Image from forbes.com

Gordon Gekko may believe “greed is good,” but in the nonprofit sector we know that “FREE is good!”  When it comes to working or volunteering in the nonprofit sector, we tend to be under-resourced, over-worked and busy as all get out.

That’s where the Greenlights Online Resource Library comes in. Did you know we have almost a hundred different articles and tools available for your FREE viewing and downloading pleasure?

Let’s take a quick tour of what’s “hot” these days.

Image from 123RF.com

By far the most popular category in our Resource Library is Board Development, with 3504 views in the past year.

What’s the most popular board resource? Check out the sample board fundraising commitment form, which has been downloaded more than 1000 times since February 2011, or the Board Member Matrix if you want to look at your current board makeup and think about top priority recruitment needs.

Another oft-visited section of the library is Financial Management, where a compilation of resources on the IRS 990 Form is downloaded quite a bit, and another favorite tool is a sample set of nonprofit financial policies.

But what about managing staff and volunteers, you say?  If you want to learn how to conduct background checks, evaluate your Executive Director, or assess the performance of staff, we’ve got you covered.  Tools for all of the above and more can be found in the Human Resources section of the library.

All this, plus resources for raising more money, communicating your story, planning for growth and more are just a mouse-click away.  And the low price of FREE is hard to beat.

Like a dog with a bone, I keep coming back to the topic of our increasingly caffeinated, hyperlinked culture and what it is doing to our ability to be thoughtful, reflective humans.  I’ve written previously about how this incessant connectivity can diffuse our focus in the nonprofit sector.

So, no surprise that my ears pricked up when someone forwarded me The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time, a recent Harvard Business Review blog post.  Full disclosure (and irony alert): I read the first few paragraphs in my car, on my phone, waiting for a train to pass.

What else are you doing right now, while you read this blog post?  Eating lunch?  Listening in on a conference call? G-chatting with a friend?

Image by ky_olsen on Flickr

As the saying goes, “multi-tasking is doing many things poorly all at once.”  My point here is not to hit you over the head with multitasking research that strongly suggests we are less productive when we juggle many things at a time, however.

Rather, it is to ask whether or not how you feel about your job and life might be, in fact, connected to this inability to set clear boundaries and focus strategically on one thing at a time.

In the article, Tony Schwartz calls out the connection between our feelings of overwhelm and dissatisfaction at work and this seemingly unquenchable thirst for multitasking.  Our inability to effectively use our time isn’t just hurting our work output, he argues, it is directly impacting how engaged and energized we feel in general.

If this sounds familiar, what could you do differently?  Here are 3 simple steps you might take.

1.  Take real breaks.  Do you take breaks during the day to refresh or rejuvenate yourself?  At Greenlights, a team member kicked off the year by inviting us all to join her for a 30-minute lunchtime walk on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
   

   Image by Asela Jayarathne on Flickr

   It doesn’t always happen, but I can vouch for the fact that when I’ve made the time to get out of the office and take a brisk walk with my colleagues, I feel more connected to my teammates and have more energy to devote to my ever-increasing mound of tasks when I get back.

2. Turn off distractions.  No, seriously.  At least set your email and instant message settings so you aren’t interrupted every time a new message comes in.  Focus on the task or conversation at hand – the emails will be there for you when you turn to them again. Same thing with your voice mail(s).  Just because someone calls does not mean it is a strategic use of your time to pick up the phone right then and talk!  This may be time management 101, but it bears repeating in our culture of constant accessibility.
3. Schedule strategic thinking time.  That’s right.  Actually block it off on your calendar, and don’t allow it to be “overtaken by events.”  Peter Drucker famously distinguished between “doing the right things” and “doing things right.”  If you aren’t carving out time to focus on whatever “the right things” are for your work today, this week, this quarter, you are missing out on a critical chance to reconnect to what gives you energy and drew you to your job in the first place (not to mention the opportunity to be effective).

And of course, such strategies also can help you with your nonprofit mission and impact.  As Schwartz points out, “the best way for an organization to fuel higher productivity and more innovative thinking is to strongly encourage finite periods of absorbed focus, as well as shorter periods of real renewal.”

So how do you or your team combat overwhelm at work?  What ways are you creating periods of “absorbed focus” or “real renewal” in 2012?

Continuing our member interview series as part of February’s membership drive, I spoke with April Thomas Rose, Executive Director of TreeFolks about the organization and their Greenlights’ membership:

Tara Kirkland, Greenlights: Thanks for talking with me, April!  Can you tell our readers a little about TreeFolks, your mission and what services you provide here in Central Texas?

April Thomas Rose, TreeFolks: TreeFolks grows the urban forest of Central Texas. Through community partnerships, we plant more than 12,000 trees annually to increase the tree canopy. We also provide education to teach the value of the urban forest ecosystem and how to steward this precious resource.

Annually, we distribute 3,600 street trees to 2,000 Austin homeowners through the NeighborWoods program. This is enough trees to line ten miles of street with shade trees that provide not only aesthetic and property value benefits, but tangible benefits for air quality and storm-water management.

Tara: I know TreeFolks has been very active in the wake of the catastrophic fires that hit Central Texas this past fall. Can you tell me more about that?

April: TreeFolks has provided 1,600 free trees to about 530 households in Bastrop County since November 2011. We have two distribution events planned for Oak Hill and Spicewood in March to distribute another 400 trees. We plan to continue this effort in the coming years, since rebuilding a forest requires a sustained planting effort for several years.

Tara: April, in what ways would you say that TreeFolks has benefited from its Greenlights membership?

April: Well, first of all, we have attended many Greenlights events and trainings, such as the Grantsmanship workshop series, and the Bookkeeping series, which both myself and another staffer attended, at the discounted member rate.  Several of our board members have also attended the Board Essentials workshop.

TreeFolks also participated in the Board Summit last year, and recruited a great board member there!  We hope to be able to attend again in 2012 to recruit more new board members.

I am new to nonprofit work, and have had so many things to learn about effectively managing this organization (fundraising, board and staff relationships/development). Greenlights training and information was timely and effective, helping me and our board improve our organization through our executive director transition.

TreeFolks has a successful 23 year legacy of serving the Austin-area but we have much more to do. Development pressure, record heat, drought, insects and disease all threaten our tree canopy. The urban forest needs effective advocacy to remain resilient in the face of so many challenges. Greenlights has given me and our entire organization a better understanding of how to successfully execute our mission and succeed.

Tara: Sounds like you’ve gotten a lot out of your membership!  Would you recommend Greenlights membership to other nonprofits?

April: Yes!  Greenlights builds your professional network. It teaches and exemplifies the best practices of nonprofit management.

Tara: Lastly, do  you have any advice for other nonprofits who might be facing challenges similar to TreeFolks?

April: Identify and promote the strengths and accomplishments of your organization. Look for relationships with government, nonprofits, or businesses where you can work together for mutually beneficial results.

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To learn more about TreeFolks and upcoming volunteer opportunities, visit www.treefolks.org.

Learn more about Greenlights member benefits and join our community today! Join or renew your membership during this month’s membership drive (by February 29) to be entered for a chance to win a free ticket to the Texas Nonprofit Summit (scheduled for September 20-21, 2012)!

New Year’s is my favorite holiday.  The prospect of a bright shiny new year excites me, and I’ve celebrated the past few January firsts with a bracing (and legend has it, luck-inducing) plunge in Barton Springs.

Back in 2009, I got inspired by Jen of Jen Spencer coaches to take a few extra steps towards making the year my best ever.  After working through the 10 questions in “Your Best Year Yet!,” I was really pleased with the resulting focus and clarity I gained.

This year, I asked Jen three questions to help me (and perhaps some of you) think about spending some holiday down time in ways other than gaining weight, watching football, and mulling over the ethics of “re-gifting.”

1. Why is now a good time to be thinking about intentionally wrapping things up and preparing to start off 2012 on the right foot?

I don’t think the holidays necessarily have to be time for reflection, but if not then, when?  I have a friend whose personal “New Year” is over Memorial Day weekend.  The key is to have a consistent annual date.

And, if you really want to make sure you meet your goals, then I would recommend checking in on those goals each quarter till your next New Year.  You’ll be amazed at the difference!

2. What tips do you have for making 2012 a great year personally and professionally?

Depending on your family and holiday traditions, the holidays really can be a great time to grab a few hours alone to reflect about the past year and think through what you’d like to be different in 2012.

In my experience, acknowledging all that has been accomplished is the first thing forgotten.  By thinking through the last year in terms of the milestones, wins and accomplishments, disappointments and unmet goals, new inspirations, etc., you get a full picture view of where you have been to better inform where you want to go.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. What worked for me this past year?
2. What didn’t work or could have worked better?
3. What do I want to be different in 2012?
4. Based on #3, what are three specific goals I can create to achieve my best year yet?

Bonus: If you can do this exercise with a partner and/or share these observations and new set of goals/commitments with others, that’s even better.  The conversation and insights are usually much richer, enhancing the experience versus only listening to the voice inside your head.

And, lastly…Write ‘em down. When people write down their goals, they have a much higher percentage of actualizing them.

3. What books or online resources have you found in 2011 that are good in helping folks do that?

• As you discovered, Tara, “Your Best Year Yet!” by Jinny Ditzler is one of the best resources around for asking great questions to lay out your goals for the upcoming year.

• If you like online apps and resources, there is a great tool called Habit Forge that helps you set up accountability systems.

• “Change Anything:  The New Science of Personal Success“ is another book that I would highly recommend.  It helps breaks down change (small and/or massive in size) into a really digestible framework.  ChangeAnything.com has additional tools you can use based on their research that will support big change in any area of your work and life.

Thanks, Jen!  See you at the Springs.  Read more of Jen’s thoughts about a new kind of New Year’s on her blog.

As someone who has been around the nonprofit sector long enough to see theories of various stripes come and go, I’m always appreciative of a study that test theories against reality.

Good in Theory, Problems in Practice is a provocative new report that does just that.

The Young Nonprofit Professionals Network asked emerging nonprofit leaders to weigh in on what really works when it comes to keeping younger talent in the sector.  If the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, then these guys were ready to open wide.

YNPN polled its members nationwide for their take on five common recommendations for what nonprofits should do to develop and retain people like them:

1. Offer more competitive compensation
2. Invest in building “bench strength”
3. Engage in inclusive succession planning
4. Prioritize diversity
5. Move away from traditional organizational structures and chief executive roles

Of the reports’ key findings, a couple stood out to me:

• 94% of respondents to their survey believed that offering competitive compensation would indeed have a high impact.  No surprise, right?  When participants were asked to act as a nonprofit leader and decide how to allocate scarce resources, this is the strategy they chose to implement first.

Interestingly, however, the report suggests that having a good manager who can advocate for professional development and other non-monetary forms of compensation is also essential.  This is important, because in practice, not every nonprofit can pay talent what it is worth (see my recent faux blog war with Matt Kouri for more on compensation).

• While younger nonprofit leaders are stalwartly mission-driven, they don’t feel the need to park it in the nonprofit sector indefinitely.  Among those surveyed, 70% of respondents remain “committed to building a mission-driven career,” sure, but only a third are 100% committed to building a career in the nonprofit sector itself.

So either we invest in building the “bench strength” of our emerging nonprofit staff leaders and find a way to implement the other talent retention strategies highlighted here, or we could find ourselves with no talent to call up to the big leagues when they are most needed.

In your experience, how are leadership development strategies such as these working (or not) in practice?  What stands out to you from this study?