it turned out that like the strategic planning discussion, there
were governance purists who couldn’t just give a simple answer but had to muddy the waters with extremely complicated
answers like: “You first have to ask yourself what type of governance model fits with your nonprofit.”
For most nonprofit executive directors and board members, they not only do not know there is more than one model,
they do not know what governance is!
By inferring a person is ignorant if they cannot name all of
the various types of nonprofit governance models – and there
is not agreement on how many there are – it loudly slams shut
the doors to communication and innovation.
The longer a person serves within the nonprofit sector, the
easier it is to unconsciously fall into the trap of knowledge superiority. This type of know-it-all attitude effectively slams the
doors of innovation and communication. This is especially
true when looking at the critical differences in need and approaches for small and large nonprofits.
Small nonprofits have the advantage of often being more
nimble and able to respond more quickly to changes around
them. As a result, they can often be more innovative. It is like
the difference between turning a small car around and trying
to turn around a train with 50 railroad cars behind it. Large
nonprofits can learn a lot from small nonprofits, if they would
only take the time to look and listen.
Innovation Example
The unemployment rate was 26% in the small community
where I worked at my first nonprofit. Substance abuse, child
abuse and domestic violence rates were skyrocketing. Resources were limited. Several of the nonprofits got together and put
together a two-day community problem-solving conference,
sponsored by the local United Way, community college and
newspaper. Folks were invited from all sectors: government,
education, business, nonprofits, faith-based, unions, citizens,
etc. Day one focused on identifying needs and prioritizing
them. Day two focused on identifying community resources.
Small groups provided opportunities for everyone to have a
say.
A report was published by the newspaper that became the
needs and resource assessment on which government and private funders made funding decisions for the next five years.
That simple, inexpensive and innovate process turned that
community around. Was it scientific? Probably not. Did it
work? Absolutely.
This is a perfect illustration of how a small community
used an innovation process to solve overwhelming problems.
Would it have worked in a larger community? Probably not.
Let us make sure as leaders that w RF