It’s budget time - time to look at where your
organization is AND isn’t spending its money. This is the time of year we
at Help 4 NonProfits always wind up scratching our heads in wonder: How can
organizations complain so loudly about their boards, and yet budget virtually
nothing to train and develop them?
With the Board at the top of the
organizational chart, everything your organization is and does flows down from
the board - both the good AND the bad. When folks are not educated to do their
job, how can we expect them to do it well?
So here are a couple of quiz
questions:
Quiz Question #1
Of 100 possible percentage points,
would you think it a worthwhile investment to spend even just 1 of those 100
points to strengthen your organization’s governance and
leadership?
Answer: We used 1% in this question
just to start your thinking - there is no magic number. But most organizations
don’t even assign 1 out of 100 possible points to train those who are
ultimately responsible and accountable for the organization.
Quiz Question #2
What is 1% of a $1 million budget?
Answer: $10,000. If you are a
$1million organization, and you’re not spending $10,000 to train and
develop your board, that should tell you just how much of a priority your board
really is.
We have a rule we use for our own decision-making here
at Help 4 NonProfits. If we decide not to
focus our attention on something - whether that “something” is
learning a new software program that will save us time and heartache; or
sorting and emptying an old file cabinet; or brainstorming to create a new
workshop - when we fail to devote our resources and efforts towards those
things, WE GIVE UP THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN THAT IT’S NOT DONE! We figure
we’ve made our choice, and we either live with it or decide to
re-focus.
So this year, try the Help 4 NonProfits rule as you
create your budget. Vow to make 2002-2003 the year your whole organization
becomes stronger, by providing training and development for the folks who are
ultimately responsible and accountable for the organization’s success or
failure. If your board is not enough of a priority to allocate even 1% of your
budget to making them better, well you lose the right to complain that they
don’t know what they’re doing. |
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