The Pit Stop

Audit Committees – Planning before the audit

May 8th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

This week’s post comes courtesy of Kathy Grogan, audit and advisory partner with Hood & Strong LLP. During her more than twenty-six years in public accounting, her experience has been concentrated in and currently only serves clients in the not-for-profit sector. Services provided to this sector include internal control and operations reviews, analysis of accounting systems and preparation of financial statements in audit engagements. Kathy is also the leader of Hood & Strong LLP’s Not-For-Profit Industry Service Group.

For many not for profits, audit season is approaching. At Hood & Strong LLP we work with a number of not for profits and many members of our team also serve on audit committees. Here are some thoughts on what we have learned from those partnerships on what makes the relationship between the independent audit firm, management and the audit committee of the board of directors successful.

First, schedule an audit meeting in advance of the audit fieldwork. The purpose of the meeting is to communicate and inform the interested parties on a number of topics. We recommend that the meeting attendees should be the executive director, members of the finance department (CFO, controller, director of finance), and the audit partner and manager. For some organizations it makes sense to have other members of the senior management team at the meeting – such as the chief operating officer, development director and human resources director. Generally, the chair of the audit committee will work with management to establish a meeting agenda. Following is an example of a meeting agenda and discussion topics that are most common in the pre-audit planning meeting:

Communications with those charges with governance – this is where the auditors discuss their responsibilities under generally accepted auditing standards, discuss the approach to internal control relevant to the audit, scope of the audit, a review of the engagement letter, timing of the work and the deliverables. At this time the auditors may provide information on new accounting and auditing standards relevant to the organization and report on their applicability and impact for the Organization’s financial statement audit. The auditors would also confirm their independence to the organization and discuss any non-audit services, such as the preparation of the Organization’s information returns, commonly known as the Form 990.
Management update on operations – often times audit committee members may not hold a position on the board of directors. This is an opportunity for the audit committee to hear from management about the organization’s finances – year to date financial information can be provided along with an overview of significant transactions, estimates and other items that the committee should be made aware of. If there has been changes in finance department personnel this is a good time to discuss the personnel changes that occurred and any significant changes to procedures that resulted.
Communications during the audit – generally throughout the audit the audit committee is not consulted. Sometimes, although not very frequently, the audit committee will need to be consulted. It is important to understand who the auditors should be communicating with and making sure that all parties are aware of how to contact one another.
Executive Session – this is a point in time where the auditors would meet with the audit committee, without management present. This is an important part of the meeting and committee members are generally asked the following types of questions:

-   Does the audit committee have any audit, accounting or fraud concerns?
-   What are there perspectives on fraud occurring within the organization? Is there any particular area that they feel the organization may be more vulnerable than others?
-   During the year have there been any instances of errors or irregularities, or breakdowns in internal controls or processes that could materially impact the financial statements?
-   Are they aware of any material litigation or claims against the Organization? Any significant transactions that may occur prior to the issuance of the financial statements?
-   Is there anything that the committee would like the auditors to look into while conducting our fieldwork?

The pre-audit planning meeting is a necessary component of the audit plan. Often times, given the size of an organization, a full blown audit committee meeting may not be practical. In those situations we recommend that consideration be given to have a telephone call with the audit committee chair to discuss the items in executive session and providing the required communications to those responsible for governance in writing.

The AICPA has a number of tools to assist audit committees. They can be found at aicpa.org.

Posted in Consultants, Finance | No Comments »

Making Friends with the Monster Under the Bed: Embracing a Culture of Finance

May 1st, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

Image from monstersecuritysystems.com

Written by Anthony Reese and Kristin Heller

For many nonprofit leaders, finance is the monster underneath their beds. You don’t always see it, you may not understand it or what it wants from you, but it is always there lurking, waiting to trip you up. At Olive Grove, we see ourselves as the nightlight that chases away the finance monster by helping your organization promote a culture of finance. The article 10 Financial Essentials for Social Sector Leaders, by the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), states nonprofits should “balance mission, capacity, and finance…” While we find that most of our clients are fantastic at focusing on mission and some do well in operating within their capacity, many do not make finance a priority. Often the board rubber stamps monthly reports on the organization’s financial health, but there is no one around to champion the finance function. Moreover, CFOs and other finance staff report feeling challenged by others’ lack of financial literacy or their own ability to translate financial issues into a programmatic or organizational story.

Unfortunately, establishing a financial strategy is often left on the back burner, but as tough times continue, the need to embrace the monster of financial management is becoming more apparent to nonprofit leaders. Finance should complement and support an organization’s mission and core competencies; it should be integrated with the organization’s key areas of strength and programs. Because there is no mission without money, when developing a new strategic plan, it is essential to spend equal time on both financial goals and program goals. Similarly, finance should be used as a strategic tool and viewed as a necessity to create a sustainable balance between programs and financial/organizational capacity. To create such a sustainable balance, fundraising and programming staff members must be involved in new program goals, board of directors must make fundraising a responsibility, and strategic plans must be created with a matching, and sustainable, financial plan. For example, program managers can help develop and manage budgets by working with finance staff to improve program costs and measure impact per dollar. Moreover, developing and implementing a financial strategy allows organizations to create long-term sustainability, while also increasing the likelihood of having a lasting impact on social change.

Organizations can reap these benefits by creating a comprehensive financial plan: individual leaders and staff members can outline how much money is needed, the time frame, how and where to get it, and the activities needed to bring it all to fruition. The question is, how do you get started on building the culture and infrastructure of finance, and become friends with that monster leering from under your mattress?

Physical Space: Have finance staff and program staff work physically near each other as much as possible. This promotes better communication and understanding of where the other is coming from.
Professional Development: Invest in financial literacy training for non-finance organizational leaders (board members, program staff, fund development staff, etc.) to help them better understand how they can use financial tools to optimize their programs. Provide support for your executive finance staff through CFO networking groups, round-tables, etc. so that they can think through challenges with like-minded professionals.
Collaboration: Have the finance work with program staff to write a summary of financial statements for each board meeting that tells the story of the organization through finance. This will help staff members learn how to better communicate what the numbers mean, improving the flow of information between finance, fund development and programs.
Pay Attention: Make finance and capital structure a key consideration of all important decisions. This starts at the top with management and board members; by signaling the importance of finance during key decision-making meetings, managers and board members set an example for the rest of the organization.
Think Long-term: To be sustainable over the long-term, you have to think ahead and plan for your needs well ahead of time. Is a new building in your future? Do you have key leaders retiring soon? Is a major funder sunsetting its grantmaking? Your board and executive leadership should be asking these questions and more and setting up plans to gather the resources to address these questions. The Kresge capitalization model is a great place to start this conversation in your organization.

Visit our website to learn more about how Olive Grove can support you in building financial strategies, systems, and leadership that promotes your sustainability and ultimately benefits the communities you serve.

Posted in Finance, Learning Organizations | No Comments »

Your best strategic C-suite partner – Surprise! It’s the Chief Human Resources Officer!

Apr 24th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

This week’s post comes courtesy of Solange Charas, the President of Charas Consulting, Inc. Charas Consulting provides comprehensive strategic HR consulting to organizations. Solange is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in both senior-level consulting and c-suite corporate roles in firms including The Hay Group, Ernst & Young, Arthur Andersen, Havas Advertising, Benfield and Praetorian Financial Group. She started Charas Consulting in 2000, and serves clients in the areas of governance, Human Capital program design, metrics and optimization, team coaching, and M&A due diligence. She has an MBA in Accounting and Finance from Cornell University and is currently finishing her PhD in Management from Case Western Reserve University. She is an Adjunct Professor at Touro College and frequently speaks and writes on the topic of Boards, HR metrics and team performance.

In today’s economy, and particularly with non-profit organizations, your most valuable asset is your human capital. Unfortunately, most organizations entrust managing and supporting their largest financial investment to an “administrator” divorced from the strategic processes of the organization. When you’re at your next executive management meeting, look around the table and ask yourself if the people there are the best in your industry and contributing key strategic value. Take a look at your Chief Development Officer – he’s probably responsible for generating most of your annual revenue stream. Next take a look at your CFO – he’s a critical player, but is probably only directly responsible for managing 30% to 50% of your annual expenses. Next take a look at your top HR person (that is if you have one) and understand that their work has an impact on the majority of your expenses as research shows that between 50% to 70% of operating expenses are spent on employees and employee programs! Are you confident that you have the right talent in this highly strategic position?

Here is a short list of areas where you should EXPECT your Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) to be contributing value:

Leading the HR function;
Driving your talent architecture and human capital deployment;
Workforce sensor – being a benefactor and custodian to employees;
Managing human capital risk;
Advising the executive team and acting as a liaison to the board of directors.

If your top HR person is not delivering on these accountabilities, it’s likely you are not maximizing the ROI on your human capital investment. Recent research has shown that a 1 standard deviation improvement in employee engagement (conscientiousness, loyalty, initiative, commitment) can have a 26% improvement on overall corporate performance. As you scratch you head trying to figure out how to generate this improvement, consider the following value-generating trends in the HR function:

Human capital analytics: In the past several years, sophisticated tools and processes have been developed to understand the financial impact of human capital deployment. You should expect your HR function to have as much rigor in analyzing and understanding the impact of HR on operating efficiencies as you do from your financial function.
Generating high-performance organizations: Teamwork has a significant impact on overall company performance. Organization must respond to the new “networked” work environment – especially the ability to work through and with others. The key: effective performance assessments, climate that promotes team values, value-driving competencies and the new phenomena of team coaching.
Succession planning, promotion-readiness, talent retention: A recent employee survey indicated that between 50% – 80% of employees would leave their companies if they had the chance. What would you do if, when the economy recovers, you lost more than 50% of your people? Could your organization survive? Key positions should have ready successors, your pipeline of talent needs to be continuously replenished and your organizational climate should engender tenure and loyalty.
Technology: It is estimated that less than 1% of American corporations have some form of dedicated talent management software, however a recent survey indicates that 47% of American companies are going to invest in this important HR tool. An array of talent management software solutions exist at all ranges of sophistication and price points, including ADP, Kenexa, and Taleo at the high end and equally valuable but at lower price-points, solutions like TalentScope and Halogen. The most effective platforms are those that are considered “integration software solutions” allowing for disparate sources of information to be easily and continually uploaded in the solution. If your solution costs more than that or can’t integrate data, it’s time to look for a new solution.

Feeling overwhelmed at this point? No need! Large and small organizations alike can benefit from having the appropriate sophisticated HR professionals – for small organizations that can’t make the investment in a full-time strategic HR resource, engage a great consultant or consulting firm on a retained basis – buying a block of time every month — to generate long-term economic value creation. Having a more effective HR function, lead even by a retained, part-time person will produce more economic value than simply having an HR “administrator” maintaining your “status quo” unable to fulfill on the strategic deliverables described above. For larger organizations, investing in the right CHRO will more than generate financial returns far in excess of their salary, in terms of human capital productivity and enhanced financial performance. A great CHRO will know how to shift employee engagement by 1 standard deviation and generate that 26% performance improvement – making a 100 person company produce the same results as a 126 person company…think about it!

Posted in Human Capital/ HR, Leadership Development, Organizational Development | No Comments »

Executive Search Through the Lens of a Strategic Planning Process

Apr 17th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

When initiating an executive search, one of the questions we are asked most frequently by organizations is: “Should we do a search and have our new leader create our strategy with us, or should we create our strategy so that we know what we are looking for in a new leader?” We won’t tackle this complex question in this post (but keep an eye out for a future post that will). Instead, we are focusing on how the search process can achieve many of the same outcomes as a strategic planning process. The process of executive search elevates many questions to leadership and stakeholders and we will outline how the recruitment and placement of a new leader can serve a dual function in achieving some strategic imperatives that your organization may have.

Listing the “big” questions: It is important to understand where you are as an organization and what you want to move toward. The executive search process requires you to ask and answer some of the big questions that will inform your strategies moving forward and ensure that the organization’s leadership is aligned on major issues. Some critical questions you should ask include:

Are we still relevant to our community and how could we become more relevant?
What are our key financial drivers and what do we need in our leadership to support these?
Do we have the right human capital in place in terms of staff, volunteers, and board members to achieve our goals?
How can we most effectively engage and leverage our stakeholders?
Should we be thinking about partnerships, collaborations, or consider a merger?
Do we have the systems, processes and culture we need to enable our mission?

Assessing the organization from an internal and external perspective: As with strategic planning, search requires a comprehensive discovery phase to gain a 360-degree understanding of the organization. This means talking to board, staff, funders, partners, and other critical stakeholders to understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie, where you are or are not relevant, and where you are well positioned or facing threats.
Clarifying what ‘success’ means to your organization: After collecting feedback from stakeholders, you will need to synthesize the information and clarify what success for the future looks like. Rather than breaking down specific goals and objectives as in a strategic plan, executive search looks at the vision and what qualities are required of new leadership to navigate the organization to that end goal. The specific questions asked may be slightly different in a strategic plan versus a search; however, the outcome is a clear idea of what leadership and skills are needed to get from point A to point B.
Scenario planning and testing: Scenario testing is common in strategic planning as it allows the organization to better understand various options for moving the organization forward. In search, once the organization has identified desirable qualities in a candidate, testing options and scenarios with each individual can also help to visualize the direction that s/he may lead the organization. Your result is the same: a picture of your options for advancing your mission, which are assessed based your organization’s needs.
Effective implementation: Now that you have identified where you are going, what you need to get there, and the options in front of you, you are equipped to select your candidate. Strategic planning requires an annual plan with clear metrics, and so does a new executive. Helping the new hire transition into their role means working through their vision for the first year and setting clear targets. This will get the organization on the right path to the vision you hope to achieve.

From initial assessment and stakeholder outreach to scenario testing and goal setting, strategic planning and executive search achieve many of the same goals. In each of these processes, is critical that your leadership is aligned from the beginning and constantly asking questions to make sure that you are staying true to the organization’s vision. With a successful search process, you will not only walk away with a strong leader who will pave the way for achieving your vision, but a collectively better understanding of where your organization is headed as well.

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Crossing the Bridge to Meaningful Work

Apr 10th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

Ok, so you’ve recently arrived at the conclusion that waking up with a sinking feeling in your chest every morning at the prospect of going to work just isn’t going to cut it anymore. First, pause to appreciate just how important this moment is. There are many reasons why we decide to follow paths other than where our own inspiration would lead us. Reclaiming that inspiration, though sometimes daunting, can be a beautiful and ultimately grounding process.

In March of 2013 I stepped out of the day-to-day operations of the mobile technology company I helped launch 3 years prior in order to look for work that was more deeply meaningful to me. In the months that followed I took the time to reconnect with friends and family, talk to people who were doing things that inspired me, and travel. A year later I’m happily cranking away on my latest startup, UnThink. Looking back, there are a few key lessons that I gleaned along the way.

1. Alignment is more powerful than sacrifice.

As humans we all have myriad desires and needs that contribute to the life decisions we make. For most of us these include things like the desire for positive recognition, the desire to do good, the desire to be happy, and the desire for material wealth, to name only a few. However, we often act as if only a fraction of those desires matter, and often pursue the ones that we think we are supposed to instead of the ones that we naturally gravitate toward. In this sense “doing good” at the expense of other important desires is just as much of a trap as “making money.” Finding meaningful work is less about sacrificing certain life desires in the pursuit of others than it is about using creativity and ingenuity to find the natural alignment that can exist between them.

2. Channel your inner child.

The fact is, people who love what they do now are rarely out of touch with what they loved and dreamed about as children, even if what they’re doing isn’t an exact copy of that. Before we learn to be “realistic,” we are all avid and passionate dreamers, and one of the great opportunities of adulthood lies in harnessing those innate passions to create practical transformation in the real world. Asking yourself what you inherently and irrevocably love to do is a great place to start, and the kid in you already knows.

3. Connect with people who inspire you.

Who are the people out there who are doing things that inspire you? Excite you? Get you so motivated that you’re ready to step out the door with a shovel to help? Reach out to them directly. Invite them to lunch, coffee or a phone call, and listen to what they have to say. This isn’t about getting help finding a job; it’s about enjoying an exchange with someone who is doing something you’re interested in. If they’re anything like the folks I spoke with during my transition, they’ll love the opportunity to speak with someone who’s excited about what they’re doing. Meanwhile, you get to learn more about the thing that inspires you, and connect with another human being who is out there in the world doing something awesome. Depending on the case, you may also end up with a friend, advocate, or colleague.

4. Stop thinking so much.

Most major life decisions aren’t made at the analytical level of our brains; they’re made at the emotional level, and only later justified at the analytical level. Often we create cycles of self-doubt by over analyzing major decisions and treating them much as we would a math problem. Unfortunately (or fortunately), life isn’t a math problem, so when we’re not able to find the “right answer” to a big life question panic can set in. It’s possible to create room for emotion and intuition to come more directly into play by doing things that bring the mind into the present moment and away from future- or past-oriented thinking. Hiking, meditation, mindfulness practices, prayer, physical exercise, and travel (my personal favorite) are all ways of doing this.

5. It’s not about balance, it’s about balancing.

The process of integrating and expressing our desires, passions, and dreams through the work we do is a lifelong process. Don’t expect to make a single job transition and have everything perfectly sorted out. Instead, focus on learning to notice when something important to you is being ignored. One of the most important things I’ve taken away from my own transition is a deeper appreciation for the beauty of a life that, although perhaps never quite in balance, is always in the process of balancing.

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Olive Grove is fortunate to partner with social enterprise evangelist, pilot, outdoorsman, photographer, adventurer, and newbie kitesurfer, Carlin Gettliffe. As a serial entrepreneur he works at the intersection of technology and culture to unlock new pathways for human progress. He is the founder of ArtAwake, a one day art and music festival that regularly draws crowds of 1500 people from all walks of life to underused and abandoned urban spaces to enjoy music, art and performance. He also is a cofounder of Lumatic, a mobile mapping and navigation company that is replacing birds-eye-view maps with a powerful visual urban navigation experience to better serve walkers, cyclists, transit riders and the world’s map illiterate. UnThink, his most recent project, assembles extraordinary groups of entrepreneurs, thought leaders and change-makers for intimate, innovation-focused summits on topics that are critical to humanity’s future.

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No Money, No Mission: Putting Finance into Strategic Planning

Mar 28th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

Strategic planning and vision go hand-in-hand. But the word “finance” does not usually jump out first in discussions around the strategic planning process. Without keeping this critical element in mind from the beginning, however, the most well thought out goals, strategies, and objectives become irrelevant. If you don’t know what you have and what you need to get where you’re going, how can you get there?

Here are ways to incorporate finance into the strategic planning process from beginning to end:

STEP 1: Internal Review – When launching the discovery phase, don’t let the financial review (aka internal data review) take a backseat. Be sure to take a close look at your income statements to see revenue sources, primary expenses, and program numbers and impact. This will show you where you’ve been and the overall trends that have influenced your outcomes to provide context for your overall planning. For example, if individual contributions increased dramatically, this could inform your strategic decisions around the scale of program or organizational growth you could fund moving forward. Also look for gaps in your finances – potential revenues that you could spend more time developing. It is typical to go back five years in financial records in a planning process, however, since the past five years have been anomalous with the recession, it may make sense to go back further.
STEP 2: Environmental Scan – Once you have assessed your internal trends, take a look at the macro environment to identify major economic/funding changes that will affect your work. If you are in health care, what are the financial implications of the Affordable Care Act in California? If you are in housing, what are the potential effects of the closure of housing redevelopment agencies?
STEP 3: Benchmarking – There is no better way to see where your organization stands in the larger landscape than by comparing your progress with those of similar organizations. Some easy research will show you where other organizations are making their investments on functional expense categories (i.e. marketing, fundraising, programs). With this information, you can see where you are and if there are any categories where you depart from the norm. This information can be easily obtained from 990s, websites such as Charity Navigator, or industry databases such as the Cultural Data Project (CDP), which compiles information from arts organizations. It is recommended to review at least 7 other organizations for a broad range of data.
STEP 4: Scenario Testing – Now that you know where you stand in the context of your own organization’s history, the macro environment, and in relation to similar organizations, scenario testing can be an effective tool to monetize your various vision scenarios or strategic directions and their impact on your finances using a forecasting model. This will help you answer questions such as: if our organization continues to grow at the 10% rate we have been, how will this impact our finances for next year? If a critical funder does not come through, how will it change our program numbers? If we obtain a new grant, what programs can benefit and exactly how much could they grow? StrongNonprofits.org has some great resources and templates that can help guide you through some of this planning.
STEP 5: Capitalization Planning – After you complete your discovery work, begin to draw some conclusions, formulate various vision scenarios, and hone in on your overall strategic direction, you’ll need to spend some time creating a roadmap for defining, securing and stewarding the types of financial resources needed to execute your vision and support the organization long term, known as capitalization planning. This is a critical time to engage the board in discussion around what types of capital (facilities reserves, endowment, innovation fund, etc.), will position your organization for success and long term sustainability. Looking at different types of reserves funds is a particularly important component as this can ensure your livelihood in worst-case scenarios or emergencies. For capitalization planning tools visit The Kresge Foundation.
STEP 6: Financial Projections – After landing on a final strategic direction to pursue, outlining goals and objectives, and listing the resources needed to achieve your desired results, you should begin to create financial projections. It is typical to project three to five years out, with more detail in the first year or two, and less detail in the ensuing years. Financial projections should reflect the detailed expenses and income associated with your strategic goals. Are you hiring new staff, opening a new program, or investing in a new building? Your projections should reflect this. Or have you chosen an ambitious plan and need to look at expanding fundraising? It is important to identify and plan for gaps in funding. Once you have completed the projections, you should have the information necessary to build momentum towards the next phase of your organization.

Vision is, of course, critical to move you forward in establishing the strategic goals of your organization. These steps will ensure you are progressing with a financial plan as well as a strategic plan and not ending up alongside the road with no cab money to get home.

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Written by: Kristin Heller & Amy Whittaker

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Getting Visual with Strategy

Mar 19th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

This week’s post comes courtesy of Julie Gieseke — visual facilitator, coach and consultant who integrates elements of creative engagement into process design for strategic visioning, training and facilitation with her clients. We are lucky to have worked with Julie in a recent strategic planning process and her work drew some serious “Wows!” from board members during their retreat.

For this “article”, she shares some methods for enhancing creative engagement into a strategy planning process. Whether or not you engage a visual facilitator to partner with you on your next strategy planning session, these ideas can be used by anyone to tap into the power of creative, visual engagement. These tools can increase the understanding of relationships in complex systems, make the organization’s stories memorable, and engage participation that boosts creative thinking. People process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Working in this way supports simultaneous processing of information rather than the slower, linear processing required when using text only.

We hope you enjoy these ideas and please feel free to get in touch with us (info@olivegroveconsulting.com) if you want to learn more!

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The Times, They Are A-Changin’

Mar 14th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

The changes in the nonprofit world over just the last few years have been substantial and, looking forward, we can expect to continue seeing key paradigm shifts occurring within the sector.

In a recent webinar, Nonprofit Capacity Building 2013 – What has changed? (presented by the Alliance for Nonprofit Management and Nonprofit Quarterly, sponsored by Rice University’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership), expected trends in 2013 are explored. Some of these new changes include the unavoidable importance of social media, a shift from organizational sustainability to mission optimization, increased collaboration, and the evolution of the role of the board.

The advent of the information age has played no small part in the changes we are seeing in the nonprofit sector. Organizations are expected to interact with the public through multiple mediums, maintain transparency, and respond to their constituents in real time. Additionally, the effect of easy and instant web connections has allowed people to be more fluid in their support of various causes. At one point, individuals might have supported the same organization in their hometown for their entire lives, while they can now spread their support across various organizations all over the world on a whim. There is no guarantee of life-long support anymore—the options for individuals are endless, and organizations are being forced to adapt.

One such adaptation includes taking a fresh look at one’s own mission statement and thinking about whether it remains relevant or needs to be adjusted to meet the needs of a shifting audience. Some of the panelists in the webinar noted that in the future, single organizations might find it increasingly challenging to accomplish their mission alone. Through evaluating their mission statement, nonprofits may start looking for ways in which they might collaborate with other organizations to increase optimization. Conversely, evaluating the mission might also lead to losing parts of the organization that are no longer relevant.

The conversation on the role of the board included the concept of “risk taking”. Board members can sometimes be too protective of the organization, to the point where taking risks (such as collaborating with other organizations and working across ‘old’ boundaries) might seem impossible. Boards have to feel comfortable taking more risks in order to evolve with the shifting demands and needs within their communities. On that note, board members also need to feel comfortable with expressing their individual viewpoints to the rest of the board, and convey what they are seeing in the communities from their perspective. This also requires that board members keep in touch with their communities on a regular basis, which is a large part of the value that board members provide to an organization. A constantly evolving community requires ears on the ground to make sure that an organization’s goals remain pertinent to their constituents’ most pressing needs.

All of these changes have at least two things in common: none of them involve a one-size-fits-all answer, and they all involve listening. The changes discussed here demand individualized actions that cannot come from a blueprint. They require genuine thoughtfulness, self-reflection, and most importantly, listening—to your community, your supporters, your fellow board members, and network of nonprofits in your community.

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Written by: Mary Claire Katz

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Hitting a Fork in the Road: Recognizing it’s Time to Pull Out a Map

Mar 7th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

Has your most recent strategic plan driven your organization to bring new levels of impact? Or is it helping to keep the short leg of your desk level so your coffee doesn’t spill? Whether you use the outcomes of your last strategic plan in your day-to-day activities or can’t remember a single goal referenced in it, there will be a time to start the process over again. And as with most things, timing is everything.

Here are some clues on how to recognize that it is time to dust off the old strategic plan and take a look at where you are headed:

Change in leadership: If a long-time leader is planning a departure, a new leader is just stepping in to take over, or your organization is shifting its governance structure, this is a great time to align the organization toward a shared vision.
Environmental shifts: The environment greatly influences the work that you do. If you see significant shifts in the funding landscape, the demographics of the community you serve, or the political or policy realm that would alter advocacy efforts, take a look at how these will impact your future.
When you’ve lost touch: If you are starting to feel that your organization’s daily activities are no longer tied to its vision, or that your organization is now going through the motions and you are ready to tackle bigger questions around how to improve your impact, take this as a sign that you should get things moving. If staff is also losing focus of the bigger mission, or you just want to reinvigorate the team and get the organization excited about the direction you are headed, this is also a great push to get moving on a plan. Don’t wait until you feel lost, however. Plan while things are still good and you have a view of the organization’s horizon. This also means that you shouldn’t wait until your last plan has expired before starting a new planning process – start while you still have some time.

The resources are in place: In order to make the planning process worth everyone’s time, it is critical that you have the necessary resources available: time, committee members, board and staff support, and skill. If you think you have these in place, be clear about capacity you are requiring from involved parties up front to make sure that they also feel prepared.
Moving in a new direction: Your organization is taking a turn toward a new destination – congratulations! This could mean that you’ve had recent success or new programmatic, funding, or growth opportunities open up to you recently, but you don’t know which ones to pursue or why. You may have opportunities for collaboration that could potentially change the playing field for you. Or, you’ve done an evaluation and seen results, and now want to make changes to create bigger and better impact. If this sounds like you, it is the time for assessing your next steps.

You may be seeing one or more of these signs within your organization but there are also warning signs that it is not the time to start your planning process. If your organization is particularly chaotic or experiencing internal conflict, a committee is unable to devote the skills and resources, or there is insufficient information for planning, then the cost of resources put into the planning process may not be worth a halfhearted outcome. If you feel poised and well equipped for assessing the next phase of your company, however, best of luck as you determine your end destination!

If you are interested in learning more about how Olive Grove can help you navigate the strategic planning process, contact us at info@olivegroveconsulting.com or visit our website www.olivegroveconsulting.com.

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Written by: Amy Whittaker

Posted in Consultants, Governance, Leadership Development, Organizational Change, Organizational Development, Strategy | No Comments »

The Changing Shapes of Governance

Feb 28th, 2013 by Olive Grove Consulting

Each year Olive Grove brings together its national network of consultants for a convening where we catch up with old friends and expose our nonprofit capacity-building geekiness. This year we put together roundtable discussions on different topics, like shifts in community engagement models, power dynamics in funder and grantee relationships, and new governance practices. Being a governance geek myself, I led the discussion on the new trends, challenges, and practices in governance that are shaping nonprofit thinking. We’ve pulled out some of the highlights from our discussion that will hopefully spark some new ideas and inspiration that can enhance your governance practices.

Baby on Board: Recognizing the need for diversity of all sorts in the board room, more organizations are recruiting young leaders to their boards of directors. Whether it is joining as a full board member, a young leadership council, or through graduate programs like Net Impact’s Board Fellows program, we are excited that organizations are seeing that millennial board members have more to offer than just advice on social media strategies. Welcome to the Baby on Board movement!
Board Training: Nonprofit boards carry an awful lot of responsibility, but there aren’t an awful lot of training or professional development opportunities out there for board members and especially board chairs. Board members typically just learn on the job, which carries many risks. According to our consultants, the sector is increasingly seeing the need for board chair training, professional development, and board support groups and networks. BoardSource offers training for new board members and we hope to see many more new programs that support board members in understanding how to be effective in their critical roles as fiduciaries and leaders.
New Roles: As founders and long time executive directors start to leave the nonprofit sector in mass along with other boomers, there is a new role emerging for those individuals – Special Advisor to the Board Chair. This type of mentoring and coaching role can serve as a great way to transition a founder or long time executive, and can be of great value to new board chairs as they navigate their leadership roles. It can also give stakeholders and community members peace of mind knowing the long time leader hasn’t abandoned ship and that the organization will not abandon them.

Co-Chairs: With busy schedules, competing commitments, and increasing pressure from nonprofit watchdogs for board members to be engaged and accountable, the board chair role can become another full time job. This has caused more and more organizations to split the board chair role in half to make co-chairs. The co-chair structure can hopefully lower the barriers for recruiting and retaining board chairs and encourage more people to get involved in board service.
Trimming the Fat: We’ve seen bylaws in all shapes and sizes, but lately, the bylaws we’re seeing are looking very slim and trim! Organizations are increasingly streamlining their bylaws and relegating information to organizational policies, which can increase their flexibility, nimbleness, and allow leaders to let their governance evolve with the programs, infrastructure, and mission of their nonprofit.
New Technology: Along with increasingly busy schedules is the emergence of new technology that can increase efficiencies in the workplace. We are seeing more boards take advantage of conferencing and virtual meeting technology to conduct business in a real way. This can keep organizations nimble in their decision-making, efficient, and lower the time commitment of board members who travel nationally to attend meetings.
Ownership: I won’t say that we’re saving the best till last but this is definitely my favorite highlight. Leaders and capacity-builders are starting to reframe the language around board service – instead of describing the role in terms of meetings per year, hourly commitments, specific duties, etc., they are defining board service as 365 day a year governance leadership. Seems simple but it’s powerful. As a board member you are ultimately responsible for the organization so your role as a leader is not just limited to the time you are in a board room, but all the time. I hope this new language can help impress upon current and potential board members that they have both a serious responsibility and serious opportunity to lead the communities their organization serves.

I hope these highlights give you some food for thought and allow you to revel in your own governance geekiness! If you have interesting and effective governance practices, please share them with us!

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Written by: Kristin Heller

Tags: 2012 consulting trends, board, consulting, governance, trends

Posted in Board of Directors, Board of Directors, Governance, Leadership Development, Organizational Culture | No Comments »

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