What you can expect.

Accept and thrive in the paradox: in situations where nothing seems to be enough, the work done by you and your staff is enough.

Support your leaders with the tools they need to boost morale, and have a smoother running organization through more effective management.

Nurture, manage and embrace the complexity of relationships with honesty and greater ease. Develop more powerful and productive relationships.

Work creatively with the resources you have.

Learn to develop and enforce performance standards that are appropriate for your specialized work and workforce.

Learn to communicate effectively and honestly in challenging circumstances, whether with your staff, your Board or your volunteer workforce.

Learn the leadership competencies necessary to build trust.

Find greater balance in making choices in life and work.

Ensure that your actions are aligned with your core values and your individual or organizational purpose.

Be more satisfied with yourself and your job, with your life in general.

People who work in non-profits often come to their work with such a caring and heart-felt sense of responsibility that it’s difficult for them to have clear boundaries. However over time, open-hearted eagerness can lead to exhaustion and a sense of powerlessness and ineffectiveness. Staff come up against the feeling that no matter how much nor now long they work, they hardly make a dent.

Non profit organizations are businesses and must be managed as such. However, they also have their own very specific challenges and issues. They bring to us issues such as:

The work is never done

Whatever the focus of the organization, it can almost certainly reach only a percentage of potential beneficiaries. Whether providing a service, information, or material support, it’s likely that there will always be more demand than supply. Nonprofits live and must function with this reality every day.

Living with scarce resources

Resources include people, money, time, and energy. These translate into expertise, salaries, information, services provided, hours in the day, and the demands of any job. Obtaining and using resources in the non-profit sector poses unique challenges and differs significantly from the for-profit arena.

Creating and maintaining performance standards

It’s often hard to take the time to create and sustain internal performance standards. Because people give indefatigably of themselves they sometimes expect to be graded on their effort, rather than their results.

Building trust between organizations

In the non-profit world, organizations often partner on projects. A primary concern for each organization is to maintain its own identity, highlight its uniqueness and maintain its differentiation for funding.

Managing relationships with Board members

Executives must learn to balance their relationship with the Board of Directors to whom they are responsible, with autonomy in their job and loyalty to staff.

Managing relationships with volunteers

Executives in non-profit organizations must create a culture in which volunteers are viewed as stakeholders, whether they are Board members or on-the-ground contributors.

Expertise in a field, but limited expertise in leadership and management

Management training and internal capacity building often takes a back seat in non-profits because of lack of resources.

Managing relationships with funders

Maintaining relationships with foundations, government agencies, and individuals who are providing funding can be a complex, continuous and exhausting enterprise.