Research Friday: Idealist.org Survey Backs 2011 Nonprofit Employment Trends Outlook

posted by Mac Smith, Director, Marketing and Special Projects Nonprofit HR Solutions

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice.

Earlier this month, Idealist.org released a nonprofit sector employment trends survey that supported the findings of the 2011 Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey. Both reports indicate that a slow recovery is underway in the nonprofit sector and that many organizations have grave deficiencies in human resources that could threaten future mission success.

The national Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey, produced by Nonprofit HR Solutions, indicated that 60 percent of nonprofit organizations were planning to hire in 2011, even though nearly one-quarter of the organizations trimmed staff in 2010. Findings also revealed that turnover was low within nonprofit organizations. The average turnover rate for respondent organizations was 13 percent, compared to 21 percent in 2010.

Research Friday: Volunteering and Financial Statements - What’s Missing?

posted by
Pat Lewis,
Senior Professional
in Residence
ASU Lodestar Center

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice. We welcome your comments and feedback.

Do volunteers count? Oh, yes, they count — in how services are performed, in how much is and can be done, and in generating social value. Volunteering is the heart and soul of the social sector.

Time to Give a Little

posted by
Kayla L. McKinney,
Project Specialist
(Marketing/Communications)
ASU Lodestar Center

Reality: I think your cause is awesome. In fact, I think your cause is fantastic. You want to help the homeless? Me too! Rescue dogs? Me too! Make sure everyone has access to clean water? I’m on board!

Other reality: I don’t have the time or money for your cause.

One more reality: I still want to help.

I know a lot of people who understand my plight. I’m a grad student, after all! And being a grad student means I’ve got more than a few limitations, economically speaking. So, how do you, as a nonprofit organization, get me to help you?

Reflections of a Nonprofit Heart

posted by
Laura L. Bush, Ph.D.,
Manager of Curriculum
Design & Innovation,
ASU Lodestar Center

In junior high, I once jumped off a table Wonder Woman-style (but without bullet-proof bracelets) to defend another child from being teased. I don’t remember why I was perched on a table in art class, but I do remember the drama of leaping between this bully and his victim. Without hesitating, I knew I had the power to stop the harassment. And I did. At that moment, my nonprofit heart was born.

Although this defining incident taught me I could make a difference, I can remember always being concerned with whatever seemed unfair, inequitable, or just plain stupid: “Why do people litter? Why would people say ugly things because of the color of someone’s skin? Why are some people so rich and other people so poor? And why doesn’t my family ever go on vacation?”

“Life’s not fair,” my mother would say.

“Well, then,” I’d think, “somebody needs to get busy and make it fair!”

Research Friday: BIGGER! BETTER! FASTER! CHEAPER!

posted by Robert F. Ashcraft, Ph.D. Executive Director ASU Lodestar Center

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice.

A popular television and print marketing promotion in the 1970’s showcased the “Shell Answer Man,” an all-knowing expert on automotive issues. There seemingly was no end to what the “Man” could answer, based upon research and reason, and it was quite beside the point that Shell is an oil company seeking customers.

In guiding our ASU Lodestar Center, I reflect on this type of marketing because of the inquiries we receive each week for research-based answers to every sort of question imaginable. Like the Shell Answer Man, we respond to dozens of inquiries each month on wide-ranging questions.

Is It Really All About Me?

posted by
Sarah Hipolito,
Program Coordinator, Senior
ASU Lodestar Center

Ah, September, my favorite month of the year. My birthday is September 22nd and it’s a special day. It falls on either the first day of autumn or the last day of summer, depending on the year. I share my birthday with Scott Baio (whom I loved in Charles in Charge!) and — as my husband will never let me forget — Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, among other celebrities. Still, September 22nd has always been my day, in fact, I always considered September my month, though at least 15 of my friends and family also have birthdays in September. I’ve always felt special on my birthday.

Research Friday: The Functions of Government in Social Entrepreneurship

posted by
Gordon Shockley, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor
ASU School of Community
Resources & Development

Welcome to Research Friday! For this week’s post, we welcome Dr. Gordon Shockley, who describes the work he and colleague Peter Frank are doing on social innovation. As always, we welcome your comments, feedback and suggestions!

Government has a rich legacy of social entrepreneurship. In the 20th century, it orchestrated large-scale social change when it had the capacity — the resources, expertise, and available political, social, and economic institutions — to do so. Consider some examples from American policy history. In response to the Great Depression in the 1930s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration enacted the nation’s first-ever social policy with the programs of the Social Security Act. The U.S. federal government’s social innovations reached new heights with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society programs of the 1960s. The U.S., as well as the national governments of much of the developed world, robustly practices variants of high-capacity governmental social innovation today, such as the myriad programs countering the global Great Recession.

Saving the California Condor: A Collective Impact Story

posted by Stephanie La Loggia, M.A. Manager of Knowledge Resources ASU Lodestar Center

Once upon a long time ago, North America was bursting with animals that were really big. Mammoths, mastodons, giant sloths — animals we only know about from their old bones and our good imaginations. The birds were over-sized as well, and when the huge animals died, giant vultures with 20-foot wingspans would swoop down to feast on their carcasses.

And then, they vanished. For reasons scientists still theorize about, most of these large animals went extinct rather quickly. The huge vultures, once plentiful, with all varieties of Eagles, Teratorns, and giant condors, were suddenly hungry. Their food sources gone, the giant vultures soon followed the animals into mass extinction.

Except one: The California Condor.

Why should I learn about nonprofit accounting?

posted by
Thomas K. Avery, CPA,
ASU Lodestar Center
NMI Instructor /
Chief Financial Officer
Catholic Community Foundation -
Diocese of Phoenix

Good question. As a nonprofit accountant, I hear this question asked often. Some of the objections to learning about accounting sound very reasonable at first, especially when there's no one around to express a contrary view. So, I'll step up to the challenge and face those objections head on.

“I don’t need to learn that stuff. We have an accountant in our organization who deals with it.”

It's a good thing if you have a knowledgeable accountant on the payroll who knows the ins and outs of nonprofit financial tracking. After all, not every organization has the luxury. If you're one of the lucky ones that does, be kind to that person and tell them that you really appreciate all that they do.

Why? Many organizations need and want an accountant on their payroll. If your accountant feels under-appreciated or undervalued, he or she may head for greener pastures, leaving you without a thorough understanding of the basics of your organization’s financial results. Your remaining staff members may need at least a small knowledge of the basics to link to the new person you hire. So, don’t rely too heavily on your accountant. Attaining good financial management skills will help ensure that your organization moves forward, even without him or her.

Research Friday: The Real Impact of Collective Impact

posted by
Brian Spicker,
Senior Vice President
of Community Impact
Valley of the Sun
United Way

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice. This week, Brian Spicker of Valley of the Sun United Way sat down the with Center's Stephanie La Loggia for a short interview about the meaning of "collective impact." Below is part of the interview.

In Kania and Kramer’s article^[1], they discuss the key elements to successful collective impact. Can you talk a little about those key elements?

Brian Spicker: What's wonderful about that article is it’s something I think all of us in the social sector have been working on, they just happened to present it elegantly. But those five elements are: a common agenda. So everyone understands the language, what it is what we’re intending to do, and it’s tied then to metrics, that it’s a shared metric system. So, that’s the second element. The third element, which is really critical, is mutually reinforcing activities. So you have a variety of nonprofits, government, and philanthropic organizations working together — they are doing their own things, but it’s mutually reinforcing that common agenda, it is tying those things together. And showing that it's moving the needle, the metric, forward.

The third area is constant communication. You’ve got to have some social marketing because you have to have some social construct on how we think about these problems, as well as have communication across all the multi-sector groups that are engaged in this. And then the last area is a backbone organization, and that means there is an organization that is focused on moving all those elements forward, year after year. Because, you know, it isn’t a one-year thing.

Leadership Within Your Organization: It's "Everyone's Business"

posted by
Conni Ingallina,
Founder and President
SOS-Association Management Solutions

In the age where people expect more for less and at a pace that reflects the era of an instant-gratification lifestyle, it's no surprise that associations are looking for solid leaders who will keep their mission at heart, as well as keep the association moving forward — quickly. It makes sense, right? Our members have a vested interest and passion for the livelihood of what their association is doing and how it's doing. And, as history will show, leadership is the key to success. So, if success is based on leadership, then how does an association establish great leaders for guaranteed success?

We often hear the phrase, "That person is a born leader." And many of us believe that leadership — both the good and the bad — originates from the individual and his or her personal characteristics and values. To a certain extent, this is true. Charisma, intelligence, and great communication skills all play a serious role in effective leadership. However, James Kouzes and Barry Posner — authors of The Leadership Challenge — illustrate how leadership goes beyond the individual: it's a relationship.