As policy changes kick in, the need for services will only grow. Demand for everything from food assistance to housing support will rise as people face financial hardships. Nonprofits will be expected to do more with less, stepping into the breach where the social safety net has weakened. 

Your organization’s strategic plan is more than a roadmap to success that can be understood by everyone from the board chair to the part-time volunteer. It is your hedge against human nature, which can often send us down the wrong path when things get tough.

Volunteering on a local nonprofit board has changed my perspective on some things I used to say with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, and with a microphone. As an example: “The federated model is inefficient. All organizations are on the path to single corp, without exception.”

Here’s where the federated model works brilliantly. Because the national organization is protected by a separate 501c3, they don’t mess with us.

Ian Joyce showed up at Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation after a robust and distinguished career in corporate marketing and communications. He brought that mindset to his new work in social good. But he found there was a missing piece—a pipeline.  

A Desire Path, according to Merriam-Webster, is “an unplanned route or path (such as one worn into a grassy surface by repeated foot traffic) that is used by pedestrians in preference to or in the absence of a designated alternative (such as a paved pathway).

Desire paths are everywhere if you know what to look for. It’s what we do with them that speaks volumes to our non-profit culture.

An authoritarian mindset is most often the reason volunteer systems fail. Here we examine the impact of the authoritarian mindset on leaders and followers.

First, authoritarians have good intent. It is true, however, that they operate using a method that often impacts others both significantly and negatively. It’s who they are, and because authoritarianism is held by many in poor regard, most don’t want to see themselves this way.

When it’s not working, it can sound like this:

“I don’t know how to prioritize my time.”

“INSERTNAME is not a team player.”

“It doesn’t feel like we are moving the needle.”

Building a culture of teams within your organization who are strong decision-makers takes work. And it all starts, you guessed it, with a solid strategic plan.

I use an analogy that no one gets. It is this, said in conversation when I am trying to make sure someone is telling me exactly what they want, “Ok, I have moved the couch a couple of times, and the couch is heavy. Can we agree where the couch should go before I move it again?”

Let me describe the largest couch I have been asked to move: when a board hires a new CEO.

Three years ago, we were in Russia. How the world has changed.  

We traveled to Russia for ten days to teach social fundraising to Moscow-based nonprofits and promote the release of the Russian translation of our book, Dollar Dash. We left with new friends and the expectation that we would return someday soon. Many of our Russian friends have now fled the country. They live in Lisbon, Istanbul, Tbilisi, and elsewhere, unsure of their futures. 

What a whirlwind 2022 has been! Our team at Turnkey has helped a virtual cornucopia of clients with various challenges this year, so we want to reflect on some of our projects and share a peek behind the curtain.

To celebrate the upcoming release of Turnkey’s Katrina VanHuss & Otis Fulton, Ph.D.’s new book Social Fundraising: How to Mine the New Peer-to-Peer Landscape, we are giving you a sneak preview of one of our favorite topics; Recruiting (and Keeping) Volunteer Leaders & Fundraisers.