document via a web site or on an online discussion group without my written permission. I frequently update the document, and want to ensure people are getting the most recent version.

Here is the web page for more regarding: Basic Fund-Raising for Small NGOs/Civil Societ in the Developing World, including how to access the document.

*Another* Afghanistan Handicraft program? Really?

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Recently, I got an email from yet another organization that is teaching Afghan women how to make handicrafts and textiles to sell in the West.

And I sighed. Heavily.

I’m not saying that these are bad programs. In fact, I have supported many of them, as a consumer: My husband and I each have a lovely Shalwar Kameez from a shop run by Afghans for Civil Society in Kandahar (here’s him in his; I’m in the burqa), I have a custom-made jacket from AWWSOM Boutique in Kabul that I wore at my wedding reception, I have a custom-made purse from Gundara, and I have lots of items from Ganjini Showroom and various other stores in Kabul. These items are beautiful, they are well-made, and I love showing them off (for more info, see my guide to shopping in Kabul).

HOWEVER, teaching more and more Afghan women how to make purses, shawls, table cloths and other lovely items is not going to lift women out of poverty, nor move them into their proper place in society, because there is not enough of a market for all those products.

Capacity-building programs have to be focused on what is actually needed in a particular community, that are more guaranteed to provide income regularly, long-term. That means programs that teach Afghan women how to:

These are things that local people need, and/or that they want – they are not just that are nice to have.

If you know of a program – local or international, government-run or foreign run or civil society run, whatever – that is teaching Afghan women to engage in income-generation activities that are practical and sustainable, feel free to post names and links in the comments section of this blog.

911 charities gone wrong, how to measure fundraiser performance, & Palestinian/Israeli cooperation

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Three items that came to my attention recently that you REALLY need to read:

First, an AP story about 9/11 nonprofits that raked in millions of dollars – and have nothing to show for that money.

“There are those that spent huge sums on themselves, those that cannot account for the money they received, those that have few results to show for their spending and those that have yet to file required income tax returns. Yet many of the charities continue to raise money in the name of Sept. 11.”

I seethed as I read this. Not only at the reprehensible mismanagement of funds, but also because this will make millions of potential donors say, “I’m not going to give to nonprofits anymore. They cannot be trusted.” ARGH! Here’s advice on what needs to appear on your nonprofit, NGO or charity web site, to show you aren’t like these 9/11 charities.

Second, a piece in the Nonprofit Quarterly by Simone P. Joyaux, about how to measure performance of a fundraiser/donor manager. Absolutely outstanding!

And, finally, something that made me very happy: six paramedics and supervisors from Magen David Adom in Israel (IMDA) attended the International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) course, provided by instructors and doctors from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). While both organizations cooperate around emergency ambulance services, this was the first time that PRCS staff served as instructors for IMDA personnel.

These were shared earlier via my Twitter feed:

Would love to have you as a follower. Actually, what I would really love is for someone to tell me exactly how to create a bridge so that all that I tweet gets posted here on my blog…

Tags: transparency, accountability, accountable, scrutiny, accounting, finances, donations, donating, funding, sponsorships, investment, investing, Palestine, Israel, Red, Cross, cooperation

Debate: volunteer manager qualifications

4 Replies

What should the qualifications be for a person that is responsible for volunteers at an organization?

That’s a hot topic right now, and there is a LOT of disagreement about it. Heck, we can’t even agree what to call such a person! (volunteer manager? volunteer resources manager? volunteer coordinator? director of community engagement?)

My view:

If an organization views this person as merely the purveyor of free labor, and sees this person as the primary manager of volunteers in a single activity – volunteers staffing the gift shop or the help desk, working in the food pantry (more with the food than the clients), serving food in a shelter, cleaning up beaches on one-day events –  then the qualifications are going to be quite low. The person in charge of volunteers will report to the head of human resources, won’t be a senior manager, and will be judged on whether or not all shifts are filled and all tasks are completed. Those are skills that can be taught to someone on the job – no need for volunteer management credentials – though some volunteer management workshops would be helpful.

This is how most corporate folks and very traditional organizations view managers or coordinators of volunteers. This is how most volunteer management workshops and most volunteer management conferences view those responsible for volunteers at an organization.

By contrast, if an organization views this person as responsible for:

  • community engagement, demonstrating that the community invests in the organization and believes in its mission
  • building the capacities of other employees to involve volunteers in their work and supporting employee involvement of volunteers in a variety of roles, including in leadership roles
  • being up-to-date on legal issues, political rhetoric and trends that can affect volunteer involvement
  • creating ways for volunteer involvement to relate directly to the organizations mission

then the qualifications required for the person in charge of volunteers are MUCH higher. The manager of volunteers or director of community engagement is not merely the purveyor of free labor; this manager has a direct role on program delivery and, therefore, should report to the director of programs – if not directly to the Executive Director! And credentials are essential – though not necessarily a certificate in volunteer management.

Here’s all the places this is a hot topic right now – check out what’s being said and join the conversation!:

Also see: