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Category: Nonprofit

My Big Dream for 2013: The Nonprofit Version

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I’m participating in the Nonprofit Blog Carnival this month. The prompt is what’s your big dream for 2013?

My big dream is much bigger than something that can be accomplished in the next year, but it’s something I hold very dear to my heart, and something I hope to advance in a big way in 2013, the last year before I get my Masters in Nonprofit Administration. I hope to advance the presence of the nonprofit sector in the public eye, and improve its reputation in all ways.

As much as I wish to believe everyone knows and loves the nonprofit sector as much as I do, that’s simply not the case. The public has a very small and often skewed perspective of what the nonprofit sector is. If it isn’t bleeding heart activists or starving children on television, it’s scandalous organizations that do things like Kony 2012 or stop funding Planned Parenthood. Unfortunately, like most things, people only hear about nonprofits when something out of the ordinary happens.

And for most nonprofits, ordinary is beautiful. Ordinary means uplifting people out of poverty, teaching children, caring for the sick, spreading awareness about being environmentally friendly, finding animals homes, and the list goes on and on. Spectacular things are happening every day. But people just don’t know about it.

And we know that people would care to know, because we know that the vast marjority of people give donations. Often, they are giving with blind faith, without knowing fully what the nonprofit is doing for the community. If they knew more, perhaps their involvement would grow.

It’s no one’s fault that the public isn’t fully aware of the sector. It just means that those of us who are its biggest champions have some work to do. We have to talk about our job more at parties, have open conversations with our friends about the organizations we know about, and continue to blog and speak about the sector. It’s a big job, but I know we can do it.

My big dream for 2013 and beyond is that the nonprofit sector is admired as a wonderful, professional, passionate subsect of our society that is contributing invaluable services to our community.

-N.C.

Why #GivingTuesday Is Important

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Since you’re reading my blog, you probably already know what #GivingTuesday is. But in case you live under a rock (or are new here – welcome!), #GivingTuesday is a response to the consumerism of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday – a way to launch the upcoming giving season and celebrate the nonprofit organizations that make the world go ’round. You can learn more at the #GivingTuesday website here.

There have been a crop of critics to the #GivingTuesday movement, and they are actually coming from inside the philanthropic sector. This one, an opinion piece in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, is what finally caused me to write this post. The author’s post argues that there is no concrete evidence that #GivingTuesday actually increases giving. In actuality, although it might spur people to give, it might mean that they won’t give their gift another time of year. He believes that because of this, #GivingTuesday won’t “work.”

The author is being too short-sighted in determining what success would look like for #GivingTuesday. You can even look to the mission of #GivingTuesday to explain this:

#GivingTuesday™ is a campaign to create a national day of giving at the start of the annual holiday season. It celebrates and encourages charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations.

While of course it would be good, I see nothing in that statement about increasing donations.

In fact, I would argue that the best part about #GivingTuesday is that the day’s conversation is about nonprofits, donations, and the change we wish to see in the world. While I whole heartedly believe in the nonprofit sector, I don’t believe that it has the respect it deserves amongst general society. The words philanthropy and donation simply aren’t uttered enough in the public eye. #GivingTuesday starts a global conversation about these important topics – it brings nonprofit organizations and philanthropy to the forefront – something that doesn’t happen often enough. The fact that we are talking about it at all is a win.

The author of that post said it himself:

I don’t think it will work. That’s not to say that I don’t think the idea will catch on. I think we’ll see a huge number of tweets and
Instagrams on Giving Tuesday. And I expect that the effort will grow each year. What I don’t think it will do is materially affect giving in any positive way.

I’d challenge him to think outside the box of what “affect giving” might mean.

-N.C.

Treading Water in a Sea of Smarties

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This past Saturday I participated in NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now, the pre-conference session to the Independent Sector conference. The NGen program’s goal is to “enhance the visibility, leadership capacity and professional networks of emerging leaders under age 40.”

If you don’t know what Independent Sector is, I strongly encourage you to visit their website and learn more. It’s an amazing organization that’s working to bridge the conversations that nonprofit organizations and philanthropic entities are having. We must have a larger, more inclusive conversation about what’s going on in the charitable sector.

I signed up to go because the conference was in San Francisco this year and I’m interested in what Independent Sector is doing. What I didn’t expect was how many amazing, intelligent, insightful people I would meet there. There were nonprofit rockstars from around the country sitting at each table discussing sector wide issues, potential solutions, and having incredibly provocative conversations around these issues.

I have to admit I was caught off guard. I’ve always admired this high level thinking, and have thought about it once in a while, but to be able to work for an organization that is advancing these ideals has never been something that’s within my reach. And while I consider myself to be a relatively well versed nonprofit staffer, being surrounded by all these smarty pants was intimidating!

As I listened to what all of them had to say, I soaked up their knowledge and passion, and didn’t pressure myself to have the perfect response or even the need to keep the conversation going. I have much to learn in my time in this sector, and there’s no rush. I just feel fortunate I was able to be in the company of such inspiring people – and one day, I hope to become one of them.

-N.C.

Letting Go of Responsibility

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Like most things I write about on this blog, responsibility is a double edged sword. At face value, it’s a great trait – it proves you have the expertise, knowledge, and experience to manage projects. I’m definitely one of those people who strives to have more and more responsibility, even if I’m in a low level position. There’s something thrilling knowing you have total ownership of a project – that you did all the research, planning, and follow through for everything. You know every component inside out, and you can vouch for the project, no matter what.

Although it can be fun to have responsibility, it can also be exhausting. If anything’s wrong, your reputation is on the line. You have to take into account everyone’s opinions in your decisions, and answer to them when things don’t go their way. And you have to do the work! Responsibility can be very difficult.

It’s been tough for me to learn this, but I believe I have – responsibility is not something I need to go after all the time. Especially working in a nonprofit, the more responsibility you volunteer for, the more you’ll have. And it won’t necessarily reflect in your title or your pay. Before you know it, you’ll be working on very complex projects from start to end and won’t have anything to show for it. Of course, you are gaining experience, which is priceless. But honestly, I’m at the point where experience just won’t cut it. If I’m going to take responsibility for something, I need to be compensated for that.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, and I’m happy to help in any way I can. But I’m learning the lesson that I can’t kill myself working when I don’t have a higher title or higher pay. It just isn’t worth it. All I can do is what I was hired to do, and do it the best I can. And go home at night knowing that I won’t have to answer all the critics the next day.

-N.C.

Kindness in the Workplace

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Here’s an interesting piece on kindness in the business world: Let’s end the paradox of kindness. And while this piece comes from a very different place than kindness with nonprofit employees, many of the points still ring true.

I really enjoy considering the concepts of kindness and niceness in the nonprofit sector. I personally pride myself on being both of those things – but thinking about them critically in the nonprofit workplace is very important. Unfortunately, we have a culture of being too nice. Because the main goal of the sector is to help others, which is something nice, there is a misconception that employees should bend over backwards for each other – so much, that professionalism is going to the wayside, people aren’t being honest in their feedback, and undeserving/inappropriate people are rising to the top (which is a huge issue, unfortunately: many of the CEOs I have worked with are a little nuts, and I think that’s why).

We need to redefine kindness. Instead of kind being false compliments and high pitched voices, kindness should be consideration, respect, and thoughtfulness – and it should be something we all strive for, not matter what sector we work in. I love the post’s point about the Goldilocks principle, getting kindness just right. Kindness is not all or nothing – it’s a very fluid concept that starts with a smile and often ends with mutual agreement and understanding. Kindness is about understanding that we’re all just people trying our best to succeed in the work world, and that’s enough.

Will you work with kindness today?

-N.C.

I’d Love Your Input!

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I’m currently enrolled in Nonprofit Human Resources Management through the Masters in Nonprofit Administration program at University of San Francisco. For my class project, I want to evaluate the role of stress in the lives of nonprofit employees. What a shocker, right?? Basically what this blog is about!! Anyway, I’ve created a short survey on the topic and if you work for a nonprofit organization, I would love your input! I’m hoping for responses by next Friday, June 22.

You can access the survey by clicking here.

Please pass along the link to colleagues or any other friends you know working in the nonprofit sector! Thank you!!

-N.C.

Working with Intention

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One undeniable truth about the nonprofit sector: all of us have more work to do than is ever possible to do in a 40 hour work week. There are always more donations to get, more updates to the website, and more people to serve. Things are always changing in the nonprofit sector and we do our best to adapt, keeping ahead of the trends and being flexible.

With mountains of work, it’s important that the work we do be intentional. For nonprofit employees, it’s not a matter of finding work to do, it’s a matter of determining what is highest priority.

Here’s a few reasons why working with intention is the best thing for a nonprofit employee to do.

  • It helps your organization work strategically: Developing a plan and sticking to it helps you to see the forest for the trees. Think about what the organization needs, to the most basic level. The organization needs donors, constituents, volunteers, etc. Then think about how you will achieve those big goals. That’s where your list should come from, and that’s where priorities will fall into place.
  • It makes you feel in control: Prioritizing workload and being intentional about the tasks you do makes you feel like you’re not just checking off your to do list, you’re working on purpose. It allows you to understand what’s important for the agency and put the rest of those tasks on the back burner, making you feel not so overwhelmed that you’re just spinning your wheels. Trust me, you’ll feel amazing when working with intention.
  • You get more done: This is good not just for you but for the agency as well. When working with intention, you feel as though you’re moving forward in important ways. This helps build momentum to keep focusing on the important things, and other tasks will then fall into place. When you work more efficiently and effectively, more gets done for the organization.

I know it can be difficult to set aside some time to do big picture planning, but trust me when I say it’s worth it! When you work on purpose, it’s better for everyone. It’s important too to keep reviewing the big plan to ensure priorities haven’t shifted. When you keep on top of things, everyone will be happy.

-N.C.

The Importance of Technology, In the Words of a Busy Millennial

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Today is my third and final day at the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC), an annual conference hosted by Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN). It’s being hosted in San Francisco this year, and someone recommended that I attend, so the stars were aligned. And let me tell you – it’s awesome!! I signed up for the conference thinking it would be good for me to be connected to the latest and greatest ideas in technology, as I work with my work’s donor database and other online platforms. Little did I know that the conference wouldn’t just show me techie tools, but instead lead me to evaluate the role technology plays in our organization and how it can have a role in furthering our mission… or any nonprofit activity, for that matter!

Beyond the nonprofit organization aspect, these past couple of days have reminded me of the importance of technology in general. We all know that technology is important because of the computers on our desk. But I’m here to bring a different perspective to the table – that of a busy millennial.

Here are a few of the reasons technology is important to me.

  • It helps me refine my voice. As I’ve mentioned before, blogging has really helped me develop my thoughts regarding the nonprofit sector, millennial issues, and so much more. But beyond that, having an online presence has given me a new part of my identity to craft. I have spent most of the breakout sessions I’ve participated in at NTC live tweeting the content (check out mytimeline here to read some of the great stuff I’ve been learning). This is reinforcing the ideas I’m learning and helps solidify them in my mind, and gives me ownership of the content I agree on. It’s now a part of me, which I love.
  • The things I need are anywhere I need them (with Wifi, of course). Being a busy millennial, I try to minimize my time doing extraneous activities. Organizing is one of those things. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some list making, but that takes time, and I don’t have a lot of that. Technology has allowed for sharing, collaborating, and housing documents in the cloud, so that I don’t have to worry about putting things on a flash drive or – gasp – a CD. It’s all at my fingertips.
  • It’s green. Remember the days of paper planners? CDs, tapes, and even DVDs? Address books (OK I still need to transition my old one)? At the NTC there is a QR code for each session’s evaluation. No more stacks of paper and trash. Same for the paperwork I need – I don’t have extra things to keep track of. Technology is doing some amazing things to green our world, and for that, we should be thankful.

I must say that after experiencing the NTC I am hooked and really hope I can continue to go each year. I highly recommend it to you, too! Look into a membership for NTEN – it’s very affordable for students, including Masters students – and join! It’s an amazing resource, and it’s not just for IT staff!

-N.C.

 

Celebrating One Year of Blogging

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I’m commemorating blogging for one year with a blog redesign! I’ve changed my photo, headline, About Me section, and design of the homepage! I’ve even changed my Twitter bio to go along with everything. Please let me know what you think!

What a good exercise this was. Now that it’s been a year, I understand better what I’m passionate about and what comes naturally when I’m thinking about blogging. It wasn’t until I put it into words that I’ve really understood what this blog has become.

Nonprofit Chapin is not just about my experience working in the nonprofit sector. It’s framing my experience in the context of stress management and other important things to incorporate into your life as a nonprofit staffer. It’s about creating personal and professional vision. It’s about getting your needs met, whether that be in the professional or personal sense. It’s about putting you first – something I’m working on as we go! These are the things I’ve felt compelled to write about, and this is what the blog has become.

When I started this blog, I wanted to make sure to write everything from my personal perspective. I didn’t want to pretend to be an expert in the nonprofit sector, in Gen-Y, in anything. I wanted to write from my heart and see what happens. And the product has been something beautiful: writing about the aspects of personal success that aren’t necessarily so prevalent in the workforce – happiness, peace, and love, for yourself and others. These are the things I’m working on for myself, so I’m happy to have you alongside with me.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are continuing to enjoy this journey as much as I am!

-N.C.

Happy Hour Questions (And 2-3 Sentence Answers) to Your Nonprofit Job

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Boy are there plenty of misconceptions out there about working for a nonprofit! And since I’ve been doing so full time for almost six years, I’ve heard my share of them. But if you try to explain the intricacies of the sector to someone over a cocktail, nine times out of ten their eyes will glaze over and they’ll be wandering back to the bar before you know it. Here are my three favorite questions, and suggested responses, to the statement: I do fundraising and marketing for a nonprofit.

  • I hate asking for money. How do you do that all day? Fundraising does not equal sales. When people think of fundraising, they think sales: pressure situations, aggression, general impersonal interaction. Fundraising for a nonprofit is probably the opposite of that. The basic premise of fundraising is relationship building, cultivating, and being sensitive to donor wants and needs. My suggested response: It can be difficult. But when you have a good cause to raise money for, it’s really not so bad! In fact, it’s very satisfying to help donors support something they feel passionate about!
  • If you work for a nonprofit, how do you get paid? This one doesn’t always happen, but when it does, I know I’m dealing with a real newbie. Nonprofit does not mean you don’t make a profit, it simply means you are dealing with dual missions: both the cause you are working for and staying financially sound. It’s a better practice to come out in the black, just as it is in the for profit sector. My suggested response: I do get paid – nonprofits are just like businesses, only with a different goal: ours is to help people. We still generate revenue for operations and salaries – in fact, that’s what I do.
  • What is your long term goal? As if working the nonprofit sector is just a stepping stone to your next career. I actually get this question more now that I’m doing my Masters in Nonprofit Administration, because people are perplexed that a program like that even exists. Professionalism in the sector is just picking up steam, and we’re moving in the right direction. My suggested response: I haven’t completely figured it out, but I’m interested in capacity building for nonprofits. So whether that’s strategic planning, doing leadership development, or other consulting, that’s where I’d like to be. But one thing’s for sure: I’m staying in the nonprofit sector.

This is not to knock my for profit counterparts – of course, with the relatively low awareness of nonprofit operations, it’s only inevitable that there are misconceptions. This post is for my nonprofit peers, who suffer with articulating what they do over a martini. Trust me, it’s not as easy as it looks!!

-N.C.