“Excellence in 60 Seconds”  is the first installment of a new series here at NPOdev wherein the post will focus on a particular topic for 60 seconds.

This episode is an audio clip extracted from an interview with Louie Giglio from the Catalyst archives.  Giglio is a Pastor and founder of the Passion Conferences and sixstepsrecords.  He discusses what excellence is, how leadership should achieve it, and a formula to ensure it.

Excellence in 60 Seconds Audio Clip

Read in English

Muitos de vós se recordarão da viagem que a NPOdev realizou em Maio de 2010 a Portugal.  O objectivo dessa viagem foi o de prestar à Teófilos a colaboração necessária no desenvolvimento do seu marketing, da sua base de contribuidores regulares e finalmente o tentar inverter o declínio no número de inscrições de novos membros. A Teófilos tem realizado um excelente trabalho na implementação das ideias que desenvolvemos no tempo que passámos juntos. A Teófilos foi capaz, não só de inverter a tendência da diminuição da inscrição de novos membros, como na realidade de a incrementar em mais de 300%.

Foi apresentada à Teófilos uma grande oportunidade de providenciar suporte à Billy Graham Association’s two-year long project in Portugal, My Hope, que culmina em Dezembro de 2011.

No intuito de ir ao encontro deste pedido, a Teófilos necessita de ampliar o desenvolvimento dos materiais dos seus cursos online, para habilitar novas apresentações em video. Tem sido recebido algum suporte de algumas organizações, bem como de alguns particulares, no entanto o projecto ainda continua a carecer dos restantes fundos necessários e o prazo para angariar esses fundos já é muito curto, para poder adquirir os equipamentos de video e finalizar os últimos detalhes do projecto.

Neste sentido, a Teófilos necessita de angariar rapidamente o valor de €650. A NPOdev gostaria de lançar o pedido de que possa clicar no icon  “ChipIn”    que aparece mais abaixo, para que, com a sua contribuição, este projecto possa saer cumprido!
A contribuição via ChipIn termina na 5ª feira, 10 de Fevereiro de 2011, e os fundos angariados serão enviados à Teófilos no dia seguinte.

Agradecemos a sua contribuição!

Leia em Português

Many of you may remember the trip NPOdev took this past May to Portugal.  The goal of that trip was to assist Teófilos with developing their marketing, supporter base, and stopping a decline in enrollment.  Teófilos has done a great job of implementing many of the ideas that were developed during the time spent with Teófilos.  Teófilos was not only able to reverse the decline in enrollment, they were able to increase it more than 300%.

Teófilos has been presented with a great opportunity to help support the Billy Graham Association’s two-year long project in Portugal, My Hope, that culminates in December 2011.

In order to meet this request Teófilos needs to expand their online course development to also include video presentation. There has been some support from other organizations plus some individuals, however the project is a few dollars short and there is a short deadline to acquire the remaining funds which are needed to finish construction and acquire some needed video equipment.

Teófilos needs an additional €527 plus IVA (Value Added Tax, 23%) which equals €650.  NPOdev would like to invite you to please ChipIn below to help this project be completed.  The ChipIn ends on Thursday February 10th, 2011 and the funds that are collected will be sent to Teófilos on Friday February 11th, 2011.

Thank you for your contribution!

An Introduction to Crowd Accelerated Innovation

Seth Godin a well respected thought-leader and Chris Anderson, another well respected thought-leader that represents many of you as the face of TED, recently discussed “one of those big ideas, a simple one that will stick with you for a long time” (Godin, 2010).   Seth presents this idea as “Online Video” (2010).  Now, to many of you online video is nothing new.  In fact, a plethora of non-profit organizations use video nearly everyday to tell their stories.  The power and influence of video, especially delivered via the online medium, is hard to argue against.  It is due to this non-argument that online video as a communication vehicle is not the topic of this discussion as it was for Seth Godin.  Rather, let us discuss briefly the requirements of Crowd Accelerated Innovation,  how a knowledge worker might fit into crowdsourcing, and how a nonprofit organization can leverage both.

Chris explains Crowd Accelerated Innovation as, creators and their resultant innovations that deliver to everyone else the message “step your game up” (Anderson, 2010)!  While this may not be a physical conscious act, it is nonetheless compounding result of cycles of improvement and leaps in the evolution of an idea that raise the standard of excellence.

According to Anderson (2010) there are three elements that are needed in order to start turning the innovation wheel.

1. A Crowd – a group of people whom share a common interest

Chris highlights that the bigger the crowd the more potential innovators, commentators, trend-spotters, cheerleaders, skeptics, super-spreaders, and mavericks that will exist. This group of people will form the fabric, the ecosystem from which innovation emerges.

1. Light – clear, open visibility, of what the best people in that crowd are capable of

Chris believes that possessing the knowledge of how others are functioning will allow you to learn how you will be empowered to participate.

1. Desire – absent of desire, innovation quite simply will not happen

Innovation is hard work.  In most cases it is based upon hundreds of hours of research and practice.  This is why it is critical that all members of the crowd be actively engaged within their role.

I encourage you to spend 18 minutes of your life and watch Chris’ presentation to get a better understanding of this form of innovation before reading Part 2 which will be posted in the coming week.

References

Anderson, C. (Presenter). (2010). Chris anderson: how web video powers global innovation. [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_how_web_video_powers_global_innovation.html

Godin, S. (2010, September 16). Beyond crowdsourcing. Retrieved from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/09/beyond-crowdsourcing.html

Does the shear number of twitter followers have you confused? Not sure whom to follow in return? Are they worth it? What if you do not follow someone back; will they unfollow you? How do you sift through the people that are just noise versus those whom are saying things that are relevant to YOU???

NPOdev has been using a three step approach to help filter out the people that follow, in order to just receive a reciprocation follow, versus those that are actually worth following. A stance must be clearly made here! Just because Tweeple follow you does NOT mean you have to follow them in return.

Why is this an important distinction and how can it be a positive decision for you and your organization?

Consider this: You exist on Twitter because you have something to say. More importantly, you exist on Twitter because you want to hear what other people have to say. Following this logic it then makes sense to follow anyone in return that follows you. Right? Well, maybe not! In this tweetable world of nearly 8 million Twitter accounts (2010, Hubspot twitter.grader results) it cannot not make perfect sense to automatically follow anyone who follows you. While the vast majority of people that follow you may have similar interests and it may make sense to follow them in return, this should not be an automatic decision. This decision should be based upon metrics, filtered by the follower’s reputation, and further filtered by the relevance of their tweets to that which you are listening to, participating in conversations about, and engaging your audience AND the audience of your follower’s with. This last part is really the crux of the decision. You should be able to answer the following question. If I follow this person or organization, will I be able to engage not only them, but their listeners as well??

Finding the answer to this question is what has led NPOdev to create a three step process to determine whom and whom not to follow on Twitter.

1. Sign up for and utilize Hubspot’s alerts.grader http://alerts.grader.com This tool monitors the people that follow you based upon a criteria set by you that takes into consideration their twitter.grader score (also a free Hubspot tool) and their ranking out of the almost 8 million Tweeple in the world.
Another benefit to alerts.grader is that you can connect your Google Alerts account and LinkedIn accounts to help monitor conversations that may be of interest to you (more on that below).

2. Once you receive an alert from Hubspot that someone has followed you that falls within the criteria you set, you will want to further filter them using Klout http://www.klout.com Klout is an awesome tool even apart from alerts.grader but when used to further refine your following base, it becomes even more beneficial. “Klout” is the measure of your overall influence online (2010, Klout Website). Like twitter.grader, it uses an algorithm to calculate a number of factors that lead to a Twerson’s Klout, or Twitter Influence score. The system is easy to understand but harder to fool than alerts.grader and therefore makes itself a valuable tool for further refinement.
Depending on your market, you will probably want to follow only those that have a Klout score of 25+ (you will want to adjust this for your purposes). Klout uses a 0-100 scale for reporting their calculations. It is VERY difficult to obtain a Klout score of 55+ (80th percentile) and therefore by choosing to follow those that have at least a Klout score of 25, you ensure you cut out the lesser quality influencers but do not bypass those that are sound, up-and-coming, and rightfully so an influencer in their field, even if the general Tweeple World does not follow them.

3. Typically the above two steps suffice for determining whom and whom not to follow. However, in case you need further refinement, or you have a follower who is on the edge of your criteria and you need more information about them, or even if you want to search out new “following” tweeples for yourself; you can leverage a variety of twitter search engines. These would include Google Custom Twitter Search, Twitter’s built in Search, or even the majority of Twitter applications that support searching such as Hootsuite (NPOdev’s favorite), Seesmic, and many others.  All of the above listed support #hashtag searching, trending, topics, and general word/phrase searching.  The benefit to Google and Twitter’s own search is that these methods support advanced searching as well as searches with Boolean operators.

Whether you want to refine whom you follow, search out new Tweeples to follow, or determine if the Twerson that just followed you is worth following in return, these three steps will ensure that the Tweeple you do decide to follow are worth it.

In closing, some Tweeple might argue that if one does not follow another Twerson, then you run the risk of losing them as a follower. Likewise there is the fear of potentially missing the occasional relevant tweet that the unfollowed Twerson posts.  To solve the second issue NPOdev suggests using Lists, Hashtags, and the Twitter Search features discussed above in order to locate and join the conversations relevant to you that exists outside of your follower and following base.

To address the first issue of losing followers because you did not follow them back…well…that isn’t so bad. If someone drops you because you did not reciprocate their follow, that means they were in it for themselves and they were not in it for the right reasons. The right reasons for using the online communication vehicle of Twitter is to listen, converse, and engage your audience!

So go ahead, and give it a twirl (bad pun). See whom you can find new to follow, and whom you can categorize as noise and redirect that energy towards your followers that matter.

Sustainability has a lot of definitions these days.  Sometimes it refers to ecology and the environment.   Other times it refers to economics and fiscal stability. And still at other times it refers to humanity and society itself.  As of 2001 an entire field of science originated that has dedicated itself to the advancement of understanding systems and their dynamics relating to sustainability (2001, Kates, R., Clark, W., Corell, R., et. all; and 2010, Harvard).   In fact, there are many non-profit organizations and non-governmental agencies dedicated to the aforementioned definitions of sustainability.  However, the most profitable definition would be one that identifies the capacity to endure.  A definition that allows for continuation.  A plan for an organization to become self-sustainable.

Self-Sustainability is the ability to indefinitely produce more than your organization consumes.

Read that again!

The key word is indefinitely.  On a regular basis we want to have more available for use than what we actually can use.  Day after day, month after month, year after year, if our organizations produce more than they consume, they will be sustainable.  They will continue.  They will endure.

But what do we want to produce more of?

As an organization we need to produce more resources, more time, more money, a more positive image, and more tangible results in order to ultimately produce more of our mission!

Why do we want to become self-sustainable?

Recent interviews with major donors conclude that they no longer want to give automatically…unless they see the evidence of how the entity will survive if they stop giving. (2009-2010, Personal Communications)

Additionally, our organization’s resources need to become more residual.  If we stay still, if our organization, our mission, our resource engine stays stagnant, if these items do not progress, by default we are going backwards as others surpass us.   As other groups develop and move further forward than we do we are losing ground.  We are losing the capacity to deliver on our mission.

Finally, self-sustainability is important because without you and your organization, your mission would not get accomplished!

As Simon Sinek proclaims (2010), success is achieved through being inspired by the thing you’re pursuing.  When applied to sustainability, success means that entities can achieve self-sustainability through community and relationships.  As Harvard’s Sustainability Science Program identifies, by focusing on the dynamics between systems,  sustainability can be achieved.  In organizations, by focusing on relationships and community building, Self-Sustainability can be achieved.

Stayed tuned for further articles related to Community and Relationship Building for Self-Sustainability.  Please also check out the modules of this presentation, originally delivered in Portugal, May 2010, on Slideshare.net.

References

Harvard sustainability science program. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/cid/programs/sustsci

Kates, R., Clark, W., Corell, R., Hall, J., Jaeger, C., Lowe, I., McCarthy, J., Schellnhuber, H-J., Bolin, B., Dickson, N., Faucheux, S., Gallopin, G., Grubler, A., Huntley, B., Jager, J., Jodha, N., Kasperson, R., Mabogunje, A., Matson, P., & Mooney, H. 2001. Sustainability science. Science 292(5517): 641–642.

Sinek, S. (2010, July 20). What will You sacrifice? [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://sinekpartners.typepad.com/refocus/2010/07/sacrifice.html

Source: Flickr, Lincolnian (Brian)

In a recent blog post by Marshall Goldsmith on the Harvard Business Review (HBR) website, Goldsmith discussed four steps leaders can take in order to empower their employees.  Employee empowerment is nothing new.  It is discussed in many circles and more often then not, empowerment is discussed alongside its antitheses, micro-management.

How many times do you as a non-profit leader encourage and allow empowerment?  Is it difficult to do so because of employee or volunteer competency levels?  Or are you as the leader stifling empowerment through your organization’s culture?

Marshall points out,

there is a critical point that is often missed: It isn’t possible for a leader to “empower” someone to be accountable and make good decisions. People have to empower themselves. Your role is to encourage and support the decision-making environment, and to give employees the tools and knowledge they need to make and act upon their own decisions. By doing this, you help your employees reach an empowered state.

I have learned that the issue with empowerment, micro-management, and employee competency is not with those items at all.  It is almost always related to the culture surrounding the leader.  The atmosphere the leader exudes.   Therefore as leaders and managers, within non-profits or for-profits, we must ensure the organizational and departmental cultures we create are ones that allow employees to breathe.  We must ensure our employees are allowed to make decisions on there own.  AND…when the result of the decision is not the most favorable, we must stick by our employeesand encourage them, coach them, and mentor them so that the next opportunity they have to build confidence in themselves will be a success.  Goldsmith clasifies this as “running interference”.

The greatest empowering force of empowerment is trust.  Employees need to know that their leader has their back.

So what are the four steps Goldsmith suggested?  Following are a few things leaders can do to build an environment that empowers people.

1. Give power to those who have demonstrated the capacity to handle the responsibility.
2. Create a favorable environment in which people are encouraged to grow their skills.
3. Don’t second-guess others’ decisions and ideas unless it’s absolutely necessary. This only undermines their confidence and keeps them from sharing future ideas with you.
4. Give people discretion and autonomy over their tasks and resources.

What then is step five? 

Start today!

Start today by figuring out how you as the leader and you as the manager will set your staff up to succeed.  This could be a full time employee, a volunteer, or even an intern.  How will you empower them?  How will you have their back?  Which of Goldsmith’s four steps are you going to employ right now?  What are you willing to relinquish control of in order that the other person can grow?

How will you inspire those you lead?  Hopefully, it is by giving them the chance to prove they are up to the task.

So… get out there and get people to know, like, and trust you. Ensure that this is done EPIC-ally.

If you already have a reserve – great! Implement this strategy and nurture the relationships you have at this time of hardship.

Just starting, or can’t figure out how the next bill will be paid?  Then stop!  Take the next few days to figure out what you can do to immediately have people experience, participate, be filled with images of your organization and its cause, and ultimately connect with you, your cause, and with like-minded people that support you.  This will build a resource engine that is unstoppable due to vitality. This strategy will accomplish the non-profit’s mission because it is viable; and (rightfully so) will build a foundation of success through sustainability in order to accomplish the future vision…and to make it through those hardships that come our way.

Read: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Get the Full Article

References

Jantsch, John (2008).  Duct tape marketing: The world’s most practical small business marketing guide. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

The key to surviving is to focus on time and brand. Get people to know, like, and trust you. But how? EPIC-ally!

People become supporters of non-profits when the organization approaches them EPIC-ally.

Experiential
Participatory
Image-Rich
Connective

People need connectivity. If this is doubted, then look at Facebook, MySpace, Google’s introduction of Buzz, the explosion of dating sites, Plaxo, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Every major brand has communities surrounding its products and storefronts. Project management systems now integrate social components.  Blogs themselves connect speakers and their audiences.  Most modern churches use numerous aspects of technology and the web to connect the members of their congregations locally and as they travel on missions trips. There is Kiva.org which allows micro lenders to travel into the field to meet with other like-minded lenders whom have helped fund the same project.  Even education’s transition to the online environment for courses as well as simply collaborating and sharing with other students that are on the other side of the globe; proves that people need connectivity.

People want to feel as though they are a part of what the organization is doing, and they want to see the results thereof.  Connectivity transitions a person from merely liking the organization and its cause, to actually trusting it.   With this new found trust through connectivity comes the inherent results of effective marketing, which have not yet been mentioned.  After someone gets to know, like, and trust you; they will contact, repeat buy/support, and refer others. By providing avenues by which people may connect, on all levels and in all possible ways, with the organization; knowledge is gained, favor is given, loyalty is birthed out of trust, and the resource engine will begin to sustain itself as well as gather new fuel. It will even replace broken or missing parts through people who contact, repeat support, and now refer their friends and contacts to support your organization’s cause.

Read: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Get the Full Article

References

Jantsch, John (2008).  Duct tape marketing: The world’s most practical small business marketing guide. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Sweet, L. (2007). The Gospel according to Starbucks: Living with a grande passion. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBook Press.

The EPIC acrostic is adapted from Leonard Sweet’s “The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion”, 2007.

As Western Christians we often only view missions trips as evangelical in nature. I personally struggled with this as evangelism, in its typically defined role, has never been a passion of mine and I failed to see why I should be the one to evangelize. It was on a trip to South Africa in 2006, and the resulting relationships thereafter, whereby I learned that conversions are not the only thing missionaries and Christians serving elsewhere in the world need help with. They need help with actions surrounding construction, technology, support processes, and even business.

Over the course of the last 18-24 months God has built a relationship between myself and an organization in Portugal called Teófilos. Teófilos is a provider of online learning and a platform and community for students of the Bible for Portuguese speaking people groups. One of the biggest issues Teófilos faces is the transition it is trying to make from being solely the endeavor of one missionary family to that of a sustainable entity functioning as a non-governmental organization (non-profit) in Portugal, Brazil, and beyond. In Portugal specifically there are many other para-church organizations that desire assistance with their organizational advancement. The areas in which they need help are in business methodologies and processes such as marketing, budgeting, constituent relationship management, and even day-to-day operations.

The third week of May 2010, just a few short weeks away, I will travel to Portugal to meet with leadership of such para-church organizations and to work alongside Teófilos for two weeks. As part of this trip God has arranged for me to provide two different seminars. One, at the Portuguese Baptist Theological Seminary (STB) and another all-day three-session seminar to a conglomerate of missionaries, mission organizations, church leaders, and lay-people.

It has been requested that I specifically speak on topics surrounding marketing, re-visioning, and to provide tools to further their ministries from an organizational development and advancement vantage point. In other words, to assist them in transitioning their work to a sustainable endeavor that won’t falter when their personal support dries up.  The title of the seminar is “Community and Relationship Building for Self-Sustainability in NPOs/NGOs”.

I would like to invite you to pray about how you, your families, your church, and your friends can be of assistance in this outreach. Here are some ways in which you can support this missions trip:

1. Prayer- for safety, finances, preparations, and opportunities of service while in Portugal.
2. Give by check- contact me via the contact page or through email to obtain mailing address.
3. Give Online- Click on the ChipIn! above and make a donation with your debit, credit, or bank transfer through PayPal.
4. Follow the trip via Twitter or Facebook.

Note: A giving receipt can be supplied upon request and 100% of your gift will go towards the cost of this trip.

This trip is in partnership with: