You're not as unique as you think you are!
I'm bemused by some common misperceptions within the "Charitable Development" world. The following complaints/concerns come up frequently in my talks with development professionals, executive directors and other individuals within the fundraising profession:
- We are not like corporate - we're underfunded.
- It's difficult to find good staff.
- We are too busy putting out fires to create and/or stick to a plan.
- Creating a culture of philanthropy requires people to be in the office.
There are other issues, but today I'll focus on these 4 items.
Lets debunk this fallacy here and now - and explore each of these items. These are not unique to the charitable industry or the fundraising profession.
Charities Don't Have Adequate Resources!
In every position I've held, in each of the three companies I've worked for, I have never yet encountered a situation where I was given all the resources I wanted or required to fulfill every initiative I proposed or to achieve the goals expected of me. The notion that corporate is overflowing with resources is a myth. Please repeat that to yourself 3 times... or more if necessary!
Corporations/businesses are profit oriented. Their goal is to spend as little as possible and generate the highest level of revenue possible. Nobody spends money freely or easily on costs, new initiatives, resources - or anything else. If you want the company to invest, you have to prove that the investment will result in sufficiently increased revenues.
Now, the difference for charities, is that you're not generating revenue for revenue sake. Here you're generating revenue for increased programming access, new programs, improved programs - or other related programming interests. If you require more resources, you have to motivate, inspire and make a solid "business" case to earn that investment from your donors, senior staff, board and any other stakeholders who have a vested interest in the success of the organization.
Effectively - the terms used change, but the idea is the same. You're not that unique!
It's Difficult to Find Great Staff
Why yes - yes it is! Guess what? The corporate world has the same problem! By all accounts the world is experiencing an "economic slowdown" and yet there seems to be no shortable of job listings across many industries. Good people are hard to find. Finding and keeping good people requires a rewarding working environment, reasonable pay, organizational structure to support staff in their personal and professional goals and good management - from the top down.
So I hear my readers saying: Aha! We don't have the resources to pay well trained professionals and invest in strucures, training and all the supporting areas that will help us to attract and keep the best and brightest. To those of you making that comment - please reread the section above! People are you most important investment. Whether they are staff, volunteers, or management, if you're not doing everything you can to cultivate an organization that attracts and keeps the best people, you're failing yourself and your programs. Go back to my first point and make the case. You're not that unique!
No Time for Planning - Crisis Looms Everywhere!
Well to this I say... Balogna! (why do we spell Baloney - Balogna anyways?) Corporations have "urgent" issues, crises, emergencies, major customers who threaten to pull out etc. etc. They still "Plan the Work and Work the Plan". You're not that unique!
Workplans are critical. You need an organizational plan, a departmental plan, and individual plans - and they need to be created in a cohesive manner to ensure they work together. Does this mean you ignore critical issues as they arise? NO! It means you plan for the fact that every day, you're going to have issues arise that you didn't plan for. Isn't that a novel concept?
Different people and organizations enjoy working with different types of work plans. I tend to prefer broad scope annual plans, with specific (and achievable) targets, that are then complemented by quarterly plans, which then become the basis and reference for my weekly and daily plans. I don't spend an inordinate amount of time sitting down writing out hourly "to do" lists. However, I ensure that my goals allow for the fact that each day could potentially require me to spend 2 hours dealing with an urgent matter. Of course every day doesn't include a 2 hour emergency, so when I have days that are "fire free", I can simply keep plowing through the work that I've planned for. When a critical situation arises, taking time to deal with it, doesn't throw me off-track - at least not too much.
Now - no plan is perfect. We do occassionally fall behind the plan. However, having the plan allows us to sit down and assess where we are, where we need to be and determine the who/what/where/how of getting back on track. It also allows us to plan more effectively going forward, if we've set unreasonable or unachievable goals.
Every organization and individual needs to MAKE time for planning throughout the organization. It's a roadmap to success. Know what you need to do - Know how you plan to get there - Know that "stuff" wll happen to disrupt the plan... and ultimately, you will find that you have made more progress and achieved more as a result of the time you invested in planning. To steal from Nike: Just Do It!
Bums In the Seat Culture
This is my personal pet peeve. I've been told by a few people that creating a "culture of philanthropy" requires people to be in the office. BALOGNA! (yay, I've used Balogna twice today)
I've always worked from a home office - always. I'm more than a bit offended by the notion that creating a "culture" requires putting innovative, energetic people's bums in seats in boring, ugly, square, often poorly lit, offices. Each of my positions, whether as a sales representative or a manager, required team work and creating a sense of culture amongst the many individuals who worked both in the corporate head-office, as well as from their own home offices and in the field. We enjoyed a great sense of culture, team spirit and camaraderie throughout the organization.
Creating a culture of philanthropy isn't that different from creating any other type of organizational culture. At its core, it requires people to develop relationships, share goals, remain motivated and inspired and want to work together to achieve their individual and organizational goals. The process of achieving this may require some new and innovative tactics and tools, but it's no less achievable than the bum in the seat tactic.
People who feel comfortable in their work environment, who can work at their peak times, who are happy, enthusiastic and feel rewarded for their work are going to be more productive and want to be a part of the organizational culture. People & communication make culture - office seats do not. For those of you who are struggling with the "difficult to find great staff" issue, you might want to consider this option. Individuals who have more flexibility with their work environment and work times are often more loyal and effective employees.
I would also add, that "office gossip" and some of the malcontent that arises from watercooler behaviour is minimized by fewer "bums in seats" and more happy people working in a happy environment.
This is also an issue in the corporate world. Everyone wants a great organizational culture. Many organizations fear that employees will work less if they aren't within the gazing eye of a manager or other office staff or that they'll feel too "separate" from the organizational culture. My experience has been quite the contrary. In my experience, people who want to work from home and enjoy it, tend to work longer hours - and more effectively. Additionally, these individuals will take advantage of more interesting ways to engage with their colleagues and will go out of their way to invite communication and consultation.
I should also add here that there simply are some jobs that do require a "bum in a seat" and I accept that. It is also important to have opportunities to bring staff together. I am not advocating for an environment where people never meet in person (although, I'm sure that somewhere out there - there are some business where that works successfully). What I am suggesting is that having staff seat in a bland, florescent lit office isn't a necessity for creating culture - of any kind.
Unique, but not THAT Unique
Now that I've spent a significant amount of verbiage stating that you're not that unique, it's time for me to fess up on the unique factor. The reality is, all businesses, charities and organizations are unique, to some degree. People are unique to some degree - and people are the culture of organizations.
Resources, staffing issues, planning and culture must reflect the unique characteristics of each organization. Charities are not businesses and therefore do have challenges that a typical business does not. However, that alone should not rule out solid strategies, solutions and initiatives that have the ability to improve the organization's outcomes.
I'd like to hear fewer people tell me "that doesn't work" in the charitable sector, and hear more people ask: How and why does that work elsewhere... is this something we could adapt to help us improve what we do?
Here's wishing you all a uniquely wonderful day!
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