nonprofit – Page 3 – Nonprofit Chapin

Shame in the Nonprofit Sector

March 31, 2015nonprofitchapin

I just finished reading I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t) by Brene Brown and I couldn’t help but think about the ways we should translate Brene’s ideas into the nonprofit sector. The book’s core is about shame – the ways it effects people, how it manifests in one’s actions, and how we can better address it as a society. Shame is not an easy topic to talk about, but that just proves how important it is.

In the nonprofit sector, emotions run high and resilience can become tough. We are all working our hardest to do the best work we can, and sometimes, we can let our frustration get the best of us and lash out on others. This is a defense mechanism – in our minds, by shaming someone else we are somehow lifting ourselves – but something that we should all pay closer attention to. A little bit of compassion can go a long way in the workplace, and will ultimately allow us all to do our best work in a supportive environment.

Brene’s work is very interesting and I encourage you to take a look and consider how shame plays a role in your life. Because the more self aware we are, the better work we can do.

-N.C.

Year Four of Nonprofit Chapin & Tough Conversations

March 16, 2015nonprofitchapin

Today marks four years that I’ve had this blog and let me tell you, my third year was definitely my hardest so far. As you may remember, I received my Masters in Nonprofit Administration in December 2013, right before my blog turned three. I was inspired and ready to tackle some important issues about nonprofit sector effectiveness. And then… life happened. I got wrapped up in the day to day happenings of being a Donor Relations Manager at a very busy nonprofit and almost all of my thought about nonprofit efficiencies switched to wondering how I could stay sane at my job. Then… things clicked.

I realized that while I still had passion and interest in sector-wide issues, the issues I was dealing with on a daily basis weren’t as pretty, and were just as important (or even more important) to talk about. As nonprofit employees, we have a very unique set of challenges and issues to deal with. In years one and two of this blog, I focused more on posting about that. Year three, as I hoped to continue my journey into academia related to the nonprofit sector, unfortunately fell short. But I want to make a renewed commitment to come back to this blog and talk about the nitty gritty of handling yourself as a nonprofit employee. How can we all work hard, thrive, and still go home with some energy? I’m still learning myself, but I hope I can start some dialogue here to get us on the path to some shared ideas.

So, thanks for being patient with me. In year four I hope to tackle some important issues that we all deal with, and bring to light some not-so-pretty subjects. That’s the only way we’ll all get through this journey alive, and at the end of the day, we all hope we get out better than alive! We hope to get out thriving!

-N.C.

P.S. I updated my layout, headshot, About Me blurb, and About Me page – what do you think?

Keeping Open Communication about the Good and the Bad

June 13, 2014nonprofitchapin

Last month in the Opinion section of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, two sector leaders wrote a brilliant piece: Keeping Quiet About Wrongdoing at Nonprofits Only Makes Matters Worse. The authors describe how nonprofit executives shy away from constructive criticism and healthy evaluation of wrongdoing in their organizations, and the reasons this has a negative impact on the sector.

Nonprofit organizations, just like any other organization, need to be consistently evaluating their operations and ensuring things are not only legal, but well-running. Nonprofits are essentially funded by the general public, and therefore have a responsibility to spend money in a fiscally prudent way. The leaders of these organizations have a responsibility to make sure this is happening.

Instead of shying away from wrongdoings, they should face them head on and talk about them publically. Being critical of ourselves in the nonprofit sector can only improve our position and respectability amongst our peers in the other sectors. If we don’t hold ourselves to a high standard, who will?

-N.C.

Three Years of Nonprofit Chapin

March 17, 2014nonprofitchapin2 Comments

Yesterday marked three years since I started blogging here at Nonprofit Chapin. As you may have read in About Nonprofit Chapin, I started this blog because I had heard that blogging would be good for my professional development. Three years later, I can definitely say that’s the case.

Blogging causes me to think critically about my work and the nonprofit sector and communicate these thoughts in a concise, easy-to-understand way. It has helped me put my work and myself into the larger context of the sector and even the world. It has connected me with other like-minded bloggers. And it has given me the confidence that my opinions about important issues are valid and appreciated.

In the next year, I would like to focus my blogging on issues that pertain to the nonprofit sector but also may cross into other sectors. I would like to help us understand the ways we are all changing the world, no matter which sector we work in. For we all have an important role in making lasting change.

I’m looking forward to another great year of sharing my love for nonprofit issues. Thank you for being a part of the Nonprofit Chapin community – I appreciate you!

-N.C.

Story Time: Not Just for Babies

November 25, 2013nonprofitchapin

Thrilled to share that my third guest blog post, Story Time: Not Just for Babies, was published last week on Nancy Schwartz’s Getting Attention! Helping Nonprofits Succeed through Effective Marketing. I had a great time writing about the importance of telling stories in nonprofit marketing. People aren’t moved by numbers or data, they are moved by relating to someone. I don’t discount the importance of data and the integral role it should play in nonprofit marketing. But to get someone to act, they must feel. And to get someone to feel, they must understand.

Check it out!

-N.C.

I Won’t Support My Grandma’s Nonprofit

May 14, 2013nonprofitchapin

I’m thrilled to share my second guest blog post with Nancy Schwartz’s Getting Attention! Helping Nonprofits Succeed Through Effective Marketing. The post, entitled I Won’t Support My Grandma’s Nonprofit, is all about the importance of innovation in nonprofit organizations. It can be very tough to innovate in any realm, as it’s easy to slip into the “tried and true” cycle of repeating what’s done in the past. Nonprofits have even more obstacles to innovation, with their accountability to the public in different ways than the for profit sector (proving success is not as simple as a bottom line with nonprofits). However, nonprofits are the ones that should be innovating the most because they are solving the biggest problems and doing the most important work.

Whoever heard of a movement, revolution, or even new invention that was a product of the status quo? If you’re solving social problems that haven’t been figured out before, what makes you think you can get to the solution without doing something new?

Check out the blog post here and think about the ways your organization is (or isn’t) innovating.

-N.C.

UnderDeveloped

February 11, 2013nonprofitchapin2 Comments

I am thrilled to share a phenomenal report about the challenges faced by nonprofits surrounding fundraising. If you work in development or are a senior level employee at a nonprofit, you must read this! UnderDeveloped: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising is a joint project of CompassPoint and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund that surveyed development directors and executive directors across the nation to understand their relationship to each other and to fundraising. The report includes insightful numbers on high turnover rates, skills and abilities around fundraising, and an entire section about nurturing a culture of philanthropy in organizations.

I believe the biggest takeaway from this report is that we must reframe what it means to raise money – whether that be by development directors, executive directors, or line staff. We need to have an honest conversation about money, what it means to all of us in society, and what it means to nonprofit organizations. Money, as I’ve mentioned in this blog before, is an incredibly taboo subject. People aren’t comfortable talking about finances in a really open way. It is not deemed to be an acceptable conversation topic. This is a problem when that is what fundraisers are supposed to do – talk about money all day. What does this mean for the success – or lack thereof – of fundraisers?

We need to get to a place where we all understand that money is necessary for nonprofits to provide the services they do, and without donors and their generosity, there would be none. We need to be comfortable to share that with outsiders when we are talking about our programs. We need each other – nonprofits need funds to run, and donors need causes to support and believe in. In the end, we will all win.

Please, read this important report and share it with everyone you know! It can have a great impact for people in need.

-N.C.

Stressed Out? Here’s What To Do About It

January 14, 2013nonprofitchapin2 Comments

As our world becomes more and more fast paced, the role of stress in our lives is increasing. We are expected to get better results, faster, and more easily. This expectation carries over into the nonprofit sector. Funders, donors, and clients are expecting quality services to be readily available, effective, and easy to use. Nonprofit employees would want nothing less, and have similar lofty expectations and goals for their own work and themselves. They are passionate about their work and the people they serve, so naturally they want to deliver their services in the most efficient way possible and help as many people as they can. They work hard to achieve success and they take a lot of pride in their work. Unfortunately, when expectations get out of control, there’s a very bad consequence: stress.

I recently took a course in Nonprofit Human Resource Management for my Masters in Nonprofit Administration program at University of San Francisco and did my final paper on the ways that Human Resources departments can address the problem of the role of stress in the lives of nonprofit employees. I first administered an informal survey (to my delight, I received 158 responses!), and the paper reviews some of my very interesting findings from this.

At the end of the paper there’s an addendum that is a short takeaway for Human Resources departments to take.

I wanted to share this paper and addendum on this blog because I see you all, my readers, as my community, supporters, and champions of the sector. You have seen that this is a topic I care deeply about, not just for my personal sanity but also for the health and sustainability of the nonprofit sector. We need to address this problem!

Click here to see my paper, and please let me know if anything great comes of it!

Enjoy!

-N.C.

I’m Off to Grad School!

April 17, 2011nonprofitchapin4 Comments

Exciting news! I have been accepted into the Masters in Nonprofit Administration program at University of San Francisco. I will be making the move from San Diego up to the Bay Area, where I grew up and where most of my family is. I have lived in San Diego for nine years and have made many great friendships down here, but it is time for me to be closer to my family and truly begin settling down.

There is a big debate about the necessity of grad school for nonprofit professionals right now. There are numerous experts explaining the reasons why nonprofit leaders don’t need graduate level degrees. Because the nonprofit sector is so experience based, instead of skill based as many other fields are (business, law, teaching, etc), people claim that through experience, networking, and confidence one can obtain her dream job.

The hard truth of the matter is that more and more nonprofit employers are hoping for advanced degrees when looking for their next leadership. Of the job postings I look at for leadership positions, almost all recommend a Masters to apply. Now, I completely understand the argument that it’s all about what you’ve done and who you know. Absolutely – that can work for many people. But I would not say that getting a Masters is a waste of time or money. If you get a Masters that is highly specialized for the nonprofit sector, and focuses on practical tips for the working world, I feel that it’s time and money well spent. And that’s exactly what I looked for in my ideal program… and found it in the USF program.

Everyone I spoke to in the nonprofit field recommended working 5-10 years before entering grad school… and I totally agree with that. That’s just long enough to catch the bug and know that you’ll be in this sector forever.

-N.C.

Three Things I Love About Working in the Nonprofit Sector

April 9, 2011nonprofitchapin2 Comments

There is no doubt in my mind that I will work in the nonprofit sector for the rest of my life. I thrive off of working for the good of mankind, striving every day to make things better for those with less fortune in this world. I like to help people. The nonprofit sector can hardly be described in a few words, but I’ll take a stab at some of my favorite things about working in it.

1. My everyday work isn’t so, well, everyday.

While the tasks I do can sometimes get tedious (one can only do so much data entry before going a little crazy), no one can dispute the fact that what I am doing makes a real, tangible difference. Even though I might be doing administrative tasks, the larger picture of what I work on is to contribute to the efficiencies of an organization that makes a difference in the community. Every day I am surrounded by kids who are receiving the services of the nonprofit I work for and are hanging out in our center as opposed to the streets. I hear over and over stories about how lives were changed because of the facility. Every day I get to contribute to this larger movement – and I get paid for it!

2. The other four letter word: Hope.

All my coworkers work in the same nonprofit because they believe in the mission, and believe that there is the possibility for change in this world. They all have hope. They believe that there are ways that the system can be changed to make life better, they believe in the power of education, they believe that life can be better. It’s refreshing being surrounded by people who are all working toward this common goal, and it makes the tough times easier to swallow.

3. My contributions are more important than my possessions.

I have never experienced a coworker saying to me, “Good job getting that bonus!” Instead, I hear on a more regular basis, “You did a great job on that project” or “This will be so helpful for the organization, thank you.” I appreciate that everyone working at a nonprofit has a common goal of the organization’s mission instead of a goal of being out for themselves. Of course, everyone would appreciate a bit more money, but in a nonprofit that’s not the focus – it’s not the focus of the organization or the people working in it.

Like I said earlier, I can’t describe the sector in just a few words. But I certainly hope that someday you get the chance to experience the joy I do, every day, working for the larger good.

-N.C.