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Mar 25

Employee Engagement: The driver of company culture

By Feature, Human Resources, Indianapolis, Leadership

By Julie Struble, Charitable Advisors

Research repeatedly confirms that employee engagement drives organizational success. We know it’s important,but have trouble with misunderstanding of expectations and turn-over.  

At last month’s HR peer group, Tony Dill, owner of HR Partnerships, discussed employee engagement with HR professionals at the HR peer group.  With several decades of both HR experience and working for nonprofits, he has the perfect blend to understand nonprofit HR challenges. During Dill’s one-hour presentation, he clarified what engagement is and isn’t and how to develop your leadership team. If you missed the session, here are some highlights of his presentation. 

When you hear the term ‘employee engagement’ what comes to mind? 

A common misperception is thinking your staff is satisfied, happy and motivated.  You’ve garnered from organization satisfaction surveys that your staff is pleased with the benefits offered and with the work environment. While those are important, they don’t measure the emotional commitment an employee has to the organization and its goals. In part that may explain why a seemingly happy team member jumps ship when a competitor’s offer comes along.

Employee engagement = Emotional commitment + discretionary effort

In contrast, Dill sees employee engagement defined by emotional commitment and discretionary effort.

Typically, emotional commitment is tied to people whom we are closest with — parents, spouse or our children. But according to theHarvard Business Review, workplace relationships are important to create a sense of purpose and ownership. Close work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50 percent and companies with satisfied employees outperforming the competition by 20 percent.

It follows then if engaged employees have meaningful relationships at work, as a leader, you also need to invest in your staff and get to know them and invest in building relationships. This starts on day one. In fact, Dill recommends employee onboarding should last 6, 12, maybe even 18 months and includes socializing the employee into your culture.  Some examples of what this would look like:

  • Ongoing, regular meetings with the new hire at least every 30 days to help with defining performance standards and meeting company expectations.
  • Solicit monthly feedback about the employee’s experiences, what would help him or her and how the work experience could be better.
  • Have socializing activities during work hours with new hires and current staff.  A group lunch is an easy way to accomplish this.

The other component of engagement is discretionary effort.  This is when an employee perseveres beyond what is expected and goes the extra mile. For example, those employees who are willing to complete a project under a deadline versus asking for an extension.  Another way to look at discretionary effort is someone who looks for innovative ways to do things. Discretionary effort is motivated by a passion and is often linked to the mission or the well-being of team members, or both.

8 leadership traits

If your organization wants to foster engagement where does it begin?  Right at the top of the organizational chart. Organizations with a culture of engagement demonstrate eight characteristics in their teams. The leadership traits are: self-aware, authentic, humble, trust, innovation, vision, passion and confidence.

During Dill’s presentation, the audience elaborated on the top three characteristics; their ideas are worth sharing.

  • Self-aware leaders continue to develop themselves professionally and personally. 
  • Authentic leaders interact with their staff and get to know them as a person.
  • Humble leaders are servants. Putting others first.

The management team needs to take ownership of these leadership traits and demonstrate them first. Dill reassured that your staff does not need to exhibit all eight traits. Yet, often, they will pick them up from the “trickle-down” effect. Driving employee engagement and developing a company culture often happens in tandem. 

It all begins with trust

Dill explained, as leaders embody the eight leadership characteristics, they become more trust worthy and authentic.  In return, staff will feel comfortable to share. As staff gains trust, it builds a two-way commitment between the manager and employee. When an employee feels safe enough to open up and share, a feedback loop is created. Open communication allows the manager more opportunities to clarify what the employee needs to focus on and this in turn accelerates the organization’s productivity.

Dill offered advice to embrace this change in culture. First, help each team member, even the hired hand in the warehouse, understand how their contribution is linked to the organization’s strategic plan, and ultimately, its mission.  Additionally, but equally important, have a conversation about how staff’s goals play into the overall plan. In the nonprofit sector, this is where things get a bit dicey.

As a leader, you’ll probably learn your staff’s goals revolve around learning a new skill, getting a promotion and increasing compensation — things that while commonplace in the for-profit community, are often a luxury for many nonprofits.  If your organization is on a shoe-string budget, the attendees offered creative ways your organization can help its staff achieve their goals.  Such as, If the employee foots the bill for a training, he or she can be rewarded with extra PTO time. Bring in an expert in your industry for an employee lunch and offer a free lunch-and-learn. Create an internal training program.

Remember, engagement discussions are not one-time conversations.  Most people need to hear something eight times before they own it. Be creative and communicate your organization’s message in a variety of ways.

Julie Struble is the marketing and sponsorship director at Charitable Advisors.  With the company since 2002 and with five years as a HR generalist, one of her responsibilities is to coordinate educational opportunities for the CA’s affinity HR peer group, and secure speakers with expertise to discuss the challenges in the nonprofit HR department.


Feb 25

Nonprofit Excellence: the change Welborn wants to see

By Feature, Leadership

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

For over two years, Candice Perry has worked to develop nonprofit leaders. In her position as the Welborn Baptist Foundation Nonprofit Excellence Officer, her key responsibilities have been to strengthen nonprofits executives and develop a talent pipeline. The foundation is based in Evansville and serves the Tri-state area.

Perry has carved out several approaches for this work. Some times for invitation-only programs, and at other times she or another program officers may identify an organization that needs a consultant to strengthen its efforts.

“The organization may be telling us in their application that they need funding and programming, but we also know that they aren’t going to be successful, if they don’t also put some effort into creating a fundraising plan. So we invite them to share a little bit of information with us, so that we can then connect them and finance the opportunity for a consultant to work with them,” she said.

The foundation has also partnered with Indiana University’s School of Public & Environmental Affairs (SPEA) to create the Next Generation Leadership Academy. The program’s six modules cover governance, finance, fundraising, evaluation, marketing, communication and strategic planning.

“We reached out to organizations that we are familiar with and asked their leadership if they have a next-generation participant or someone in the wings whose skills they would like to build and strengthen.” New executive directors who don’t fall into that category, but need to gain strength, might also be invited.

The academy is being offered a second time, and isn’t just limited nonprofits that are grantees. Indiana University instructors come to Evansville and spend two concentrated days covering a subject. Over the course of nine months, the cohort covers all the topics and participants receive a certificate upon completion. With the group size limited to 15, the program lends itself to interaction.

“We want to offer it not every year, but perhaps every other year or according to the need. There are a lot of organizations in our footprint that are not aware that we’re doing this or that it is an option. It gives us an opportunity to continue to know organizations that we really haven’t had the pleasure of knowing or understanding,” said Perry.

Perry also realizes the importance of developing board members. As a cohort-learning series, it offers Sustain-abilities. An executive director and a board chair are learning partners and spend three full-day sessions at the foundation. Between the in-person sessions, there are webinars with a consultant who is the series facilitator.

The two primary focus areas are fundraising and building an organizational culture. An organization is invited back, if progress is shown and there is an interest to continue.

“What we have learned is that executive director and that board chair have taken back their learning and shared it with the rest of the board. There’s this embedding of information that starts to occur,” said Perry.

This particular series was an experiment that the foundation had started prior to adding Perry’s position.

“It was one of the pilot offerings that helped inform them that we need a Nonprofit Excellence impact area. There was a space that we need to fill,” she said.

At the time, Perry was an executive director and attended the pilot with her board chair.

“I can tell you first hand that I saw those aha moments that my board chair was having throughout that series,” said Perry. “I saw the change that occurred in that board chair and how it translated to how he ran our board meetings, our development of our board members, the way that board chair interacted with the other board members, staff and myself. There was a definite shift that occurred for the organization that was strong enough and still is there today, even though that board chair and I am not there. It has continued for that organization.”

The foundation is now working to create a Board Leadership Academy. The concept is to equip board members to better engage with a nonprofit by explaining what is needed of them and what questions to ask when considering joining a board. Perry started investigating this option by going to other entities that were offering board trainings and then look at what fits the Evansville community.

“And where we landed was going to some specific businesses that are well-known in our community for supplying people to serve on boards, and we worked with their HR departments,” she said.

Each corporation supplied three participants for a consultant-led, one-day training. Each potential board member was assigned to a local nonprofit for three months to receive an introduction to services and learn about the organization’s financials.

“They’ll be treated as if they were onboarding that organization. But there’s no expectation that they join that board.

In three months, together with the corporation’s HR person, they will discuss how has this changed perspectives about community engagement.

The Welborn Foundation sees itself as a critical contributor to Evansville’s nonprofit leadership development.

“Everything the foundation does has an evaluation plan around it, so hopefully we can watch the needle move and the community will see the change,” Perry said.

Feb 25

Grants can help with capacity building, too

By Feature, Leadership

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

When Rev. Donovan Coley joined the board at the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission in 2006, he felt the organization had lost its way. The agency, established in 1903, was doing good work, he said, but its impact on the community was limited, and it didn’t have executive leadership.

“By the time I got into my second year on the board, I could see that we were spinning our wheels. There was no strategic direction. We were not addressing at a deep level the root causes of homelessness. We needed an executable plan of action to serve the clients in a way that’s truly transformational,” he said.

Coley wasn’t alone. The entire board realized it needed to do some serious work to competently lead the organization. Without a CEO, the board had taken on some day-to-day responsibilities, and it had gotten to point where it was often toxic.

So what did the board do about it? One of its first moves was to name Coley chief executive officer of the Rescue Mission and president of the Rescue Mission foundation. Another step was to look for financial assistance to help strengthen the organization from within. The nonprofit wanted to take a good, hard look at itself.

Enter the Fort Wayne-based Foellinger Foundation with a capacity-building grant. It was the first of five capacity grants the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission received from Foellinger.

“I think it was one of the best things that the Foellinger Foundation ever did was to come alongside the very heart and soul of an organization. It was their smallest grant, but yet, I believe it had the greatest impact because they focused on organizational health,” said Coley who became executive director in 2008. “The grant gave us that expanded capacity to really serve at a higher level.”

Four years ago, GrantCraft, a service of the New York-based Foundation Center, released the report “Supporting Grantee Capacity: Strengthening Effectiveness Together.” In the report, capacity building was defined as “fundamentally about improving effectiveness, often at the organizational level. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with other terms like organizational development, institution building and funding plus.”

Rev. Donovan Coley on capacity building. It is simply increasing an organization’s ability to maintain relevance, expand impact, enhance growth and affirm sustainability. So I would say, capacity building is when an organization takes seriously their mission and their vision and they are committed to doing what they do for the long term, and by having the right kind of leaders, right kind of strategic direction, the right kind of structure, the right kind of metrics and just having the right kind of tools to really guarantee that they’re people will be served at the optimum levels.

While not all foundations award capacity grants, both the Foellinger Foundation in the Fort Wayne area and Welborn Baptist Foundation in Evansville do. 

Cheryl Taylor, the Foellinger Foundation’s executive director since 2001, said that since 1992, the foundation has supported capacity building efforts in Allen County, but has not always used that term.

“Our theory of change is that the stronger and more effective the organization is, the better they’re going to be able to serve their clients, customers or consumers and that the stronger, more effective, more adaptive leaders are, the better they’re able to serve the people they’re targeting,” she said. “For us, capacity building is the focus on the internal development of the organization and how the organization itself get better.”

Last year, the foundation, which was 60years old, reviewed its capacity-building grants. In the last decade, it has awarded area nonprofits over $3.5 million as a part of a larger initiative. Part of what it wanted to learn was the impact these grants were having, and to assess how to improve the process.

“Evaluation is part of the foundation’s culture. Dollars are limited, and the question for ourselves was, ‘Why should we fund that?’” Taylor said.

Taylor also believes if a grant category is important, the foundation has an equal responsibility to explain why.

The Welborn Baptist Foundation has a similar focus on improvement. Both Welborn and Foellinger belong to a national organization, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, which offers conferences and includes sessions about capacity building.

Two and a half years ago, Candice Perry was named Welborn’s nonprofit excellence officer. Perry’s position was added after Welborn staff members and board members had spent time evaluating the foundation’s three funding areas and long-term goals.

“We don’t call it capacity building because there are a lot of different entities using capacity building, and it means something different. What Welborn wants to see is more effective leaders creating lasting impact in their organizations within their service sector, the larger nonprofit sector and ultimately the community. We want to see a nonprofit achieve sustainability, impact and mission fulfillment by strengthening their leadership,” said Perry.

But it’s difficult. Foellinger’s Taylor believes that in order for a nonprofit to ask a program officer for help, there needs to be a level of trust.

“There is an element of fear in this,” Taylor said.  She said nonprofit leaders may worry that it reflects poorly on them if they come to a foundation and say “I need help looking at staff training or I need help on financial sustainability.”

But that’s not how Foellinger views it.

“Foellinger has been vocal for years that that is not going to affect your request in its regular cycle. In many respects, it helps you, because it indicates that you care,” said Taylor.

Taylor knows that not all capacity grants will be successful. She cited several organizations that investigated mergers, and after a fair amount of time, determined it wasn’t right.

“I’m fine with that, you looked at it and made the decisions for your organization,” she said. “In my opinion, one of the distinct opportunities that private foundations have is to essentially serve as the research and development function for the nonprofit sector. They often can be a little bit more flexible.”

Foellinger’s yearlong review resulted in refinements of its capacity-building grant   framework. The foundation recognizes that it needs to provide ongoing education to potential grantees and consultants about the value and importance of strengthening an organization’s foundation (For more information, see Capacity building grants: a new process).

No longer will the foundation simply ask grant applicants if their organizations have done any infrastructure work, but now will ask how the efforts have impacted regular operations, and essentially how what was learned was applied.

Moreover, the actual application process was formalized. Unlike most of the foundation’s grants, application questions for capacity building are not posted on Foellinger’s website.

“If we’re going to have the investment, rather than us just saying, ‘Here, answer these three questions,’ we formalized the process to make it more personal and specific,” said Taylor.

Now, a single program officer fields all requests, and then after a conversation with the nonprofit, tailors application questions specific to the nonprofit’s desired use of the funds.

Foellinger believes that it’s important for a grantee to have some skin in the game, and nonprofits that agree to commit some of their own money to a certain project can make a stronger case for support, although there is flexibility on the amount and type of commitment. Its capacity-building grants are turned around within 60 days.

Coley, of the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission, said the initial grant was critical and helped focus the mission’s work. It has changed its model in the emergency shelter and removed the revolving door practice. It has expanded its mental health services and developed multiple programs, including a long-term program that currently serves 70 people and invests in individuals, that Coley says transforms their paths instead of just warehousing them.

“As the organization became healthier, the foundation provided an opportunity for us to nominate a board member and to talk about the impact of the capacity-building grant on the organization, and one board member, Imogene Nusbaum-Snyder, won a prestigious award and the organization won a Better Business Torch Award.

“So I would say we just continued to become healthier and then that positioned us for other foundations and other funders to say, ‘There’s something going on over there,’ and now we’re in the midst of a $23.1 million capital campaign, and of all the major foundations have actually stepped in to say, ‘We would like to invest in the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission.’

“I cannot imagine where Fort Wayne Rescue Mission would be without the capacity building grants. I would encourage any organization to focus on that which is most important – capacity building.”

In the Evansville area, Perry has seen organizations moving to deeper conversations between board and staff to create a culture of learning.

“They are learning to put focus on mission and vision and aligning their resources to that vision. They are starting to ask questions that they didn’t ask before concerning how to prepare, how to plan, how to develop themselves. I’m hearing more executive directors say ‘You know, I understand that we’re not being strategic about how we’re using evaluation. Their thought process is going deeper than just service provision,” said Perry, who was the executive director of the domestic abuse service agency for nearly eight years before her current role.

She’s also seen more synergy between executive directors and boards.

“Everything we do has an evaluation plan around it, so hopefully we can watch that needle move. What we also want to foster is collaboration among sectors. We want nonprofits to be invited to the table, where they can influence community change by sharing what the needs are,” she said.

Jul 16

Never a more paramount time to connect young professionals in Indianapolis

By Feature, Leadership

By Caitie Deranek Stewart, board member, YNPNIndy and YNPN National

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Conference special

For Not-for-profit News’ readers, YNPNIndy and YNPN National invite you to join us at the conference. Register with the code (CApromo18) to receive a $35 registration discount.

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The nonprofit sector in Indy faces some pretty monumental challenges: homelessness is on the rise, the opioid epidemic is hitting our community hard and the school violence seen in other places is now happening in our own backyard.

As professionals passionate about creating safe, healthy communities for our clients, our neighbors and ourselves, it’s easy to be disheartened or to want to keep our heads down.

At the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) — we know you are working tirelessly every day to create a more just and equitable world, putting in long hours and then volunteering in your free time. You’re driven and ambitious. You aren’t just talking about making a better tomorrow — you’re working every day to shape the world we all live in.

But do you feel like you need a shot in the arm? Something to inspire and motivate you to keep going?

Two years ago, I was lucky enough to attend YNPN’s 2016 National Conference and experience the potential benefits of the conference.

Amassing the top nonprofit talent from across the country in one room allowed me to see that this was going to be a different experience from any other conference I had ever attended. This was my shot in the arm. Looking around the room, I felt excitement circulating through the air. People from across the country were ENGAGED—sharing tips, tricks, and experiences on our space. Community was created in a flash.

More importantly, a kinetic energy — the kind needed to change the nonprofit sector — was being transferred before my eyes. Even while discussing difficult subjects like inequality and how to make careers in the nonprofit sector fulfilling and sustainable, attendees were building connections. Between learning concrete skills they could apply right away, young people with a passion to change the world were being inspired to lead.

And now you have the opportunity to get a similar energizing experience. This summer, YNPNIndy is leading efforts to bring this incredible experience to Indianapolis. Our theme this year is Change in Action: Equity and Advocacy for Self, Sector, and Society.

There has never been a more paramount time for young nonprofit professionals to be equipped to take action on behalf of themselves and others in the workplace and help to make ALL SPACES fair and diverse. In Indianapolis and across the country, examples of the impact of inequality are rampant. Building awareness and skills to make this change possible is essential to making the world a better place, and this conference can make that possible.

For that reason, it’s important that you attend, to get exposure to new ideas and tools that will help you be your own best advocate, as well as continue advocating for marginalized communities and (most important) impact the systems you influence with REAL CHANGE.

Here’s a glimpse of the inspiration we have planned and you won’t have to travel (For the full schedule go to: http://conference.ynpn.org/schedule). You’ll hear from incredible speakers nationally and from across Central Indiana including:

  • Kimberly Peeler-Allen, our keynote speaker, who has been working at the intersection of race, gender and politics for almost 20 years. Peeler-Allen is the co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization building the political power and leadership of Black women from the voting booth to elected office.
  • Yolanda Caldera-Durant, director of programs at Fund the People, will lead a workshop about how to invest in the nonprofit sector’s most valuable resource: its people. Caldera-Durant runs a campaign to increase awareness about the deficit of investment in nonprofit professionals who represent 11 percent of the U.S. workforce. She brings years of experience in grantmaking from the Connecticut Health Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation and Fairfield County Community Foundation.
  • Matthew Feltrop, executive director of The Patachou Foundation, fighting to end childhood hunger, food insecurity and low food access in Indianapolis. According to Feltrop, it is unacceptable that that Indianapolis—often called the breadbasket of America—is still facing a debilitating hunger problem.
  • Michael Twyman, professor at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, will lead a workshop exploring the origins of race, racial ideologies, and the politics of racial classifications in the context of American history.

For Not-for-profit News’ readers, YNPNIndy and YNPN National invites you to join us at the conference and register with the code (CApromo18) to receive a $35 registration discount. It’s time to take unified action to make our world better. Attending #ynpn18 is the first step.

Sign up today at conference.ynpn.org! Also, follow us on all social media @YNPNIndy for updates leading up to the conference.

Editor’s note: this guest article was written by Caitie Deranek Stewart. She is the associate director of development at the IU School of Medicine. Prior to joining the IU School of Medicine in the fall of 2014, Deranek Stewart was the donor relations specialist at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She is an active volunteer with a number of initiatives and joined the board of the YNPNindy chapter and the YNPN National Board in 2015.

Jun 11

Slow to adjust, nonprofit boards ramp up effort

By Feature, Leadership

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Diversity. Its definition may vary, but its merits are championed in just about all walks of life: schools, the political arena, the entertainment industry and especially the workplace, which includes the nonprofit world.

For over two decades, BoardSource, a Washington, D.C.-based organization designed to support today’s nonprofit leaders, has studied the issue in relation to how nonprofits are governed.

Late last year, BoardSource released Leading with Intent, a biennial study of nonprofit board composition, culture and performance. While there were some encouraging trends, the study laid bare some disturbing truths about board attitudes and actions regarding racial diversity and diversity in general.

The study found that the nonprofit sector has made little progress when it comes to building more racially diverse boards. The first study in 1994 found that just 14 percent of board members were people of color. The 2017 results increased that participation only slightly to 16 percent, although minorities now represent 39 percent of our country’s population. Twenty-seven percent of boards are 100 percent white.

That said, there are some encouraging local efforts to change the compositions of nonprofit boards.

Jeb Banner has been part of this movement. In 2006, he co-founded Indianapolis-based SmallBox, a creative agency working with nonprofits, and has since co-founded several nonprofits and served on multiple boards. Today he is the CEO of Boardable, a board management software company designed to help boards communicate.

While he’s often been in boardrooms where the topic doesn’t arise, he thinks there’s definitely intentional change happening.

As co-founder and past board chair of The Speak Easy, a collaborative workspace that serves entrepreneurs, Banner worked to balance the representation on the board.

“It was our intention to serve female entrepreneurs in particular because we feel like they’re under-resourced and the boys club thing has to be blown up in the tech world,” said Banner, who rolled off the board in 2016.

The Speak Easy, with two sites and three satellites founded in 2011, has continued this mindset, and later this week will announce its executive director, the third woman to lead the organization.

For Jenny Vance, who has been on The Speak Easy board for three years and is the current Speak Easy chairwoman, board diversity is critical and cited an example from television’s Tina Fey to illustrate her point.

Fey recently told the story of being the only female comedy writer on a team. She would write something that was funny, but it was more relatable to women and the men on her team didn’t get it. But because her opinion wasn’t relatable to others at the table, she wasn’t seen as contributing in a strong way.

“It’s about knowing there are people to relate to and who represent their interests. By doing that first, I think all those other things become possible,” said Vance.  

“By just having checkmarks of diversity, we’re not really meeting the reasons for having a diverse board. If we really dream big about who gives our members the best service, then once we’ve identified key roles to fill, I think it’s a matter of how we fill those roles while also ensuring diversity.”

She also knows that The Speak Easy continues to have work to do. The organization has matured, and is currently in the midst of this operational change. And while some board terms have concluded and the spots are unfilled, board members determined it wasn’t the best time to add new members, wanting the new executive director to have a voice in the process.

Impact is another reason to strive for a diverse board. A report released in February by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy found that the simple pursuit of diversity could result in other areas of growth and progress that deliver rewards in the short and long terms.

The study “Impact of Diversity: Understanding How Nonprofit Board Diversity Affects Philanthropy, Leadership and Board Engagement” was researched by the school in partnership with Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates and BoardSource. One of the findings was that a diverse board improves the organization’s philanthropic engagement on three levels: participation, fundraising and advocacy.

Vance believes that takes work and that the community needs to invest in helping to grow new leaders to expand talent that is available.

“We need more people growing in the leadership roles. Investment in that is so important to us being able to see the future change in terms of diversity,” she said. “It’s got to be a community effort. It has to be part of our thought process in our government, in our entrepreneurial community, our tech community, our talent development.”

Two years ago, the Indianapolis Foundation, as part of its 100-year celebration, did just that. With help from organizations in the community, it identified a pool of candidates and then selected 10 young professionals as fellows whom they would invest in for three years.

Tamara Winfrey-Harris, CICF’s vice president of marketing and community, joined the staff just after the announcement and has become the fellows’ liaison.

The program was designed to add diversity to boards on the basis of age.

“There is a real barrier to entry for a lot of millennials,” said Banner. But I think that the reality is that some of these older leaders that have given so much to the community are going to have to step down, step aside in time, pretty soon to make room for women, minorities and the youth.”

The Indianapolis Foundation, besides awarding each fellow access to $10,000 annually for three years or a board term, has provided leadership training, and confidential sharing sessions. All 10 fellows continue to serve.

“In the first quarter of 2017, we brought someone in to talk about general board procedure and governance, and then the next quarter, we had our CFO talk about how do you read a financial statement and what are the things that you should look for as a board member. We tried to give them the tools that they need to be successful as board members,” said Winfrey-Harris.

Along with identifying these young professionals, the foundation tried to place them on boards of prominent organizations.

“Those boards tend not to be as diverse, there tends to be financial obligations that not always young people or people of color can meet, and those are boards where a board member has influence, and that’s important that we give those people influence,” Winfrey-Harris said.

Adrianne Slash, a Community Health Network diversity and inclusion consultant, was one of those selected. Slash is also president of The Exchange at the Indianapolis Urban League.

“I thought it was incredibly ambitious for CICF and the Indianapolis Foundation to say, ‘We are going to do this work because it’s important for the future of Indianapolis,’” said Slash.

“The opportunity to develop homegrown, dedicated Indianapolis talent and to invest in them really speaks to their investment in us and those organizations that they are connecting to the younger generation.

“They took a chance on us and I like to think that we’re doing really well and that people are seeing the worth and the value of having a fellow on their board. I do think that the level of scrutiny that the foundation used in making sure that they had mature younger voices sitting around the table did a great service.”

At onset there were board-training sessions for the 10 fellows.

“The trainings have been phenomenal. In our trainings, we’ve looked at governance, we’ve looked at finances, we even had the hard conversation about the way things are reported out in meetings, and whether it’s the best practices or not,” said Slash. “We’ve learned how to ask the questions around finances, how do we engage specifically if there are board members who are not acting with decorum and respect for everyone at the table.”

Slash said that the meet-up time has allowed honest conversation about board membership.

“So when this fellowship is over, will I just curl up and go away or will more board service come from it? I think the answer is more will come from it.”

Sep 18

Nonprofits recognizing the value the diversity

By Feature, Leadership

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Historically, the United States has not always been inclusive, and workplaces have been no exception. But in today’s political, economic and global business environment, diversity has become increasingly important. It now impacts brand, corporate purpose and performance.

And while the business environment recognizes the value of inclusion, nonprofits seemingly have been slower to come to the table. Some state nonprofit associations, however, do collect data, and two years ago, GuideStar initiated an optional national survey, but all told, reliable statistics on the topic are difficult to find.

One fact appears to be clear: At the start of the decade, the vast majority of nonprofit non-executive positions were dominated by women. That’s according to the 2010 National Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey, a survey of over 500 nonprofits from around the country by Washington, D.C.-based Nonprofit HR Solutions and the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research.

Women are less represented among senior executives, where, according to the Nonprofit Times list of Top 50 leaders in 2010, 66 percent of those named were men.

Locally, however, Jeremy York, a Synergy human resources field representative, and Nancy Ahlrichs, United Way of Central Indiana’s chief talent officer, have begun to see a change.

York said part of it is a broadening of diversity’s definition, and a recognition that there is significant value in having diverse perspectives.

“I think people are finally starting to understand the value of having different perspectives on their team. In the past, diversity has been focused mainly on physical traits, whether it’s been ethnicity or color of your skin,” said York.

“We understand that people’s experiences, their upbringing, where they worked, their backgrounds, education, different people they work with, all help shape their perspectives, and we can utilize those perspectives and experiences,” he said.

Ahlrichs believes that a cross section of perspectives makes a nonprofit more effective.

“It’s impossible for an organization to have group think because they’re automatically bringing different ideas to the table. There are just simply things that with my particular background I couldn’t have insight into. I need a variety of people in order to get things done because I don’t know what I don’t know,” she said.

But also important to this change is that the U.S. continues to be more of a melting pot, affecting nonprofits’ current and future pools of volunteers and donors. The younger population is more and more diverse.

“It’s also a need on our side. If we’re going to have sustainability, we have to be more diverse. We have to learn how to be more inclusive,” Ahlrichs said. “If you serve people, you’re always going to have to strive to make sure that you have a good representation.” United Way of Central Indiana emphasizes diversity as part of the agency evaluation process.

Add to this need, according to York, is that studies have shown that for-profit companies that have diverse work teams outperform other organizations by 25 percent. He said this same school of thought applies to a nonprofit’s services, quality of the delivery of those services, and ultimately its mission.

“Part of the reason that companies are outperforming is because they’re more in tune with each other and because they respect each other for their differences of opinion,” said York.

And while nonprofits recognize that they need to embrace diversity, Ahlrichs said sometimes they look for assistance to begin or how to incorporate such policies. She has been approached by other nonprofits seeking help, and she advises them to examine their methods of attracting people who would be an asset to the organization.

“There are things that they can do that are not costly, that will make a difference in the ability to attract job candidates. I mean you cannot hire people if they don’t apply. How can you reach out to say ‘All are welcome?’ How do you get someone to think about coming to work for you or to think about being a volunteer if basically, in the nonprofit sector, the majority of employees are white females. The diversity that you may be pursuing is men, in fact I’m sure it is, men, as well as racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and other diversity,” Ahlrichs said.

According to Ahlrichs, while there are some simple ways to start, the key is to develop a diversity-and-inclusion policy and a plan.

“You have to have a plan. Without a plan, you aren’t going to get anywhere,” she said.

While York sees boards being cognizant of reflecting the people that the organization serves, they don’t necessarily see the need for a written plan.

“Some of my nonprofit clients don’t have a diversity initiative that they are specifically working toward,” said York. “They may consider themselves to be an inclusive environment, but a lot of the smaller ones don’t have a plan. It’s not because they don’t think it’s important, it’s just from a resource standpoint.”

Which local nonprofits are walking the walk? YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters were mentioned York and Ahlrichs and Kim Donahue, United Way’s director of agency services, lists the Children’s Bureau as being proactive. It has an internal group of employees who meet regularly, and they have been very purposeful in recruiting for their board with diversity in mind, Donahue said.

“United Way of Central Indiana is made richer by the array of diversity that we have. We have absolutely top-notch employees, and they come from all different backgrounds. And it just wouldn’t be the same without them. I think that more agencies are going to find it’s a level of quality that they increase in terms of their ability to serve the community that they serve by having diversity,” said Ahlrichs.

Ways to get started

Ahlrichs offers several actions that United Way has implemented that can help nonprofits get started, specifically to attract talent.

Website awareness — “United Way posts its diversity statement on the website,” she said. “I think it’s important that anyone who goes to our website, especially someone interested in a new position, knows that we have a policy.”

She said a nonprofit’s website tells a story to potential employees, volunteers and donors and that it’s important to consider what the website looks like.

Who is in the pictures? Does the site show a range of diversity?

“I want someone who goes to our website to feel like they have a sense of our culture. Whether it’s age, race, gender, we wanted to show as much diversity as we could, and you get to hear their real words. You know what is it like to work here,” said Ahlrichs.

Job postings — Nonprofits need to think about where they post job openings and ask themselves a simple question: “Can we expand where we send the posts so there is an opportunity to have qualified diverse candidate even apply?”

“You really can’t be complacent. You cannot say, ‘We’re just going to post a job on our own website and that’s good enough’ and have anything change,” Ahlrichs said.

Networking — Ahlrichs suggests reaching out and creating mini-relationships with diverse organizations. Perhaps an introductory phone call, or a coffee meeting.

“It would be nice if they actually knew more about your agency and could speak in a positive way about what you’re trying to do,” she said.

DIVERSITY RESOURCES

After the release of the 2004 study by University of Chicago professors that found Lakishas and Jamals were far less likely to get job interviews than Emilys and Gregs, some organizations tried masking names on resumes. It didn’t catch on as a trend, but Ahlrichs said she personally knows someone who struggled with her job search, in spite of the fact that she had two master’s degrees in human resources.

Her name was difficult to pronounce and potential employers were embarrassed to try. After using initials for her first name, and dropping the part of her hyphenated surname that was difficult to pronounce, she got job interviews.

Below are resources that Ahlrichs and York suggested can provide insight to trends.

Diversity Inc.

“Diversity Inc.” magazine is in print as well as online. It compiles a tremendous amount of information and articles from around the country, things going on that have to do with diversity trends, as well as, strategy trends.

  • http://magazine.diversityinc.com/i/686571-win-2016

There is a competition annually in the magazine called the Diversity 50. This year, Eli Lilly and Company was included for “conducting extensive research this year on the career progression of its female employees. With this knowledge, Lilly plans to solidify its best practices around talent management for women. The company also plans to conduct similar studies for its Black, Hispanic and Latino employees. Lilly is also planning to roll out a conscious-inclusion training.

  • http://www.diversityinc.com/diversityinc-top-50-survey-faqs/
Society for Diversity

Indianapolis is home to the Society for Diversity, a virtual professional association for workplace diversity and inclusion efforts. Leah Smiley is the founder and CEO. It certifies diversity consultants and provides education and resources to help professionals and organizations.

International Center

The International Center is willing to work with nonprofits to learn more about incoming populations. They bring a cultural representative.

“We had Muslim woman who wears a hijab, who came to speak to us, and she made a deal with us in the beginning, she said, “I want to have you ask me any question. I don’t want you to go away, saying, ‘I wish I had asked or I didn’t courage enough to ask.’ She said, ‘I want you to know me as a person and to understand whatever it is that you’re wondering about when it comes to the Muslim religion.’

“We brought in someone who is from the country of Columbia and she was so educational. She said, ‘So tell me the first three things you think of when you think of Columbia?’ People said, ‘Killing, drugs.’ It was all the negatives. She said, ‘The things that I think about are an enormous flower industry, high fashion and coffee.’ And she said, ‘It just depends on where your information is coming from and what has your experience been,’ and so we talked about stereotypes.”

The Human Rights campaign

The HRC Diversity and Quality Index is about diversity inclusion.

  • https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/corporate-equality-index
Aug 21

Leaders: Do you know what is on your organization’s horizon?

By Leadership, Sponsor Insight

By Sara M. Johnson, FACHE Director, Executive Education,IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI

While relaxing on a recent cruise to Cuba, I started thinking about leadership (I know…I can’t help it). Ever an observer and student of leadership and organizational culture I was struck by lessons that can be learned on both land and sea.

As we left the port on the cruise ship, I positioned myself on the top deck to watch our departure. As we worked our way to the Skyway Bridge at the edge of Tampa Bay, I noticed the ship turning subtly left and right within a path of lighted buoys. Slowly, the ship would veer left, then right, threading its way through the Bay as we headed out to sea. There was great attention to direction and the required turns that led us safely out to the Gulf. The narrow passage under the bridge also required a precise positioning by the captain in order to prevent the cruise ship from hitting the bridge supports. This seemed a strategic process to ensure the safety of the ship and its passengers. Though it may have been something the captain did all the time, it was strategic, subtle and purposeful. I doubt I would have known it was happening had I not been on the deck observing his path.

On land, I mindlessly travel the same route to work most of the time. I know where the potholes are, the lane changes, and the bottlenecks. I know the best time of day to leave the house to avoid the most traffic. It is easy to drive through traffic without really thinking about what I am doing. Some days I arrive at work, hardly remembering the trip.

In the classic book, “Leadership on the Line,” by Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky, they talk about the “view from the balcony.” Like the view from the ship’s deck, leaders must occasionally step back, take a look out over the organization, and observe the big picture and the horizon. It is easy to get comfortable and lose sight of what is ahead and the signs along the way.

So, in my relaxed state on vacation, it occurred to me how dangerous it may be to lead the way I drive versus the way the captain navigated the water. Do I need to “get on the balcony” or “on the deck” to determine the best path for the future success of my team and organization? Like the buoys, should I be paying more attention to the signals from staff and other stakeholders?

In times of great change, leaders need to build organizational confidence. I suggest it is also good for leaders to do this for themselves occasionally to take note of their own development, reaffirm their values and the direction they are leading their team or organization.

Making an effort to be intentional in our leadership, “getting on the deck” and strategically looking to the horizon as we observe the signals that should guide us daily. Not only will we feel more confident but those who follow will feel more confident, too.

Sara Johnson is clinical assistant professor for the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs and director of IU Executive Education. Johnson teaches graduate and executive education courses. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). As director of Indiana University Executive Education, Johnson leads a team of over 40 faculty and staff.

Jul 31

Domestic Violence Network: 20 years of fighting domestic violence

By Feature, Leadership

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Nonprofit networks vary in shape, size and mission. Some are satellites of national organizations and others establish connections and facilitate collaboration.

Ask Tracey Horth Krueger or Kelly McBride about the Domestic Violence Network (DVN) in Indianapolis, and they’ll tell you that after 20 years, it is still vibrant and relevant. That is in large part because of its ability to adapt and respond to community needs, according to Horth Krueger, the network’s first executive director, and McBride who has been in the position for the past 3½ years.

In reality, the network has been around since the 1980s, first as a grassroots movement. Regular monthly meetings were informal conversations that provided opportunities to collaborate and make connections. At those gatherings, direct service providers would discuss what they needed to support their work, but would then leave and return to clients and caseloads. There wasn’t an entity or staff support that would advance those initiatives between meetings.

“In 1997, the decision was made to try to secure funding to get a staff to really build the domestic violence network,” said Horth Krueger, who is now CEO of the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault. “In my opinion, everything that is DVN now is built on what preceded it for the 10 years or 15 years prior to that. It is an extension of the work that that committed group of advocates has been doing in this city for years.”

DVN started with three employees and now brings numerous nonprofits to the table, including at least a half dozen area domestic violence shelters. One initial obstacle was overcoming nonprofits’ fear that such an entity, while worthwhile, would add to the competition for existing funding dollars. Organizations wanted to be set apart and be attractive to funders on their own.

“It was Mayor Peterson, a strong advocate for this work, who was able to say, ‘We’re a team, let’s keep our eye on the ball, we do much better when we’re working together.’ And then backed it up with having his deputy mayors in the meetings and involved. It was a great opportunity for DVN to really grow because we had support,” said Horth Krueger.

“What we were saying was, ‘Let’s come at this from a position of power. We’re going to be way more powerful if we’re working together than if we’re continuing to have the walls up,’” said Horth Krueger. “We were really shifting the conversation and saying that is an issue that cannot operate in isolation. We really need each other.”

While DVN’s mission has remained consistent – engage the community to end domestic violence through advocacy, education and collaboration – its delivery has not. Education and training have adapted to what’s happening in the community. DVN has always served in a coordination role.

“As we’re learning what national best practices are, we’re bringing those here, but at the same time we’re learning about what our city is doing. We’re merging those together, so that they fit everyone’s needs,” said McBride, who is a trained social worker.

While Horth Krueger is no longer involved in the day-to-day, she thinks the network also works because it focuses on the broader issues. As a former reporter/anchor at WRTV-6, she worked to bring visibility to the issue. First with the Safe Haven Campaign, which was designed to raise funds for additional transitional housing for victims of domestic violence. That campaign resulted in the opening of Coburn Place, a transitional housing and support service for domestic violence victims. The campaign, which is ongoing, was also designed to raise awareness about domestic abuse.

“That campaign did a phenomenal job at breaking through perception. It was just telling the stories of people that you might watch and think, ‘Whoa, it attacks all of us and our preconceived notions about others.’ So it’s really opening up all of us to be thinking about, ‘God, this really could be happening in my own family.’ And that’s powerful,” said Horth Krueger.

Staying focused on trends and identifying gaps in services gives the network the ability to look more strategically and more comprehensively at community needs and ultimately prevent domestic violence.

“DVN is not serving the needs of victims day in and day out, which is precious important work and needs to be the focus of nonprofit organizations. A community needs that other piece where an entity can be stepping back and looking more broadly,” said Horth Krueger.

That’s a role DVN has embraced since its beginning. In 2000, Peterson’s first year as mayor, he led more than 100 citizens in a roundtable discussion that prompted a call for a community action plan to end domestic violence. DVN took the lead, and the Family Violence Community-Wide Plan was issued in 2001.

Four years later, a second mayor’s roundtable identified new priorities for addressing domestic violence, including public awareness and education, economic justice, health and legal issues, prevention and targeted outreach to Hispanic populations. The second formal communitywide plan, Peace in our Homes: A Call to End Domestic Abuse in Central Indiana, was released in 2009. It was a catalyst to establish a coordinated community response.

In 2013, the Community-Wide Plan to End Domestic Violence 3.0 was released by DVN and used the Results Accountability framework. There was a focus on making a measureable improvement in the quality of life for entire communities.

Plans varied in duration from three to five years.

McBride said putting Band-Aids on things is not enough.

“We provide funds for emergency transportation, we have these great shelters to help victims, but how can we stop it in the first place. Domestic violence does not exist in a silo. Our domestic violence victims are coming in with mental health issues, addictions issues and everything else,” said McBride.

The newest community plan is focused on intersections and how poverty and domestic violence are intertwined and how crime and domestic violence are interconnected. It is designed to dive into the root causes of domestic violence, and change the issue in six months. The first — economics – resulted in a study of housing for domestic violence victims. Behind the scenes, a committee will continue the work for the duration of the plan.

“That is such an important conversation because it is all tied together. And if you can solve one or make headway on addressing one of these societal ills, it will have a positive impact on the rest. I see that as the very critical role that they are filling now and are leading it,” said Horth Krueger.

Marion County and the doughnut counties are the focus for the network, and participation is free. It represents people in the Greater Indianapolis area who serve domestic violence victims, and includes not only the shelters and the advocacy programs, but also law enforcement, the legal community and work in hospitals.

“It’s the full continuum and what needs to be in place to address the needs of victims and hold perpetrators accountable and prevent abuse. It’s the repository of all of this information about who’s doing what in the community and how,” said Horth Krueger.

DVN publishes two reports a year – “The State of Domestic Violence in Central Indiana,” a compilation self-reported by the nonprofits that serve the population and which provides a snapshot of the number of clients served. It’s designed to present an update on the state of domestic violence in Central Indiana based on similar reports compiled in 2014, 2013, 2011 and 2008.

The second report connects data from the IMPD, Julian Center and the Marion County prosecutors’ office to get a better understanding of what domestic violence looks like in the criminal justice system. The report hasn’t had consistent funding, but currently has government funding, and will put out preliminary statistics in the fall .

“That’s more of the arrests and the convictions. What does recidivism look like? Are we seeing domestic violence reported to the police in more spots within Marion County? That doesn’t mean it is happening more, it’s just reported more there. So then we’ve taken that data, and we share with our network and our partners and then we can help identify better prevention strategies or intervention strategies,” said McBride.

Most funding is local, but DVN holds a national grant in partnership with IMPD, the city, Julian Center and the prosecutors’ office. Called the Baker One Initiative, it is an IMPD-led policing initiative to identify high-risk offenders early in order to prevent homicide or serious assault. The original project, started in Mecklenberg County (Charlotte area), North Carolina, in 2002, has proven successful in preventing lesser crimes from escalating to seriously violent or fatal acts.

“Baker One Initiative’s initial data shows that it is working,” said McBride. “We’ve applied for several other federal grants in partnership with those folks as well, and we should find out about those in the next couple of months.”

While funding ebbs and flows, McBride said it is important that programs remain consistent. Recognizing that a service provider could lose funding for a program, for example, DVN assumed the responsibility for youth and employer education.

“There were people doing that, but their grants would ebb and flow. So if they lost a youth-prevention grant, then they would lose that program. So it wasn’t sustainable within the community,” said McBride.

“We’re not only educating our advocates but our community members. And we also educate high school and middle school students on how to identify and respond to teen-dating violence, what a healthy relationship looks like and what consent looks like,” said McBride. It’s been in place for three years this fall, and it has branched out to include a youth network once a month to engage peers in healthy relationships.

While the advocates’ network still meets the first Tuesday of the month, there are now trainings to provide ongoing support. In addition, DVN offers best practice trainings nine months of the year, and there is a monthly wait list. The remaining months DVN hosts a commemoration and holiday party, and a retreat to focus on self-care for direct service providers.

What’s next? In an ideal world, Horth Krueger sees the network working to make domestic violence unacceptable like Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

“The perpetrator is the one making them leave home, and so why are we putting it on the victim to relocate to a part of town they’ve never lived in, not that they have anything against that part of town, but they don’t know where the grocery is, they don’t know where the drugstore is, they don’t know the schools. So the movement has had to be aware of that and try to make those accommodations so they don’t feel completely removed from all they know.

“The housing issue is huge, but I think we need to think differently about the housing issue and maybe we don’t bring everybody to one building. We have scattered sites. We need to be out in these communities, we need to have partnerships with different organizations.”

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Lessons learned

McBride and Horth Krueger have been immersed in the issue of domestic violence. And over the 20 years Domestic Violence Network in Central Indiana, they’ve learned a thing or two about how networks function.

They were willing to share some practical tips for nonprofit networks in order to stay relevant.

  1. Don’t become stagnant. Be flexible and adaptable and continue to pay attention to trends, issues and the needs of the community. The work is not black and white and has to be ever evolving.
  2. Relationships are key. Keep building and recognize that they can be ever changing.
  3. Do your homework. Find the influencers. Talk to people who’ve established networks or continuity. You’re never done. Talk to people who have been in your shoes.
  4. Don’t tie your efforts to a specific politician. If you tie the issue to an elected official, then you’re not thinking about sustainability. You want that support, and you want to be a priority to them, but you cannot become an office of because them.
  5. Listening is very, very important. It helps to have that skill set so that when you have multiple voices around a table, you can come to a consensus, and help people come to a consensus. You have to have the ability to listen and make sure that people feel heard and are heard. There are awesome ideas everywhere, and it’s important to elevate people’s ideas.
  6. Recognize that domestic violence intersects with almost every other social problem. With domestic violence affecting 1 in 3 women, and 1 in 7 men, you know someone who’s been touched by domestic violence. Keep asking: How can we pull together the community.
  7. Continue to work better and continue to communicate.

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Jan 23

Nurturing nonprofit leadership

By Feature, Leadership

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Leadership can be nurtured and cultivated. And in the past year, the Fort Wayne-based Foellinger Foundation has taken on that job.

Since 2008, the foundation has worked to strengthen nonprofits in the Fort Wayne area, but it hasn’t stopped with its Invited-Initiative.

Last year, it launched the Foellinger Center for Nonprofit Adaptive Leadership, a program focused on developing leadership that is needed for today’s nonprofits, leadership that can adapt to the changing economy and needs.

“It will help prepare leaders to address both the complex challenges and the incredible opportunities facing the nonprofit sector,” said Cheryl K. Taylor, foundation president.

The impetus for the center came in 2015, and was based on careful listening. In grantee discussions, several organizations talked about succession planning, but were also concerned that there weren’t steps taken to groom potential leaders.

The foundation staff’s response was to surprise these community-serving nonprofits with a grant to pilot this effort. A multiyear grant launched the center, and it began offering experience-based education for local nonprofit leaders.

Last March, four Invited-Initiative grantees — Brightpoint, Early Childhood Alliance, Lutheran Social Services and YWCA — began training employees with demonstrated leadership ability for potential future leadership roles. The participants’ organizations in the Emerging Leaders pilot program had earlier received an INSPIRE grant from the foundation to think about the best ways to train their next levels of leaders. Their organization’s executive directors selected participants.

According to Taylor supporting leadership is part of the foundation’s strategic intention. Taylor credits Harvard’s Ronald Heifetz with spelling out the differences between technical knowledge and adaptability in his book, “Leadership Without Easy Answers.”

This recent effort is seen as complementary to the Invited-Initiative and can have wide-reaching effect.

“You know you can find all sorts of people who understand how to read a finance statement and know that they should have a board orientation and probably staff development, which is important. But what’s the other side of that? What do you do in a crisis? How do you have imagination? Where is the vision?” Taylor said.

Foellinger is trying to help organizations have leadership with both adaptive and technical abilities.

Karin Tice, president of Formative Evaluation Research Associates (FERA) based in Ann Arbor, Mich., has done formative evaluations of aspects of the Invited-Initiative program and is currently studying the leadership emerging leaders.

In Michigan, she has seen first hand what happened to some nonprofits with the 2008 downturn and the results of not having adaptive leadership.

“Nonprofits had people who were their donors and who were sustaining and supporting the organization in all sorts of ways now coming in their door for services. That is a huge shift,” said Tice. It meant that organizations had to think of creative and adaptive ways to meet those needs.

Under the Center’s umbrella are three programs — Emerging Leaders, Executive Leaders and the Barbara Burt Leadership Develop Fund.

The fund is named for Barbara Burt, a longtime member board of the Foellinger board and community leader. The fund is designed to encourage exceptional board governance, support adaptive thinking and to promote exchanges about best leadership styles and practices within the nonprofit sector. It extends past the Invited-Initiative work and more community wide.

The Executive Leaders group started in June. According to Tice, there are only a handful of Invited-Initiative organizations in it, so it’s reaching a much broader group of in the community and organizations that haven’t been involved in the initiative. The 18-month program is for key staff leaders to develop or sustain them as adaptive leaders.

“We’re learning a lot about the structure of that and also the value of executive leadership,” said Tice. “There is rich learning here for foundations. For Foellinger’s size, it is amazing what they’re able to do,” said Tice.

 

Aug 29

2016 Nonprofit Salary Survey report released

By Feature, Leadership

By Bryan Orander, president, Charitable Advisors

Next week is Labor Day when the focus is on jobs.

As the U.S. recovers from the recession of the previous decade, the labor market has tightened. Amid whispers that the country is moving towards statistically full employment, many employers are reverting to a basic method of recruiting and retaining workers: higher pay. The positions are out there, and employers are upping the ante to get people to fill them.

Citing statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s wage tracker, Bloomberg reported that as of May, the median U.S. worker enjoyed a 3.5 percent wage increase from the same period last year. The figure is the highest year-over-year number since 2009.

How is this playing out in the local nonprofit sector? We have some insights.

Every other year since 2010, Charitable Advisors has recruited sponsorship from local businesses to assemble and publish the nonprofit salary survey report.

More than 240 area nonprofits participated in this year’s survey in April. The survey solicits compensation and benefits information for 20 common nonprofit positions and then segments the information based on organizational size – by either annual budget or number of staff.

In 2016, sponsorship support was provided by VonLehman CPA, First Person Benefit Advisors, The National Bank of Indianapolis and Financial Technologies and Management. There is a link to download the 2016 report at the end of this article.

What can we learn from the salary survey?

I have three quick insights that may resonate with readers, based on my daily conversations with nonprofit leaders and an initial review of this latest salary survey:

  • Average salary increases appear constant around 3 percent: Since we climbed out of the 2007-2009 recession, the Charitable Advisors’ salary surveys have shown the most common average salary increases for Central Indiana nonprofits continue in the 3 percent range.

Food for thought: How has your organization adjusted its compensation since the recession? Are you able to increase raises in addition to keeping up with rising health insurance costs? Do staff members appreciate the value of their total compensation package?

  • Harder to hire: For the first time this year, we asked survey respondents whether they were having problems filling staff positions. More than 60 percent of respondents noted difficulty in hiring one or more roles. The most common frustrations were finding personnel for direct service/program positions, licensed therapists and fund development staff. Anecdotally, all are roles that are increasing in the sector to meet client needs or grow resources to meet client needs.

Food for thought: What positions are you finding difficult to recruit? What adjustments are you making to attract and retain staff in key roles? Will a 3 percent average increase keep you competitive in the nonprofit marketplace? Is it competitive in the overall Central Indiana marketplace?

  • People issues now in top three: Over the past few years, people issues have moved from a “Top 10” issue to a “Top 3” issue with almost every nonprofit we encounter. I see organizations putting increased focus and investing resources on staff and volunteer recruiting, retention, training and development, first-line supervisory training, developing positive cultures and being great places to work.

Food for thought: What adjustments are you making to create a positive work environment? How are you equipping your supervisors and managers to engage and motivate staff? How is the growth in millennial staff and retirement of boomers changing the way you work? How are you preparing for the upcoming retirement of boomers in their late 50s and 60s?

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Recommendations from the field

How many times have you picked up a report with good intentions? You’ll study it tomorrow or review its lessons at a later time. Here are some suggestions from local leaders about the ways they have utilized past Salary Survey data.

As a budgeting tool

  • Jennifer Tiplick, the Humane Society of Indianapolis chief financial officer, will use it as a tool for next year’s budgets.
  • Beth Gehlahusen, Meals on Wheels of Hamilton County executive director, said it is the best way to see where her organization falls in the market.

“It is helpful to our board of directors to see the ‘big picture’ and then to be able to relate it to our organization.  The release time is very helpful for 2017 budgeting.”

As a board tool

  • Laura Dodds, executive director, TechPoint Foundation for Youth, said her board wants to compare her salary with others of like sizes.

“I just had my annual review and the board would like to know if my salary is comparable to organizations of my size in this area.”

As a human resources tool

  • Lori Clyne, the human resources director at Families First, seeks multiple sources of salary information for comparison, noting Guidestar.org and their national association as helpful. “It’s more relevant data than what I’ve found from other sources.”

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Watch for additional insights as we continue to learn from the survey data.

Thanks to our sponsors, you can download the 2016 Nonprofit Salary Survey Report at no charge here.

You will be asked to answer a couple questions to help us understand how the report is being reviewed and used by your organization and by individuals.

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