Month: June 2013

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Goodwill Exposed Paying Sweatshop Wages to Disabled

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Crisis management required after media highlights contrast between stated mission and reality

The revelation that some disabled Goodwill workers make as little as 22 cents an hour while execs regularly rake in as much as $1.1 million annually has created a crisis of reputation for the nonprofit organization.

According to NBC News, Labor Department documents feature long lists of employees making well under $2 an hour thanks to a Depression-era law called the Special Wage Certificate Program, meant to encourage employers to hire disabled workers. Goodwill execs willingly appeared in the NBC report, but were utterly unapologetic, describing the jobs they offer as being, “about their (worker’s) fulfillment, it’s about being a part of something.”

This situation actually reminds me of a discussion we had during last week’s, “Ask the Crisis Manager Anything” Google Hangout, in which Pat Philbin shared what he believes to be one of the leading causes of easily-preventable crises, namely a contrast between an organization’s stated ideals and its real-life actions. Let’s see how that applies to our case here…Goodwill takes donated product and sells it for a profit, as well as collecting a hefty sum from taxpayers ($87 million last year alone), all under this mission statement:

“Goodwill works to enhance the dignity and quality of life of individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people in need reach their full potential through learning and the power of work.”

People donating clothing, goods, and straight-up cash to Goodwill assume they are helping provide affordable goods for low-income people and contributing to paychecks for those who may not otherwise have a job. When Goodwill says its goal is “enhancing dignity and quality of life,” and then pays disabled workers sweatshop wages, all while management takes in high six-figure salaries, the resulting conflict creates the crisis we’re seeing now.

This issue has already sparked protests both online and off, as well as discussion among lawmakers as to the validity of the 70+ year-old law being used (and exploited, as recent cases have shown), today. Obviously the donations aren’t going to stop coming in to Goodwill entirely based on this revelation alone, but a quick read through comments on various articles about the issue show a hefty sum of readers sharing their determination to not only never give to the organization again, but also spread the world to anyone who will listen.

Our crisis management recommendation to Goodwill? Move to modernize your program before the government makes you do it. Yes, it is true that in a matter of weeks this report will be history, but as long as the clash between stated ideals and real-life actions continues to exist, an organization’s reputation will never, ever be secure.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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CFC Summer 2013 Action Planning — What Do They Want?

Update on Proposed Changes to CFC Regulations:

First, regarding the proposed changes to the CFC regulation (in my May 30 posting), I want to thank you if you took the opportunity to send a comment to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) about the proposed changes.

While the Federal Register comment period closed on June 7th, it is not too late to contact your Congressperson and Senators and let them know the damaging impact the new regulations will have if adopted as proposed.

You can also sign the White House petition to have the CFC regulations brought to President Obama’s attention.

I’ll continue to keep you posted on the proposed new regulations. But, since the proposed changes to the CFC would not take place until the 2015 campaign season, let’s focus, now, on how get the greatest benefits possible for your non-profit in the 2013 CFC campaign.

CFC Summer 2013 Action Planning

In my posting on January 31, I presented The Five Phases Of A Non-Profit’s CFC Campaign. We are now in Phase I (CFC Non-profit Planning, Organizing, & Recruitment), which runs from March to July — some of the timeframes in the phases overlap.

As you plan for your organization’s CFC campaign, it’s important to answer the question in this post’s title, “What Do They Want?”

The first question is who are “They?”   They are:
• Your donors
• Your staff, including both paid staff and volunteers
• Your board members
• The beneficiaries of your non-profit’s mission

Next, you should know the answers to the following questions:
1. Why do your donors support you? (Their reasons, not yours!!)
2. Why do your volunteers choose to volunteer with your organization?
(Remember, they could go to many other organizations.)
3. What motivates your paid staff?
4. What skills and leadership development experiences do your paid staff
and volunteers want to develop?
5. What skills and leadership development experiences do your board members
want to get a chance to practice?
6. Why do your board members want to serve on your organization’s board?
7. Does your community know what your organization does?

These are important questions … because the answers will:
A. Help you recruit and develop your non-profit’s CFC team … by selecting people
who want to develop and practice the skills needed for workplace giving campaigns,
skills that they know will help them advance in their careers;
B. Help you build relationships with your potential CFC donors; and,
C. Generate broad awareness that your organization participates in the CFC.

How do you learn the answers to the seven questions — by building relationships, and the key to building relationships is listening, not talking. Begin with the people that it’s easiest for you to reach, your staff, your volunteers, and your board.

Select Your Team
From Peter Senge’s classic book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art And Practice Of The Learning Organization, there are two of his “disciplines: that I want to highlight: Personal Mastery and Team Learning.

The ability/opportunity to learn, develop and practice new skills is basic to keeping people motivated and dedicated, and workplace giving actually provides many of those opportunities for staff, volunteers and board members to do so.

What are their “personal mastery goals” for the next year?

Public speaking, writing and organizing are some of the skills that can be developed while working on a non-profit’s CFC campaign. In your organization’s 2013 operational and communications plans, who on your board and staff have expressed a desire to work on these types of personal mastery goals?

Do some of them, for example, like-and-are-good-at public speaking? If so, you should encourage them to take advantage of speaking opportunities at CFC kick-off events and charity fairs

Team Learning
Once your CFC action team has been selected, the first step is to determine who is going to play what role on that team.

For example, who will be in charge of communications and messaging — including press, social media, and materials (all, with your CFC number included); and, who (it can be a volunteer) will be the person(s) to distribute information and present your organization’s story at CFC special events?

In the context of team learning, also plan on educating the entire staff and volunteers about your organization’s participation in the CFC. If you truly believe that your organization is “donor centric” then it’s important to let your donors choose how they want to support you, and, for many Federal supporters, the CFC is their preferred method.

Senge’s point about team learning is that when teams learn together, they learn faster and are more in sync about the benefits and how to accomplish a particular goal.

What’s next?
In my next post I will discuss Phase III, the CFC Non-profit Campaign Outreach Campaign, which runs from June to November and provides many opportunities to both tell the story of your non-profit and learn from your supporters and your community.

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During his 25-year career in the Federal sector, Bill Huddleston, The CFC Coach,
served in many CFC roles. If you want to participate in the Combined Federal
Campaign, maximize your nonprofit’s CFC revenues, or just ask a few questions,
contact Bill Huddleston
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Take a look at
The Fundraising Series of ebooks.
They’re easy to read, to the point, and cheap 🙂
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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You and Your Nonprofit Board – New and Recommended

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IMG_79298x101dI am proud to be a contributor to You and Your Nonprofit Board: Advice and Practical Tips from the Field’s Top Practitioners, Researchers, and Provocateurs The book is published by Charity Channel Press and edited by Terrie Temkin. Here at Nonprofit Capacity Building I’d like to give a high level overview of this important publication. You can also see what I’ve had to say at my blog – Marion Conway – Nonprofit Consultant.

Terrie Temkin, a perfectionist editor (I can definitely confirm that) edited and organized an excellent anthology of practical, conversationally-written articles which present fresh ideas. Every article will make you feel like – “I think I’ll try that – It’s a great idea and I can do it.” It is far from a basic handbook and it will be of value to both new and experienced board members and executive directors. I am honored to be chosen as a contributor among this well respected cadre of contributors.

 

 

The book is divided into three sections entitled:

  1. Governance Today
  2. Making it Work
  3. Myths and Madness

 

Terrie begins the book with a one pager “Getting the Most Out of this Book.” She opens each section and chapter with a brief overview which will help you make your reading choices. She acknowledges the contributors this way “Each of the contributors is a governance expert in his or her own right. Each brings solid experience in the nonprofit sector, along with a unique perspective and a hunger for continuous learning.” Her wish for the book is that it inspire discussion and action. The book does NOT offer prescriptions and rules rather the articles offer ideas and approaches that have been tested and can be implemented. You can expand them and adapt them to your own organization. The ideas are not just for large organizations – small organizations (my forte) will find plenty of ideas that will work for them.

 

One of my favorite features of this book is the layout. Each article has been well written and edited so that although there are 38 contributors there is a cohesive feel. There are plenty of examples and short boxes throughout which provide food for thought, definitions, principles, quotes, examples and practical tips.

 

The whole gamut of board issues is covered from “A Blue Ribbon Nominating Committee for your Board” by Jan Masaoka to “Act Your Age: Organizational Life Cycles and How They Impact Your Board” by Mike Burns to “Don’t Just Whack“Em and Plaque“Em” with an excellent example for an exit interview of Board members by Carol Weisman.

 

I chose to submit an article that I have written about on my blog. It is entitled “Exercising Board Leadership with Social Media” and started out as a slightly changed composite of existing blog articles at Marion Conway – Nonprofit Consultant and and Nonprofit Capacity Building. Terrie’s editing with a zillion comments and questions helped shape it into a much better article with crisp presentation. Thank you Terrie even though I was getting impatient, your perfectionist editing did produce a much better product than my first submittal. Am I a Practitioner or a Provocteur? What do you think?

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Carter McNamara, of managementhelp.org which hosts this blog says it best with this review – “Seldom have I seen a more thorough publication and with such well-respected authors. The book covers the critical basics and brings in the state-of-the-art. It’s well-organized to be a reference manual for all of us in nonprofits.”

 

Right now Amazon is offering You and Your Nonprofit Board for only $27.72 which is a 31% discount from the $39.95 list price making it affordable and eligible for free shipping. Click below to go to Amazon now.

 

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The Technical Communicator

A group of people in a meeting using video call

As an addendum to the previous post on Tips For A Training Manual, I have to add that communicating information face-to-face is difficult and is even more challenging when you communicate via text. Whether you are writing user manuals, online help, technical documents or release notes for software applications, you need to have certain attributes to be an effective Technical Communicator. Attributes such as:

1) Having technical excellence in understanding the product. The Technical Communicator has to be knowledgeable about the product; its functions and fall-backs in order to write and convey its benefits, requirements, etc.

2) Being analytical and logical (in order to explain soundly what is occurring; the why and the how). This is exceptionally needed when performing quality assurance tasks or creating test plans.

3) Understanding the organizations surroundings or the environment; its culture. The writer has to be alert and be able to use intuitive feelings to see and grasp certain conditions or situations to communicate what is needed; a content strategist. An example is when an organization does not realize that additional types of documents are needed, e.g., when a company with many writers in different departments would benefit from a style guide.

4) Being aware of the user’s experience, i.e., how they can use the application software or product. With this in mind, it’s not just, e.g., describing how to navigate from one screen to another. It’s about clarifying and detailing what the user needs to know, as well as taking into consideration how users operate.

5) Understanding the client. This attribute is especially needed within global organizations to prevent misunderstandings leading to product errors.

6) Understanding the SME (Subject Matter Expert). This is crucial for being able to translate details, e.g., business processes or data requirements.

7) Having interviewing, listening, and collaborating skills. Knowing how to paraphrase a question to get the appropriate response, understanding what is being conveyed, and being able to interact with individuals to gather your data, respectively, are necessary interpersonal social skills

8) Being organized. Managing and keep track of all the information that needs to be explained is not an easy task. Being methodical will aid in creating structured concise documents.

9) Being a designer. Technical Communicators are visual designers too. They have to be able to know the audience well enough to customize and present the documents in an appealing creative manner.

10) Writing capably. Writing is not just about grammar and vocabulary. To communicate technically via writing, the information has to be detailed, clear, concise, and complete.

11) Being adaptable. Having flexibility is needed for last minute changes and for cases when unforeseen events cause new incidents. Constant changes occur all the time. The communicator has to be flexible enough to accept these changes and to make necessary adjustments. Being adaptive is also being able to adapt to how you relate to your audience.

Bringing all the above together, presents an effective Technical Communicator.

What other attributes would you add to be an effective Technical Communicator?

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Integral Perspective on Spirituality at Work

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I love how social media works to connect people across time and space. I’ve posted several of my blogs and articles on my Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/LindaJFerguson) and LinkedIn groups. From one of my posts, I ‘met’ Margot Borden from France. After a few exchanges of ideas, I invited her to write a guest blog post for us.

Margot has written a book that I look forward to reading- “Spirituality and Business: Exploring Possibilities for a New Management Paradigm” (Springer, 2010). Here are some thoughts she shares with us inspired by the work of Sri Aurobindo and Integral Psychology.

Enjoy!

Linda J. Ferguson

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What blocks people from being more spiritual at work?

When addressing this question, it is useful first define what we mean by spiritual. Spirituality is essentially the relationship we have with our inner self or soul and the divine, love or the universal life force. The words each of us chooses to describe these will depend on factors such as our upbringing or our personal preference. Spirituality is non-denominational or trans-religious. It does not belong to, nor is it confined within, any religion but rather it transcends religion.

Sri Aurobindo, a great saint and philosopher of India says that, “Spirituality is nothing other than practical psychology.” This means developing the capacity to listen inward to our subtle senses and to learn to distinguish between the many inner and outer voices that pull us upward, downward and in any which direction and to start to develop the capacity to distinguish, follow and ultimately align to the voice of the inner self.

What’s the difference between spirituality and ethics?

Ethics can spring forth from within us when we are in touch with ourselves, or in soul-consciousness or it can be an external framework which we adhere to, such as in legal systems and religious laws. In other words, developing our spiritual awareness will change our perception or the intentionality behind our ethics. Our motivation to do the right thing will not avoid punishment adhering to any external set of rules, but rather it will stem from what we feel most deeply inside.

Like Sri Aurobindo’s definition of spirituality, above, following our inner ethical sense requires the same kind of discernment and capacity to choose the voice that resonates as true for us.

So, how do we build a relationship to our spirituality?

Sounds easy, right? Spirituality is simply a case of being in touch and living in line with our inner self. Well, it’s not quite that easy. There are many complexities and barriers between us and our spiritual essence. Fear is one of the biggest obstacles we will encounter. There is a kind of continuum between fear related to ego-based consciousness and oneness, harmony and being values which speak to us of soul-consciousness. While each of us has triggers that snap us into ego consciousness, we also have things that inspire us toward soul consciousness.

We can delve inside and discover how this dynamic works and aspire toward mastery–which essentially means always having the power and choosing to be in soul-consciousness, but since, let’s face it, that’s a very lofty aspiration, it can also be helpful to look at the environment around us, and try to co-create an environment that is conducive to a more soul-centered consciousness at work.

The bottom line is that fear (and the many voices and drives stemming from fear), along with lack of awareness or ignorance of our spiritual nature and potential are the major factors stopping us from being more spiritual at work.

Spirituality can effectively be brought into the workplace in implicit ways, through osmosis and, where there is receptivity, it can be done in more explicit ways such as coaching, seminars and retreats.

Spirituality—or the paradigm shift from ego to soul consciousness—at work will not only infuse our ethics with a higher resonance but our spiritually inspired minds and hearts have the potential to transform the way we do business at all levels of an organization, from process, strategy and inter-personal relationships all the way to mission and vision.

An organization that functions from a spiritual worldview will benefit from creating genuine value-added for their clients, employees, stakeholders, society and ecology in the form of congruence, meaning-making, fulfillment, and much more.

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Margot Borden is founder and consultant at Integral Perspectives. Margot does East-West Executive Coaching, Corporate Consulting and Psychotherapy. She works between Europe, USA and India. Her company is based in Paris. www.margotborden.com and www.margotbordenpsychotherapy.com.

Margot discovered yoga and Indian philosophy in her childhood and meditation a few years later. They form the foundation of her life and all of her professional activities. She completed her BA in International Business (American University of Paris) and her Masters in Humanistic Psychology (Durham, UK). In the west and India, she gives public lectures and workshops in companies, business schools and to the general public on her approach to psychology as well as on the topic of her book, “Spirituality and Business: Exploring Possibilities for a New Management Paradigm” (Springer, 2010).

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Failures Don’t Have to Be Fatal

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I’ve said many times: I’ve learned more from my failures than from my successes…and I’ve made some whoppers.

Goof-ups, missteps, slip-ups and embarrassments are no reason to ring one’s hands and hang one’s head. In fact, our mistakes can be the most powerful teachers we have. The lessons we learn often stick with us for a lifetime.

Can you remember a big mistake you’ve made and hopefully learned from? I certainly can.

Turn Failure Into Success
Mistakes are in many ways gifts. If we assess what went wrong and also what went right, we can translate that learning into more effective leadership behaviors, perspectives and skills. Here’s why.

1. They grab our attention.
Failures have a way of focusing our attention and putting crucial problems right in our faces. They point out that something needs fixing. If it’s really a biggie, it gets us focused ready for battle and on the road to success.

Recently I gave the wrong dates to two guest for an up –coming talk radio program. Once I realized what had happened, I quickly contacted them, acknowledged my goof-up, apologized and then worked with them to reschedule. The lesson I learned, as someone who is not inclined to be detailed focused, is to review my calendar and all my correspondence to ensure I provide correct information.

2. They make us notice our individual actions and choices.
Sometimes our instinctive reaction to a mistake is to fix blame elsewhere. The classic is the dog ate my homework. Others are “Somebody should have told me about this.” Or “that was to be done by Sarah’s department not mine.” Instead we should look for our role in the mistake. Taking responsibility for a goof-up is not fun. Yet the act of doing so points to what we can do differently next time.

3. They push us to examine if we’re off track or heading in a wrong direction.
When a project fails this can be a sign that it was unwise for you to even begin the project in the first place. When a job you attempt to change careers fails, this can be a signal that the choice was unwise for now. They also help us get in touch with what we really want to do and not do; be or not be; have or not have.

How Do You Handle Failure?
Some people when faced with a big mistake begin to pull back to retreat. Instead we can use the breakdown to learn, grow and be better leaders. One way to get maximum benefit from mistakes is to examine them through the filter of these powerful questions

  • How can I use this experience?
  • What did I learn about me, about others, about the situation?
  • What will I do differently next time and how will I be different in the future?

Management Success Tip:

When we experience the consequences of mistakes we get a clear message about which of our efforts are working and which are not. There’s nothing like an overdraft noticed from the bank to tell us that our spending is out of control. Or a running out of gas on the freeway in bitter cold or blazing hot weather that tells us to pay attention to the gas gauge. What do you need to pay attention to before it becomes a big headache?

Do you want to develop your Management Smarts?

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Paula Deen’s Racist Reputation Wreck

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No amount of crisis management can prevent Food Network from giving Deen the boot

Paula Deen has enjoyed a long run as one of the most well-known celebrity chefs in the world, but a poorly-handled admission of racist views and actions has forced Food Network to drop her from its roster.

One read through this quote, from a Fox News article describing her deposition for a pending lawsuit filed by an ex-employee, and you’ll know why:

According to the reports, in the deposition, Deen replied “Yes, of course,” when asked if she used the N-word.

Deen also reportedly admitted telling racist jokes, explaining: “It’s just what they are — they’re jokes…most jokes are about Jewish people, rednecks, black folks…I can’t determine what offends another person.”

Jackson said also Deen wanted African-American employees to act like slaves for a big wedding she was planning. Deen explained she got the idea from a restaurant where “the whole entire waiter staff was middle-aged black men, and they had on beautiful white jackets with a black bow tie,” the National Enquirer reports. The magazine also quoted Deen as saying: “I mean, it was really impressive. That restaurant represented a certain era in America…after the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War…It was not only black men, it was black women…I would say they were slaves.”

Jaw-dropping, to say the least. The deposition transcript is available all over the web, and in it you can see Deen digging herself a deeper hole with every response. From defending her brother for showing porn to employees, to repeated statements that dropping N-bombs all over the workplace is fine, as long as they’re used in a joke, Deen made sure there was no wiggle room when it came to explaining her views to the public, and her employers.

The lesson here? Well, first off, if you still harbor racist or bigoted notions, you’d damn sure better keep them away from your professional life – while remembering that, these days, it’s pretty hard to keep even your private life private.

Second, if you have done something in your past that you know is going to look bad, don’t try to defend it, and act apologetically if you must discuss the issue. Had Deen said in the deposition, “yes, I did say those things, but I now realize they were inappropriate and hurtful,” she may still have a job.

At this point, no amount of crisis management (and she’s sure trying, with a YouTube apology already out and a second try at making her Today show appearance scheduled) will disguise the fact that Deen was utterly unconcerned about the way her actions impacted others and unashamed of the outrageously racist and inappropriate behavior that went on at her restaurants until it cost her a job. Deen still has legions of loyal fans that will spend on her various retail products, but she’ll have to leave the TV chef gig to her sons because no exec in their right mind is going to give her another show.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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It’s a Blogiversary – The 300th Posting of the Fundraising Blog…

Adding new post on WordPress

…and I’m taking this opportunity to thank a few people and emphasize the fundraising rules upon which all of the blog postings are based.

Giving Thanks
First, I have to thank Carter McNamara, owner of this website and creator of the Free Management Library, for inviting me to “invent” the Fundraising Blog, and to keep it going for well over three years … with no end in sight ☺

I also have to thank the other “regular” writers whose experience and expertise have really made this venue a valuable resource for the nonprofit community:
• Andrew Grant, an early contributor on the subject of Grants & Grantsmanship;
• Natalie Lewis, for her writing on Special Events;
• Rick Christ, for his look into Fundraising and Social Media’
• Lynn deLearie, for her ongoing, in-depth look at Grants & Grantsmanship;
• Jayme Sokolow, for clarifying the mystical world of Federal Grantsmanship;
• Bill Huddleston, for sharing his expertise on the Combined Federal Campaign;
• Christine Manor, for her insights on the Accounting “Rules” for fundraising;
• Tony Martignetti, for beginning our education into Planned Giving; and,
• Tony Poderis, for sharing the insights gained over his 40 years in Fundraising.

I also want to thank, for their Guest Postings: Carter McNamara, Gail Meltzer, Ken Ristine, Mari Lane Gewecke and Andrea Kihlstedt. And, I invite you to think about submitting a guest post – to Guest Posting.

Fundraising Basics
• Grants & Grantsmanship are not matters of sending as many requests for funding as you can generate to foundations, corporations and government entities. This is about researching, assembling a team, working to create the appropriate grant request for each potential funder, establishing relationships with funders, and demonstrating to funders that you’ve used their support as you’d agreed and that it has made the desired impact/result.

• Special Events are not “fundraisers” that get thrown together when you need money. These activities are planned, staffed, implemented and followed-up as any development activity should be. You need a committee that can bring attendees, give at levels that set the example, and get others to give. You need the ingredient(s) that will make people want to attend/participate.

• Social Media are marketing venues. Giving via social media is productive only if you can get vast numbers of people to give the “smaller” gifts. Social media are best used to get people to want to know more about you, to want to volunteer, to want to support you, and to thank them for doing all that.

• Planned Giving scares a lot of people because they think it’s all about insurance, trusts, complicated documentation and state registration. In fact, 90% of planned giving involves none of that, and it’s easy.

• The Combined Federal Campaign raises billions, and too few nonprofits take advantage of that opportunity. The CFC could have federal employees doing face-to-face solicitation on your behalf.

• At the “Base” of it All, Whether it’s about a Major Gifts Program, A Capital Campaign, the Annual Fund, or any/all of the above subject areas, fundraising is about getting the (potential) donor to want to give to you. And the key to making that happen is understanding that the donor gives to satisfy his/her needs, not yours. When you’re getting ready to ask people to support you, ask yourself, “Why would they want to give to you?” The answer probably has less to do with your organization and its mission than you might think.

All 299 of the other posts to this blog are available to you via the links at the right of the on-line page. All postings are accessible by clicking on the category in that list.

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Many of the blog postings have been compiled, by subject, in
The Fundraising Series of ebooks.
They’re easy to read, and cheap ($1.99-$3.99) 🙂
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Have a comment or a question about this blog, this posting or about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? Ask Hank

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Special CFC Update: Congressional Hearing on Proposed CFC Regulations

CFC Regulations

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The Congressional Hearing on OPM’s Proposed Changes
to CFC which was originally scheduled for June 26, 2013
has been postponed.
The hearing is tentatively being rescheduled for July 10, 2013
Watch This Space for Updates.
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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) received more than 800 comments about the proposed changes to the CFC regulations and there is a Congressional Hearing scheduled for Wednesday, July 26th at 1:30 pm (Approximately 60-90 minutes) in the Rayburn House Office building to “Help Congress Better Understand the Impact of what OPM is proposing for the CFC.”

If you’re in the DC area, please plan on attending, if you’re in another part of the country or can’t attend, please contact your Representative to let them know the damaging impact the new regulations will have if adopted as proposed. House.gov lists addresses and phone numbers for all Members of Congress by name and by state, if needed.

To see my complete analysis of the proposed regulations, “Back to the Drawing Board! – An Analysis and Recommended Responses to the Proposed Changes to the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Regulations” please go here: Analysis

I’m including (FYI) in its entirety, below, the letter from the SavetheCFC coalition, organized by America’s Charities.

Hope to see you at the hearing !!

Bill Huddleston

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We encourage you and others from your organization to attend.

A large turnout will serve as a testament to the concerns held by many nonprofit organizations. If you plan on attending the hearing, please let us know by emailing Geoff Rixon at GRixon@charities.org. Also, please allow time to go through security and locate the hearing room.

It is our understanding the hearing is informational in nature and will allow key members of Congress to become familiar with the proposed changes and the nonprofit sector’s concerns about them. The hearing is under the auspices of the Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and Census Subcommittee chaired by Rep. Blake Farenthold (R., Tex.). It is a subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Witnesses are being selected by the subcommittee staff, and we are active in the process of making recommendations. We anticipate witnesses will include representatives of impacted charities, a member of the Save the CFC federation coalition, OPM, and perhaps others.

Following the hearing we will report back to you and let you know what actions to take.

If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Funnell or Robyn Neal at:

BFunnell@charities.org or RNeal@charities.org.

Thank you for helping us keep the CFC viable!

Sincerely,

Steve Delfin
President & CEO, America’s Charities

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During his 25-year career in the Federal sector, Bill Huddleston, The CFC Coach,
served in many CFC roles. If you want to participate in the Combined Federal
Campaign, maximize your nonprofit’s CFC revenues, or just ask a few questions,
contact Bill Huddleston
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Have you seen the
The Fundraising Series of ebooks.
They’re easy to read, to the point, and cheap !!
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How to Manage Overwhelm by Setting Boundaries

frustrated-millennial-businessman-having-strong-headache-tired-from-laptop

Even if you love your work, you can get overwhelmed if it gets out of control. Many of my executive coaching clients set boundaries to help them be more effective in their professional and personal lives. Boundaries are the lines we draw that help define our roles and interactions. Here are some tips for setting boundaries in order to manage overwhelm:

1. Are you your own worst enemy? Reflect on these questions:
• Do you take on things to be liked?
• Are you a perfectionist?
• Is taking on a challenge stimulating?
• Do you not know how to say no?
• Are you competitive?
All of these things can influence you to take on too much. Be clear about what is important to you and then set boundaries to stay in alignment.

2. Know what is expected of you. Be sure to clarify with your manager what the priorities are, timelines and how you will be measured. Is it expected that you work overtime and on weekends – or is this a self imposed expectation?

3. Stop mental job creep. Even if you don’t bring work home physically, you may tend to become preoccupied with work situations during your personal life. Here is a tip – use your travel home time to decompress work issues. Then create mental boundary to not let work walk into the door with you.

4. Don’t say “yes” right away. Make a boundary to give yourself time to decide. Then you can evaluate how something new will or will not fit.

5. Know how to negotiate. If your work culture will not accept “no” for answer, try to counter offer a request. Here are some negotiating ideas to help you keep your boundaries intact:
• defer the start until you finish other priorities
• download parts to others
• delay or dump something that is currently on your plate

How do you manage overwhelm using boundaries?

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set strategy, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at Pam@CoachForSuccess.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330.