December Frontline Perspectives

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November 2019

December 2020

Bryan Orander, President, Charitable Advisors

Looking Back and Looking Ahead to 2021

Organizational Inventory Tool and Webinar

We are only a few weeks away from the end of 2020 — a year we will always remember but can’t wait to finish. While promising news about vaccines gives us hope that there may be an end to some of our pandemic concerns, it may be years before the other impacts are fully recognized or addressed.

Charitable Advisors has developed a short, actionable tool to provide local nonprofits with a framework to assess what has changed in their organization over the past year and to begin to think about where their energies should be focused in the year ahead. If the crisis has caused your board members to back away, this might be a chance to re-engage them. If board members have stepped too far into operations, 2021 could represent an opportunity to restore some space for staff leadership and think more about the big picture.

This PDF Worksheet challenges you to rate your organization in seven important areas – as you came into the year (pre-COVID), and as you are leaving the year (mid-COVID).

Part I - 7 Areas to Rate

Meeting Community Needs/Relevance
Image and Influence in the Community
Financial Flexibility
Planning, Decision Making, and Accountability
Right People in Right Seats (Leadership/Talent)
Growth, Excitement, and Energy
Strategic Partnerships

Part II - Prioritizing Actions in 2021

There is little value in assessment if it doesn’t lead to action of some sort. The second segment of the worksheet provides more than 15 ideas to translate your insights about how things have changed and where you are now as far as actions and investments for the year ahead. We recommend you define no more than three areas of focus for the new year. If your action list is long, you have not effectively prioritized. As a result, success can be that much harder to reach.

December Webinar to Talk About it/Facilitated Debrief Option

We are hosting a short webinar on Dec. 16 (see below) to talk through this simple, yet complex, tool and learn from each other about how it can best be applied to spur thinking and engagement in your organization. We are also offering a short-term facilitation service if your organization wants us to use this tool in an on-line survey of board and senior staff then facilitate a discussion from the results.

We’re looking forward to helping you realize a productive 2021. Contact me today to reserve your slot for January 2021.

Bryan Orander, President

[email protected]

317-752-7153

Nonprofit Pandemic Resource Page - Every nonprofit leader is dealing with the impacts of the pandemic. Charitable Advisors is continually reviewing available information, adding it to our resource page and sharing it in the Not-for-profit News.

Engaging Your Team to Think about 2021

Webinar with Bryan Orander, President of Charitable Advisors

Dec. 16, 2020 from 11:00 a.m. to noon

If you are a staff or board leader preparing for a slow return to more normal operations in 2021, please join us for a short webinar on Dec. 16 to share your insights and learn from others about how they are preparing for the new year.

We will use the simple CA Organizational Inventory Tool as a framework for discussion. We also have breakout groups to give attendees an opportunity to discuss where they will be focusing their efforts in 2021 and the assumptions they are making to plan their efforts.

Some key discussion topics:

· How have organizations experienced the pandemic in different ways?

· Which team members should be involved in our organization’s self-assessment conversation?

· How might this effort be used to re-engage board members?

· How might this be used to review the board/staff working dynamic?

· What are the elephants in the room around long-term issues or concerns?

This session is provided at no charge Any problems with registration, please contact Julie Struble

We want to recognize board leaders

For most board members, board leadership roles come with a commitment and investment of time and resources to support a cause they care about. However, for the individual who steps up to serve as board president or chair, the role comes with the assumption of overall responsibility for the nonprofit and guiding the organization’s path forward.

As we continue to share news of board leaders who have taken the helm, we encourage you to recognize and thank these individual for tackling the role, because as a community member you recognize the value of his or her investment to help keep the sector strong.

If you want to announce your organization’s new board leader, please send name, position and a head shot HERE.

We are open to other ways we can support and recognize board leaders. Send us your thoughts or tell us a story about a board leader who has made a difference in your organization. Share your ideas with Bryan Orander, president.