Author: Carter McNamara

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Checklists – A Valuable Tool for the Nonprofit – Part III

Checklists for nonprofit

In my previous two posts, I’ve suggested that checklists can be very valuable in helping your non-profit achieve success with its enrollment in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC).

One reason that a checklist is valuable is that it helps you create consistent results over time. Notice that I said, “helps.” I didn’t say that a checklist guarantees success. You are, however, more likely to achieve the results you desire with one than without one.

And while it is simple concept, I do think the thought of “checklists” can be intimidating for some people, evoking images of the life or death scenarios in the operating room, or in an aircraft experiencing an emergency.

Actually, we have all used checklists before, particularly when we want to ensure favorable results in something that almost all of us does at some point – cooking.

At home, we frequently use checklists, some of which may be decades old, handed down from our grandparents. We do, however, call those checklists, “recipes.” That’s really all a checklist is, a recipe for success.

In non-profits, checklists are valuable tools that can help you achieve success with your Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) fundraising effort.

The exact nature of your checklists will vary according to the type of non-profit you are: local, national, or international, and whether you have only one, or multiple locations.

If your non-profit’s CFC strategy includes participation in CFC charity fairs, there are a number of items to have on your checklists:

Marketing Information: Brochures with your CFC number, Display Board with success stories, marketing giveaways, etc.

The Fair’s Site Information: Name and location of charity fair, including parking information and what’s required to get onto the facility. If it’s a military base with many visitors it may take a half-hour to get through security, allow enough time.

Thank You Information: In addition to the person organizing the charity fair, get the name of the agency head and of the CFC campaign manager so you can send them a letter of thanks.

CFC Non-profit Solicitation Campaign Checklist for All Staff
As I’ve noted in many previous posts, if your non-profit is in the CFC, there are two questions that all staff – paid or volunteer, should be able to answer:
1. Are you in the CFC? (Yes).
2. What is your CFC number? CFC Code 12345.

Any other questions: “Let me have my CFC project officer contact you. His or her name is ___________.”

The CFC solicitation seasons opens on September 1st of each year. And, by having your CFC Action Team work on and develop checklists for the various components of your non-profit’s CFC fund-raising program, you can develop the tools that allow for consistent and successful CFC results!

As you get some practice and experience with the technique you’ll find yourself applying it to other aspects of your non-profit’s fundraising program.

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Next Week Tony Poderis posts an Essay
inspired by Lynn deLearie’s (two-part) June
piece on Reason & Emotion in Grant Proposals
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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
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have you seen
The Fundraising Series of ebooks?
They’re easy to read, to the point, and inexpensive ($1.99 – $4.99)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you would like to comment/expand on the above piece, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply.”

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Checklists – A Valuable Tool for the Nonprofit – Part II

Checklists for nonprofit organization

In January 2009, a US Airways jet taking off from LaGuardia airport jet hit a flock of geese 3 minutes after takeoff and immediately lost power in all engines.

With two minutes of altitude left, Captain Sully and his crew reached for their checklists dealing with loss of engine power and emergency landings; and, in what is now known as the “Miracle on the Hudson,” safely executed an emergency “landing” on the Hudson River.

This is a great example of bravery, coolness under pressure, flawless execution, maybe divine intervention (I’ll leave that up to you), and a least a little good luck. It is also an outstanding example of preparedness.

Where it’s obvious that the crew was prepared, the question here is, “What does all that have to do with your non-profit?”

Three weeks ago, I introduced the idea of checklists as an extremely valuable tool that can be used for your non-profit’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) fundraising effort.

Checklists are valuable, in and of themselves, and in certain occupations – flying, medicine, scuba diving, they can be, literally, life-saving….

In other arenas, such as the building industry, well designed checklists and processes can save millions of dollars, by avoiding mistakes before they happen.

As Dr. Gawande explained: “…the volume and complexity of what we know has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correctly, safely or reliably.”

So what are the benefits to a non-profit of using checklists?

There are three key points that I want to share with you, two directly from the book, and my analysis of what industry is most similar to the non-profit industry.

The first consideration is that the act of preparing the checklists is as important as the checklists themselves. (A first draft can be done by an experienced member of your CFC action team, it can be done by an experienced staffer, or it can be a great learning/training assignment for someone new to your non-profit or to your team.)

Second, no checklist starts out being perfect. They must all be tested and revised based on experience and actual use.

Third, one of the most valuable techniques available is one used by the building industry, where “double checklists” are now an industry standard. For every project there are two checklists, with the first being the actual Project Checklist, and the second is the Communications Checklist.

As the project steps are completed or problems are noticed and reported, the second checklist specifies what must be communicated to what other involved parties. In the building trades, there are sixteen different types of contractors, plus inspectors, financial reporting requirements, etc. … and everyone must know the current (and pending) status of all elements of the project.

While it may sound surprising at first, I think that the non-profit world is very similar to the construction industry because of the number and variety of different people working within a non-profit: full- and part-time paid staff, volunteers, and members of the board of directors.

In most NPOs, there are three requirements for every task: First, knowing what the task is … that it exists. Second, performing the task. Third, communicating the task’s successful completion to someone. While the “someone” varies, there is almost always a required communication in addition to the task.

In my October 1st posting, I’ll discuss the specific areas for which your CFC Action team should develop needed checklists.

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Next Week, another Two-Fer:
A piece on starting an effective Bequest Program, and
A piece on the Importance and Timing of the “Thank You.”
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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
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have you seen
The Fundraising Series of ebooks?
They’re easy to read, to the point, and inexpensive ($1.99 – $4.99)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you would like to comment/expand on the above piece, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply.”

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Checklists – A Valuable Tool for the Nonprofit – Part I

Checklists for nonprofit

Are you feeling overwhelmed?

I think for many of us, that answer is, “Yes” – at least part of the time … or in some aspect of our lives. You’ve probably heard it said that the amount of information a person living in the Middle Ages would have been exposed to in his or her lifetime is equivalent to the amount of information in a single Sunday New York Times !!

And that example is from the 20th century; and now, in the 21st century, the amount of information that we are exposed to daily has increased exponentially. And, with that “overload,” the challenge of being able to filter out unnecessary information and acquire actionable and useful knowledge are even harder.

In my next several posts I will share with you techniques that can help you deal effectively with the amount of information we are all bombarded with every day, and how one particular tool can be very effective with the tasks associated with using the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) to generate one of your non-profit’s streams of revenue.

What is this powerful tool? A checklist, actually multiple checklists, and learning how to create and use checklists for your CFC tasks can have multiple benefits for your CFC action team, and for your whole organization.

The definitive book on the power of checklists is “The Checklist Manifesto, How to Get Things Right” by Atul Gawande, M.D. He is an expert on patient safety in surgery, not just on the development of checklists.

I highly recommend that you read that book, but if you don’t have time to do that, here’s one timesaving technique to (at least) get an idea of his most important points … or those in any book.

Go onto Amazon, read the table of contents, read the excerpts available, and read at least 3 of the positive reviews; and, equally as important – read at least 3 of the negative reviews … which can give you feeling for what others thought might be some points that were not covered as well as they might have been.

I did read the entire book, and the Amazon reviews as well; and, even the “negative ones” are pretty positive.

(By the way, there are more than 500 reviews of the book on Amazon, and since 15-20 reviews is a more typical number it does give you a feel for the fact that many people have found this work of value.)

On September 3rd & 24th, I will cover how the process works, some typical areas for CFC checklists, and how a technique that’s critical to the success of the for-profit sector can be extremely valuable for your non-profit.

One point about checklists, if they are too long or too complex, they don’t work.

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Next week, watch for a twofer:
A piece on Direct Mail and Donor Retention, and
A piece on Having Your Grant Proposal Stand Out.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have you seen
The Fundraising Series of ebooks?
They’re easy to read, to the point, and inexpensive ($1.99 – $4.99)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you would like to comment/expand on the the above piece, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply.”

Posted on

Starting Planning with Attention to Mission Statement (and Brainstorming Goals) — Is that Best?

A business team planning and brainstorming in the office

It still seems common that many facilitators start strategic planning by having planners attend first to the wording on the mission statement, and soon after to start brainstorming strategic goals.

While that approach often can be done in a half-day or full-day of fun and creative “planning,” it has many drawbacks. Here’s a list of my concerns about that process:

  1. Most strategic planning researchers, educators, writers and practitioners would agree that the strategic thinking is the most important part of strategic planning. While there’s probably different perspectives on what “strategic thinking” is, I’m sure that most would agree that it includes the process of taking a wide look outside and inside the organization and then deciding how best to position the organization to work toward its mission, as a result of that looking around. I fail to see how focusing on exciting words in a mission statement and then brainstorming associated goals actually achieves that critically needed strategic thinking.
  2. The word-smithing and brainstorming are based on a usually invalid assumption – the assumption that all of the knowledge and wisdom that are needed for strategic thinking are already in the minds of the planners. Unless the planners have regularly been considering the overall strategic situation of the organization (rarely the case with very busy Board and staff members), then that assumption is an invalid one that can significantly cripple the value of strategic planning. It can build a beautiful ladder – to the wrong roof.
  3. The word-smithing and brainstorming propagates the major misconception, especially among facilitators, that there’s one way to do strategic planning – when there’s actually many different models of strategic planning (vision-based, issues-based, real-time, alignment, organic, etc.). The model should be selected, based on the purpose of the planning.
  4. The word-smithing and brainstorming of exciting goals propagates the myth that “strategic” means only forward-looking considerations, and not considerations of the major current issues that the organization might be facing now.
  5. The word-smithing of the mission statement can propagate the misconception that the mission statement is the mission. The statement is the map, it’s not the journey. A very useful mission would clarify, e.g., what’s the social need that the nonprofit is aiming to meet, what results/outcomes are needed to meet that need, what services/programs are needed to achieve those results, what group(s) of clients do we aim to serve, etc. If the discussions about the mission consider these questions, then it’s not word-smithing. Otherwise, discussions about “are we transformational” or are we “transcendental” are not sufficiently attending to the journey, rather they’re attending too much to the map.
  6. Finally, it propagates the myth that great planning can be done in an exciting half-day or full-day session, without much preparation, discussion, debates or research.

What do you think?

Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC
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What is Group Coaching? How Do You Develop It? (Part 2 of 2)

A-young-woman-working-at-the-customer-service

In Part 1, we described group coaching, starting with a description of coaching and then group coaching. We also listed many powerful applications of group coaching.

Basic Considerations in Designing Group Coaching

It is very important to customize the design of group coaching to the specific way that you want to use it. There are many considerations to be made during the design. For example:

  1. What is the primary purpose of the groups?
  2. Who will be in the groups?
  3. Will they be from the same organization or different?
  4. Will each work on the same topic or each work on different?
  5. How will they be trained?
  6. What resources will they need?
  7. How will they be facilitated?
  8. How will they be evaluated during and after the groups?
  9. How many meetings will there be and for how long?
  10. How will they communicate?
  11. Who will primarily be responsible for the groups?
  12. Is there a special coaching model that should be used?
  13. Will the model need to be acculturated somehow?
  14. Will they be integrated with other development methods?

Basic Guidelines for Some Common Applications of Group Coaching

To Spread Low-Cost, Core Coaching Skills

The organization should clearly specify the benefits of the groups for the organization and for each of its employees. Specific people should be assigned responsibility for the groups. Plans should be made for quickly starting and spreading the groups across the organization, for example, to have each group member go on to facilitate a new group (sometimes referred to as cascading groups). It will be less expensive if groups can be self-facilitated, so they might need to be trained for that. The supervisors of each of the group members will need to support their employees in the groups. Practical methods will need to be developed to evaluate the groups during and after their sequence of meetings.

To Ensure That Students Apply Content from Trainings

The members of the group should be from the same training program, and the scheduling of the groups will need to match the scheduling of the trainings. The trainers will need to know about the groups and the role of the groups in the program. The group’s coaching process will need to be designed around applying the content of the trainings. Members will need to reference straightforward materials from the trainings. Evaluations of the groups and training should be complementary and not overwhelming.

To Develop and Strengthen a Team

The team will need a clear purpose or charter from the organization. The supervisors of the group members will need to support the members’ time in meetings. The team will need clear procedures for membership, making decisions and generating recommendations. They might need a budget and timeline for their work, as well. If all members are from the same organization, then ground rules and facilitation will need to minimize any inhibitions from members working for the same supervisor.

To Cultivate Deep Networks

The members of the group should feel a strong bond among each other, but have complementary resources and skills. For example, they each might be from a different business unit or organizations. Still, they should feel that they have a lot in common and could benefit from each other. The group process should include each member clarifying what he or she needs, and should ensure that his or her needs are always met in their meetings. Otherwise, the member will not continue to attend the meetings.

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For more information, see All About Coaching.

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, is a faculty member of ActionLearningSource, which specializes in customizing high-quality Action Learning and group coaching programs for a wide variety of outcomes and applications. The firm also conducts a variety of low-cost, virtual trainings about Action Learning and group coaching.

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Extensive, Free, Practical Online Resources for Action Learners, Facilitators and Coaches

A-lady-having-an-online-session-with-a-coach

(The aim of this blog has always been to provide highly practical guidelines, tools and techniques for all types of Action Learners and coaches. Here are links to some of the world’s largest collections of free, well-organized resources for practitioners in both fields.)

The Action Learning framework and the field of personal and professional coaching both focus on personal, professional and organizational development, especially by including thoughtful questions among participants to clarify current priorities, select relevant strategies to address them, and take realistic actions to implement those strategies. The fields focus on guiding and supporting participants to reflect on the questioning and the actions that they take, in order to cultivate deep learning for the participants.

(There are many different views of Action Learning and how it should be done. To understand those differences, see the video Different Perspectives on Action Learning.)

Here are links to extensive, free, practical resources for these activities.

All About Action Learning

One of the world’s largest collections of free, well-organized information about Action Learning, including different definitions and models of Action Learning, various theories, examples of applications, and resources for each of the typical elements in the process. It also references numerous, free practical videos about all aspects of planning, developing, implementing, evaluating and troubleshooting Action Learning program

All About Coaching

Also one of the world’s largest collections of free, well-organized information — this time about personal and professional coaching, including different definitions, types of coaching, many benefits, hiring a coach, getting coached, doing coaching — and much more.

All About Facilitation

Includes free resources about typical tasks of facilitators, their values, how they often work, good versus not so good facilitation, group theories and dynamics, different types of groups, tools and techniques — and much more.

All About Questioning

Includes different types of questions and when to use each, traits of useful and not so useful questions, and many examples of useful questions.

Inquiry and Reflection

Includes definitions, the process of reflection, balancing inquiry and advocacy, tools to cultivate reflection, capturing learning, etc.

All About Learning and Development

Includes extensive, free resources about understanding learning and development, different types of L&D, types of activities for L&D and when to use each, designing informal and formal learning activities, etc.

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, is a faculty member of ActionLearningSource, which specializes in customizing high-quality Action Learning and group coaching programs for a wide variety of outcomes and applications. The firm also conducts a variety of low-cost, virtual and face-to-face trainings about Action Learning and group coaching facilitation, meetings, models and programs.
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What is Group Coaching? How Do You Develop It ? (Part 1 of 2)

(In this Part 1 of 2, we will describe group coaching. In Part 2, we will describe some basic considerations in developing a group coaching application.)

Group coaching is used much more often now because it often can achieve more impact, more quickly and at lower cost. Group coaching leverages the untapped wisdom, support and networking among clients, employees and peers. But what do we mean by “group coaching”?

First, What is Coaching?

The International Coach Federation has a definition for personal and professional coaching that is widely accepted:

“… coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential, which is particularly important in today’s uncertain and complex environment. Coaches honor the client as the expert in his or her life and work and believe every client is creative, resourceful and whole. Standing on this foundation, the coach’s responsibility is to:

  • Discover, clarify, and align with what the client wants to achieve
  • Encourage client self-discovery
  • Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies
  • Hold the client responsible and accountable

This process helps clients dramatically improve their outlook on work and life, while improving their leadership skills and unlocking their potential.”

So What is Group Coaching?

Simply put, group coaching is coaching in a group. However, there are many different formats for how that can be done. You could have one, some or all of the members of the group do the coaching to one, some or all of the group members. For example, a professional coach might coach each of the members of the group or the group members might coach each other.

Coaching could be done in one or several group meetings. It can also be done face-to-face or by means of telecommunications, for example, over the phone or Internet. Groups can be “externally” facilitated, that is, by someone who does not do the coaching or who does not get coached. In contrast, groups can self-facilitate, where one, some or all of the members are responsible for the facilitation.

Some people distinguish between group coaching and team coaching. They might define a team to be a group of people whose members all have the same purpose and goals, and work together in the same organization.

Powerful Applications for Group Coaching

Group coaching is very popular because it can be used for a wide variety of results and applications. Here are some of the most popular:

Problem solving among members

Coaching is great for solving complex problems because it guides and supports group members to closely clarify the problems, identify powerful strategies to solve them, and specify relevant and realistic actions to implement those strategies. Members can share support and accountabilities to take those actions.

Guarantee transfer of training

That same support and accountabilities can be used to ensure that group members actually apply the content that they got from some form of training, for example, from lectures, book studies and podcasts.

Team building

The close engagement among members and their strong focus on helping each other can quickly form a close and confidential bond in which members come to rely on each other to achieve the goal of the team.

Deep networking

Because members completely count on each other, they feel free to share more than business cards – they share their needs, open and honest feedback, and useful and practical resources among each other.

Quickly spreading, low-cost core coaching skills

Coaching has been proven to be a powerful means to cultivate change in people. Organizational change, including cultural change, requires change in people as well. In some formats of group coaching, the members not only get coached, but they practice coaching. The groups can be low-cost because the members do much of the work in the groups.

Engagement of all employees

We are learning that, unless a change effort has the complete buy-in, participation and commitment of employees, then the change effort is not likely to be successful. That engagement has to start with the employees being authentic – open, honest and direct about what they are experiencing. They need to feel listened to — and respected. That can occur in these groups.

Support and renewal groups

Research shows increasing burnout and cynicism among employees. Burnout is not necessarily caused by a person’s workload. It can be caused by the person’s perspective on their workload. Coaching can clarify that perspective and what can be done about it

Core Leadership Skills

There are many skills that group members will develop, regardless of the purpose of the group. For example, they will build skills in presenting to a group, asking for and accepting help, listening, asking good questions, action planning and learning from reflection. A good group will also cultivate authenticity, engagement and accountability among members. All of these skills are critical to good leadership.

(In the upcoming Part 2, we will describe some basic considerations in developing a group coaching application.)

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For more information, see All About Coaching.

—
Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, is a faculty member of ActionLearningSource, which specializes in customizing high-quality Action Learning and group coaching programs for a wide variety of outcomes and applications. The firm also conducts a variety of low-cost, virtual trainings about Action Learning and group coaching.
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Action Learning Certification — There is No Independent Certifying Body (Should There Be?)

agreement-coworkers-two-men-having-deal

The field of personal and professional coaching has a widely respected and accepted, independent certifying body called the International Coach Federation. It is independent in that it does not concurrently promote its own model of coaching — it does not engage in that kind of conflict of interest.

There seems to be a mistaken impression that there is already this kind of independent organization that grants Action Learning certification for the field of Action Learning. Actually, there is not — and that should not confuse current and new Action Learners. (There is an organization that claims to be the official certifier of Action Learning, but it concurrently sells its own proprietary model of Action Learning.)

Increasing Need for Independent Action Learning Certification Organization?

I believe there is a strong need for an independent organization that offers an optional certification for Action Learning training programs and facilitators. My reasons are:

  1. There are variations that refer to themselves as “Action Learning” and mention Revans, yet dramatically differ from Revans’ core process. They might center on outdoors activities with journaling, group discussions or not include actions. Even Revans was loathe to define Action Learning, but at what point is a process not the group-based, problem-solving Action Learning process?
  2. There is a misunderstanding that there already is the certification organization for the field of Action Learning. I have been asked if our (Authenticity Consulting’s and Acton Learning Source’s) trainings “are certified” or “approved” by that organization. If there already was a certifier, then ideally there would have been an apparent consensus about that among Action Learning training programs. There is not consensus, at all.

Major Benefit of an Action Learning Certification Organization Now?

A certification organization might help to address these issues by supporting the clarity, integrity and legitimacy of the field by suggesting certain standards and competencies. Those would be optional to those in the field, of course. Other prominent fields and professions have benefited from such a strategy, for example, the International Coach Federation, Human Resource Certification Institute, ASTD Certification Institute, and Project Management Institute.

What Would the Action Learning Certification Organization Do?

  1. It would be widely respected as influencing standards, accreditation and competencies in the trainings and practices of group-based Action Learning.
  2. It would provide its accreditation to training programs and certification to practitioners, along with suggesting standards of ethics in the practice of Action Learning.
  3. Its standards, accreditation and certifications would not be mandatory; rather they would apply to whatever organizations and practitioners that seek them.
  4. It could be a new organization or a program of an already established, independent organization, such as the International Federation for Action Learning.
  5. It would be an independent body like that in other prominent fields or professions.
    NOTE: It would not concurrently sell or train its own model of Action learning that it has also certified.

Proposed Next Steps to Consider Action Learning Certification Organization

I propose that the consideration of this organization, include:

  1. Dialogues about whether such an organization should exist now.
  2. Then, based on indications from the dialogues, a council of representatives from various Action Learning centers would be convened.
  3. It would suggest considerations and recommendations about such an organization.
  4. If the Council, or some other organization or group of committed personnel concluded the need for the organization, it could be developed over time.

Proposed Question for a Dialogue Now

“Should there be an independent certification organization that suggests standards, accreditation and competencies for the field of Action Learning, to which training programs and practitioners have the option to follow?”

Feedback?

What do you think?

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, is a Principal in ActionLearningSource.com

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My Concern About the Use of Strategic Planning “Templates”

A worried businessman with a laptop in an office

It seems that the use of “templates” in strategic planning is on the rise. People want a simple and straightforward way to get the Strategic Plan written and finished. They want a “roadmap” that applies to every organization with everyone all the time and everywhere.

I’m seeing them mentioned more often lately for strategic planning, Boards, marketing and fundraising. We’re getting more calls from potential clients who want us to use a certain template.

Some of the Advantages of Templates

  1. They very quickly depict a certain approach to doing a seeming complex activity.
  2. They sometimes promise a very quick way of doing a seemingly prolonged activity
  3. They can quickly orient people to a certain way of doing that activity.

Disadvantages of Templates

  1. Might minimize the time needed for critically important strategic analysis, thinking and discussions.
  2. Can give the illusion that all planning and plans can be the same, regardless of the different purposes of planning.
  3. Might suggest a “quick fix” to the challenge of allocating sufficient time and resources to good planning.
  4. Indirectly suggest that a nonprofit should have certain structure and certain Board committees.
  5. They don’t orient planners to the different variety of models for planning, i.e., don’t enhance the internal planning capacity of planners.

Some Mistaken(?) Assertions in Templates

Some:

  1. Specify which Board committees a nonprofit should always have.
  2. Specify the maximum limit of committees for all nonprofits.
  3. Specify certain procedures for solving problems and making decisions.
  4. Specify the time frame that a Strategic Plan should be.
  5. Specify that sufficient planning can be done in a certain number of hours.
  6. Assert that mission, vision and values must always be looked at first in planning.

However, Assertions Are Not Always True.

They depend COMPLETELY on the nature and needs of the nonprofit. For example:

  1. The number and types of committees might depend on the number and complexity of strategic priorities.
  2. The way that decisions are made and problems are solved depend on the culture of the organization, e.g., some prefer a highly rational breakdown of the issue, while others prefer a more unfolding, naturalistic, but inclusive approach.
  3. The time frame of a Plan should depend on, e.g., how rapidly the environment is changing around the nonprofit and the range of its resources.
  4. There are occasions where mission, vision and values are not the best to start planning with — if an organization’s programs and clients have not changed, but it has many internal issues, then address those first.
  5. The role of templates has its advantages. But I wish that the authors of templates would do more to caution the users on the purposes, limitations and considerations in using those templates.

??? What do you think?

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CFC Campaign Extended to January 15, 2014

Someone marking an X on a calendar

Due to the government shutdown in October, which occurred just as many of the CFC kickoffs and charity fairs were beginning, the Office of Personnel Management has extended the campaign one month to January 15, 2014. Here’s the link to the official letter from OPM with that decision: CFC Extension

What this means for your CFC charity is that you should continue your messaging about your participation in the CFC during the holiday season and into the New Year. What methods should you use? All of them!!

Whatever methods you regularly use, you should include the fact that your non-profit participates in the CFC. And, of course, you should be using the modern methods … that include information on your website, taglines in e-mail signatures, and information on Facebook and other social media sites where you have a presence.

In addition to that, don’t forget that simple methods can also be extremely effective, and here’s an example of that:

The Calvert County Library Foundation enrolled in the CFC for the first time in 2012, and they received more than $14,000 of unrestricted funds from their CFC donors. They used multiple methods of communication, but the one that probably had the highest ROI is this 4×8 plywood sign.

Library Sign

Why did this work so well? Because the Pax River Naval Air Station is located 75 miles south of Washington DC, and there is one main road to the east coast’s “Top Gun” school – Maryland Route 2/4. And, because there are 17,000 uniformed and civilian employees that work at Pax River, and most of them drive to the base via Route 2/4 … most of them pass this sign on their way.

Here’s another banner sign, this one from the Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry.

Food Bank Sign

That sign has both CFC and United Way codes, plus the Maryland Charities Workplace Giving Campaign code; and, it can be seen by people driving in either direction. It’s just up the road from the Support Calvert Library sign so obviously these two CFC charities have found this technique to be effective.

By the way, neither sign is located at their respective facility; they are on residential lawns of supporters.
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New Head of OPM Confirmed
In the last CFC post I promised an update on the new CFC regulations. There has been no change there yet, but one important thing that had to happen was the confirmation of the new permanent director of the Office of Personnel Management.

In May, President Obama announced the nomination of Katherine Archuleta as the first Latina to head the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and on October 30, 2013, the Senate confirmed her to lead the Federal agency responsible for managing the Federal workforce, including responsibility for oversight of the CFC.

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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 Fundraising Series of ebooks.
They’re easy to read, to the point, and inexpensive ($1.99 – $4.99)
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