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"Tough" Decisions: Chewy or Unpopular? Opening 7.1.09
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You've probably heard this said about a nonprofit executive director: "He can't make the tough decisions." Or: "We have to make some hard decisions." Why are some decisions called "tough" or "hard"?
Well, such decisions aren't difficult the way calculus is difficult. Hard decisions often are hard on individuals who will be laid off. But if we understand less-recognized components of hard decisions, we'll be better able to make them:
- Tough decisions are unpopular . . . it's hard for leadership to make a decision when there isn't consensus. And consensus is not always possible to achieve quickly, or perhaps at all.
- Tough decisions require making judgment calls: they need to be made without all the information desirable.
A small start to supporting leadership decision-making is to call tough decisions what they are: unpopular decisions, or decisions that require judgment. Then we'll understand better what it takes -- and what the risks are -- to make the judgment calls facing our organizations.
Also in this issue: Six of Our Board Members are in Prison -- an inspiring story about a nonprofit prison organization, a fun quiz to determine what kind of Nonprofit Fish you are, and a Reader OpEd on software for Form 990. Plus another call for the Six Word Novel Contest. Have fun. --Jan Masaoka
Six of Our Board Members are in Prison
Do you have a hard time getting board members to meetings? Justice Now, a California organization working in women's prison issues, has ten board members, of whom six are imprisoned. There is much to learn from them about involving board members in strategic decision-making, about board member mentoring of staff, and about how board members can raise money from their peers in unexpected circumstances. In this issue Board Treasurer Misty Rojo and Co-Founder/Executive Director Cynthia Chandler talk with Blue Avocado.
Blue Avocado: Misty, I understand that you were released three months ago after nearly ten years in prison, and you've been on the board for six years. How did you get involved with Justice Now?
Misty: When I was just starting my time in prison, I had some health problems. I met two women who were fellow inmates who were founding members . . .
> Read moreNew 990 Software Release on July 20: Is It Enough?
A Blue Avocado Reader OpEd: The new 990 Online software comes out next week on July 20, 2009. This release will help as we face the challenges of filing the redesigned IRS Form 990 (for fiscal years starting in 2008). But 990 Online needs better support to make it the resource we need it to be. Reader Dennis Walsh discusses the software development issue and points to the modest investment that would ease the implementation burden for hundreds of thousands of nonprofits nationwide.
When my wife Debbie was executive director of a North Carolina senior center, she remembers "plowing through the 990 paper forms and instructions, trying to figure out what went where. We couldn't afford to hire a preparer and even though we had a CPA on the board, he didn't provide any help. I wondered if I could go to jail if I did this wrong!"
Sadly, this experience is mirrored in many community nonprofits.
The IRS estimates that it would take a novice preparer 158 hours to learn the regulations and complete the new Form 990: equivalent to dedicating a full-time employee to this task for a month.
It's likely that by 2010 more than 300,000 small nonprofits will have to struggle . . .
> Read moreNonprofit Fish Quiz
Take the "What Kind of Nonprofit Fish are You?" quiz >>
Reader Tom Battin turned his hand to quiz development and contributes this evaluative experience of life in the nonprofit ocean. All the challenges of the world swirl about us and navigating it is hard! This quiz will help you determine whether you are:
- A blue whale comfortable in the briny deep
- An amphibian happy on both land and sea
- A swimming sea otter
- A minnow, or
- A pelican flying above it all
What Kind of Nonprofit Fish are You? » Quiz
Tom Battin's background with nonprofits has included IT assessment, database development, computer skills training, technical documentation and now, quiz-making. He lives in Bangor, Maine, where he is a dedicated community volunteer and political activist.
Queries & Communiques for July 1, 2009
* Six Word Novel Contest: we asked in the last issue for submissions and offered a prize box of avocados . . . we didn't realize how many novelists there are out there! HOWEVER. Many, many of you wrote slogans, mission summaries or poems, rather than novels. As a result, we'll follow this contest in the fall with a Six Word Mission Statement contest, and many of your entries will be moved into that contest. Deadline for the Six Word Novel Contest:: July 30. Send to editor@blueavocado.org or click here to submit.
* We finally got the Blue Avocado flash drives, which are being sent this week to Blue Avocado member/donors at the $45 level or higher. Like public TV, we rely on our readers to help keep our content high quality and free to everyone. Consider joining as a member! Click here for more.
* Do you have an idea for a Reader OpEd or a First Person Nonprofit story you'd like to submit? Send us a 2-paragraph proposal along with a word about yourself . . . we may not be able to respond to all the submissions, but we'll try. Click here or write to editor@blueavocado.org and get started on sharing your thoughts with our 50,000 subscribers!
