Center for Community Partnerships 2009 Board Development Conference

1. Center for Community Partnerships 2009 Board Development Conference Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Sustaining and Growing a Mission- Focused Organization Presented by Frank Martinelli The Center for Public Skills Training

2. One-third of San Francisco-area nonprofit groups are worried they may have to shut down in the next year, and 34 percent say they have no more than two months’ worth of operating funds in reserve, according to a survey by the regional United Way. Wall Street Journal May 29, 2009

3. Session Purpose Provide a fast paced overview of … • High leverage practices and strategies for growing and sustaining your nonprofit over the next few years • Resources to support this work

4. Key Strategies • Embed capacity building into the fabric of your nonprofit • Build an exceptional board • Engage in accelerated strategic thinking and planning • Forge partnerships, alliances and mergers to increase mission impact and sustainability • Develop board and staff succession plans

5. Key Strategies • Build capacity for effective public policy and advocacy • Master use of social media • Deploy targeted volunteer engagement strategies • Review and revise your theory of change • Adopt regional thinking and problem solving approaches

6. #1 Embed Capacity Building into the Fabric of Your Nonprofit

7. Capacity building well done in the nonprofit sector I believe is a critical answer to the extraordinary uncertainty we face and also to the tremendous political pressure under which most nonprofits are operating. Capacity building right now is arguably the most important investment the nonprofit sector can make. Paul Light

8. Capacity Building: Core Activities • CONTINUOUS: • Team Involvement • Education and Learning Assessment (or Reassessment) & Benchmarking CB Activity Implementation Action Planning

9. Capacity Building Element Interrelationships

10. Capacity Building Toolkit • Tool #1 – Assessment and Benchmarking • Tool #2 – Capacity Building Action Planning • Tool #3 – Capacity Building Resource Inventory • Tool #4 – Reassessment • Go to: www.createthefuture.com/CBtoolkit

11. #2 Build An Exceptional Board Page 2

12. The Dynamic Board McKinsey & Company Page 3

13. McKinsey Dynamic Board Model • Core Roles and Responsibilities • Quality of Board Effectiveness Enablers • Key environmental factors impacting the focus of the board • Managing the Life Stage Transition the Board • Valuing Individual Board Members

14. 3 Key Roles Encompassing Nine Detailed Responsibilities • Select, evaluate, and develop the CEO • Ensure adequate financial resources • Provide expertise and access for organizational needs • Enhance reputation of organization • Shape the mission and vision • Engage actively in strategic decision making and policy decisions • Shape mission and strategic direction Ensure leadership and resources • Monitor and improve performance • Oversee financial management and ensure appropriate risk management • Monitor performance and ensure accountability • Improve board performance

15. Quality of Board Effectiveness Enablers • Careful decisions on board size and structure • Actively managed board composition • Inspired board and committee leadership • Simple administrative practices and processes made routine

16. Key Environmental Factors Impacting Focus of the Board • Life stage of an organization. • Skills of CEO and staff. • Stability and adequacy of income. • Changes in underlying social issue. • Changes in competitive or philanthropic landscape.

17. Twelve Governance Principles that Power Exceptional Boards BoardSource

18. The Difference Between “Responsible” Boards And “Exceptional” Boards

19. “Responsible” Boards • Capable and dutiful in carrying out its responsibilities. • Understands its fiduciary obligations. • Approves strategic plans and budgets. • Regularly reviews financial statements. • Evaluates the chief executive annually. • Participates in fundraising.

20. “Exceptional” Boards • Operates on a higher level -- “more” and “different.” • Members give more and differently: • Time spent more wisely, skills and social networks better leveraged, and treasure more strategically deployed. • Measure organizational impact and evaluate their own performance, discuss and debate issues, and open doors and make connections.

21. Exceptional Boards • Twelve common traits and actions that distinguish “exceptional” boards from “responsible” boards • Image of an empowered board that is a strategic asset to be leveraged Page 4

22. Twelve Governance Principles • Constructive Partnership • Mission Driven • Strategic Thinking • Culture of Inquiry • Independent-minded • Ethos of Transparency

23. Twelve Governance Principles • Compliance with Integrity • Sustaining Resources • Results Oriented • Intentional Board Practices • Continuous Learning • Revitalization

24. Governance as Leadership Richard Chait, William Ryan & Barbara Taylor Page 5

25. Three Modes of Governance • Fiduciary mode: key question -- "How are we doing?" • Strategic mode: key questions -- "What are we doing?" "Where are we going?" and • Generative mode: key questions -- "Why are we doing this?" "What are the possibilities?"

26. #3 Engage in Accelerated Strategic Thinking and Planning Page 7

27. Faster! • Responding to new opportunities fast • Models: La Piana; Question-Based Planning; One Page Strategic Plan • Not a substitute for mission and vision work • “Faster is slower” • Collaborative strategic planning • Create opportunities for strategic thinking

28. Create Opportunities For Strategic Thinking • Incorporate strategic thinking activities in board, staff and community meetings • Use vision as a framework for board and staff decision-making • Read, listen and look for future trends • Share trend and market information at board and staff meetings

29. #4 Forge Partnerships, Alliances and Mergers to Increase Mission Impact and Sustainability Page 10

30. “Compete” From the Latin, competere, meaning “to strive together”

31. Strategic Partnerships • Sector trends encourage partnerships • Alignment with mission and strategic plan - partnerships as strategy to increase mission impact • Many strategic restructuring options • “Portfolio” of partnerships and alliances

32. Strategic Partnerships • Prioritize trust building and communication • If you don’t build it, someone else will • Basis for future organizational sustainability • Building capacity for partnership effectiveness

33. #5 Develop Board and Staff Succession Plans Page 11

34. Major Types of Leadership Succession Planning • Emergency succession planning • Strategic leadership development succession planning • Departure defined succession planning

35. #6 Build Capacity for Effective Public Policy and Advocacy Page 12

36. Capacity for Advocacy and Public Policy Work • Building capacity for effective advocacy is more than acquiring advocacy skills • “Pressure resistant” revenue base

37. Effective Advocacy Requires: • Board-level commitment • An established issue agenda • Someone designated to move the work along • Advocacy linked to strategic plan vs. add on element • Board recruitment linked to mission-driven advocacy and public policy work

38. #7 Master Use of Social Media Page 12

39. In February 12, 2009, 202 cities around the world held Twestivals, bringing together the Twitter community for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity: water. http://twestival.com

40. Deploy Targeted Volunteer Engagement Strategies Page 13

41. Key Points • Paid staff + volunteer staff = nonprofit workforce • A defined strategy linked to overall strategic plan • No free volunteer program • Building capacity to manage volunteers • “Intergenerationalism”

42. #9 Review and Revise Your Theory of Change Using theory of change, logic models and systems thinking tools to dramatically increase mission impact build culture of impact Page 14

43. Systems Thinking • Problems exist as “systems” • Parts of a system don't exist in isolation • Each part affects, and is affected by, other parts of the system (feedback) • Look for leverage points

44. High Leverage • What are root causes? • What are the driving forces? • Where are points of highest leverage? • What do we start, modify, stop? • The Law of Unintended Consequences

45. Theory Of Change • "At its most basic, a theory of change explains how a group of early and intermediate accomplishments sets the stage for producing long-range results." Aspen Institute • TOC as a pre-requisite for strategic planning, not a planning tool

46. #10 Adopt Regional Thinking And Problem Solving Approaches Page 15

47. Regional Thinking • Problems manifest themselves locally but the root causes are usually regional and national in nature • Increased interest in regional problem solving approaches by business and civic leaders • Economic development • Transportation • Marketing • Collaborative strategic planning

48. Reflect • What key strategies are you most drawn to pursue?

49. Reflect • What two things that you are currently doing are you going to stop so that you can focus on selected key strategies?

50. It’s About Change • "You never change something by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." Buckminster Fuller