The Rundown - September 30, 2022
The latest news and notes from the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors
Nonprofit Staffers Are Feeling the Squeeze
A recent story from Inside Philanthropy discussed a never ending topic in nonprofit circles, the employee crunch that is happening. The nonprofit sector, never really known for it’s generous wages and benefit packages, is feeling economic pressures like never before. The article cites the following statistics:
Late last year, the National Council of Nonprofits reported that of the majority of nonprofits it surveyed, 76%, had vacancy rates of 10% or more; 55% reported vacancy rates of 20% or more, and 16% reported that more than 30% of their positions were going unfilled.
The piece articulates that some of the stress that nonprofits (and their employees) face come from those that are designed to help partner and help nonprofits — foundation funders. A unique perspective was offered by an individual that has recently changed roles from the “funder” to the “funded”.
On the foundation side, she said, “there is a lot of boundary setting and expectation setting” for grantees, “hoops that they need to jump through.” When she moved to her current job, she said, the level of responsiveness required of her nonprofit is “almost to the detriment of our internal functions.” Jumping whenever a funder says “jump” keeps the organization “responsive and reactive instead of planful, and setting boundaries and being more thoughtful about our approaches.”
Working as a program officer at a funder, though, brought its own challenges. While the person told me she was aware of her privilege as someone who could work from home during the worst of the pandemic, “I started to realize that I had less sense of what it was like to be a front-line worker who had to go out and engage.” She began to reflect on how difficult it must be, especially for senior leadership, “who earn exponentially more and are even more removed,” to really understand a community’s needs. “There’s a disconnect that’s really hard to overcome unless you actually speak to the people on the ground.”
In addition to being removed from the organizations they’re trying to serve, she said, staff who manage grants for funders are themselves also overworked. They also frequently lack the freedom, as well as the time, to make real person-to-person connections with nonprofit leaders. Instead of constraining program staff to administrative roles serving an ever-constant “box-checking churn,” deploying them as relationship builders could make a significant, positive difference in their ability to truly see and serve nonprofits’ needs.
From a personal perspective, a lot of this rings true. Nonprofit leaders and philanthropic leaders are often at different places when having deep discussions about what is happening in their communities. Philanthropic leaders often see problems that they believe can be solved; nonprofit leaders see systemic issues that need more than just money to repair. Yet, both sides negotiate a “half-ast” brokered settlement where on one side it’s seen that not enough money is spent and the other side sees not enough effort being made to solve major problems. Both sides are grateful something is being done, though neither side is truly happy with the progress.
If there was one lesson through the pandemic that we can’t forget is that philanthropy really loosened the strings on funding during the height of Covid-19 and for the most part, nonprofit agencies did a wonderful job of meeting community needs with very little problems and it really seemed everyone could chalk up some successes with the “less strings applied” approach. Philanthropy was applauded for quickly meeting needs and getting resources in the hands of those that needed it. Nonprofits were given enough flexibility to be agile in their program offerings.
The takeaway as I see it, is that the more streamlined process worked well. In many ways, it’s too bad it took a global pandemic to solve these problems. But ask any nonprofit leader and there are traumatic experiences faced by our neighbors and our organizations everyday that need a more open-ended approach to provide help. I am convinced the nonprofit sector can be more agile and more accountable if given the chance to spread it’s wings.
Are the Richest of the Rich Being More Generous?
A fun little info graphic was recently released by Forbes that you can find here showing how their Top 400 are changing their charitable giving patterns. According to the magazine, the number of those individuals that gave away (or plan to give away) 10 to 20% of their wealth nearly doubled from 11 individuals in 2021 to 18 individuals in 2022. The number of those that gave away at least 20% of their wealth grew, but only by 1 individual over the same period of time. If we are looking at this through a giving pyramid, we are seeing that there are strong efforts to grow donors up the pyramid — we are seeing more people give and more people give more in the past.
According to the piece:
These top givers have continued to dole out big dollars. Bill Gates announced a $20 billion donation to his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which will address gender equity, disease eradication and infant mortality, among other causes; as a result, the foundation is increasing its annual grants to $9 billion in 2026, up from $6.7 billion in 2021. MacKenzie Scott has made big-dollar donations to Planned Parenthood and the Boys & Girls Club of America for $275 million and $281 million, respectively. George Soros, meanwhile, is the biggest giver of all—for the third year running—having donated $18.1 billion so far—nearly three times what he’s worth now.
Question of the Week
Hurricanes and other natural disaster often become large efforts to raise funds to help those impacted by these events. I am curious
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Registrations now open for Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership!
Registrations are now open for continuing education offered by Edison State Community College in Piqua for the Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership! I have been a proud alumni of both programs and have even been asked to help present sessions and teach classes. It’s an amazing program and I would encourage you to be a part of it if you are in the area! You can register here.
The Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership 1.0 is a series of workshops designed to develop more effective directors, leaders, board members, staff and volunteers of nonprofit organizations. Course topics include the fundamental practices of board recruitment, planning, staffing, budgeting, evaluation, board meetings and community awareness. The classes are designed to help individuals make a difference on their boards and in their community.
The Paul G. Duke Academy for Community Leadership 2.0 has been created and designed specifically for experienced executive directors of nonprofit organizations and alumni of the Academy for Community Leadership 1.0. This challenging and intensive Academy is coordinated by the Academy development team and participants. Advanced participants will conduct original research and exchange results via reports and discussion. Participants will help to further develop the foundational agenda for each of the four monthly sessions that will explore nonprofit organizations—based upon their backgrounds, experiences, pressing issues and needs—through self-analysis, organizational analysis, guest speakers, best practices, resource review and in-depth discussions. At its conclusion, Academy 2.0 participants will be immersed in the annual Mosaic of Community Leadership Conference, both as participants and presenters. Academy 2.0 is the latest collaboration between the Paul G. Duke Foundation and the Edison State Community College Center for Leadership Development.
We are Trying Something New
Perhaps you read our last “Deeper Dive” where we talked about the amazing power of Youtube as a Social Media platform. Well, a reader challenged me and said hey, “Why don’t you start your own channel?”
Okay, challenge accepted. Here is our channel with our first four videos. We had some readers share them on LinkedIn (THANK YOU!) and the response has been positive. Check it out and let me know what you think! Feel free to drop me a line at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com or just comment below!
Here is a link to our YouTube Channel!
Check Out Some New Resources
Pinnacle Strategies has created a new resource! Check out our store here on the gumroad platform. These are the three most popular tools that I am hit up for. Take a look at these tools and of course, if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
What Can We Work on Together?
Did you know that Pinnacle Strategies works individually with nonprofit and public sector leaders to help them solve problems, achieve goals and gain confidence in their roles?
Why?
Because, this work is hard and it’s often a lonely road. Our nonprofit and public sector leaders need people that they can talk to to get solid advice and encouragement to do the work that is in front of them. If you feel that this can be of value to you, or a member of your team, please reach out to pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com and let’s talk.
A Quick Note of Thanks!
Thank you all for subscribing to this newsletter. The subscription numbers continue to grow and from what I am learning, this side job seems like it has “sticking power”. I am not getting inquiries and calls from literally all over the world wanting to partner and work together to create value for you, the non profit and philanthropy leader. I feel very excited about the future of this newsletter and if you have any ideas or comments, please feel free to share them with me at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com
I know many of you have shared this with your friends and colleagues and I am very grateful. Thank you! If you haven’t shared it yet…..well, here is your chance….
Ready to Learn Something New?
One of the prettiest cities in Fall is Indianapolis and travelling there can open a perfect opportunity to sharpen your skills and meet new professionals in the field. I would encourage you to look at some of the offerings of The Fund Raising School at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University’s campus in Indianapolis. The professional development school has great programming both on-line and in-person both in Indianapolis and at other sites across the country. Take a look at their course offerings here!
Other Ways to Connect
Our coaching practice has openings starting here in 2022. If you are interested in working with me to get your nonprofit organization on a track to achieve the big missions you have for your organization, please reach out to me at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
Here are some other ways you can keep in contact with Pinnacle Strategies!
Check us out on our LinkedIn Page
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