Philanthropy On Trial from Council on Foundations on Vimeo.
Thank you for your support of How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar! In just six months, the book has made a positive impact in the careers of nonprofit professionals all over the world. (Shout out to our very enthusiastic readers Colin in London and Carmen in the Netherlands!)
In honor of the 6 month anniversary of the book we have some exciting things going on this week:
-Free 1-hour teleseminar with me and Rosetta called “Movin’ On Up: 7 Steps to Rock Your Nonprofit Job Search”. Check out www.rosettathurman.com for more detals.
-25% discount on copies of the book purchased this week. Get the ebook here or your hard copy here. If you already have a copy for yourself, have you gotten one for your work BFF, cousin who just finished the Peace Corps, or your neighbor who is getting her nonprofit management degree?
-Last but not least we are having a special contest this week. We want to know what your definition of a nonprofit rockstar is. Leave your answer in the comments and you have a chance to win a signed copy of the book! The contest ends May 6th.
YNPN of Detroit did an amazing summary of the session that I led at the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy conference. Check out their blog for other great posts. From YNPN Detroit: I had the chance to hear Trista Harris (co-author of How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar) discuss how to build your multi-generational network at the National Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) Conference. This serves as a nice complement to the session by Rosetta Thurman at the YNPN National Conference that we blogged a couple of weeks ago. Here’s what Trista had to say…
In approaching networking, Trista referred to a saying from a fortune cookie: “You are the average of your 5 closest friends.” This means that it is very important that you think about how you keep close to you, and how they relate to who you want to be. Also, Trista noted, it is important to not limit yourself to people like you. She suggested that some cross-generational insight will make the guidance you receive much stronger. In order to achieve that, however, you must grow your network.
Growing your network
Trista suggested that you start with the network you already have. Make sure you let people know when you’re going through a transition. Also, don’t rebuild your network with every new job. Take that contact information with you – those are relationships that you have built, so don’t leave them behind.
Of course, if you do this a couple of time your list of contacts can become pretty large! To make this manageable, create lists as you build your network. Then, when you run across information you think will be helpful to a certain segment of your network, you can quickly shoot it off without too much effort. This also creates much more robust relationships – it demonstrates that you are putting thought into who that person is and not just spamming them periodically. You become someone who adds value to your network, as opposed to someone who is always just looking for help.
The Power of Your Network
It’s great that you have folks willing to serve as references when you apply for a new job. However, managers are much more impressed by those people who offer their positive opinions of you unsolicited. The best way to have these people in your corner is to build a strong network. By having a number of folks who can speak on your behalf as a nonprofit professional, you create more opportunities for these unsolicited endorsements.
Also, Trista noted that people with strong networks are less likely to get laid off by their organization. When you have a strong network and you get laid off, people ask about you and want to know what happened. This can get pretty uncomfortable for managers.
What about when you’re at a conference? Introduce Yourself!
Trista asked us all to participate in a practice exercise: Person 1: Introduce yourself with a 1-2 sentence bio. Person 2: Listen. What questions do you have for the person? What excited you about what s/he had to say?
After having the opportunity to practice this and share, the group learned the following: Bios get exciting when people feel as though they have a personal connection to what has been said. (This might be where you are from, or the work you’re involved in – whatever strikes a chord with them.) What this means is that with a really short introduction, you can create an avenue for a much more robust conversation. Within just a sentence or two, you are creating an opportunity to folks to “hook in” to your passion and interests and share their own.
Read the rest here.
This morning, during the final plenary of the Council on Foundations conference, I had the opportunity to hear from former diplomat and ex-COF president James A. Joseph. “You got to hear the Ambassador!” friends and colleagues told me (Joseph earned that title as the U.S. ambassador to South Africa during the 1990s). They were right. Joseph’s speech was called “Philanthropy and Pluralism: Diversity That Does Not Divide.” Although he took a sober look at the current state of things—we are “a badly divided nation is a badly divided world”—he offered up wisdom about how intentional diversity practices can start drawing us all together. Foundations, he reminded the audience, have much more than conventional capital to offer, listing those additional assets of social, intellectual, moral, and what he called “reputational” capital (using social capital as collateral to “vouch” for organizations).
During these past three days, I heard a good deal of dollars and cents talk, so it was great to receive that exhortation to do that spiritual work of digging deeper for the sake of building more inclusive communities.
Brian Baughan is Director of Communications at Frontline Solutions (helpingchangehappen.com), a social change organization that invests in the pipeline of social change leaders; provides consulting services to institutions in the nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors; and engages in field-building in three areas of expertise: Education, Social Innovation, and Males of Color.
I can count on my hands the number of friends of mine who serve on a board of a nonprofit or foundation. As a 33-year-old, I don’t think that this fact is all that unusual, nor does it reveal that my friends are apathetic. It's just there aren't that many people from my age group doing much in that particular world--not yet. Today I went to a Council of Foundations session that promoted a new wave of philanthropists. Called “Challenging the Status Quo: Next Gen Civic Engagement Through Philanthropy,” and moderated by my friend and colleague Marcus Littles, the session featured three panelists: Daniel Kaufman of the One Percent Foundation, Elizabeth Snowdon of the Hill-Snowdon Foundation, and Derrick Johnson, who talked primarily about his roles as board member of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and state president of the Mississippi NAACP. All three individuals made the case for engaging the next generation, with compelling personal examples of how to recruit, train, and inspire young leaders.
The session helped debunk three myths about age and board service:
1. You need a lot of money to be a donor or Board member.
2. You need decades of experience to do what Board members do.
3. The older generation of Board members does not need or want younger leaders to serve.
To quote Trista Harris in an earlier post, “We are here!” Let’s spread the word so that for the first time, more 20-somethings and 30-somethings can imagine themselves as social change leaders.
Brian Baughan is Director of Communications at Frontline Solutions (helpingchangehappen.com) a social change organization that invests in the pipeline of social change leaders; provides consulting services to institutions in the nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors; and engages in field-building in three areas of expertise: Education, Social Innovation, and Males of Color.