Published every other Thursday. Except when not. Subscriptions are free.
Please welcome, Nickolas Vecchioni, a Chicago-area researcher. He wrote the following based on his research for the planned book, 7 Paths of Thriving Organizations.Rich
The number one way to improve job satisfaction
None of us like to think that we are hiding our head in the sand. Yet it's easy for nonprofit leaders to become so focused on meeting the needs of their constituents that they miss things like the high costs of staff turnover.
And even when they are aware of the high cost, they don't know what to do about it. The Opportunity Knocks2008 Nonprofit Retention and Vacancy Report confirms an emerging body of research documenting stress-related turnover in the nonprofit sector. Key points of this research include:
The Young Non Profit Network's 2007 Stepping Up or Stepping Out cites work-related stress as the number one reason why young people leave the nonprofit workforce.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Center for Public Service report, The Health of the Human Services Workforce, reports that "81% of the human services workers interviewed strongly or somewhat agreed that it is easy to burn out in the work they do."
Diving deep into the turnover numbers, the Opportunity Knocks report tells us something new and alarming: that the most vulnerable nonprofits are the ones most impacted and least prepared to address these issues.
The average turnover rate for all nonprofits in theOpportunity Knocks survey was 21%. Overall, those numbers aren't too bad. The problem the report uncovers, in short, is that:
As the size of the organization and budget decrease, the turnover rate increases.
Despite their turnover rates being proportionately higher than larger organizations, smaller organizations perceive retention and turnover to be a less severe problem than larger organizations do.
How is it that smaller nonprofits - those very organizations that can least afford the costs of turnover - fail to register high turnover as a problem? Obviously, these organizations feel they can't afford to devote resources to the issue. They feel that they must accept inefficiency as part of doing business.
It's not just the direct costs of hiring new people that these organizations endure, however. Studies show that high turnover involves considerable hidden costs beyond that replacing lost staff.
Leaders who understand the hidden costs of high turnover would see that they can't afford not to address these issues.
There is good news. When leaders decide to take a stand, it's not that hard to improve retention.
Fostering work/life balance is the number one way to improve job satisfaction and increase retention. The authors of the 2008 book, Workplace Flexibility: Innovation in Action, sum up workplace flexibility as "a remarkably inexpensive power tool for creating higher levels of attraction, retention, engagement, productivity , and even wellness."
Exploring what steps are right for your organization can be as simple as administering a 2-page survey or holding a short feedback session. Build enthusiasm by getting staff to feel that they are co-creating these programs. Involve front-line managers and help them to understand the benefits, as they are the ones that will be administering new procedures. Some of the most common work/life balance initiatives include:
Flexible working arrangements
Emergency childcare assistance
Seasonal childcare programs
Eldercare initiatives
Referral program to care services, local organizations, etc.
Family leave policies
Educational leave
Community service leave
Employee assistance programs
On site seminars and workshops (on such topics as stress, nutrition, communication, etc.).
As the Workplace Flexibility report suggests, minimal investment can deliver high returns.
At Evergreen Leaders, we believe that small nonprofits can't afford not to care about high turnover. At Evergreen Leaders, we are working with small nonprofits to find simple, affordable ways to improve retention.
Wisdom for the day: People who work in nonprofits can do great work and have a life too.
Sincerely,
Nickolas Vecchioni
If you find this e-letter helpful, please consider leaving adonation for Evergreen Leadersso you can enjoy the spirit of giving too.
Fostering work/life balance is the number one way to improve job satisfaction and increase retention.
Photo: "Balancing Act" by clairity. Used by permission under a Creative Commons for commercial work license.
Published every other Thursday. Except when not. Subscriptions are free.
Raising funds the affordable way
The board, executive director, and I crowded into a small conference room in the SHAREcircle's offices to talk about contracting with Evergreen Leaders for fundraising consulting.
SHAREcircle (also called SHARE) started out as a small aid organization with a part time director, providing blankets, medical and educational supplies to Angola as it was coming out of a long civil war.
After several years, the Angolan government began to trust SHARE. They approached the nonprofit, asking SHARE toincubate a universityin Angola.
The SHARE board took a step of faith and asked their director, Freitas Guerra, a native of Angola, to begin working full time on the project. Soon they were struggling to raise sufficient funds to pay his salary, travel and other expenses that are part of putting a university together half way across the world. That's when they contacted me.
As the board struggled with whether to contract with Evergreen Leaders, Frietas offered to forgo part of his salary to pay Evergreen Leaders. I was touched by his deep commitment to the cause of creating educational opportunities for the people of his country.
Evergreen Leaders is developing sustainable fundraising and capital campaign systems using technology and coaching to help nonprofits like SHARE use volunteers to raise funds.
Most fundraising consulting is done by for-profit firms and it's lucrative. In fact, "fundraiser" is listed in The Millionaire Next Door as an unlikely profession that produces millionaires. It's not fundraisers who work for nonprofits who become millionaires; it's fundraising consultants.
Evergreen Leaders is a nonprofit serving nonprofits-- providing affordable fundraising and leadership development to organizations like SHARE who are being hurt by the tough economic times.
Evergreen Leaders depends on donations from friends like you and modest fees to coach nonprofits like SHARE as they raise support to do their amazing work. Imaginehelping launcha university in Angola.
Wisdom for the day: Fundraising consulting does not need to be expensive to be effective.
Fare thee well!
Rich Foss
If you find this e-letter helpful, please consider leaving adonation for Evergreen Leadersso you can enjoy the spirit of giving too.
Evergreen Leaders is working hard to develop systems for affordable fundraising consulting for organizations like SHAREcircle, a small aid organization (Evanston, IL) that has been asked by the Angolan government to incubate a university in the country recovering from a long civil war.
Photo by Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, used by permission under a Creative Commons for commercial work license.
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