Tuesday, September 14th

Time: 5:30-7pm

Location: City Year

287 Columbus Ave, Boston

RSVP to: bigcitizenship@gmail.com

In Big Citizenship, Alan Khazei shares his experiences founding and growing his City Year program, saving Americorps, and creating the new national campaign called ServiceNation, offering inspiration as well as practical advice. He addresses how to balance private and public funding; work with all levels of government; build bipartisan support on even the most contentious issues; attract volunteers, and get young people involved.

For social entrepreneurs, activists, idealists, community leaders, politicians, and donors who support nonprofit organizations, Khazei’s story demonstrates not just how to fight for what you believe in, but how to turn ideals into effective institutions that make the world a better place.

This event is being hosted by Meg Ansara, Stand for Children; Josh Biber, Teach for America; Michael Brown, City Year; James Cleveland, Jumpstart; Patrice Keegan, BostonCares; Vanessa Kirsch, New Profit Inc.; Eric Schwarz, Citizen Schools; David Shapiro, Mass Mentoring; Bob Giannino-Racine, ACCESS; and James Weinberg, Commongood Careers

H.R. 5533 will create a bipartisan “United States Council on Nonprofit Organizations and Community Solutions,” comprised of leaders from nonprofits, foundations, businesses, and all levels of government to identify high-priority issues and make formal recommendations to Congress and the Administration. The legislation will also establish the “Interagency Working Group on Nonprofit Organizations and the Federal Government” to improve policy coordination among agencies in their dealings with nonprofit organizations to enhance outcomes and accountability. Finally, the Nonprofit Sector and Community Solutions Act would assign the Department of Commerce the task of compiling data on nonprofits and develop metrics for performance, establish reporting requirements, and expand information so Congress can make well-informed policy decisions on nonprofit legislation.

According to Congresswomen McCollum, the bill is “a first step” and “the beginning of a positive conversation about the nonprofit sector in Washington, DC.” She states the goals of this legislation are to build a stronger nonprofit sector, craft smarter federal policy and create more vibrant communities in every state.

We at Commongood Careers believe that this innovative bill recognizes as never before the vital role that nonprofit organizations play throughout our communities and our economy, as well as the potential for stronger partnerships between nonprofits and government agencies to further that important work. Demonstrating our support, the following is the transcript of a letter written by Commongood Careers’ Founder and CEO James Weinberg, as published on Congresswoman’s McCollum’s website:

Dear Congresswoman McCollum:

James Weinberg
Founder & CEO

For more information on this legislation, visit Congresswomen’s McCollum’s website.

Citizen Schools is a national organization which partners with middle schools to expand the learning day for approximately 4,500 low-income children in seven states across the country.  Citizen School does this by mobilizing a second shift of afternoon educators, who provide academic support, leadership development, and “apprenticeships”—hands-on projects taught by volunteers from business and civic organizations. 

Guiding the overall work of Citizen Schools is a balanced scorecard, a results-based management system that looks at an organization’s success across a number of measures, such as fundraising and programmatic goals. Based on the balanced scorecard, every staff member has individual goals on which they are evaluated.

According to Kristin Brennan, Chief Talent Officer at Citizen Schools, the integration of the balanced scorecard into performance management promotes accountability to organization-wide goals for every staff member. “When we map staff goals to the organization’s goals, we can see, and staff can see, how those individual goals drive our overall accomplishments,” says Kristin.

To manage staff progress against their individual goals, all staff meet with their supervisors for a bi-annual and annual performance review. Using the balanced scorecard as a guide, staff are evaluated against the following criteria:

• Business goals – essentially “what” a staff member accomplished. Business goals reflect quantitative metrics, for example specific fundraising targets or number of clients served. These goals tie directly to the metrics of the balanced scorecard.
• Core competencies – essentially “how” a staff member accomplished their work. Core competencies could include project management, strategic planning or building partnerships. Competencies are a qualitative measure of how an employee met their business goals.

Kristin describes the adoption of this performance management framework as “common sense.” Three years ago, the organization integrated individual business goals into the review process. “As a data-driven organization, we needed an objective way to define the work that needed to get done,” says Kristin, “While the foundation of the balanced scorecard made this change possible, it was the scale and diversification of positions that made it necessary. As we grew from 200 to 400 staff, we saw the introduction of highly specialized roles that required a more objective approach to performance management.”

“Having goals tied to the balanced scorecard lends a degree of focus across our growing organization. Staff performance cannot exist in silos. Instead, our work and accomplishments all reflect overarching organization goals,” adds Kristin.

The results of this performance management system have been tangible. For example, the organization has a business goal for diversifying the corps of teaching staff. In the past few years, this number has grown from 30% to 50%.

For organizations that do not have a balanced scorecard, Kristin suggests a few ways to tie overall organizational measures to individual performance:

1. First and foremost, understand your organization-wide goals. Answer the questions: What matters to us? What are we trying to achieve?
2. Define the quantitative measures for every position. Tie these metrics to the overall organizational goals.
3. Define the core competencies required for every position. Figure out what qualities are needed to meet the quantitative goals.

Citizen Schools has been kind enough to share their balanced scorecard with the Commongood Careers community. Download the sample balanced scorecard here.

OpportunityNation, a new campaign of our friends at Be the Change focused on increasing opportunity and economic mobility in America, will be hosting two conversations at Northeastern University (not affiliated) on August 9 and 11 with college students and recent graduates to talk about barriers to opportunity in the current economic climate.  And you are all invited!  During this conversation college students and/or graduates can share their stories about the realities behind achieving the “American Dream” in today’s world, and can propose suggestions for solutions that could help.  If interested in engaging in this important conversation, you will not only create connections with others facing similar issues, but will also participate in a national movement that plans to address these issues in the coming year through political and cultural tactics.

Please RSVP to Winfred Fields at and provide your name, how you found about this conversation, and which session you will attend.  Food, drink and AC! will be provided, and feel free to bring a friend.

“As a 21 year old about to graduate from college the job market and economic climate are pretty terrifying.” - Student Comment, New York Times

Session 1
Date: Monday, August 9 at 5:30pm to 7:00pm
Location: Frost Lounge at Northeastern University

Session 2
Date: Wednesday, August 11 at 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Location: Frost Lounge at Northeastern University

• Charles Best, founder and CEO, DonorsChoose.org
• Darell Hammond, co-founder and CEO, KaBOOM!
• Rachel Lloyd, founder and executive director, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services

The American Express NGen Leadership Award was created to honor one under-40 nonprofit professional who has had a transformative impact on addressing society’s critical needs. A committee of nonprofit leaders reviewed the nominees and selected these distinguished finalists.

We hate to have to tell you this (we know you have a lot on your plate) but it’s something you should know: it’s not enough to be qualified for that position. 

By the time you get to the final round of interviews, it is highly likely that you have the qualifications and experience to be able to do the job — and the other candidates being considered have those things, too.  That means you may have to step it up a notch.  One way to gain an edge over the competition is to simply have more of what they’re looking for, but here’s another: your personality.  You can do all the right things in the interview, but without demonstrating your personality fit, the interviewer is still going to have doubts about you.

Remember that speed dating event you went to a while back?  We know you didn’t take a checklist of ideal mate qualifications with you.  So how did you decide who you wanted to see again?  Personality.  Hiring managers do the same.  Sure, some things are deal breakers — if the position requires ten years of experience with quantitative analysis and you haven’t even heard of linear regression, your personality won’t get you the job. But when given the choice between two candidates of similar abilities, hiring managers will choose the person they would most like to work with — every time. 

So is your true personality shining through?  OK, not your super-relaxed, “I’m going to kick it with my buddies on a Saturday night” personality, but your “let’s pitch in and get this done” positive attitude and “seize the work day” personality?  We know that sometimes you let your nerves get to you, but it is to your advantage to be yourself — how else will you know if this is right for you?  Have confidence in who you are and what you can bring to the table.  Imagine yourself as the interviewer, and ask yourself: would I hire me?  Then perhaps imagine yourself as your most judgmental friend, and ask again: would s/he hire me?  Why or why not?  Remember, from the first point of contact, hiring managers are forming impressions about who you are.  You want those impressions to be accurate.  (For more tips on how to show yourself in your best light, we’ve enclosed this article to help you out).

What shouldn’t you do?  Be someone other than yourself.  After all, if you aren’t a good fit, it’s best to find another job where both you and your organization would be happier.  Be memorable, but for the right reasons: for being competent, thoughtful, engaged, and your authentic self.  Make sure to bring your best self—but make it uniquely you. 

Sincerely,

Commongood Careers

Established by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, SIF will support some of the nation’s most innovative and groundbreaking foundations and nonprofits.  As Commongood Careers and Talent Initiative are dedicated to supporting the growth and development of such organizations, we have watched with eager anticipation over the past year as this historic legislation was brought to life by the team administering the funds at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Perhaps most exciting of all, however, is the paradigm shift that SIF represents in how the government thinks about investing in social change.  During the press conference to announce the SIF’s grantees, the Corporation’s CEO, Patrick Corvington, stated that, “Feeling good is not enough. Impact is what matters. Results are what matter.”

The SIF grantees are incredibly diverse in terms of their location, structure, and even mission focus.  Corvington explained the connection between these disparate groups in a press release by saying that, “They are all driven by the search for bold solutions and recognize that we must use evidence to target limited resources where they will have the greatest impact.” 

In our experience, SIF grantees can have the greatest impact by targeting their limited resources on “human capital.”  And by human capital, we mean that to fully leverage growth capital, nonprofits must be able to recruit sufficient numbers of talented staff and volunteers, utilize proven management systems, and shape their cultures in order to position talent for success, development, and retention.

Having worked for years with several of the SIF grantees, as well as the organizations that they support, we have witnessed first-hand the results that these foundations achieve when they bring financial capital together with human capital.

Although many traditional foundations have either overlooked human capital issues or focused only occasionally on piecemeal support, pioneering groups like New Profit Inc., Venture Philanthropy Partners, and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation have excelled in supporting a more complete range of human capital needs across their grantees. 

Most of these foundations have senior staff dedicated specifically to advancing the human capital practices of their grantees.  They share information and resources with their portfolio, implement operationally-focused evaluation tools, and help ensure that the right leaders are in the right roles. 

The investment strategies of these funders have proven that optimizing human capital allows their grantees to increase revenue flows, decrease program costs, improve program outcomes, accelerate growth trajectories, create sustainable organizations, and achieve mission impact.

We strongly encourage all SIF grantees to consider the impact that human capital will have on their efforts, as well as the many ways that they can help to control those outcomes.  For example, when sub-granting funds to nonprofits, they can: ask about plans to expand leadership teams and management infrastructures; designate funding to support those investments; encourage diverse teams that include talent from constituent communities; provide resources for professional development; and collect and disseminate best-practices and knowledge.

As a fundamental determinant of social return on investment, human capital can either be an unanticipated barrier to success or an effective catalyst for achieving it.  The difference comes down to intent and strategy.

Historically, social innovation has been largely dominated by education and youth services. It’s exciting to see a crop of organizations that are taking innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to addressing health issues. This is reflected in some of Commongood Careers’ newest clients, such as:

Heath Care without Harm, an international coalition of more than 473 organizations in 52 countries, is working to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. Health Care without Harm is currently hiring for a Chief Operating Officer.

District of Columbia Primary Care Association is a nonprofit health care reform organization founded in 1996 to improve the health of DC’s vulnerable residents by ensuring that they receive high quality primary health care – regardless of their ability to pay.  DCPCA represents 15 primary care providers in 58 sites across the District of Columbia. DCPCA is currently hiring for a Director of Development and Communications.

We hope to support the hiring needs of even more health-related nonprofits in the future. What other organizations are taking innovative approaches to addressing health issues?

We all know that bright, committed and creative people join and work in social sector because they are incredibly mission driven. Whether they seek to eradicate poverty, increase the college enrollment rates of low-income youth or fight for the environment, mission is everything. It’s why people join nonprofits organizations and why they will, if necessary, accept lower salaries, reduced resources and changing priorities.

Mission is everything…well, almost everything. Despite this incredible devotion to mission, studies have shown that nonprofit organizations experience significant employee turnover. This churn hurts many organizations and it can affect your career as well.

Why does this happen? We have a number of theories, two of which we’ll explore now with your help. Our belief is that turnover is high because people in nonprofits do not feel that their talent is being adequately developed and therefore their ability to advance is compromised. Another driver creating turnover is the difficulty of many employees to effectively participate in the decision-making processes of their organizations.

Why are these issues so neglected? Our experience indicates that many nonprofits tend to concentrate decision-making power in the hands of a limited number of people. This practice may frustrate staff and cause them to feel disconnected from the operations of their organization. Similarly, the lack of career development can be blindsided by an organization’s drive to achieve results. Too often, staff development may be considered a luxury rather than a necessity.

In order to evaluate these theories we need your help. We need your voice. Commongood Careers and Empowering Work Practices are dedicated to improving human capital practices in the social sector and we want you to be part of that effort.

To drive change, we need data. We invite you to participate in a brief survey that focuses on career development and decision-making. The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Your responses will be confidential.

As an added incentive the first 250 people who answer the survey will be eligible to participate in a drawing for one $50 iTunes gift card.

In addition, all survey respondents will be eligible to participate in a drawing for one of three free two-hour consultations with Empowering Work Practices to examine your organization’s decision making and career planning efforts. Empowering Work Practices is a consulting firm dedicated to fueling organizational growth through practices that generate candor, accountability and results.

Thank you in advance for participating in the survey. We appreciate your time and we look forward to hearing your voice.

Click here to take the survey.

KaBOOM! is a nonprofit organization that helps communities map their playspaces, build playgrounds, and prioritize more and better opportunities for play for their children.  KaBOOM! prides itself on having a positive, upbeat and fun organizational culture. Based in Washington D.C., KaBOOM! has grown from 12 to over 80 employees in the past few years. Its rapid growth can be attributed in part to the intentional presence of the organization’s culture, specifically the role of culture in connecting employees to each other and to the organization’s mission.

According to Kate Becker, Vice President of Program Management, employee engagement with the organization’s culture begins in the recruitment process. “When you walk into our offices, you quickly see what KaBOOM! is all about. Our space is open, colorful and even has playground equipment. As prospective employees take a tour, they experience the openness of the office and camaraderie between staff first-hand.”

This first-hand experience of culture continues in the on-boarding process for new employees. The HR team ensures that all new hires are presented with materials that represent the values of the culture, such as an internal publication entitled Fundamentals that outlines the history and purpose of KaBOOM!, as well as a toy plastic bucket to be used in an organizational ritual called “giving sand.”

“Employees are encouraged to write appreciative or inspiring notes and leave them in each other’s buckets as pieces of ‘sand.’ When a new employee starts, we try to make sure that they receive a few pieces of sand in their bucket,” Kate says, “This is a fun way to connect our culture of play to the work that we do, as well as live one of our beliefs of giving credit where credit is due.”

In addition to “sand,” employees are encouraged to share “ripples,” or as Kate describes, “stories of impact that we hear from the field. These stories have a big impact on day-to-day morale and remind staff of why we do the work we do.”

KaBOOM!’s strong culture has been intentional since day one; however it has evolved over time. “We’ve gotten more sophisticated about how we infuse culture in our employees. Much of this has to do with instilling the importance of culture at the senior most level of the organization, and then making it a strategic priority to communicate the importance of our culture across the entire organization,” says Kate.

As the organization has grown larger, the importance of culture has become even more important to building staff cohesion and employee satisfaction. Kate says that the culture has its greatest impact on the “day-to-day, whether it’s a team service activity or staff gathering to eat PB&J. It’s the maintenance and regularity of these types of activities that keep staff happy and engaged.” 

For organizations seeking ways to leverage culture in its employee recruitment and retention practices, Kate had the following suggestions:

1. Make culture an organizational priority. For example, encourage managers and their direct reports to carve out time for organizational rituals and activities. At a senior staff level, make decisions that support employee participation in the culture.

2. Strategize for the culture you want to have. Culture is going to develop regardless of your attention to it.  By determining what you want your culture to be – such as your organization’s values and personality traits – your organization can then build a strategic and intentional culture.

3. Think top-down and grassroots. An organization’s culture comes from many inputs. It’s important to involve senior staff to reinforce cultural initiatives, as well as encourage an inclusive adoption of the culture across staff. Solicit feedback from staff at all levels and include a variety of staff in the planning of cultural initiatives.

How will you move from “next” to “now”?

Explore these questions with other under-40 nonprofit leaders during the NGen program at the Independent Sector Annual Conference this October. NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now provides you and your peers an exceptional opportunity to enhance your professional networks, develop your leadership opportunities, and contribute to the future of the nonprofit community.

Each year, the IS conference is the premier gathering for leaders of America’s charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs.  At the 2010 conference, which takes place October 20-22 in Atlanta, NGen will again bring together talented nonprofit professionals under the age of 40 for a series of sessions designed specifically for people like you.  NGen offers:

Targeted pre-conference workshop sessions on October 19-20, addressing topics important to emerging leaders
Opportunities for rising young leaders to connect with leaders of all ages
Examinations of issues central to the nonprofit community and ways to add your voice to the conversation

Visit the IS website to view the NGen schedule and learn more about the benefits of participation to you and your organization.

Register for one and a half days of pre-conference NGen programming for only $100, or add NGen to your IS conference registration for only $50 more.  Act now and save—the “early bird” discount for the full conference expires this Wednesday, June 30! 

We need rising stars like you to be part of the nearly 800 leaders coming together in Atlanta this fall. I encourage you to register today!

As the economy begins to pick up, employees everywhere (the ones who have tirelessly “done more with less”) smell the fresh air and think about what life might be like in a different role, or in a different organization.  Now that more options are opening up, people who were “just happy to have a job” are starting to realize that they’ve been stressed out and over-worked for a while, or that they feel that their professional growth has hit a plateau. (Are you one of the people sniffing the winds of change? Tell us what is driving you to change jobs or leave the sector.)

So what should you do to minimize turnover in your organization? It’s time for a pulse check.  Be proactive: connect with each of your staff members about his or her individual job satisfaction, and take action to show that you’re really listening.  But beware: how you handle this conversation is crucial—your staff may still be worried about their job security, so they must trust that something other than “everything’s great!” won’t get them fired.  Once you have a trusting, supportive atmosphere, her are a few crucial things to do during your conversation:

Find out what’s lacking, and then find creative ways to offer “more.” Someone saying they are leaving because of a “competitive offer,” is just like someone saying, “It’s not you—it’s me,” to end a romantic relationship.  Is it true?  Sure, it’s probably true some of the time—and in those instances there is nothing else that you could have done (besides offer more money) to make a person stay.  But most of the time it is simply the easiest, least hurtful explanation for leaving an organization—but it may not be the complete truth.  Sure, a competitive offer is great—there are few people who would say no to more money in their paycheck—but money’s power as a motivator is often greatly overestimated.  After all, you are working with a subset of people who have deliberately chosen to earn less money in order to have a career with a deeper meaning.  Everyone has their own motivators, and its up to you to understand what is important to each member of your staff—and thus what would make them happier and more effective in the job they have now.  Ask your staff what is missing from their role right now, and find creative ways to give them “more.”  Here are a few “more” things you can give them (besides money, of course):
• More freedom to direct their own projects, to prioritize what’s needed, and to work in their own style
• More flexibility to work their own hours, to work unconventional hours, or work from home
• More challenges that will help them develop professionally and also add value to your organization
• More input into and ownership of key decisions that affect their job and the strategic direction of your organization
• More balance by thinking hard about priorities and eliminating work that your organization can live without

Tune in to the dreams of your staff.   When you were in kindergarten, everyone asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up.  It was a question asked with the belief that you were just started on a journey—that you were on your way to becoming something else.  Now, if you go to a cocktail party, everyone will ask what you do—a question that assumes that you’ve “arrived.”  But while it is easy to think of people and positions as something static, most of us are constantly striving to improve ourselves and become better than we were before.  Do you know what your employees want to be when they “grow up” (to take their next job)?  What do they want to do next?  How can you help them achieve that goal?  Does it align with the needs of your organization? By tuning in to the dreams of your staff, you can better understand the challenges and next steps they are looking to take, and make sure that your staff are built in to the internal talent pipeline of your organization.

Share your future staffing plans, and get staff input.  For every position that you have, you should be thinking about a potential succession plan.  Make sure you include your staff in these plans (especially now that you know where each of them want to go), and share your thoughts with them.  If you have a staff member who you think might be great for another position in your organization after more training or more experience, tell him about it. Be honest and clear about where you see him fitting in to your organization’s future—what skills he needs to gain, what weaknesses he would need to strengthen, and what further experience he needs.  Hopefully, he will be flattered that you see this potential in him, and will happily work even harder to continue developing.  While you may have thought about him in the future of your organization, if he never hears of your plans, he may assume that there is really no future for him there—and may already be quietly looking elsewhere.

By being proactive, listening, and genuinely showing that you are truly committed to the growth and the needs of each member of your staff, you can minimize turnover at your organization.

This bill seeks to transform the way government thinks about and partners with the nonprofit community across the country. We see this legislation as an important part of the social innovation and America Forward policy agenda, and are pleased to be partnering with Rep. McCollum along with leading nonprofit sector organizations that have helped to frame this ground-breaking proposal.

With rare exceptions, the nonprofit sector is invisible to the federal government.  We have entire agencies devoted to supporting small business, trade, commerce, and other industries.  And yet, the nonprofit sector is just as vital to our economy, employing one out of ten individuals and delivering critical human, social, educational, and cultural services.  Innovation in the social sector is as important as it is in the business world.  This legislation will help the federal government do a better job supporting innovation in this realm.

You can read more about the legislation at http://www.councilofnonprofits.org/nscsact. 

We look forward to continuing to work with Congresswoman McCollum and other nonprofit partners to move this legislation in the next Congress.

Americorps positions, if used strategically, can be a great way to expand your capacity—provided that your organization devotes the necessary resources needed for Americorps members to succeed.  Each position should be considered as carefully as a new staff position, and its purpose should be thoughtfully aligned with organizational mission and goals.  As we wrote about last month, volunteers are people too, so one of the biggest mistakes a nonprofit can make is to add new Americorps positions without providing the necessary support for the people filling those positions to become impactful additions to your team. 

In fact, Rick Cohen, in a recent Blue Avocado column about the potentially hurtful effects of public policy programs on volunteering,  voices some legitimate concerns that some nonprofits might use Americorps positions in ways that will be ultimately detrimental to the sector.  To combat this, he argues, it’s important that nonprofits ensure that they leverage Americorps volunteers in an impactful way, and “structure their jobs as first steps in nonprofit careers.” 

So how can you ensure that your organization can leverage the talent provided by the Serve America Act? Assign a phenomenal manager to oversee the work of your Americorps volunteers. A dedicated resource with phenomenal management skills to manage your Americorps positions is important for several reasons:

1) Americorps positions are time bound, with built-in high turnover.  The time-bound nature of the Americorps program means that turnover is guaranteed to be high, as many Americorps members serve for only one year.  Much can be learned and accomplished in one year, but if there is no “bridge” from one year to the next, many of the gains will be lost after each member exits, leaving the next Americorps member to “reinvent the wheel.”  Without a permanent and involved manager to make sure that institutional knowledge and external relationships are carried over from one year to the next, each year can become a repeat of the last—your own personal version of the movie “Groundhog Day.”  A manager can ensure continuity and continuous improvement from year to year, so your impact can continue to grow and improve.

2) Americorps volunteers need appropriate training and guidance to be effective.  Like all employees, Americorps members need to learn how your organization works, your theory of change, and how they can contribute to accomplishing your mission.  Since the backgrounds and previous experiences of Americorps members are diverse, a manager who works with Amercorps volunteers needs to be able to assess, on an individual level, what support and training each person will need to be successful in their role.  Without appropriate training, Americorps volunteers will either be overwhelmed or bored, and, as a result, your effectiveness will suffer.  Great managers “get” people—they have an ability to understand what makes different people tick, what motivates them, and what challenges them.  With so many people stepping into and out of these roles on a regular basis, a skilled manager who can tailor their approach to the unique talents and challenges of each individual will ensure that each Americorps volunteer can contribute to their full potential.

3) Americorps volunteers, even more so than other employees, are at risk of burn-out.  Americorps volunteers are willing to work for very little pay in exchange for an education award and the chance to do something meaningful.  Many of them are willing to work above and beyond the hours required of them, and the nature of the work in the nonprofit sector ensures that there is always more work that could be done.  Newcomers to the nonprofit sector may have a hard time setting boundaries and creating manageable workloads.  A great manager can help passionate volunteers find balance, modify their workloads, and, of course, tell them to go home when they begin to work themselves into the ground.  The last thing you want your organization to do is to convince your would-be future executive director to leave the sector because they perceive nonprofit positions to be unsustainable.

4) Your Americorps members need to be developed as nonprofit professionals to become a key element of your talent pipeline. Americorps service is rapidly becoming the first step for many young people (and more experienced sector switchers as well) to beginning a nonprofit career (Want to know more? Check out our article, “The New Entry Level: Hiring from Leadership Development Programs”).  Hosting Americorps corps members in your organization is an opportunity to win a life-long champion for your organization and to develop a strong pipeline of talent.  To make sure this potential is realized, it is important that Americorps members are exposed to many different facets of your organization and your mission, and shown the ropes of nonprofit careers, both within your organization and without.  If you do it right, when you need to hire for a new position, you will have many passionate and qualified Americorps alumni ready to join your team—making your biggest problem which one you should choose.  A manager with a responsibility to make this happen can help facilitate professional development opportunities for Americorps members, serve as a mentor and guide for them in their next steps, and be a continuous point of contact between them and the organization until they are ready to return as full-time staff members.

So enjoy this summer: think big, think strategically, and think about making the next addition to your organization a phenomenal manager.

All nominees must be under-40, work for a U.S.-based nonprofit or non-governmental organization, and have had a transformative, measurable impact within their field, beyond his or her organization. The winner of the American Express NGen Leadership Award will be announced in late August, and will be recognized during the IS Annual Conference in Atlanta, October 20-22.  Nominations will be accepted through Monday, June 14.  Self-nomination is not admissible for this award.

Visit the IS website for more information on the award criteria, the selection process, and the nomination requirements.

This award extends Independent Sector’s commitment to encouraging emerging leaders in the nonprofit and philanthropic community.  All under-40 nonprofit professionals are invited to join IS for the NGen Program at the IS Annual Conference in Atlanta this October, which will offer expanded programming and networking opportunities for emerging leaders. Visit the IS website to learn more about how you can register for NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now.

In January of 2009, Lester Strong was hired as the new CEO of Experience Corps, a national organization that places adults 55 and older as tutors and mentors for elementary students struggling to read in urban public schools . At the same time, the program was transitioning from being a program within a larger nonprofit to an independent 501(c)3.

Employees were experiencing a good amount of change during this period. New administrative systems were being put into place and job descriptions were shifting. So Lester decided to implement a compensation strategy to help motivate staff through this period of change.

“I knew that the scope of work was going to change when we became our own 501(c)3,” Lester said, “As a new CEO, I wanted to recognize the hard work that brought the organization to this place, as well as prepare the staff for the challenges that lay ahead. So I sat down with all of the employees and said, ‘Here’s a small bonus for the great work you’ve already done and, frankly, for the increased amount of work I’m going to ask you to do.’”

In addition to the bonus, Lester decided to set salary levels after 9 months as a freestanding organization. “Job descriptions were changing and we needed to wait to have a better perspective from which to make informed decisions about scope of work and salary for each employee. The bonus helped to motivate staff until we would have the opportunity to set salary increases.”

Lester reports that staff received this information very positively. They were happy to receive the bonus up front and recognized that this “perk” was a call to commit to the work ahead of them. According to Lester, “The next 9 months were really successful. Staff took on greater responsibilities and worked harder. During this time, we created a 5-year strategic plan and integrated new standards into our literacy intervention model.”

“After this ramp-up period, we evaluated people who had been with Experience Corps for more than a year and increased salaries predicated on their new roles.”

Even for organizations that are not going through a major transition, a small bonus can be an unexpected and welcome motivator to employees. Lester described this type of bonus as a “thank you up front.” 

As Lester learned at Experience Corps, a little bit of financial incentive can go a long way.

Though employers across industries are showing reluctance to hire full-time employees in favor of part-time, temp-to-hire and independent contractors, according to Linda Duffy, president of Leadership Habitude, there are certain industries showing potential for serious growth—the kind that offers job stability long term.

1. Nonprofit

James Weinberg, Founder and CEO of Commongood Careers, says the nonprofit sector continues to grow, representing 12 percent of the GNP and workforce. Says Weinberg, “Based on our experience, nonprofits focusing on education and health, as well as those considered to be entrepreneurial social innovators, are best positioned for rapid growth.” Though many nonprofits lean heavily on government funding, budget cuts on the state and federal level have made an impact. Development directors responsible for raising money will likely be more valuable than ever. Median salaries for full-time fundraisers are around $61,000, according to online salary database, PayScale.com.

Read the full article.

Dare Mighty Things in a management consulting firm that supports large-scale programs that impact vulnerable populations. During a recent period of growth, the organization decided to focus on the development of its employees in order to significantly build its capacity. The organization’s leadership devised a system of “job families,” where employees are grouped by core competencies and assigned a coach. Each coach helps his/her family of employees to gain specific core competencies needed for them to excel in - and advance beyond—their roles.

According to Jim Seevers, Senior Vice President at Dare Mighty Things, this system has been very effective. “In our work, we try to create a set of routine standard replicable processes,” Jim said, “The job families concept is something we’ve been able to replicate across all staff, and this system has allowed us to consistently develop core competencies in groups of employees to help them advance within the organization.”

Job families are comprised of peers, such as a group of analysts, and coaches are typically senior staff. In groups and individually, the coach works with family members to gain knowledge, skills, and experience in various core competencies. Within each family, development opportunities include many 1-on-1 discussions with coaches, group trainings, or peer-to-peer exchanges via a web-based knowledge management system.

“Coaches work in concert with supervisors,” Jim explained, “These two individuals are responsible for certifying that employees gain the demonstrated knowledge, skills and ability on specific competencies. Where we previously relied on anecdotal evidence about employee learning, we now have a more objective way to measure professional development.”

Having grown from 30 to 50 employees in less than two years, Jim attributes the job families system with the organization’s ability to fill 60% of non-entry level positions with internal candidates. “The biggest payback has been our ability to grow from within. We ensure people have the skills they need for quality performance today while growing in their career family to be prepared for tomorrow’s challenges.”

We at Commongood Careers are passionate about the power of people. We know that having the right person in the right role can multiply your organization’s impact.  While human capital management has traditionally presented a challenge to the nonprofit sector, it seems that the tide is finally turning. Cutting edge organizations and social entrepreneurs are starting to discover the potential that effective human capital management practices have to increase their impact, even as their resources are shrinking (for some interesting ideas on this, check out the report from our Conversations with Social Entrepreneurs event series.

When you think about ways to leverage the talents of your people to increase your impact, what do you think about?  Unless your organization is on the very cutting edge of human capital management (in which case we would love you to share what you’re doing), we would guess that “apply human capital management techniques to volunteer management” didn’t make your list.

But why not? Volunteers are people too! Not only are volunteers people, volunteers have vast resources of untapped talent that they are trying to contribute. After all, they’ve shown up to help you with your mission, ready to donate their most precious resource: their time.

Then why is it the case that organizations (even those with large numbers of volunteers) sometimes view volunteer programs as a necessary evil to bring in more donations or perhaps as more trouble than they are worth?  For organizations that have not thought strategically about how to use staff time to really leverage their volunteers, these passionate and talented volunteers can be a bit overwhelming: what should I do with them? Often the answer is to give them something — anything! — to do.

Volunteers can sense when their time is being wasted. Can you remember a time you worked with an organization and felt like it didn’t matter if you were there or not?  A time when you felt like you were given a task just to keep you busy?  And did you ever volunteer with that organization again?  If your answer is “no,” then it may be safe to say that many others would be no different.  According to the Stanford Social Innovation Review article, The New Volunteer Workforce, about one out of three volunteers who volunteered in one year didn’t come back the next for a common set of reasons…because the tasks they were doing didn’t leverage their skills and talents, because their contributions were not recognized or measured, because the training was insufficient, because there was a lack of leadership, or all of the above.

If this wasted talent were measured in dollars, you can bet that something would be done about it.  We can hear board members, donors, and staff members talking about it right now: “how can we fix this situation? How can we leverage what we have to create the greatest impact?”

What could happen if we, as a sector, managed volunteer time and talent with the same care, dedication, thoughtfulness, and strategy with which we manage money?  The sky’s the limit.  But we have to start by looking at how to manage volunteers like the talented, capable contributors that they can be.

This was your first time at a Skoll World Forum; why did you decide to attend this year?

As Commongood Careers has grown to a point of national scale and with the launch of our new venture, Talent Initiative, I have been focusing a greater amount of my time on advancing the sector as a whole, on both a national and global level.  This is coming at the same time as I believe that we are approaching one of the most pivotal inflection points in the history of the social sector.  As we emerge from the global economic downturn, many world leaders—including President Obama in the US—are re-envisioning the role that entrepreneurial, outcome-based and high-impact nonprofits/NGOs have in moving our society forward.  The Skoll Forum is one of the most significant annual conversations among social entrepreneurs about the future of our work and our world.  Given my new focus areas and the strategic imperative of this time, I was excited about the opportunity to join the dialogue this year.

How was this conference different than other conferences that focus on social entrepreneurship?

There are not too many conferences focused on social entrepreneurship, and I wish that there were more. The Skoll World Forum is the most globally diverse conference that I have ever attended.  At any given event, I was as likely to be sitting next to someone from Ghana or Palestine as I was to be comparing and contrasting the hiring needs of nonprofits in Korea or Darfur.  It was an amazing experience to see how many similarities exist across the world, and to imagine how different our work would be in different cultures and contexts.

You led two workshops about talent while you were there. What were the themes, concerns and ideas that were discussed during that session?

We had two great sessions on “Human Capital and Social Entrepreneurs” in Oxford.  At the start of each session, we went around the room and asked participants to share their greatest areas of concern or challenge related to human capital and management.  Then, for 90 minutes, my colleague Pari Jhaveri of Third Sector Partners in India would answer as many of their questions as possible.  Many of the participants were focused on specific hiring needs, most commonly based around hiring (in many cases their first) Chief Operating Officer and/or Chief Development Officer.  These hires both represent a vital developmental turning point for many organizations and exploring how to structure these roles and integrate them into existing management structures was a fascinating conversation.  Many social entrepreneurs were also focusing on maintaining a competitive compensation structure within this economic environment, preserving their organizational cultures throughout a rapid growth process, and building “bench strength” and succession plans for senior managers.

What are your overall impressions of the Skoll World Forum 2010?

It is an amazing opportunity to convene leaders from incredibly diverse backgrounds that all share a common entrepreneurial approach to their myriad visions for social change.  I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to attend and I hope to do so again next year.

How did you get home when everyone else seems to be stranded in Europe as a result of the Icelandic volcano?

Eric Schwarz from Citizen Schools and I had to get back to Boston early for an event and I think that we were on the very last plane out of Heathrow before they closed down all of British air space.  We really lucked out on that one!  Now just about a week later, I understand that most of the conference attendees are still unable to return home, with many of them making their way in cabs and busses down to Madrid where it is rumored that you can get a flight out.  This phenomenon has just absolutely amazed me and it seems to have bottled up the world’s greatest social entrepreneurs in one place for an extended period!  We have a lot of work to do and I hope that everyone can get home soon.

Well, now is your chance to make your voice heard and shape the future of AH’s credentialing program. The good people at AH are conducting an important study that will help determine what competencies are needed to credential effective managers and leaders. Your input will drive the continued development of the American Humanics Nonprofit Management and Leadership credential. This is the largest survey of its kind and seeks the input of all segments of the nonprofit sector.

The results of the survey will be published and distributed publicly in the fall of 2010. More so, the findings will support curricular development in our network of colleges and universities.

On behalf of our friends at AH, we thank you in advance for your support.

Take the American Humanics survey.

As part of theirwork to increase the impact of volunteering, they are examining the current practices in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors.  This research will help inform the design of potential solutions to improve volunteer management. 

For the nonprofit sector they are reaching out to Volunteer Management departments of all sizes from all over the country to participate in this research and have assembled a volunteer team who is fielding this study.

For their research, they are asking Volunteer Management departments of all sizes from all over the country to participate by taking 15 minutes of your time to complete the survey linked below.  The objective of the survey is to collect information on the tools and resources used by nonprofits in Volunteer Management to help identify where challenges/opportunities lie in the sector.  Your candid responses will be integral on developing an understanding of the Volunteer Management sector and will help shape the work of this cross-sector national effort.

They plan to share the findings from this research and potential volunteer management solutions at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in June 2010 during the Reimagining Service Forum. 

Please complete the survey by Friday, April 2, 2010: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AEAXPJHRS

The Jumo home page announces Hughes’s mission to “bring together everyday individuals and organizations to speed the pace of global change. We connect people to the issues, organizations, and individuals relevant to them to foster lasting relationships and meaningful action.” Early adopters can enter their email address to learn more.

According to the Jumo site: “There are no magic solutions to the challenges our world faces. But there are millions of people around the globe who work each day to improve the lives of others. Unfortunately, there are millions more who don’t know how to meaningfully help.

Jumo brings together everyday individuals and organizations to speed the pace of global change. We connect people to the issues, organizations, and individuals relevant to them to foster lasting relationships and meaningful action.”

Officially launching in the fall, the site will later be organized much like a social network — with profiles for individual users that contain a collection of information that they have shared and used, pages for organizations created both by the orgs in question and others, and issue pages that serve as a kind of discussion of the topics at hand.

Early adopters can pre-register at http://www.jumo.com. We can’t wait to see how this site unfolds!

Participating in the project is easy. Vote for any of the organizations listed on the Members Project website. If there’s an organization you’d like to see considered, you can submit a nomination. Every three months, the organization with the most votes in each of the five categories will receive $200,000 in funding from American Express. The website also features information about how to volunteer at or make a donation directly to the organization of your choice.

Registration is required in order to vote. Once your vote is cast, you’ll be able to see which charities are in the lead. Voting is open to everyone, and you can vote every week, so be sure to keep coming back to help.

Cast your vote at http://www.takepart.com/membersproject/vote.

Let’s imagine that I have a magic wand. What I am going to do with my magic wand is go into your organization’s bank accounts…. and zero out the cash balance….  Then, I am going to go to your office and I am going to wipe out all the program data, all the technology, your strategic plan, your branded materials, and, in fact, the whole office itself….  And finally, I am going to pick up all of your staff, and all of your board members, and all of your volunteers and place them in a field together.  And I am going to ask that group, with you as its leader, to have the biggest impact on your mission possible.  I’d be willing to bet that all of you could get some pretty damn impressive results using just those people and nothing else.

So, here’s a different scenario.  I take out my wand again but, this time, I wipe out all those people.  Don’t worry.  They’re OK.  I sent them to the Cayman Islands on vacation… and I sent you with them… all expenses paid.  Now, let me ask you: Back at home, how much good is all the money, and technology, and infrastructure that is left behind going to get done on its own in service to your mission?

I’m sure by now, you all get my point.  In our sector, it’s the people, first and foremost, that dictate our ability to do good in the world. 

But why am I bothering to point out things that I know, that you know, already?  I’m standing up here in the hope of communicating one single and simple message… which is that it’s about putting people-FIRST.

I know from working with many of you that human capital is among your top five organizational priorities, which is GREAT.  The problem for many of us, however, is that it is number 3 or 4, rather than number 1.  And there is a world of difference between being a people-first organization and a people-fourth organization.

Now I know that no-one wants to think of themselves as being a “people-fourth” organization.  But the truth is, “putting people first” makes total sense and is something that we can commit to…. until we look down at our blackberries or iPhones and remember 3-4 more urgent, but ultimately less important things that need to be addressed ASAP and talent development will just have to wait.  So, one day, when we have a little more time and a little more money, we’ll make some investments to really get our organizations up to speed along those lines.  But… that day never really comes… or it comes too late to capture the opportunity of the moment.

The best leaders among us today, however, have proven that if we truly think and act on a people-FIRST basis, we can make the most out of this pivotal time in the evolution of our movement.  With a people-FIRST mindset, we can dramatically:

• Increase our revenue streams
• Improve our programs results
• Scale our operations and
• Change the lives of millions of people… in a way, and to a degree that simply is not possible without this mindset.

And it is NOT JUST about getting the right people on the bus, which is important.  It’s also about how we on-board, compensate, evaluate, manage, develop, and retain our people. 

So, this afternoon, I want to ask you to make a commitment.  Whether you are a social entrepreneur, a funder, a government employee, or a thought leader in the sector….  I want to ask you to really explore what it would look like to make human capital your organization’s number one priority.  Think about how you would go about doing it.  What would change?  And what benefits you could expect to see from that shift.

So, let’s go back to imagining.  I can imagine a social innovation movement that that puts people-first across the board.  I can imagine a sector that is better, stronger, smarter, more efficient, more effective, grows more rapidly, and brings increasingly high levels of social change to a world that needs it.

Imagine all of your staff and volunteer positions filled with cracker-jack, rock-star talent, and with those people being managed and developed in a tightly aligned organizational culture that allows them to achieve their fullest potential.

Or, imagine that they might as well be sitting in the Cayman’s.

Imagine it.

This annual event provides a forum where nonprofits can connect with local professionals seeking board-level volunteer positions. This year, more than 350 individuals are expected to attend.

This year’s event takes place on Monday, April 12th, at the offices of WilmerHale, 60 State Street, 26th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts. The program runs from 5:30-8:00 pm.

If you are interested in registering your organization to attend, there is a $75 fee that covers a one-half of an eight-foot exhibitor’s table and light reception. To participate, you MUST REGISTER by March 19th via the link below: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/32TN9SX

If you serve on the board of a local nonprofit and would like to find out more about registering that organization to have a table at the event, please contact Lauren Bonner at lbonner@supportunitedway.org.

At last year’s conference, IS introduced the American Express NGen Fellows Program. As Commongood Careers is a member of the NGen advisory committee, we are pleased to announce the second year of this unique leadership opportunity, which builds the capacity of 12 under-40 professionals from IS member organizations to shape the future of the nonprofit community.  The IS website provides details about the fellows program, including how to apply.  Completed applications are due March 29.

NGen fellows will enjoy a series of exceptional opportunities over the course of nine months, including collaborating with other under-40 leaders, interacting with established mentors, and contributing to IS’s work on nonprofit impact and leadership. Independent Sector will host the 12 fellows at our D.C. offices for a kick-off event in late August, and they will receive complementary registration and lodging to take part in the IS Annual Conference in Atlanta, October 20-22.  These experiences will culminate in a six-month group project that advances their leadership skills and contributes to the ability of emerging leaders to collaborate on sector-wide issues.

The American Express NGen Fellows Program is just one part of IS’s NGen initiative, which is designed to deepen the nonprofit talent pool by developing the leadership opportunities and professional networks of emerging leaders.  The inaugural cohort of fellows continues to work on the collaborative project that is at the heart of the program, and we encourage you to complete their online survey if you haven’t done so already. We have also already begun planning for this year’s NGen program in Atlanta; mark your calendars now for targeted NGen events open to all under-40 leaders October 19-20. 

This fellowship program offers dedicated young professionals at IS member organizations a rare opportunity to magnify their impact and accelerate their careers. We encourage you to apply today!

Today we join many across the nation in applauding the Senate’s unanimous approval of Patrick Corvington to become the next CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Patrick Corvington brings 20 years of first-hand experience in the nonprofit, service and philanthropic sectors to an important new position that has the potential to play a central role in carrying forward the President’s vision of national service and social innovation.

His strong leadership skills and extensive knowledge of nonprofit capacity building are likely to prove to be invaluable in helping the Corporation—as well as the organizations that it supports and partners with across the country—to achieve higher levels of impact, innovation, and effectiveness. 

Commongood Careers would particularly like to celebrate Mr. Corvington’s longstanding commitment to leadership and human capital issues within the nonprofit sector, as well as the vital role that talent management plays in expanding effective program models.

Adding Patrick Corvington’s leadership to the existing commitments of the President and Congress, we now have a unique opportunity to engage even more Americans in service, to continue to strengthen and build the capacity of the nonprofit sector, and to address some of our society’s most pressing challenges through innovative new approaches.

We look forward to working as a partner with the Corporation and Mr. Corvington to these ends.

James Weinberg
Founder & CEO
Commongood Careers

What’s more? You can earn $1,000 if you refer someone they hire. When making a referral, please tell them you heard about this opportunity through Commongood Careers.

Click here to see full rules and details and to refer someone.  View all current openings online.

How so, you ask? Because the culture of Commongood Careers embraces transparency and communication. It would be a really unusual situation for our CEO (or any member of our senior management team) to not be involved at some level with the work of the entire team, including entry-level staff. Every strategy we pursue, every project we work on is communicated to all staff through bi-monthly staff meetings. We have a number of internal working groups that represent a cross-section of all staff levels, from entry-level to executive. Our workplace culture is so non-hierarchical that it isn’t unusual to see our CEO fiddling with computers, cleaning the refrigerator, or answer the phone.

So CBS can save their workplace experiments for re-deploying corporate big-wigs to the mail room or assembly line. Like so many of our nonprofit clients and partners, we’re happy to have fewer barriers between the executive suite and front office.

These events are free, but space is limited and registration is required. Seats will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. You must RSVP in order to attend. All events will take place in centrally located downtown hotels. Location and other information will be made available to confirmed attendees.

Please contact Kasey Gagnon at as soon as possible to join the conversation in your region.

New York City
January 20, 2010
8:00-11:00am
Panelists:
- Matthew Klein, Blue Ridge Foundation
- Charles Best, DonorsChoose.org
- Lara Galinsky, Echoing Green
- Mike O’Brien, iMentor
- George Overholser, Nonprofit Finance Fund

Boston
January 22, 2010
8:00-11:00am

Panelists:
- Michael Brown, City Year
- Eric Schwarz, Citizen Schools
- Doug Borchard, New Profit, Inc.
- Alexandra Quinn, Project HEALTH

San Francisco
January 27, 2010
8:00-11:00am
Panelists:
- Suzanne McKechnie Klahr, BUILD
- Anne Marie Burgoyne, Draper Richards Foundation
- Louise Davis, Peer Health Exchange
- Jill Vialet, Playworks

Washington, D.C.
February 2, 2010
8:00-11:00am

Panelists:
- Darell Hammond, KaBOOM!
- Kirsten Lodal, LIFT
- Brett Jenks, Rare Conservation
- Eleanor Rutland, Venture Philanthropy Partners

2. Identify your core competencies. Core competencies are the skills and characteristics that position someone for success in a particular job role, such as staff management, quantitative analysis, or teamwork. By determining your top 4-5 core competencies, you will be able to assess your potential fit with a position, as well as highlight your specific competencies in your application materials.

3. Invest in informational interviewing. Informational interviews can help further define what you’re looking for in a job. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a connection on LinkedIn, a member of your alumni association, or someone you met at a fundraising event. Most nonprofit professionals enjoy talking about their work, and are open to helping job seekers gain more information about a particular role, organization, or mission area.

4. Build your personal network.  Many nonprofits do not post their open positions on job boards. Instead, they rely almost entirely on their personal networks to identify candidates. Remember to invest time in building your personal network, as well as communicating with the members of your network to make sure they know you’re on the job market!

5. Do your homework. Research the role, organization, and mission area before you apply to a position. Not only will this help you understand your potential interest in the position, but it will also help you connect the dots in your application materials. An informed job seeker stands out from the crowd.

6. Personalize every cover letter. Nothing sends you to the bottom of the “no” pile of resumes faster than sending off a generic cover letter. Never send a letter to “To Whom It May Concern.” And when you cut and paste the same cover letter to every job on Idealist.org, believe us, hiring managers can tell.

7. Illustrate your core competencies in your resume. Don’t just list your accomplishments in your resume. Based upon your top core competencies, use real-life examples of how you’ve demonstrated these skills or characteristics. For example, illustrate a staff management competency by describing specific ways that you provided support and assessed employees in the past.

8. Prepare for interviews. If you tend to be nervous during interviews, try to practice responses ahead of time, or do a “dry run” with a friend. In addition to practicing responses, remember to prepare a few smart questions that illustrate that you did your homework and that you are genuinely interested in the position.

9. Stay in touch with your references. Good references can easily turn bad if you forget to keep in touch with them. A brief email every month or so to update them on your job search status, as well as a “heads up” note to inform them that a potential employer may be in touch with them, will prepare these important people to speak highly of you when the time comes to provide a reference.

10. Stay positive. A job search can be tough, especially in today’s economy. Being positive, smart, articulate, energetic, thoughtful, flexible, and passionate are crucial characteristics in most nonprofit environments, so maintain your confidence and positive attitude. Job searching is difficult but no one wants to hire someone who seems unenthusiastic, demoralized, or defeated.

In the wake of an unemployment rate at 10 percent, the White House last week reached out to approximately 130 leaders from business, government, academia, labor and the nonprofit sector to seek input on the most effective ways to create jobs.

While President Obama emphasized that “true economic recovery is only going to come from the private sector,” he recognized the important role that local government can play in spurring investment in communities and sought out suggestions from cities by inviting five mayors from across the country to participate in the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth. President Obama also encouraged Americans around the country to gather and discuss employment issues and solutions in their local communities.

Since then, thousands of citizens has responded to this call to action. Due to the overwhelming response, the White House has extended the deadline to January 7, 2010. This is an exciting opportunity to explore how to address job creation with your local neighbors, business owners, elected officials, and others who have felt the impact of the economic crisis firsthand.

If you are interested in hosting a jobs discussion in your community, complete this form. The White House will then email you discussion questions and other materials to help make your event as productive as possible and give you instructions on to how to share feedback with the White House staff.

1. Not doing your homework. We’ve talked with so many potentially great candidates who know absolutely nothing about the position or organization to which they are applying. Before speaking with a prospective employer, study the job description, as well as the programs, mission, staff, and other aspects of the organization. Doing some research in advance will not only demonstrate your interest and ability to be prepared, but it will also help you think through ways that you are uniquely qualified for the job.

2. Saying “um,” “like,” or “ecetera.” Most of us use filler words like these in our day-to-day speech. Still, in an interview setting, this can come across as poor communication skills. To avoid sputtering a case of the “um”s during an interview, take a breath and slow down. It can also help to practice some the answers to commonly asked questions in a mirror before the interview to master this skill.

3. Offering too much personal information. It’s ok to share relevant personal information, such as your connection to the organization’s mission, but otherwise keep your private life out of the interview room. Sharing too much personal information can be a sign of poor judgment or communication skills, and can also make the interviewer uncomfortable. Instead, prepare to discuss only information from your professional life that supports your candidacy.

4. Trashing your current or past employers. Negativity is a huge red flag to interviewers. If you badmouth your past employers, what reason are you giving a prospective employer that you won’t do the same to them? Instead, demonstrate your critical thinking skills and ability to work through challenging situations by sharing any learnings gained from difficult work experiences.

5. Bragging. Bring a sense of humility to the interview process. Even if you’ve accomplished amazing feats in your professional life, discuss these with grace and without a big ego. By appearing too overconfident, you run the risk of putting off a prospective employer, as well as communicating that you have nothing to learn. Instead, focus on sharing results from your professional life, and let these accomplishments do the “bragging” for you.

For more friendly advice on what to do (and not do) during the interview process, read our article Meeting the Nonprofit:Ten Interviewing Tips.

Dear Friends of America Forward,

On December 8, Congress made a formal decision to fully fund for the Social Innovation Fund in its first year at $50 million. The Social Innovation Fund will serve as a robust mechanism for partnering across sectors to identify and invest in proven innovations, and will provide the critical catalytic capital necessary to bring these solutions to bear on problems faced by communities across the country.

This $50 million dollar investment in 2010 has the potential to grow to as much as $200 million in its first year, by leveraging private and philanthropic support for both intermediaries and grantees. While we recognize that this may seem small, relative to the billions being invested in restoring our nation’s economy, this pilot fund has the potential to serve as a potent example of the power of social innovation to solve truly complex social problems. Achieving full funding in its first year is a remarkable starting point for what we believe will become a new way to solve problems across government.

We sincerely thank you all for your hard work in securing full funding for the Social Innovation Fund. As you know, this was a long and challenging process, and our success lies in your ability to mobilize with passion around this Fund. Your countless calls, emails, and letters to appropriators helped make the case that there is widespread and deep demand for a new way of solving problems, and that organizations stand ready to scale their programs to the communities where they are most needed.

We also deeply appreciate the forward-thinking champions of social innovation on Capitol Hill, who rallied their colleagues to call for a new way of investing in solving problems. We are inspired by their leadership and vision for a future where all children and families have access to the powerful solutions of social entrepreneurs.

While this is surely a moment for celebration, lots of work remains to be done to achieve success for the Social Innovation Fund. We must now come together to support the implientation of the Fund, to prove that this is a more effective way to invest government dollars, and that by focusing on growing high-impact organizations we can overcome many of the great social challenges faced by our nation.

Thank you for your dedication to this effort. We are eager to continue advancing the social innovation agenda and the Fund.

Best regards,

The America Forward Team

At various conferences, through dedicated convenings such as the one that I was fortunate to have recently attended, and by conducting research including Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership, the Council is increasingly focusing its attention on the human side of foundation work. For example…

• Who makes important human resource investment decisions?
• How are individuals selected, prepared, and managed?
• How can we improve the status quo?

All of this is a good start and I wouldn’t say that it is “too little, too late,” especially because I am so appreciative of all efforts moving in this direction, but, as a sector, man oh man do we have a long way to go!

These are issues and problems that have been largely ignored for the better part of a century. And foundations, as a whole, have historically been more of the cause of the probli than its solution when it comes to human resources.

Traditional philanthropic thinking has classified almost all overhead as wasteful, slashed HR functions as expendable, and created a sector of unstable, unsustainable, inefficient, and ineffective organizations. The current state of HR in the larger foundation community and the nonprofit sector at large can best be categorized as abysmal, but it is not without hope.

I am happy to see a new wave of institutions emerging, most notably led by a few major institutions and the maverick venture philanthropists who fund social entrepreneurs. Some of these folks truly appreciate the importance of investing in human capital. They have seen that their grantees and their own institutions are better able to generate social return on investment when they recruit the right leadership, compensate them appropriately, manage them effectively, and ensure that they continue to develop and grow as individuals.

I would encourage the Council in everything that it does to find and connect with these enlightened next-generation funders, hold them up as exemplars, and position them to be teachers and evangelists for the rest of us.

There is a moral imperative at work here. We must get better at talent recruitment, management, and development. To fail in this endeavor, or to continue to fail to try to improve, is an enormous waste of resources and a corruption of our social mission.

—posted by James Weinberg

James Weinberg is Founder and CEO of Commongood Careers. He also serves as a board member on Emerging Practitioners In Philanthropy.

As reflected by our client base, Commongood Careers is not surprised by this projected growth. This month, we are honored to welcome a number of education-related organizations as search clients, from charter schools to teacher training programs, including:

• Designed by a coalition of community and academic leaders, the Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy is dedicated to the belief that all young women deserve access to the skills, knowledge, and opportunities to succeed in college and to develop as leaders in their communities and the world.
• The Edward W. Brooke Charter School is a K-8 charter school, whose mission is to prepare students to attend and succeed in college. The school is committed to closing the achievement gap in our country among low-income and minority students and believe that we can close that gap by cultivating powerful and effective teaching and learning environments.
• The EnCorps Teachers Program is an innovative public-private partnership changing the face of education in California.  Dedicated to increasing the number of much-needed math and science teachers in California’s public middle and high schools, EnCorps helps math and science professionals to transition into teaching in low-income schools throughout California.
• Founded in 1999, the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools is a membership organization that historically has represented the state’s charter schools through advocacy, communications, networking, and services for membership.

Learn more about our search clients at http://www.cgcareers.org/aboutus/clients

Of particular interest, the Council on Foundations shared a research report entitled “Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership.” This baseline study looks at potential keys to success for emerging leaders in philanthropy, as well as offers insights into the total appointment process.

The key findings from this research include:

1. Nearly 80 percent of the 440 foundations appointing CEOs and executive directors during the study period filled them not through internal promotions but from candidates outside the
foundations.

2. Most of the successful candidates held executive positions in their immediate prior position as either chief executive or vice president before successfully landing in their current position.

3. The majority of the successful candidates made the transition from fields outside of philanthropy— primarily from the business and nonprofit sectors.

4. Of the successful candidates, nearly 20 percent were from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and about half were women.

5. Thirty percent of field leaders who were interviewed said mentors played a major role in their career advancement.

6. About 85 percent of the interviewees expressed significant skepticism about the willingness of trustees, search consultants, and other hiring decision makers to be influenced by leadership
development efforts (such as fellowship programs that train new leaders) as they contemplate hiring decisions about executive candidates.

The report is now available for download on the Council of Foundations website, and is a must read for current and future philanthropic leaders.

This information may not come as a huge surprise to many jobseekers. Still, up to 80% of the cover letters that pass our desks at Commongood Careers fall prey to common (and easily avoidable) cover letter mistakes.

Some of the worst cover letter offenses include:

1.  The 10-page cover letter. It’s called a cover letter for a reason e.g.to COVER your application. Save the full-length biography for…well…your full-length biography.

2.  Cut, paste, and repeat. It’s ok to have a template for your cover letter to work from, but remember to customize each letter to reflect your unique interest and qualifications for the position, as well as your connection to the organization’s mission.

3. Sloppy or poor writing style. Your cover letter demonstrates your ability to communicate in writing. If needed, recruit an “editor” friend to ensure that your writing style is cohesive, and your language is elegant.

4. Emoticons. Just don’t do it. Ever.

5. TMI. Mentioning your specific connection to a position or an organization’s mission is great. However, including private information, such as money or marital problems, is not appropriate.

For more how-to advice on this job application staple, read our article Writing a Winning Cover Letter.

With just 67 days until the primary election, this campaign provides immediate opportunities to get involved. According to candidate Alan Khazei’s campaign staff, “This is the campaign that empowers people to get involved in government. It’s a movement. People are organizing and taking the lead themselves.”

Volunteering on a political campaign not only allows you get involved with government; it also provides ample opportunities to gain resume-building skills and broaden your professional network.

Here’s how:

• RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: Campaign environments are active, high energy, deadline-driven, entrepreneurial, goal-oriented, engaged and engaging – much like the innovative nonprofits where you hope to work. Volunteering on a campaign is a great chance to gain more experience working in this kind of environment.
• NETWORKING: People who work on campaigns are often passionate, mission-driven, inspired professionals. These are good people to get to know. Many of them are taking time out of their regular lives because this campaign is so important, and many of them are leaders, board members, or other stakeholders in organizations where you may want to work one day.
• SKILL DEVELOPMENT: During the campaign, there is always a tremendous amount to do. This translates into opportunities to hone skills, deliver work product, and have a real impact.  When volunteering, you’ll be able to develop core competencies and skills such as the ability to persuade, verbal and written communication skills, probli-solving, project management, strategic planning, outreach, and marketing.
• INSPIRATION: Campaigns are about connecting with people who are excited about the job they’re doing. Even as a volunteer, you’ll experience job satisfaction which can help to re-invigorate your full-time job search, or provide some valuable insight about how to get more out of your current day-to-day job.

To learn more about the campaign volunteering opportunities, visit the web sites of the following candidates:

Alan Khazei
Stephen Pagliuca
Martha Coakley
Michael Capuano
Scott Brown
Bob Burr (no web site at time of publishing)
Joe Kennedy (no web site at time of publishing)

CNCS is a vital organization positioned centrally at the heart of the nonprofit sector and the social service movement in America.

Patrick Covington is a wise and intuitive leader who has loyally served the sector for decades, most recently from his senior position at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  He has the experience, credibility, perspective, networks and influence to take on the enormous task of implienting the Kennedy Serve America Act and answering the President’s call to national service.

Among the many important causes that Patrick has championed, but perhaps of greatest interest to the Commongood Careers community, he has been a staunch supporter of next-generation talent, inter-generational dialogues, enlightened organizational management, and the value of true diversity within the nonprofit sector and its leadership.

The nonprofit sector has one of the fastest rates of job growth in the country.  It can be—and it must be—a central pillar within our nation’s economic recovery plan.  That is why it is so significant to have one of the sector’s greatest institutions led by a visionary who truly understands what it takes to build and develop effective, people-centered organizations.

CNCS needs a CEO immediately, and the nation needs that CEO to be Patrick Corvington.  I hope that you will join me in urging Congress to put his confirmation on a fast track, and in supporting him in this new and challenging role.

—James Weinberg, Founder and CEO, Commongood Careers

International Center for Transitional Justice is a human rights organization that assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. Since its inception, the Center has worked in more than 30 countries and on several transitional justice focus areas, providing assistance to justice and truth-seeking institutions, civil society organizations, governments, and international organizations.

The Kresge Foundation is a national, private foundation that seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations by creating access and opportunity in underserved communities, improving the health of low-income people, supporting artistic expressions, assisting in the revitalization of Detroit, and advancing methods for dealing with global climate change. In 2008, the foundation awarded 342 grants totaling $181 million.

LIFT (formerly National Student Partnerships) is a growing movement to combat poverty and expand opportunity for all people in the United States. LIFT currently runs centers staffed by trained volunteers in Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, to serve low-income individuals and families. LIFT clients and volunteers work one-on-one to find jobs, secure safe and stable housing, make ends meet through public benefits and tax credits, and obtain quality referrals for services like childcare and healthcare.

Peer Health Exchange is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to give teenagers the knowledge and skills they need to make healthy decisions.  PHE does this by training college students to teach a comprehensive health curriculum in public high schools that lack health education.  Since its founding in 2003, PHE has trained more than 1,500 college student volunteers to deliver effective health education to 15,000 public high school students in New York City, Boston, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Verite is an independent, non-profit social auditing and research organization established in 1995 with a mission to ensure that people worldwide work under safe, fair and legal working conditions.  Since its founding, Verité has delivered expert training and consulting services on a global scale and been recognized as one of the leading social entrepreneurs in the world by the Skoll Foundation and Fast Company.  The organization’s global headquarters are based in Amherst, Massachusetts, with additional employees working in field offices in the Philippines, China, India, Bolivia, Bangladesh, and others. 

Learn more about our search clients at http://www.cgcareers.org/aboutus/clients

Earl should know. He’s been a champion for urban education since 1992. He recently became the Chief Executive Officer of Reach Out and Read, a national early literacy program. Previously, he was the CEO of Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL), an out-of-school time education program, as well as the Founder and Chair of Summer Advantage USA, which combats summer learning loss. 

A longtime friend and client of Commongood Careers, Earl caught us up on Reach Out and Read’s current impact and aggressive growth plans, including the inside scoop on the organization’s hiring needs in the near future.

Congratulations on your new role, Earl. Tell us about Reach Out and Read, particularly its approach to addressing early literacy. 

Thanks. I’m thrilled to be at the helm of such an innovative, evidence-based organization that is addressing such an important social issue. 

Reach Out and Read looks to answer one critical question: how do we ensure that kids are prepared to enter kindergarten? Currently, nearly 35% of all children in this country go to kindergarten with literacy skills that are below grade level. This could mean some do not even know how to hold a book correctly; others may not be able to recognize letters of the alphabet. 

To address this skill deficit, our method is to get to children early. We focus on kids aged 0-5 who live in urban and rural environments. Our program is unusual in the sense that it’s not offered in a traditional educational environment, but rather in pediatrician offices. In these settings, our programs make early literacy a standard part of pediatric primary care, from interacting with a trained literacy specialist volunteer in the waiting room to receiving advice regarding the importance of reading and a book to take home from their doctor or nurse. 

Our approach is all about leverage. We seek to leverage the fact that most parents trust what doctors say. So if a pediatrician communicates that reading is an essential piece of childhood brain development, and that a nurse shows a child the correct way to hold a book and stimulate a child’s natural curiosity, both parents and children will listen. The results have been astounding. To date, we’ve reached nearly 4 million children at 4,500 hospitals and healthcare centers nationwide. In 11 peer-review and longitudinal studies, we’ve found that parents are significantly more engaged and children are better prepared when they enter kindergarten. 

How did your personal career path lead to Reach Out and Read? 

While at BELL, I was part of a team that grew to serving over 15,000 children nationwide. Our team worked incredibly hard. The hallmark of our programs was our summer learning session, which gave me the idea to start a program devoted completely to summer learning. With $1M from a Mind Trust fellowship and the Indiana Department of Education, I founded Summer Advantage USA, a program that provides rigorous academic programming during the summer months. 

From there, I found myself asking the question: how can nonprofit leaders continue to make real impact, but without creating 150 new nonprofits every day? There has to be ways to create back-office efficiencies, as well as a pipeline that serves the needs of children from postnatal to postgraduate. It was this thinking that led me to Reach Out and Read. The opportunity to lead an organization that has such a huge presence fit with my personal vision for what it takes to impact children early on. With the opportunity to serve the 14 million children living in poverty in this nation, and to ensure that they all enter kindergarten ready to excel and with engaged parents, was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

How is Reach Out and Reach poised to grow in the near future?

The first step of scaling is securing the additional government funding that is key to our growth. This is one of the largest tasks on our plate right now.

From there, we plan to raise the growth capital that will build up the infrastructure of the organization quite a bit. This includes expanding the staff of our national headquarters in Boston, as well as being better able to support our 35 state coalitions that oversee 4,500 program sites. We want to build up the infrastructure nationally, within each of our state coalitions, so the entire organization can better deliver on our responsibilities and service to children and families.

In addition to strengthening our existing program sites, we plan to open over 150 new sites in this fiscal year. At any given time, we hope to have between 300-400 applications for new sites in the works. Being able to sustain this rapid growth is a huge piece to our ability to succeed. Since we’ve found such high demand for our program, our daily challenge is how do we build the organization in a way that we’re able to support every one of our sites with the same level of excellence that we see today. 

What does this mean for the hiring needs of the organization? Do you anticipate bringing on more talent for both your headquarters and coalition sites?

Currently, some of our coalition sites have just one part-time leader, others have up to 7 full-time staff. Our goal is to make sure that every coalition has the maximum strength in a few core areas, namely customer service, fundraising, training and technical assistance. To do this will require adding staff in some areas, both in local markets and at the national level. Building organizational strength is what’s at the heart of these efforts.

At the national level, adding to our fundraising capabilities will be key to our success. Currently, we have staff who work against a range of fundraising strategies, but our team is lean. In the near future, we hope to expand this team so that we can deepen each of our fundraising avenues, such as major corporate sponsorships. There is such opportunity for major corporate funders to get involved, particularly those seeking exposure to millions of parents of young children.

As you think about the aggressive growth on your plate, what organizations do you look to as models of scalability and sustainability?

There are many social entrepreneurs who have leveraged functional area best practices in order to scale and sustain their organizations. The first that comes to mind is Teach For America. They are excellent across a number of areas, particularly branding, fundraising, and the ability to attract top talent.

BELL demonstrates a model of an evidence-based organization that has successfully found a niche that has a positive effect on both children and parents. This is a phenomenon that Reach Out and Read shares as well, and one we hope to continue to capitalize upon.

Year Up is a great model of organizational sustainability. The ability to have a revenue source that is consistently renewable is something that we plan on emulating as well.

From a talent perspective, what does it take to be successful at Reach Out and Read? When ramping up your national team, what will you look for in new hires?

All of our staff must be hard-working, entrepreneurial, smart, and have phenomenal communication skills. They must also have very high standards and self-confident. This goes across all roles, from the coalition sites to the national headquarters.

The people who will thrive at our organization will have the dual ability to work independently and also be part of a cross-functional team.

Like most entrepreneurial organizations, it’s important to leave your ego at the door. Our staff need to be comfortable sharing ideas, and know that some will move forward and others won’t. It all comes down to humility and work ethic. 

Perhaps more than anything, we look for talent who believe in what we’re doing. I hope that anyone interested in a position at Reach Out and Reach will share the belief that we are doing something incredibly important and that our work is making and will continue to make a huge impact on early literacy, school readiness, and most importantly, the future of our children and this country. 

For more information about Reach Out and Read, please visit www.reachoutandread.org.

*****

Tell the Commongood Careers community about your uncommon talent! to nominate a colleague, or to share the story of your own nonprofit career.

How will you move from “next” to “now”?

How can you add your voice to today’s urgent conversations about tomorrow’s inspiring possibilities?

Join other emerging nonprofit leaders in conversations about these questions by participating in NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now at the Independent Sector Annual Conference, held in partnership with the Council of Michigan Foundations. The NGen program, free to those attending the conference, provides an exceptional opportunity to enhance your professional networks, build your leadership skills, and contribute to the future of the nonprofit community.

Each year, the IS conference is the premier gathering for leaders of America’s charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs.  At the 2009 conference, which takes place November 4-6 in Detroit, the NGen program will again bring together talented nonprofit professionals under the age of 40 for a series of sessions designed specifically for people like you.

Our society is changing rapidly and in unexpected ways, and we need young leaders like you to be part of a conversation about how to strengthen the sector at large and increase our individual and collective impact.  This year’s Annual Conference will engage attendees in provocative discussions about the present and future state of our community through innovative formats that inspire collaboration and dialogue. That conversation has already started online, and we urge you to join us at FutureLab: An Online Challenge for the Nonprofit Community to Chart a Vibrant 2020 to contribute to discussions that will continue at the conference in Detroit.

We need rising stars like you to be part of the nearly 1,000 leaders coming together in Detroit. We encourage you to register today. Visit the IS website to view the NGen schedule and learn more about this diverse group of leaders.

The result of this kind of thinking can be detrimental to all types of organizations, whether they are private businesses or nonprofits. Even in this “buyer’s market” of talent, organizations risk falling into common pitfalls if they do not view HR as a strategic, value-adding function of their organizations.

Short of capital to support these efforts falling from the sky (or being provided by funders), what can nonprofits do? We make a number of suggestions for how nonprofit leaders can invest in their most important resources—their people—without breaking the bank in our survey report The Voice of Nonprofit Talent.

Still, until nonprofit leaders recognize the importance of these issues, they will continue to take a backseat to other “more important” priorities. We think it’s time that human capital gains the spotlight it deserves. Without the ability to recruit, retain, and develop people, nonprofit organizations cannot truly reach their potential and succeed.

• While professional employer organizations (PEO) are a cost-effective option for some nonprofits to reduce their HR-related overhead, these services do not always deliver better benefits for employees. A common probli for nonprofits using PEOs is a lack of options and control over the details of benefits plans. As reflected by a recent Listening Post Project survey, nonprofits are opting to dealing with rising medical costs by increasing the shares of their employees’ medical costs, as opposed to moving to an outsourced PEO.
• In this recession, many organizations appear to be less concerned about employee retention. However, most employers cannot afford to lose their best staff, and need to focus on offering competitive “quality of life” benefits. Benefits such as flexible schedules and reduced work weeks meet the often heard demands of employees searching for more work-life balance. Offering these types of benefits are key to employee retention, especially for organization that have had to make other sorts of cutback due to economic conditions.
• Many employers are looking for “extra” benefits they can offer their staff, but that are not a significant expense to the organization. Some low/no-cost perks include (1) professional development benefits such as mentoring, defined career ladders, online trainings, and attending conferences; (2) work-life balance benefits such as flexibility in working from home occasionally, compressed work weeks, less than full time work weeks at reduced pay, unpaid sabbatical opportunities; and (3) mission-oriented benefits such as time off for volunteering, organization-wide community service days. (For other ideas, please check out our article Rethinking Benefits for Nonprofit Employees)
• We may be witnessing a permanent decline of generous benefits and pension plans designed to keep employees anchored at individual organizations for decades. On the rise seems to be a generation and culture in which everyone is more of a consultant, bouncing around a number of—not just jobs but—careers in their lifetimes. And this shift will bring with it, more individual benefit plans and less organizational support. The economy has created a brief acceleration of this trend out of necessity, but it seems likely that it will continue.

For the full transcript of the discussion, please visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Nonprofits employ 15 million people and, as a sector, account for 11-12% of the nation’s GDP. Over 93% of these organizations have budgets of less than $1 million dollars. If these aren’t not small employers, who is?

The bottom line is this: nonprofits deserve recognition as a major source of employment in this country.

One source of support to get this message across to government is the V3 campaign, a grassroots movement that is determined to ask every candidate for higher office—from small town mayoral contenders to presidential nominees—to provide details about their experience with nonprofits and their plans for partnering with, and strengthening the nonprofit sector if they are elected. The V3 website has some great ways that anyone can support the nonprofit sector, and get the message out that nonprofits are a viable and essential part of the U.S. workforce, economy, and spirit.

Here’s to a more visible, recognized, and valuable nonprofit sector!

Whenever possible, define a position that is realistic and an ideal candidate profile that exists in more than a handful of people. Are you looking for a set of skills and competencies that often do not co-exist within one person? Recognize that if you go forward, your search may be challenging and may not lead to a successful hire without concessions being made. Consider recasting the position into something more realistic and test your job description with colleagues and peers to ensure that it is reasonable and clearly communicates the nature of the role.

Giving up the search for a unicorn (or needle in a haystack, if you prefer) doesn’t mean that you are compromising your position requirements or search standards. Rather, the process of defining a position realistically will force your organization to identify and prioritize which skills, responsibilities, and experiences are most important to making a position work. The result will be hiring the right person into the right role.

For more hiring missteps to avoid, and best practices to follow, check out our article Avoiding 10 Common Search Pitfalls.

The article also pointed out the increase in competition for nonprofit jobs, even the traditionally entry-level and low-paid ones. For example, Peace Corps applications are up 12% and AmeriCorps applications have tripled over the last year. Plus, like most work sectors, hiring is down across the board, resulting in a surplus of talent for fewer positions overall.

In this “buyer’s market” for talent, how can job seekers find out about who’s hiring first? Three simple words: FOLLOW THE MONEY. Track news about nonprofits that are receiving funding, increasing their budgets, launching new programs, etc.

Guidestar can be a great source for researching general budget information, but you’ll also want to follow headlines on grantmaking activity on a news aggregator like Google News or Alltop. We’ve found Alltop to be an amazingly comprehensive resource that pulls the latest nonprofit news items about all things nonprofits from a variety of sources, including blogs and press releases.

To find out who is giving what to whom, familiarize yourself with The Foundation Center website. There is a grant look-up tool on the site. Also, visit the websites of major funders (e.g. Ford Foundation, Kellogg Foundation) as well as niche foundations (e.g. Edna McConnell Clark, New Profit) to get the skinny on how these funders are supporting their portfolio organizations. Before you know it, you’ll have the inside scoop on which organizations are expanding. This knowledge may lead you to a career opportunity well in advance of an actual job posting. For other resources to leverage in your research, check out our Resource Directory.

To help your organization hire the right techies for the job, listen to the latest NTEN produced postcast led by Commongood Careers CEO and Founder James Weinberg.

During a recent interview for a COO position, one of our clients (let’s call him Joe) was giving a tour of their program’s school campus to a candidate. Joe noticed that the candidate was peeking into every bathroom they passed along the way.

Puzzled about the candidate’s behavior, Joe asked, “Why are you checking out our bathrooms?”

With the utmost sincerity, the candidate responded, “In my experience, the best performing schools have clean bathrooms. If students don’t respect their public space, or if administrators don’t recognize the need for students to respect their public spaces, schools tend to suffer in other areas as well.”

Joe was highly impressed with this example of the candidate’s understanding of how education is more than just about books and knowledge, but also about healthy learning environments. 

Upon relaying this story to his Service Manager at Commongood Careers, Joe stated with enthusiasm, “He had me at bathrooms!”

He went on to add, “This is exactly the type of stuff I need a COO to notice. This example of thoughtfulness and attention to detail showed me that this guy really gets it!”

Interview behavior can speak 1000 words. But in this case, it just took the word “bathrooms” to hook this employer.

Vision and Philosophy

Organizations have a greater likelihood of achieving their missions if they demonstrate a comprehensive, sustained and sincere commitment to diversity, inclusion and cultural competency in employment practices, volunteer engagement and community integration. We believe that the nonprofit sector workforce itself will be better and create enduring change if it is appropriately representative of the ethnic/racial diversity of the communities being served, and that diversity should be appropriately distributed throughout an organization for maximum benefit. Diversity is more than an activity, retreat or training session. It is a value that enhances the culture and the experience of all those within the organization. It includes the whole range of human differences (including age, race and ethnicity, disabilities, sexual orientation, gender and more), but the initial focus will be on improving the racial/ethnic diversity of the nonprofit sector.

Organizational Implientation

As a signatory to this Compact, we assert our organization’s commitment to diversity, throughout all levels of the organization, exemplified either by the following policies and practices in place and/or our organization’s commitment to put such policies and practices in place:

• We have a written anti-discrimination policy approved by the CEO and/or board of directors.

• Our CEO has 1) articulated a case for why greater diversity is important to the organization’s mission and performance, 2) ensured that strategies are in place that strengthen the diversity of the workplace and build an inclusive work environment and 3) dedicated to obtaining the proper resources necessary to achieve results.

• Our organization has a diversity and inclusion business plan for achieving a diverse workforce recognizing the mission, constituencies and community served by the organization.

• We ensure that racially and ethnically diverse candidates are considered for all job opportunities in the organization to the greatest extent possible.

• We seek out and employ best practices in recruiting, hiring, managing and recognizing diverse employees, and eliminating attitudinal, behavioral, physical and procedural barriers to diversity.

• We implient human resources policies and practices for employees that support a fair workplace, including clear goals and expectations for employees, complete orientation to the organization and their role, rewards and recognition based on merit, supervisors who provide coaching and feedback on performance, and opportunities for development and advancement.

• We frequently evaluate our organization’s successes and opportunities in implienting and improving on best practices for a diverse workforce, and are committed to the value of diversity as an ongoing process rather than a task to accomplish.

• We will report to our board of directors annually on performance toward our diversity goals.

Reporting

• We will publicly share a report on the diversity of our board of directors and staff each year to demonstrate our commitment to improving the diversity of the nonprofit sector.

This broad ranging, interactive workshop will provide you with information, tools and strategies needed to pursue a meaningful, sustainable and well-compensated career in the nonprofit sector. The session focuses on areas such as defining your personal mission, conducting a skills inventory and mapping your core competencies, pursing professional development and graduate opportunities, leveraging networking and mentoring strategies, moving up within your organization and/or moving on to a new opportunity.

James will also help attendees explore how to determine their “market worth” and negotiate a fair compensation package within an ever-tightening environment.

As a special offer to the Commongood Careers community, NTEN is happy to extend member pricing of $30 for this webinar. When registering, enter “Commongood” in the “How did you hear” field in order to receive the member pricing. Register now.

Is this good advice? Should you delete your college graduation date from your resume? Dye your hair?  What do you think of the spa in Arlington, Va., that offered free Botox treatments for unemployed people? Can you make age and experience an asset?

Take a short survey about age bias in the job market and let your voice be heard.

Are you ready to magnify your impact through dynamic collaboration with your peers?

Recognizing that the leaders we need tomorrow are poised to contribute today, Independent Sector is pleased to introduce the American Express NGen Fellows Program. This exciting new program will offer 12 young professionals from IS member organizations a rare opportunity to magnify their impact and accelerate their careers. The program, which includes complientary registration and lodging for the 2009 Annual Conference, will build the capacity of these emerging leaders through tailored online and in-person programming and special networking opportunities.

American Express NGen Fellows will be a diverse and talented group selected from under-40 staff at IS member organizations.  Visit the IS website to learn more about the benefits of participation in the fellows program, the selection process, and how to apply.  Applications are due August 14, 2009. 

The American Express NGen Fellows Program enhances IS’s NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now program, which is designed to expand and improve the nonprofit talent pool by developing the leadership skills and networks of emerging leaders.  Free to all under-40 conference attendees, NGen offers targeted workshop sessions addressing topics important to emerging leaders and opportunities for rising young professionals to connect with leaders of all ages.

As many hiring organizations are in the unique position these days of having too many resumes for their open positions, it’s tempting to instantly disqualify candidates who, at a glance, do not appear to be a match the expected profile for an open position.

So when a resume reads “20 years of experience in…” for a position that only requires 5 years of experience, you may be tempted to slide that resume to the bottom of the pile.

However, before discounting candidates based on their years of work experience or seeming “over-qualification,” there are a few things you may want to consider:

1. Establish the core criteria of a position – for example the required skills and type of previous experience – and stick with it when screening applicants. If an “overexperienced” candidate clearly demonstrates success against your criteria, then he’s probably a good fit after all. (Note: this is a best practice for evaluating all of your candidates.)

2. Avoid making assumptions, such as “this person will be unhappy in this position,” “we’ll never be able to afford this person’s salary,” or “someone at this level isn’t a good fit for this role.”

3. Just because someone has held senior management or other leadership roles, don’t penalize her in advance for applying to a front line or mid-management role. (Remember, leaders are team players too.) Again, look for evidence of fit in the applicant’s experience and skills, not simply in their former job titles.

4. When considering candidates who have more years of work experience than required for a job, one question that often comes up for hiring managers is “why would this person want to do this job?” Look for answers in the applicant’s cover letter, or probe on this during a phone interview. There are most likely valid reasons why he’s drawn to your open position or organization.

5. At the end of a good conversation, delve into what it’s really like working at your organization. Paint an honest picture of the role. For example, if you’re concerned that an experienced candidate won’t “roll up his sleeves and jump in,” make it clear that this is an essential part of the role, as well as your organization’s culture.

“Today was a transformational day for the social innovation community, and a huge milestone for the America Forward coalition.  At a White House event earlier today, President Obama introduced his Community Solutions Agenda—highlighting promising innovations of social entrepreneurs around the country, and providing a vision for how government can come together with nonprofits, philanthropy, the private sector, and citizens to find innovative ideas, invest in what works, and scale proven solutions to our most urgent social challenges.  President Obama brought together leaders from all sectors and announced several initiatives to execute this agenda, including a nationwide tour by Melody Barnes, the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and an Innovation Fund to invest in and scale proven solutions. 

This community, and many others, have been working with policymakers at the federal level to make a federal investment in social innovation.  The president’s speech is a critical milestone in our effort to change the way social problems are solved and truly move the needle on the issues facing our communities.  As the President said today, ‘If we work together—if we all go all-in here—think about the difference we can make.’ We couldn’t agree more.”

Engaging with innovative nonprofits like Year Up is central to the Obama administration’s efforts to tackle persistent social problems and highlight what works in our communities. 

Read more about Obama’s visit to Year Up in The New York Times.

The list does not include the Commongood Careers account @cgcareers, but we’ll overlook that for now. : )

Check out the list below and then start following any of these peeps at Twitter. Or if you want to follow the entire list, you can add members in bulk at ninjafollow.com.

1. Adrienne Waldo - @adriennewaldo - Marketing Expert
2. Alexandra Levit - @alevit - Author & Career Expert
3. Alison Doyle - @alisondoyle - Author, Consultant & Job Search Expert at About.com
4. Alison Green - @askamanager - Career Expert & Blogger
5. Andrea Santiago - @AndreaSantiago - Recruiter & Healthcare Career Expert at About.com
6. Anita Bruzzese - @AnitaBruzzese - Career Columnist & Author
7. Anna Farmery - @engagingbrand - Social Media Coach
8. Anne Brown - @GradtoGreat - Author & Career Expert
9. Andy Beal - @andybeal - Personal Branding Expert
10. Andy Headworth - @andyheadworth - Social Media Expert
11. Andy Robinson - @andyinnaples - Executive Career Coach & Author
12. Anthony Fisher - @anthonyfisherpb - Personal Branding Expert
13. Barbara Safani - @barbarasafani - Career Expert & Resume Expert
14. Barbara Sher - @BarbaraSher - Author
15. Barry Deutsch - @Barry_at_IMPACT - Career Coach & Recruiter
16. Barry Moltz - @BarryMoltz - Author
17. Ben Casnocha - @bencasnocha - Start-Up Expert & Author
18. Ben Yoskovitz - @byosko - The CEO of Standout Jobs
19. Ben Eubanks - @beneubanks - Career Journalist & HR Professional
20. Beverly Harvey - @BeverlyHarvey - Career Coach & Personal Branding Expert
21. Beverly Macy - @BeverlyMacy - Career Expert
22. Billie Sucher - @billiesucher - Career Transition Consultant & Resume Writer
23. Blake Sunshine - @blakesunshine - Marketing Expert
24. Brad Federman - @bfederman - Personal Branding Expert & Entrepreneur
25. Bradley Will - @bradleywill - Personal Branding Expert & Entrepreneur
26. Brent Peterson - @InterviewAngel - CEO of Interview Angel & Career Expert
27. Carlos Hernandez - @CarlosHernandez - Social Media & Career Expert
28. Carol Fishman Cohen - @iRelaunch - Career Reentry Expert
29. Casey Quinlan - @mightycasey - Marketing Expert
30. Catherine Cliffard - @YourOnRamp - Founder of YourOnRamp & Career Expert
31. Chad A. Levitt - @ChadALevitt - Social Media Expert & Author
32. Chandlee Bryan - @chandlee - Career Coach & Resume Writer
33. Char Brown - @charbrown - Web Marketing Coach
34. Charlie O’Donnell - @ceonyc - CEO of Path101
35. Cheryl Palmer - @CherylPalmer - Executive Career Coach & Resume Writer
36. Chris Brogan - @ChrisBrogan - Social Media Expert & Blogger
37. Chris Perry - @CareerRocketeer - Career Rocketeer & Personal Branding Expert
38. Chris Russell - @chrisrussell - Job Search Expert & Entrepreneur
39. Cindy Kraft - @cfocoach - Personal Branding Expert & CFO Coach
40. Dan Janal - @prleads - Publicity & Internet Marketing Expert
41. Dan Nelson - @careercampaigns - Consultant & Recruiter
42. Dan Schawbel - @danschawbel - Author, Blogger & Personal Branding Expert
43. Dan Thomas - @DanThomas - Marketing Expert
44. Daniel Pink - @danielpink - Author & Career Expert
45. Daulton West - @dwestjr - Web Marketing Coach & Social Media Expert
46. Dave Saunders - @madmain - Marketing & Social Media Expert
47. David Sandusky - @DavidSandusky - Entrepreneur & Personal Branding Expert
48. David Wright - @getajob - Author & Career Expert
49. Dawn Bugni - @dawnbugni - Resume Expert & Blogger
50. Deb Dib - @CEOCoach - Executive Coach
51. Debbie Weil - @debbieweil - Social Media Expert
52. Debra Wheatman - @debrawheatman - Writer & Career Expert
53. Diana Jennings - @DianaJennings - Personal Branding Expert
54. Elaine Basham - @resumesrevealed - Job Search Strategist & Resume Consultant
55. Emilie Ogez - @eogez - Social Media Expert
56. Eve Tahmincioglu - @CareerDiva - Career Columnist & Blogger
57. Fadhila Brahimi - @fbrahimi - Career Coach & Personal Branding Expert
58. Gayle Howard - @GayleHoward - Resume & Career Expert
59. Gene Burnard - @WorkforceFifty - Career Expert
60. Gillian Kelly - @Gillian_Kelly - Personal Branding Expert & Resume Writer
61. GL Hoffman - @GLHoffman - Career Expert & Entrepreneur
62. Hajj Fliings - @HajjFliings - Personal Branding Expert
63. Harold Mellor - @haroldmellor - Recruiter
64. Harp Arora - @harparora - Personal Branding Expert
65. Harry Urshel - @eExecutives - Job Search Coach & Recruiter
66. Heather Huhman - @heatherhuhman - Columnist & Career Expert
67. Heather McDonald - @mountflorida - Writer & Music Career Expert at About.com
68. Ilissa Suss Manes - @IlissaSmanes - Career Expert
69. Jacob Share - @jacobshare - Job Search Expert & Blogger
70. Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter - @valueintowords - Executive Resume Writer & Career Strategist
71. Jan Melnik - @janmelnik - Job Search Expert & Resume Writer
72. Jann Watt - @jannwatt - Personal Branding Expert
73. Jason Alba - @jasonalba - Author, Founder of JibberJobber.com, Career & Social Media Expert
74. Jason Buss - @jjbuss - Talent Acquisition & Diversity Professional
75. Jason Lesher - @career_advisor - Career Advisor & Recruiter
76. Jason Seiden - @Seiden - Career Expert
77. Jeff Jarvis - @jeffjarvis - Author, Writer & Blogger
78. Jeffrey Blake - @jeffrey_blake - Social Media Evangelist & Personal Branding Expert
79. Jennifer Kushell - @ysnjen - Networking Expert & Author
80. Joan Schramm - @joanschramm - Social Media Expert & Career Coach
81. Joel Cheesman - @cheezhead - Online Recruiting Expert
82. John Jantsh - @ducttape - Author & Internet Marketing Expert
83. Jon Davidson - @theresumebay - Career Expert & Resume Writer
84. Jonathan Fields - @jonathanfields - Author & Career Expert
85. JT O’Donnell - @jtodonnell - Founder of Careerealism & Career Expert
86. Julia Erickson - @juliaerickson - Career Coach
87. Jun Loayza - @junloayza - Social Media Expert
88. Karen Batchelor - @midlifetrip - Career Transition Expert
89. Karen Burns - @workinggirl - Career Expert
90. Katie Konrath - @katiekonrath - Blogger & Creative
91. Kirsten Dixson - @kirstendixson - Author & Personal Branding Expert
92. Kirsten Grant - @kgrantcareers - Career Expert
93. Krishna De - @kirshnade - Personal Branding & Social Media Expert
94. Kristen Fischer - @KristenFischer - Author & Career Expert
95. Kristen Jacoway - @KristenJacoway - Career Coach & Personal Branding Expert
96. Kristen Kaleal - @kkaleal - Image Consultant & Personal Stylist
97. Laura Smith-Proulx - @resumeexpert - Personal Branding Expert & Resume Writer
98. Lauren Still - @laurenstill - Career & Life Coach
99. Laurie Ruettimann - @lruettimann - HR Professional & Career Expert
100. Leonard Lang - @Leonard_Lang - Executive Career Coach & Creativity Consultant
101. Lesley Everett - @LesleyEverett - Personal Branding Expert
102. Lethia Owens - @LiveYourBrand - Personal Branding Expert
103. Lewis Lin - @InteviewCoach - Interview Coach
104. Lindsey Pollak - @lindseypollak - Author & Career Expert
105. Liz Lynch - @liz_lynch - Author & Networking Expert
106. Louise Fletcher - @louise_fletcher - Resume Writer, Author & Co-Founder of Career Hub
107. Louise Mowbray - @louisemowbray - Personal Branding Expert
108. Maria Elena Duron - @mariaduron - Chief Buzz Officer & Personal Expert
109. Mark Richards - @CandidatesChair - Career & Networking Expert
110. Mark Stelzner - @stelzner - Founder of JobAngels & HR Professional
111. Martha Finney - @MarthaFinney - Author
112. Martin Buckland - @MartinBuckland - Executive Career Coach
113. Marty Weitzman - @resumepro - Personal Branding Expert & Resume Writer
114. Megan Fitzgerald - @ExpatCoachMegan - Career Coach
115. Meg Guiseppi - @megguiseppi - Executive Personal Branding Expert
116. Meghan M. Biro - @meghanmbiro - Executive Recruiter & Career Coach
117. Meg Montford - @KCCareerCoach - Career & Marketing Expert
118. Melissa Cassera - @casseracomm - Publicity Expert & Blogger
119. Mike Myatt - @MikeMyatt - Personal Branding Expert
120. Miriam Salpeter - @KeppieCareers - Career Coach & Resume Writer
121. Monica O’Brien - @monicaobrien - Marketing Expert
122. Nancy Branton - @LeadersCoach - Executive & Career Coach
123. Nancy Longo - @TheLongoReport - Job Search Advisor
124. Nick Armstrong - @imnickarmstrong - Marketing Expert
125. Ola Rynge - @Rynge - Personal Branding Expert
126. Pam Slim - @pamslim - Author & Career Coach
127. Paul Copcutt - @paulcopcutt - Personal Branding Expert
128. Peggy McKee - @Salesrecruiter - Sales & Marketing Recruiter
129. Pete Kistler - @Brandyourself - Personal Branding Expert
130. Phil Gerbyshak - @philgerb - Social Media Expert
131. Phil Rosenberg - @philrecareered - Career Expert & Blogger
132. Phyllis Shabad - @phyllisshabad - Personal Branding Expert
133. Rachel Gogos - @RachelGogos - Marketing & Personal Branding Expert
134. Rachel Gordon - @10GMRachel - Career Expert
135. Randi Bussin - @myreinventure - Personal Branding Expert
136. Rob Cuesta - @RobCuesta - Marketing & Personal Branding Expert
137. Roxanne Ravenel - @RoxanneRavenel - Job Search Coach & Career Expert
138. Sally Witzky - @sallywitzky - Personal Branding Expert
139. Sarah Evans - @PRsarahevans - Social Media Expert & Blogger
140. Scheherazade Mason - @sherryfm - Career Expert
141. Scott Allen - @scottallen - Author & Social Media Expert
142. Scot Herrick - @scotherrick - Owner of Cube Rules & Career Consultant
143. Scott Ginsberg - @nametagscott - Networking Expert
144. Sean Harry - @career20 - Career Expert
145. Selena Dehne - @SelenaDehne - Publicist
146. Susan Heathfield - @SusanHeathfield - HR Expert
147. Susan Ireland - @SusanIreland - Author & Resume Expert
148. Susan Strayer - @DailyCareerTips - Career Coach & Recruiter
149. Teena Rose - @teenarose - Career Expert
150. Tessa Faber - @MakingSense - Personal Branding Expert
151. Tiffany Monhollon - @tmonhollon - PR Specialist
152. Tim Ferriss - @tferriss - Author & Blogger
153. Tim Tyrell-Smith - @SpinStrategy - Marketing Professional & Career Expert
154. Tom Scholte - @TomScholte - Personal Branding Expert
155. Trace Cohen - @Brandyourself - Personal Branding Expert
156. Traci Thompson - @AResumes - Resume & Cover Letter Expert
157. Trevor Wilson - @gradversity - Job Search Strategist
158. Trina Spruance - @GetHiredGuru - Staffing Expert
159. Walter Akana - @WalterAkana - Life Strategist
160. Wendy Gelberg - @wendygelberg - Career Expert & Resume Writer
161. Wendy Marx - @wendymarx - Personal Branding Expert
162. Wendy Terwelp - @WendyTerwelp - Personal Branding Expert
163. William Arruda - @williamarruda - Career Coach, Author & Personal Branding Expert
164. Willy Franzen - @willyf - Career Expert & Entrepreneur
165. Yinka Olaito - @pathfindernig - Personal Branding Expert

Anyone missing from this list? Leave a comment and let us know!

Today more than ever, the nonprofit sector may be missing a major opportunity to figure out pipeline development once and for all. We’re witnessing an unprecedented influx of talent to the nonprofit sector, including a surge of recent graduates, career changers, and older employees. At Commongood Careers, we’ve seen the volume of resumes for our clients’ searches triple or quadruple in many cases. Even organizations that are not advertising any positions are receiving unsolicited resumes and requests for informational interviews.

So how can we take advantage of building relationships with these talented people, and ultimately create pipelines we can tap down the road?
One example comes from Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund that addresses global poverty. For the upcoming summer, Acumen Fund had 10 intern spots open and received applications from over 700 candidates. They asked themselves, “What can we do to engage the other 690 candidates?” After a couple of emails and meetings, they decided to run an experiment: invite the non-accepted candidates to a private conference call briefing from senior Acumen staff. Not only was this a way to Acumen leaders to thank these candidates, but also offer ways to stay engaged with both the organizations and the social innovation space as a whole.

Sounds easy, right? Creative ways to engage talent like the approach taken by Acumen do not require tons of staff bandwidth, and result in laying the foundation for future touchpoints with talent that has expressed interest in your organization. Use these opportunities to invite these talented individuals to volunteer, donate, blog, or participate in your organization in other ways. Track these candidates over time, even if it’s as simple as adding them to an email list and sending them a quarterly note. Engaging talent early and often is bound to contribute to the success of your organization’s future recruitment efforts.

If your organization is interested in getting involved with the Summer of Service initiative, please email ServiceInitiative@cns.gov for more information.

Much like Service Nation, the V3 Campaign is citizen driven. The campaign’s web site lists a number of ways that nonprofits and individuals can participate in movement, including emailing the following questionnaire to district congressional candidates:

  Nonprofit businesses generate 10% of our economy, pay 10% of American wages, represent a workforce of over 14 million, and channel the energy of millions of volunteers annually.

  As a supporter of the V3 Campaign, I also ask that you submit a copy of your response to answers@v3campaign.org where it will be shared with other supporters of the nonprofit sector in America.

Another cool way to participate in this movement is the V3 photo-petition, a collection of photos submitted by nonprofit staff, volunteers, and other supporters that creatively illustrate ways nonprofits generate value for our economy. 

Looking for other ways to advance the nonprofit sector and participate in this game-changing movement? Visit the V3 web site.

There has never been a more energized call to volunteer service than what we are experiencing today. Fueled by The White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, as well as the work of phenomenal groups like America First, Be The Change, Civic Ventures, and others, the profile of volunteerism has been raised.

A few of the factors impacting the professionalism of volunteering include:

• A dramatic increase of opportunities, including a tripling of Americorps opportunities beginning in 2010 and the creation of a $10 million Volunteer Generation Fund, as part of the Serve America Act.
• The trend of Baby Boomer aged adults looking to lend their professional skills on a volunteer basis to nonprofits, as well as the formation of Senior Corps, a $220.9 million project to support nearly 500,000 Senior Corps volunteers.
• The existence of volunteer programs, such as the Taproot Foundation, connecting nonprofit with in-demand professionals with backgrounds in corporate marketing, communications, and strategic management.

What does this mean for jobseekers? There are now tens of thousands of opportunities for those with professional and in-demand skills available in the nonprofit sector, with even more to become available in the near future. For many, these opportunities not only allow you to gain more experience in the nonprofit sector, but also lay the groundwork for employment opportunities.

Professional volunteering is an especially compelling option for sector switchers, or those new to the nonprofit sector. According to Robert Rosenthal of VolunteerMatch, “A challenging volunteer gig can be an important career move. Workers from a broad array of industries are being challenged to rethink how they contribute to society, and more and more of these folks are finding that volunteering is a great way to stay sharp, develop new expertise, and demonstrate the leadership that will carry them to their next professional challenge.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Published in April 2009, the report “Finding Leaders for America’s Nonprofits” suggests that the leadership deficit previously forecasted by Bridgespan in 2006 has widened. According to the report, senior job openings grew to 77,000 in 2008, a figure that is 43% greater than what had been predicted in Bridgespan’s 2006 survey report, “The Nonprofit Sector’s Leadership Deficit.”

Additionally, and despite the current economic conditions, 28% of organizations surveyed plan to fill over 24,000 senior management roles in 2009.

Where will these leaders come from? While Bridgespan suggests that talent recruited from the corporate and government sectors can step in to fill these roles, that is just one piece of the puzzle. The need for organizations to develop leaders from within has never been greater. The ability to identify “next generation” leaders within your own organization, and then provide career ladders, mentoring and other professional development opportunities will also help to address the leadership challenge. By thinking creatively and broadly – both within and outside of our organizations—there are solutions to the leadership gap.

As could be expected, much of the conversation at the conference centered around the economy’s impact on career paths and longevity. According to Allyson, the overall vibe about long-term career opportunities in the sector hovered around cautious optimism. While there was concern about the ability to retain one’s job (about 5% of conference attendees had been laid off this year) or build a long-term career (many attendees planned to work in the government or private sector at some point), there was an overall belief that the sector will continue to grow and create opportunities for young professionals. This sentiment was especially true for people who worked in the education field or other sub-sectors that may benefit from initiatives such as the Serve America Act and Obama’s economic stimulus packages to nonprofits.

When the topic of the “leadership gap” arose, practically all YNPNers in attendance saw the glass as half-full. The feeling of “we’re here and ready to lead” overwhelmed any perception that the nonprofit sector is either currently experiencing or heading for a leadership crisis. As Allyson summarized, “This generation is the solution. We’re doing everything we can to prepare for leadership roles.”

There have been many studies, reports, and coalitions devoted to identifying the reasons behind the sector’s lack of diversity. The most widely reported roadblocks include pipeline challenges (such as a lack of recruitment channels or networking opportunities), as well as competition for top talent from corporate employers who generally offer higher compensation.

The current economic downtown and increased supply of career changers as a result of corporate layoffs highlights this issue even more. If nonprofits aren’t prepared to capitalize on the influx of talent to the job market, it’s a bit of a wasted opportunity. And if there are still no inroads for people of color to nonprofit opportunities, much of the amazing talent that is now available will not find their way into the sector.

The time to act is now. A number of strategies to address racial disparity in nonprofit roles have been identified, such as getting senior staff to embrace this issue, shifting recruitment tactics away from just job postings, and creating career paths and growth opportunities that can compete with typically more higher-paid positions in the corporate sector.

On the surface, implienting these strategies does not seem impossible, especially during a time when there are overall fewer jobs and a greater supply of talent. But the reality is few nonprofits are able to invest the necessary dollars, time, and people to meaningfully address the task at hand. This is not to say that diversity isn’t a top concern. Rather, most nonprofits are unable to prioritize diversity recruitment, at least not to the degree in which they tend to prioritize other mission-critical initiatives.

(Note: at this point, we should state that we do not intend to discount the great strides a number of organizations are making to address diversity in the sector.)

To gain greater insight into this complex issue, we spoke with Rosetta Thurman, an emerging nonprofit leader of color and the principal of Thurman Consulting, an organization that works with nonprofits to increase their leadership and management capacity.

“There’s no silver bullet to solving the probli of racial disparity in nonprofit roles,” Rosetta said, “However, simply posting jobs on Craigslist and Idealist isn’t going to do it. We need to take some risks.”

Some tactics that Rosetta suggested include: going to meetings of professional organizations such as Hispanics in Philanthropy, investing dollars and staff time in a booth at the National Association of Black MBAs national conference.

She added, “It’s ok to be the only white person in the room.”

Our conversation came back to dollars and time. How can a nonprofit trying to spend as much on program costs as possible justify the expense of most recruiting activities?

“We pay for what we prioritize,” said Rosetta,”If we prioritize addressing racial diversity now, we won’t have to pay forever. We may only need to make that connection one time to start to build a network and create a pipeline of candidates.”

Rosetta then shared a story with me about her own experience coming to a nonprofit employer. When she interviewed for her first job in D.C., everyone she met with was white. In her second interview, she met with an African-American employee who discussed how the organization genuinely offered a diverse and inclusive workplace. It was that experience that cinched it for her. “It’s important to understand why the people of color choose to work at an organization. This cultural competency is a piece that the sector hasn’t mastered. Most people of color do come from a mindset of service, but it often looks different from other routes to the same careers. Organizations need to take the time to understand this, and then create a workplace that is inclusive of culturally-informed points of view about public service”

Bottom line: until nonprofits really focus on taking strategic action to improve diversity, there are a lot of good intentions, but not a lot of systemic change. Let’s be the generation of nonprofit leaders that commits to genuinely building diversity. It is only after making a serious investment in creating recruitment pipelines, deep networks, and viable career paths that we will begin to realize a more inclusive, representative, and diverse nonprofit sector.

This got me thinking about what it takes to really love a job, especially one less glamorous than Chief of State or celebrity socialite. Particularly when it comes to nonprofit jobs, is the satisfaction we get from contributing to positive change in the world enough to make us fall in love with work?

To get to the bottom of this, I talked to the happiest guy I know: Kevin Flynn, Director of Client Services at Commongood Careers. (This is not to say that the rest of our staff is not exceedingly satisfied. Kevin just turns his love to eleven.)

According to Kevin, job-love is all about the “who.” As in the people he gets to work with and for. He said that it’s the ability to interact with some of the most fascinating and inspiring people and organizations in the country, on a daily basis, that lets him love what he does.

So there you have it. It’s not always what we do, but who we do it with and for. Let that be a lesson to anyone who works alone in a cave.

Earlier today, Obama made the following statement on the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act:

“I congratulate the House on passing the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.  This is legislation that will usher in a new era of service in America, and I look forward to signing it into law when I return to Washington.” 

“Because of this legislation, millions of Americans at all stages of their lives will have new opportunities to serve their country.  From improving service learning in schools to creating an army of 250,000 Corps members a year dedicated to addressing our nation’s toughest problems. From connecting working Americans to a variety of part-time service opportunities to better utilizing the skills and experience of our retirees and baby boomers. This legislation will help tap the genius of our faith based and community organizations, and it will find the most innovative ideas for addressing our common challenges and helping those ideas grow.  But while our government can provide every opportunity imaginable for us to serve our communities, now it is up to each of us to seize those opportunities.  I call on all Americans to stand up and do what they can to serve their communities, shape our history and enrich both their own lives and the lives of others across this country.”

The passing of this legislation is largely due to the mobilization of a huge citizen movement, organized largely by the leaders and members America Forward and Service Nation. We are proud to be a part of both of these coalitions.

It truly is an historic time for social innovation and service in this country!

Here a few amazing highlights resulting from the national mobilization around this legislation:

• The New York Times published an editorial in favor of the Serve America Act, as did the Appleton Post-Crescent in Wisconsin.
• Shirley Sagawa published a great piece on the Center for American Progress Blog called “A Chance to Make America Better”
• ServiceNation funder Laurie M. Tisch wrote an op-ed for the Philanthropy News Digest
• ServiceNation Youth Chair, Usher, sent out a text message to all of his followers asking them to call their Senators in support of Serve America.
• A number of organizations today sent out email updates and/or calls to action to their entire email list including Youth Service America, Rock the Vote, I have a Dream Foundation, YouthBuild and Democrats Work. Do Something highlighted the call to action on their homepage.
• Habitat for Humanity made phone calls in 7 states; David Battey of YVCA rallied his network in Kansas to make phone calls; and AmeriCorps Alums mobilized in Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee.
• The National Council on Aging released a statement of support of the Serve America Act.
• The AARP has decided to make the Serve America Act an accountability vote this means they will publicly post how each member votes on their government watch site and let their members know where their Senator sided. They will be faxing every Senate office letting them know that they will be publishing the results on their website. Senator Mikulski has also agreed to guest-blog about the Serve America Act on the AARP blog

Last Friday, members of Service Nation were asked to mobilize our networks in preparation for this week’s Senate vote on the Serve America Act. In just a few days, our coalition, working with Voices for National Service and America Forward, rallied and we are off to an extremely positive start.

Floor debate in the Senate began today at around 4:00PM with excellent speeches by Senators Mikulski, Hatch, McCain, Kerry and others. Senator Kennedy was also present on the Senate floor. It was followed by a cloture vote to allow the bill to proceed. The final vote on the cloture was 74-14 in favor of proceeding. This was an extremely strong bi-partisan vote, with 22 Republicans joining 50 Democrats and 2 Independents voting in favor.  The full vote tally is pasted below.

As we move forward throughout the week, it must be our goal to first thank all of the Senators who voted in favor of cloture and continue to flood their offices with phone calls in support of Serve America so that we hold onto their vote throughout the week. This will be critical.

Debate continues on the Senate floor tomorrow.

In the meantime, thank you to all of you who have mobilized your networks and stepped up your efforts in support of the bill. Some achievements of the day include: Over 110 people have stepped forward to serve on the various committees.  ThinkMTV has featured our call to action on their homepage; Mark Lazarra and Josh Randle helped secure an editorial in the Buffalo News and the Boston Globe published one as well (read them at http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/media/latest_news); Teach for America and City Year sent out an email to their entire alumni list; members of our coalition stepped up to be point people for 25 out of the 28 states we are focusing on (we are still looking for point people in Indiana, Wyoming and South Dakota); the National Council on Aging sent out a call to action to their listserve; Ashton Kutsher sent out a twitter message asking his thousands of followers to call their Senators; AARP has begun circulating editorials in their key states and is preparing an ad to run in the Roll Call and Hill Newspapers and Craig Newmark of Craigslist has been blogging about Serve America throughout the day. We have had reports of hundreds of phone calls being made.  This is only a sampling of what we accomplished through our collective networks and what we must continue to do.

Over the next day, we must continue to focus on 1) Calling Senators and asking them to support Serve America, focusing especially on those Senators who voted in favor cloture and 2) securing favorable editorials in newspapers around the country and reaching out to other media sources.

This can be a historic week- but we have a few more days of extremely hard work ahead of us.

All Best,

Alan, Bridge, AnnMaura, Michael and Michelle

Historically, the coalition has focused on three key issues related to the nonprofit workforce, namely diversity, student debt, and talent recruitment. Last week’s retreat marked a shift to a set of new issues, specifically how the economic crisis and the role of the current administration will impact nonprofit employment and social sector workforce. The group spent a good deal of time considering the relationship and feedback loops that exist between government and the nonprofit sector, and ways that the coalition could better educate elected officials about nonprofit workforce issues.

To get legislators more involved in the conversation about nonprofit employment, the group proposed a number of ideas, including:

•  Creating a mechanism through which local nonprofits could communicate with local elected officials to bring them into the loop about economic distress, layoffs, etc.

•  Collecting data around how the current economic crisis is impacting nonprofit employment and benchmarking findings for legislators and the public

In the coming weeks and months, the coalition will continue to consider rapidly evolving realities for nonprofit sector. We hope to be able to share more about these exciting efforts soon.

The benefits to the social sector are outstanding. Not only will this legislation result in the creation of new programs and organizations, but it also puts dollars in the pockets of service-oriented nonprofits and private groups. What’s more? New jobs and opportunities at a wide range of nonprofits will result from these initiatives.

Specific initiatives of the act will include addressing the dropout crises and strengthening our schools, improvising energy efficiency, safeguarding the environment, improving health care and expanding economic opportunity in low-income communicates, and preparing for and responding to disasters and emergencies.

Talented and committed individuals will be needed to make these programs a reality. While some of this demand will be met by AmeriCorps participants (the act will increase AmeriCorps members from 75K to 250K), we expect that many more will be needed to develop, manage, and staff new programs.

Where does your talent fit into this new service nation? Let us know!

The reality is this: the demand for nonprofit services during a recession is great. The communities served by nonprofits are facing unprecedented waves of complex economic pressures and increasingly large numbers of people are in need of solutions that nonprofits provide. Now more than ever, nonprofits feel the need to maximize the one resource that makes service possible: their human capital.

The key to being able to provide services, and ultimately weather the recession, is, as Jim Collins would say, having “the right people on the bus.” With layoffs, many nonprofits now find themselves in the position to have to re-build with leaner, meaner, and more effective teams. And even organizations that did not have layoffs are looking to take advantage of the influx of amazing candidates who are now on the market, and, in many cases, are creating positions for the “right” talent.

These opportunities are not always obvious, however. Nearly 60% of nonprofit job openings are never posted, and are filled by members of an organization’s network. This is why it’s more important than ever to dust off your rolodex (or LinkedIn, iPhone, or however you manage your contacts) and get yourself on the radar of organizations that interest you, and ones where you could make a meaningful contribution in this economy and beyond.

Here is some recent press that supports these ideas:

Hub human services nonprofits hiring
This Boston Herald article finds that area nonprofits are seeking talent, especially in front-line positions such as case workers and direct service providers.

Recruiter sees hope for finance professionals
Robert Half International, one of the world’s largest staffing firms, cites nonprofits as one of the booming markets hiring finance professionals

BUILD is changing the face of higher education by empowering and supporting high school students from underserved communities.  The four-year BUILD curriculum uses entrepreneurship education as the motivator to get students interested in applying to and attending four-year colleges and universities. Their unique four-year entrepreneurship-focused college preparation program provides real-world experience that empowers youth from under-resourced communities to excel in education, lead in their communities, and succeed professionally. 

Founded in 2000, the KIPP Foundation supports the growth and success of a national network of charter schools that develop the knowledge, skills, character, and habits of youth in educationally underserved communities so that they will be successful in college and beyond.  Specific program areas include: network growth planning and new site selection, recruitment and selection of new school leaders, leadership training and professional development, research and evaluation of school performance, technology, legal, and real estate services, financial and operational support, communications and marketing support, development and fundraising, and local board development. 

Part of the KIPP Foundation network of schools, KIPP Delta is a nonprofit charter school support organization that oversees the growth, quality, and sustainability of KIPP schools in the Arkansas Delta.  Through high expectations for students and staff, world-class teachers and school leaders, more time in school, autonomy over budget and curriculum, and a focus on results, KIPP schools prepare underserved students for success in college and in life.  There are currently two outstanding public schools in the KIPP Delta network and an aggressive strategic plan will support growth to a network of 12 schools serving over 3,500 students by 2019.

Youth Villages is one of the nation’s leading providers of mental and behavioral health services for children and their families, serving over 12,000 young people each year.  With locations across 10 different states, this entrepreneurial and rapidly growing nonprofit organization provides an array of services that include home-based intensive family therapy, transitional living, residential treatment, foster care, adoption, and crisis services.

Visit our Job Listings page to browse the opportunities available at these organizations.

Also recently, DonorsChoose.org announced that Stephen Colbert, comedian, actor, and host of The Colbert Report, has joined their national board: http://blog.donorschoose.org/blog/2009/01/12/stephen-colbert-the-colbert-report-joins-donorschooseorg-board-of-directors/.

Citizen Schools (www.citizenschools.org), a partner of Commongood Careers, operates a national network of afterschool programs for middle school students in low-income communities.  Citizen Schools recently made it to the final round of the “Ideas for Change in America” contest on Change.org, running at the top of the Education category. 

Started in response to President-elect Obama’s call for greater citizen involvement in government, the Change.org contest asks citizens to vote online for powerful ideas.  The top 10 ideas across all categories will be presented to the Obama administration as part of an event at the National Press Club in DC on January 16th, and then supported by a national advocacy campaign run by Change.org, MySpace, and more than a dozen leading nonprofits.

Please check out their idea to “Mobilize mentors, tutors, and Citizen Teachers to help kids succeed” and cast your vote today (voting ends at on January 15).  Learn more at
http://citizenschools.org/change/

Help Commongood Careers and Citizen Schools seize this opportunity to change the debate about education, and mobilize millions of mentors, tutors and Citizen Teachers to help kids succeed.  Together, we can make our voices heard in Washington, D.C. and make a difference for children throughout the nation.

Here’s how to vote (it takes 60 seconds and is EASY!):
If you’re a first-time Change.org voter, follow the 6 easy steps below. If you’ve already registered on the Change.org site, you can go to http://change.org and jump right to STEP 4.

STEP 1: Click here: http://www.change.org

STEP 2: On the home page, click on the ‘Join Today’ button to register an account.

STEP 3: Check your inbox and click on the confirmation link from Change.org.

STEP 4: On the Change.org home page, click on the ‘Ideas’ link at the top right.

STEP 5: In the ‘Search Ideas:’ box on the right side of the page, type in: “mobilize mentors”.

STEP 6: Click on the “Vote Now” button. (Note: If the Votes icon turns red, your vote has been counted.)

That’s it!  Thank you!
http://citizenschools.org/change/

Eric Dawson, President and Co-Founder of Peace Games followed with an inspiring story about what led to the creation of Peace games, his challenges and achievements. One interesting concept that often social entrepreneurs struggle with is measurement and how you know whether or not your program is effective. Brilliantly, Dawson raised the point that impact is more than about traditional forms of evaluation and measurement, distinguishing W and w - BIG work and LITTLE work. BIG work is about never losing sight of the overall mission, the bigger picture and not getting discouraged when trying to see impact because social change is hard to measure and often isn’t apparent right away. LITTLE work is the quantitative measurement, which most organizations need for funding. He also said that social entrepreneurship is more than just building programs – building programs isn’t enough; it’s about building movements, cultivating relationships and connecting people. Dawson was very thoughtful and sincere in his reflections about Peace Games and Social Entrepreneurship – we were all very grateful for his openness.

It was an inspiring day to say the least, and it was great to be surrounded by such progressive individuals looking to take what they learned back to their communities. Thank you BCCJ, ASHOKA and Brandeis Heller School of Social Policy and Management for a powerful event.

The discussion explored if the financial crisis is causing shifts in the nonprofit job market, and how particular people are being affected. On one end of the spectrum, people seem to be postponing retirement and staying at their jobs longer. Younger employees are concerned about their long-term prospects in the social sector.

The overall financial situation may also result in sector-switchers from the corporate world wanting to enter the nonprofit sector, which creates more competition for fewer jobs overall.

How is the economy affecting you in your job search and/or current position?

Open to the public, the session was hosted at Northeastern University,
drew an audience of over 60 people, and was moderated by the Founder and
CEO of Commongood Careers, James Weinberg.  Other panelists included:
James Cleveland, President of Jumpstart for Young Children; Priscilla
Cohen, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Citizen Schools; Jennifer
Macauley, Director of Communications at New Profit Inc.; and Christine
Morin, Director of New Site Development at City Year Inc.

The panel opened with James Weinberg providing framing remarks about the
powerful nature of social entrepreneurship as a force for innovative
change throughout the world.  Each panelist then took several minutes to
introduce themselves and answer the question: “Who is the most
inspirational social entrepreneur that you have ever known, and what do
you think made them a ‘social entrepreneur’ as you think about and
define the term.”  The audience then engaged in an hour of lively
interactive discussion with the panel, followed by time for individual
discussions and networking.

It was a powerful event and we would like to thank each of our
panelists, Northeastern University for so generously hosting us, and the
Coro National Alumni Association for sponsoring the event and making
this important discussion open to the public.

Obama has pledged to create a Social Entrepreneurship Agency within the Corporation for National and Community Service, to generate more venture capital for socially conscious startups. The new agency would make it easier for small nonprofits to get federal grants, plus come up with a results-driven accountability system so government officials could make better decisions about which charities to fund.

Obama also wants to create a Social Investment Fund Network, which would steer private and government money to cities that identify innovative solutions to their most pressing social issues.

He estimates his ideas will cost $3.5 billion a year. He plans to pay for them through savings found by ending the war in Iraq and eliminating some corporate tax deductions.

Friday, November 7, 2008
1:00 - 3:00pm

Northeastern University
Egan Research Center, Raytheon Amphitheatre
120 Forsyth Street, Boston, MA 02115

Moderator:
James Weinberg, Founder & CEO, Commongood Careers

Panelists:
Priscilla Cohen, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Citizen Schools
James Cleveland, President, Jumpstart for Young Children
Jennifer Macauley, Director of Communications, New Profit Inc.
Christine Morin, Director of New Site Development, City Year

This panel is open to the public with an RSVP and is being organized as part of the 2008 Coro National Alumni Gathering.

Session Overview: Social entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as one of the world’s most powerful forces for bringing about positive social change.  Leaders in this hybrid field, which exists somewhere in-between the private, public and nonprofit sectors, are often at the helm of rapidly scaling ventures that offer “game-changing” solutions.  But from where does all this power originate and where is it all headed?  This panel will discuss the essential nature of social entrepreneurs and the factors that make them such a unique lever within our society.  We will also explore what the future of the movement might be, especially in these uncertain economic times.

RSVP ASAP to Maureen Sarna, , 617-542-1404 x 29

Event Sponsors:
Coro trains ethical, diverse civic leaders nationwide.  Coro leaders develop skills and master tools needed to engage and empower communities. The Coro National Alumni Association (CNAA) is the official alumni association of the Coro Foundation and its regional centers and programs.  CNAA strives to foster communication and a spirit of friendship, assistance, and cooperation within the Coro community.  To learn more about Coro and apply for its leadership programs, please visit http://www.coro.org or email recruitny@coro.org.

Commongood Careers is an innovative not-for-profit search firm that supports social entrepreneurs with their recruitment and hiring needs at every organizational level.  Commongood Careers offers personalized, engaged services to jobseekers and nonprofits throughout the hiring process, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge about nonprofit careers. Ultimately, Commongood accelerates social change by placing the best talent in the right roles at the nation’s most effective mission-driven organizations.
To learn more, please visit: http://www.cgcareers.org.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PANEL DIRECTIONS

Northeastern University
Egan Research Center, Raytheon Amphitheatre
120 Forsyth Street, Boston, MA 02115

Parking is available at the Renaissance Parking Garage, 835 Columbus Avenue, Boston.  The Egan Research Center is located behind the parking garage, on the other side of the Ruggles T Station.

Traveling by Public Transportation:

GREEN LINE: From downtown Boston, take an “E” train outbound to the Northeastern stop, the first stop above ground.  From the Northeastern stop, walk down Huntington and turn into the campus by walking down Forsyth Street.  The Egan Research Center is toward the end of the street.

ORANGE LINE: Take the Orange Line going outbound to Forest Hills and get off at Ruggles Station. The Egan Research Center is toward the end of the street.

As an NGen sponsor, we at Commongood Careers are excited to see these issues being addressed at one of the most well-attended and influential nonprofit conferences.

Learn more about NGen.

Positioning social enterprise as a business that creates social value, the article discusses the need for venture philanthropists to better define measures of social return, as well as offers a warning to nonprofits to avoid launching ventures that could potentially distract an organization from its mission-critical work.

In the news story, Investors Focusing on Social Enterprises, San Francisco Bay Area television station KGO reports that venture capitalists are investing their dollars in socially responsible businesses. “Social capital markets” are gaining more attention in investment communities, and both new and existing organizations are reaping the benefits.

Similarly, Venture Beat speculates if “social capital” is the next big market to emerge. With a lens on microfinance, fair trade, environmental, and social change organizations, this article looks at how investors are putting their faith—and dollars—into triple-bottom line ventures.

So what made September so special? In truly historic terms, ServiceNation launched a national and groundbreaking campaign, elevating the conversation about citizen service to a new level. For those who are unfamiliar, ServiceNation is a coalition of organizations dedicated to strengthening our democracy and solving problems through civic engagement and service, of which Commongood Careers is a proud member.

Kicking off the campaign on September 11th in New York City, Senators Obama and McCain set aside partisanship to speak together at a Presidential Forum about the importance of service and their views on how to expand its impact.  The following day, the ServiceNation Summit brought together hundreds of leaders – nonprofit and for-profit CEO’s, elected and appointed government officials, army generals and celebrities – to discuss and embrace the future of citizen service.  But the rubber really hit the road on September 27th’s “Day of Action,” during which more than 2,700 service events were organized across all 50 states to showcase the power and potential of service.

The month also brought some of the most powerful legislation in decades to expand and improve service opportunities when, on September 12th, Senators Kennedy and Hatch introduced “The Serve America Act” with co-sponsorship from Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain.  When many policy efforts grind to a halt during an election cycle, waiting to see what the election will bring, it is tremendously encouraging to know that the next President of the United States has already endorsed this sweeping and important reform.

These developments are likely to have a profound impact on the workforce of the nonprofit sector, as more and more people are introduced to service and earn marketable experiences working to those ends.  Particularly in response to conversations about the sector’s impending leadership crisis, there may be few more effective strategies for increasing the talent supply than to expand national service programs like City Year, Public Allies, Civic Ventures and Teach For America.

Finally, it is also worth noting that this work represents some of the absolute best tenants of social entrepreneurship – innovating new approaches to addressing social problems, pursuing audacious goals, measuring impacts, and building powerful cross-sector coalitions.  As is often the case with successful examples of social entrepreneurship, and as was certainly the case during ServiceNation events, I found myself thinking daily about Margaret Mead’s often quoted observation: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” 

As a citizen of the world and on behalf of all of us…. thank you ServiceNation!

On October 8th, the Stanford Social Innovation Review will host a conference called Online Giving Marketplaces: Changing the Face of Philanthropy. I’m thrilled to see these platforms finally getting the attention they deserve. I’m also delighted to be moderating one of the panel discussions. Over the years I’ve paid a lot of attention to online giving sites—GlobalGiving, Kiva, NetworkForGood, GiveIndia, HelpArgentina, DonorsChoose, GiveMeaning, and GreaterGood South Africa, among many others (check out socialactions for a mashup of more than 30 platforms).

Why do these sites matter? Because they represent giving that’s faster, more global, and boasts multi-media interactivity? Or is there something else, something more transformative, going on here? Why are these sites proliferating, and what differentiates them from each other?

These platforms are important beyond just their speed and glitz factors in several ways.  They enable small gifts to be aggregated—by the donors—and they let donors manage portfolios of their giving. This is a baseline for ultimately getting to more strategic giving. Second, online giving platforms provide a potential source of data about giving trends and patterns, in something approximating real time. Third, they could provide a common backbone for donation transactions. Fourth, they are positioned to gather real feedback and input from people within funded institutions, as well as the people who benefit from them (see GreatNonprofits for more on this possibility). Fifth, they might serve as early warning signals about issues or giving patterns. Sixth, there are already emerging connections between “online giving platforms,” “social investors,” and “social stock exchanges”—so it only makes sense that new metrics systems, reporting tools, and portfolio assessment tools will come next. Seventh, these sites are specifically set up as marketplaces with buyers and sellers connected by interests; this framework is distinct from the way nonprofits and donors usually talk about themselves, and one that has both advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we have not yet seen real interconnectivity between online giving platforms and “offline” donor services. Is this next, and what might the results of such partnerships look like?

The speakers at the Online Giving Marketplaces conference, who include the founding executives and board members of several of the sites named above, will surely add their ideas to this list.

Updates: The conference has been moved to a larger venue; the original site sold out. (You can find information on logistics here.) If you can’t attend, but have key questions you’d like to ask, send them to me, at and I’ll do my best to get them asked. I’ll report answers via a blog post.

Levin emphasized the importance of bringing education to America’s students now, noting that KIPP does everything it can to make learning and teaching both fun and productive. “One of the things we want to do is make sure that every kid has a chance to work toward their own future,” he said. 

“We can think of education like steroids for our kids’ futures,” he said.  And while the analogy garnered some laughs, KIPP’s record shows that it really is improving kids’ futures astronomically.  It isn’t steroids, but commitment, dedication and hard work on the part of students, teachers, and families that give KIPP’s kids the boost they need. 

Only one question remains: When will the “Colbert Bump” kick in for KIPP?

This year, over 1,000 projects were submitted, which has since been narrowed down to five projects. We are thrilled to see that two Commongood Careers clients—DonorsChoose.org and Kiva—are amongst the top five nominees!

If you are an AMEX cardholder, you can cast your vote at: http://www.membersproject.com/

If you are not a cardholder, AMEX invites you to show your support by sounding off about your favorite nominated projects at: http://community.membersproject.com/category/Discussion-Board/3

The PSAs feature City Year corps members in meaningful moments that convey the impact they have as young people engaged in citizen service: tutoring in schools, mentoring students, cleaning up neighborhoods, and ultimately working together for a common purpose.

“The more you learn about City Year, the more you are inspired by the energy, passion and optimism that shine through everything they do,” said Brian Hayes, creative director, Arnold.  “We hope that these new ads convey this feeling and motivate more young people to get involved in the program.”

The PSAs will be shown almost 2,500 times as part of Comcast’s three-year commitment of $27 million to City Year. 

The award recognizes organizations with a wide range of missions and visions, but all of those awarded are making significant change in their communities.  Winners this year include ACCESS, “for its commitment to provide economic and social services to Arab immigrants, Arab Americans, and non-Arabs alike, while breaking down the barriers of linguistic and cultural differences;”  Native Americans in Philanthropy, “for its work to promote, facilitate, and celebrate philanthropic giving to Native communities, while providing professional development opportunities and support for Native Americans working in the field of philanthropy;” and The Twenty-First Century Foundation “for its efforts to facilitate strategic giving for black community change, working with donors to invest in institutions and leaders that address challenges within black communities across the country.”

The National Leadership in Action Award Program promotes high-level performance of philanthropic institutions and nonprofit organizations and the award honors innovative approaches to connecting resources of time, money and expertise to the philanthropic work of communities of color.

For a full list of recipients or to learn more about the award, click here. 

Among the calls to action for our next administration are:

1. Expand innovation incentives and free them from the earmarks and conditions that have blunted past initiatives. Adequate incentives, coupled with rigorous accountability, would remedy this.

2. Use influence over state and local policy to sweep away regulations that hamper innovative thinking, such as caps on the number of public charter schools allowed and excessive restrictions on how teachers are trained and credentialed.

3. Continue the strong push of two efforts already underway. One is the move toward a common set of standards for what students should be expected to know and be able to do. Then, to make shared standards work, a national data infrastructure must be built to assess educational progress.

This op-ed also featured the outstanding work of other Commongood Careers partners such as KIPP, Teach for America, and New Leaders for New Schools.

Read the full article.

Last week, Team Commongood Careers enjoyed the good fortune of being able to hold our annual retreat in beautiful new boardrooms and training spaces within the offices of City Year and Citizen Schools.

They say everything happens for a reason.  In this case, not only were City Year and Citizen Schools able to provide some great space to meet our logistical needs, but it was also a tremendous inspiration to be discussing sector-wide impact in the national headquarters of these two outstandingly successful and entrepreneurial organizations.

And if you don’t already know all about these two leaders in their fields, please check them out and help us return the favor by doing all you can to support their efforts.

City Year unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the world. As tutors, mentors, and role models, these young leaders make a difference in the lives of children and transform schools and neighborhoods across the United States and in South Africa. More than 1,500 corps members serve in 19 City Year sites across the United States and one site in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Citizen Schools has built a creative and effective learning model that addresses community needs while building student skills through hands-on experiential learning activities. Citizen Schools operates a National Network of apprenticeship programs for youth that connects middle school students with adult volunteers in hands-on learning. At Citizen Schools, students develop the academic and leadership skills they need to excel in school, build self confidence, get into college, and become leaders in their communities. Citizen Schools currently enroll 2,000 middle-school students and engage 1,500 volunteers at 30 school campus sites nationwide.

Tenacity will be honored by the USTA during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the US Open this year as the featured National Junior Tennis League organization. Attracting over 30,000 adult and youth spectators, Arthur Ashe Kids Day honors tennis legend Arthur Ashe and continues his mission of using tennis as a means to instill in kids the values of humanitarianism, leadership and academic excellence. To see the coverage, tune in to CBS Sports TV on Sunday, August 24th, from 12 - 1:30 PM (EST) for the Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day national broadcast featuring a short video on Tenacity.

We congratulation our partner Tenacity for being recognized on this special day that celebrates the importance of shaping and encouraging youth in the classroom, on the court, and in the community.

The article also highlights the work of Teach For America, teachNOLA, and New Leaders for New Schools and shows incredible images of students of Langston Hughes Charter School.

We applaud the tremendous effort of New Schools for New Orleans and its supporters to further the transformation public schools in New Orleans.

Net Impact, an international community of new leaders who use business to improve the world, is currently conducting a survey to inform a report on MBAs working in the social sector. Participate in the survey

Plus, Foote cites some impressive stats, for example that about 10 percent of Yale, Georgetown and Harvard seniors apply to be a part of Teach For America’s corps of world-changing teachers.  She also writes about the realities of the challenges facing America’s education system and how Teach For America is offering solutions. 

Encouragingly, the article notes that many of Teach For America’s alumni are inspired by their experience to do more.  Foote points out that KIPP, whose impressive education successes we recently blogged about, was started by Teach For America alums. 

Due to lack of state funding, the school’s future was uncertain just a few weeks before it was to open.  Fortunately for Hartford and its students, local figures like Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving came forward to champion Achievement First’s cause and energize donors to help get the schools ready for the fall.

With Achievement First’s success in education, it’s no wonder so many in Hartford were ready to step forward to support the organization.  A recent report shows that students at a similar school in New Haven, Conn. performed an average of 56 percent higher on all sections of the state test than their peers in non-Achievement First schools in that city.  Now that’s putting achievement first!

That’s where the article recognizes organizations like Kiva and DonorsChoose.org.  The article advises: “if you want to exercise the kind of control that deep-pocketed philanthropists enjoy, consider donating to one of a new breed of charities that allow donors to browse descriptions of specific projects online and fund them, in whole or in part. “

Both Kiva and DonorsChoose.org use the Internet to connect individual donors directly with recipients of the donation, whether through Kiva’s microloans or DonorsChoose’s donations to classrooms.  They champion diverse causes, but they’re both doing what’s great: helping people exercise their philanthropic spirit, no matter the size of their bank account. 

Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews recently wrote an article about KIPP’s focus on finding the cause for any drop-outs from its schools and its continuing research on learning how its graduates are doing once they reach college.  He highlights the importance of KIPP’s dedication to looking at the data to achieve results. 

And achieve they do.  The article also notes that in addition to being much more likely to graduate high school and go to college than their non-KIPP school peers, middle school students who completed four years at KIPP increased their average math achievement level from the 40th to the 82nd percentile and their reading level from the 32nd to the 60th percentile.  Dare we say “KIPP up the good work”?