New Voice- Christopher Scott

A few months ago, I wrote a column inviting readers to become contributors to New Voices of Philanthropy. The intention of this blog has always been to be a forum for the next generation of philanthropic leadership and I now have a column from one of those new voices, Christopher Scott. Christopher is not only a hopeless optimist, he is also a person that is able to get off the dime and make his idea come to life. He is also the creator of the Nonprofit Leadership, Innovation, and Change blog. From Christopher:

From Idea to Action

Have you ever had an idea on how to make a positive difference in the world? An idea on how to eliminate poverty, reduce suffering, and help raise the quality of life for hundreds, thousands, or millions of people. As nonprofit leaders we all have these ideas where we wonder, “What would happen if I could create this?” If you’re serious about turning your idea into something that will create positive change in the world I have few tips for you. The first tip is to set a goal, because this is key, because once your idea has a goal, it’s no longer an idea, it’s now a project with a deadline. It was Diana Scharf Hunt who said, “Dreams are goals with deadlines.”

The second tip is to take action. I know this sounds a too simple, but when I first had the idea of starting A Day of Hope I had no idea how I was going to do it. I was a broke college student without a job and no money. I knew I wanted to make a positive difference in my community and was determined to find a way to make it happen. So I set the goal to deliver 30 baskets of food and turkeys to 30 families for Thanksgiving. Then I started calling and emailing all of my friends and family to ask them to join me. The end result was that we delivered 48 baskets of food and turkeys to 48 families for Thanksgiving.

One of my all time favorite quotes is from Zig Ziglar, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start, to be great.” If you have an idea on how to make a positive difference in the world, start making it happen. Don’t wait until you get a 501(c)(3) number or receive a large grant. Just start now!

Christopher Scott is an AmeriCorps*VISTA Member working at United Way in Modesto, CA. He also helped to start A Day of Hope which is a student based organization that delivers baskets of food and turkeys to hundreds of families every Thanksgiving.

Desperately seeking comments!

I am participating in the One Post Challenge over at Sean's blog Tactical Philanthropy. The one post challenge is an opportunity to generate new conversations about philanthropy and the blogger with the most comments wins a grant for the charity of their choice. If my post wins the grant will go to the Park Avenue Foundation. The Park Avenue Foundation is an amazing organization that provides kids with great opportunities to meet their full potential. I am always amazed when I first meet kids from their programs because they seem like your average overachievers (smart, funny, great community volunteers) but then you dig a little bit deeper under the surface you find out that they are dealing with issues that most adults couldn't handle like a parent in prison, not having enough food to eat, and the most unstable living situations that you can imagine. I wrote an article about the need for foundation staff to spend time in the community to ensure that they are connected to the community issues that they are making decisions about. Spending time with kids from Park reminds me of why I got into the nonprofit sector in the first place. I get to support organizations every day that help reach kids when they are the most vulnerable and also when they have the greatest opportunity to make positive changes that will make their lives forever better.

So get out there and leave a comment already and tell your networks to do the same. You have until the end of November to make sure that the future engineer that you see above will continue to have a soldering iron in her hand rather than a remote control.

Job Posting- Program Director, International Programs (MN)

Position Announcement: Program Director - International Programs

Background. The McKnight Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1953 by William and Maude McKnight. The mission of the Foundation is to improve the quality of life for present and future generations through grantmaking, coalition-building, and encouragement of strategic policy reform. The Foundation organizes its work in six program areas: Children and Families, Region and Communities, Environment, Arts, International, and Research. The Foundation granted about $93 million in 2006.

The International Programs. This position is responsible for managing the work of the Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP) and country-level programs in Tanzania, Uganda, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam; designing and managing program evaluation and supervision of program staff. More

New Feature: Job Postings

When I first started New Voices of Philanthropy, one of the purposes was to open up the often times closed philanthropy sector to other new voices. Young people and people of color have often been excluded from the worlds of wealth and "charity" but philanthropy makes many decisions about how wealth is redistributed in our communities through grantmaking. So excluding those groups from the redistribution or philanthropic process, as staff and trustees, means that they are excluded twice.

I'll be posting foundation job and trustee openings that I learn about through my professional networks or that you send to me at tristaharris at gmail dot com. I know that there are websites like the Chronicle of Philanthropy have their own job postings but my take on these types of boards is that foundations only post their senior level positions there and rely on word of mouth and local postings for entry and mid level positions.

As with all new features this is a work in progress so let me know what you think.

Gen X and Y in the Nonprofit Sector

Rosetta from Perspectives from the Pipeline has another great post about Gen X and Y leadership in the nonprofit sector. From Rosetta:

The Only Constant is Change: Give Younger Generations the Chance to Create a Better Future for the Nonprofit Sector

"...What will ultimately happen is that new generations will simply create their own institutions to replace the old ways of doing business."
- comment by Michele Martin on this blog post

I have been thinking about Michele’s inspiring words a lot lately. Just think, younger leaders of Generations X and Y absolutely have the opportunity to change the face of the nonprofit sector and find new ways of fulfilling our missions smarter, faster, cheaper, and with more innovation to better our communities. Now I’m all for ditching the old models of working that are not working in our organizations, but for young nonprofit professionals, it’s just not that easy to envision. The question we are all asking ourselves is, how? We know there has to be a better way to serve more kids and battle hunger more effectively and fight poverty, etc. but we just don't know how it will work when our ideas for change aren't always welcomed in our current organizations. We feel the challenges every day concerning long hours and low pay, the lack of infrastructure, inefficient technology, and outdated modes of implementing programs that hinder us from doing our jobs well. So we know there are more effective ways of implementing social change, and we bring the energy and idealism to back it up. But how can things change if younger generations aren't a part of the solution in current organizations? How will our ideas help shape the invisible future of the nonprofit sector? Read the rest here.

Your personal brand

I have talked about managing your professional identity before but I didn't realize that there is a whole industry built around this. Check out the Personal Branding Summit to listen to mp3 downloads from personal branding experts. Topics include how to create a personal brand, getting a headshot that matches the identity that you are trying to create, and how to manage your brand in an "always on" work environment. All of this may sound very self-centered and a little bit weird but their is always room for improvement with how we present ourselves professionally and these people think to think about it day and night.

An Evacuation of the Ivory Towers

I am participating in the one post challenge at Tactical Philanthropy. Part of my article for the challenge is below, read the rest at Tactical Philanthropy.

Today I am proposing nothing short of a revolution in the philanthropic field. What if foundations were connected to the communities that they were serving; innovation and creativity were encouraged; knowledge was shared within organizations and with the larger philanthropic and nonprofit sectors; and foundations were measured on the results of their investments, not just amount of money spent or number of staff? I know you are probably asking yourselves right now, “what kind of crazy alternative universe are you living in Trista Harris?”

I should probably back up. Any time you are proposing a revolution, it’s important to give proper background or else you scare people off. The philanthropic landscape is changing. Baby Boomers are beginning to retire or re-imagine their positions. Donors are more actively engaged and want measurable results, and the government is spending a lot of time and energy trying to reign in the philanthropic sector. Professional philanthropic staff are trying to figure out how to do more with less time. How do we re-invigorate our troops of professional do-gooders to make sure that are connected to the communities that they serve and have the capacity to move the philanthropic sector from potential to results?

Read the rest at Tactical Philanthropy.

Please add your own comment in the comment section of the Tactical Philanthropy blog, if you feel so moved. The blogger with the most comments wins a grant for their favorite nonprofit and I hope to raise support for the Park Avenue Foundation http://www.parkavefoundation.org/ , which provides after school programs for low-income kids in my neighborhood.

Balancing Success

I had the opportunity to meet Tricia Schulte from Cultivating Leaders at a conference a few months ago. Tricia has a great perspective on the need for work-life balance and is offering a free introductory coaching session for New Voices of Philanthropy readers.

From Tricia

Leaders in philanthropy may experience job-life stress as they develop and grow their careers. As high-achievers, they are often hard on themselves--not always taking full satisfaction in their accomplishments, feeling frustrated by their career progress, or the way they manage their time and tasks. Sometimes they give away all their own time and energy for the mission of their organization or foundation and forget to refuel so they can continue making a contribution. They may buy into the myth that working in the not-for-profit world requires that they sacrifice work/life balance, adequate financial compensation, and being valued for their great work!

I speak from experience! I burned out after five years on a job that I loved, because I didn't build my own reserves, I viewed my work in terms of success or failure, and I failed to see what I could do to change things. I left the non-profit world knowing there had to be another option. I was determined to find it and help others stay in the game; maybe even begin to change the game. Coaching has given me the skills to support established and emerging leaders so they can continue to serve others, grow in their careers and personal lives, and even begin to change the way work works.

Along the way, I've helped leaders avoid or emerge from many of the pitfalls I experienced. Through the coaching process, clients develop increased confidence, lower stress levels, and learn to make better use of their time by identifying what is important for them to do and what can be delegated to others with additional talents and abilities. They have said that they are better communicators and have learned to ask for what they want. Many have learned to change their negative perceptions in order to break through barriers and accomplish more. They have also reported that they feel they have more balance and control in their lives, because they establish clearer limits and know where and how to create change.

Please visit my new website: www.cultivatingleaders.com, learn more about how coaching could benefit you, and contact me for a free introductory session. Most importantly, I hope you will make self-care a priority and keep doing great work for others!

Where's the fire?

At a conference last week, I asked a panel of new foundation leaders what surprised them the most about the philanthropic field. Kate Wolford, the new President of the McKnight Foundation had a very eloquent answer that gave me pause. She said that when she was a nonprofit CEO everything was always pressing and urgent. There was a yearly budget to be raised and programs that needed to be run effectively or else the organization might shut down or the people that they were serving would not be reached. She said that she was most surprised about the lack of urgency in the philanthropic field. I was a little shocked at first because we are all working on very pressing social issues and are under the pressure of constant deadlines. But, when you step back and look at it there really is no true sense of urgency in the field. There is no budget to be raised (community foundation aside), no stockholders that will pull their support, no constituents that won't vote for you again if you tick them off. Foundations have the leisure of time. This can be an asset when you are working on long-term community issues that need long-term solutions. But this can be a detriment when that lack of urgency turns into apathy.