Disecting a Non-Profit

This will probably be a multi-part series. Following is part 1.

There is an organization that I belong to. For political reasons, the name will not be mentioned, however following are my thoughts regarding issues that are facing this organization that has been around now for quite a few years.

They are resistant to change. There are a number of reasons for this, and quite a few results. Keep in mind, I am not for change for change's sake. However, there is a time when you have to realize that what you are doing is not working, even if it may have worked in the past. Members complain about the lack of marketing, the fact that the education portion of the organization is not being utilized to its fullest potential, that some of the annual events detract from the real purpose of the organization, and that it's the same faces in all the committees with no new people stepping in to take on leadership roles.

Being of a generation X persuasion, I do not mind change. Perhaps I am unusual in the fact that I love to sit down with a group and brainstorm new ideas and new ways of doing things. On the other hand, if I am going to expend the effort, I also want to see that they are taking advantage of all the new ideas. If nothing is implemented and nothing changes, what is the point? I'd rather know that I am making a difference rather than just spinning my wheels. I'll take my energy and enthusiasm elsewhere. Now imagine there are 10-15 people of my generation that feel this way. And they wonder why they have no new blood?

I do realize that part of the reason they are resistant to change is because their funds, and therefore their staff, is limited. I also realize that there are quite a few people in this world who get all excited about an idea, volunteer, and then never follow through. I know that the staff is already over-extended. But, if it's an idea that a volunteer is willing to initiate, be responsible for, and see through (and the ramifications if it falls by the wayside are not that great) - why not let them give it a go? I suppose working in a small company has made me a bit more adventurous. I'm the software designer who works in iterations. I don't have to see the end result to get going. I make a prototype. It has some imperfections. I make changes. I make another prototype. You get the picture. Education. Let's do podcasts. Find someone to make a podcast. Test market it with a few people. It doesn't work. So? Take a look at webinars. Again. You get the picture.

Let's be frank. Their marketing sucks. Ok. Let me rephrase. What marketing? Education has no attendees. Education is being marketed by one flyer at a a once-a-quarter meeting and by a calendar online. An email if you're lucky, but it looks like junk mail.

With all the information overload these days, you really have to be in people's faces. You have to push the information to them. Keep in touch. You can't count on people to go and pull information from you. What you send out does not have to have the whole enchilada included. Why do you think t.v. teasers work so well? Give them enough so they know the basics, to make them want to know more and send them someplace to find out (website, phone number).

If you have professional-looking marketing, people infer that the offered item is going to be professional as well. If your marketing looks cheap and like it was done in Word by someone in the 90's, well (yes, it probably was)...there's your problem right there. Again, you don't have to spend a lot of money, you just have to look like you did. This is where tapping into your volunteer resources comes in handy. There are people out there who love design and are good at it, even if it's not their primary profession. (Heck, I was a web designer/coder at one point, and now I do accounting.) That's what the volunteers are for! Even if you don't have a volunteer who is good at design, you can pay a small amount of money and use a service with the design done for you already and just plug in the information. Which leads me to -

Nothing is easy with them. You can't give them a simple idea and have them run with it. The simple idea mushrooms into the year-long effort that suddenly seems insurmountable, and then the idea gets nixed. There's a difference between adapting an idea to work in your situation and having the idea get out of control. Case in point:

Suggestion: Let's pick a handful of people from each of our market sectors, serve donuts or pizza and pick their brains about what they want from the organization and how they think we're doing. (Cost: donuts/pizza and drinks and a small door prize if you need an incentive.)
--mushrooms into--
Idea: Let's hire a consultant and spend big $$$$ to have them come up with a survey that we'll mail out to all of our members. (Cost: around $30,000 or so, might or might not include 4-color copying and postage)

Get my drift? And now you know why the idea was met with such resistance. Realistically, the flow for this organization should probably be from the former to the latter. The organization should continually be asking its members how it is doing, for suggestions, for feedback. If you only do it once every 5-10 years, yes, it's a larger undertaking to get their attention. If you do it gradually, it may take you a bit longer to ramp up useful information, but the members also begin to see that their opinion counts (especially if you are using their ideas and letting them know you're using their ideas!) and feel they are getting more value from the organization.

I attended an industry brainstorming session several years ago, and at the brainstorming sessions anyone who shot down ideas or made negative comments was passed a rubber duck (Don't Use Conversation Killers). Sitting in a meeting at the organization, that duck would be flying between people like a hot potato.

It's so frustrating to be involved in an organization where you can see great things for them just over the horizon. Sure there's a mountain between you and that horizon, but if you look closely there's a nice switchback path just to the left that is a heck of a lot easier than that sheer cliff next to it that everyone keeps eyeing.