If we asked you to show us your succession plan, would you have to blow months or years of dust off it before you showed it to us? And would it contemplate the development of people within your organization not yet ready to step into key leadership roles?
Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is a continuation of last week’s topic about succession planning. Nic shares the remaining 2 of 4 key elements that succession planning and succession plans need – internal people pipeline and “living” plans.
When we focus on developing an internal pipeline of people and seeing our succession plans as “living” documents, we advance our organizations’ ability to both evolve and sustain.
You don’t just plan one time; you should be planning.
What are you going to do differently or maintain when it comes to your succession planning?
Let us know in the comments!
You can follow the link to watch Episode 31.
What would happen if your CEO/Executive Director (ED) finished their lunch and left for the day…and decided not to return….Ever? And what if your only staff accountant or grant associate did the same, but your ED stayed? Which scenario would be more challenging for your organization’s operations?
If you do not have a group of people or someone within your organization thinking about your organization’s ability to thrive despite significant internal disruptions, you are missing out on opportunities to engage in comprehensive succession planning and ultimately strengthen your #infrastructure.
Today’s Fast Build Friday is about succession planning. Nic shares the first 2 of 4 key elements that succession plans miss, but should incorporate to allow organizations to show up consistently even when a key employee or leader leaves.
These 2 elements – being more than CEO/ED focused and addressing systems – can considerably strengthen your infrastructure and can help you plan for even more consistent impact.
Do you have a succession plan?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
You can follow the link to watch Episode 30.
Do you ever think about how creating and protecting your organization’s #intellectualproperty can help support its sustainability?
Today’s Fast Build Friday is about using infrastructure to protect your intellectual property. Nic shares three examples to illustrate the clear link between strong infrastructure and protecting your IP to support asset creation.
When we have conversations with #nonprofit leaders and teams about organizational infrastructure, we always raise questions about their organizations’ ability to create and protect their intellectual property. If you have no intellectual property or have an inadequate way to protect it, you are impairing your value and asset creation and limiting your sustainability.
How are you protecting your intellectual property? Is your infrastructure hurting or helping? Let us know in the comments!
You can follow the link to watch Episode 29.
Do you think there is a strong, weak, or no connection between #compliance and programmatic #strategy? When do you think is the best time to consider compliance in your strategy discussions? Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is the relationship between compliance and programmatic strategy. Nic discusses two areas that highlight how compliance and programmatic strategy go hand in…
When you prepare a budget, do you ever budget for #innovation? Do you think you need to? Well, we think you should. Having space to experiment and fail and holding yourself accountable to pursuing innovation are two critical building blocks to innovation. Having an infrastructure that allows you to do both will allow you to innovate.
Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is using your budget to strengthen your infrastructure. Nic discusses the reason why having an innovation line in your budget is integral to strengthening your infrastructure and creating transformational outcomes.
If you plan to give your grantees space to fail towards transformation or create new ways to amplify the voices of the communities you’re trying to pull from the margins, you need an innovation line in your budget.
Do you have an innovation line item in your budget? How do you create space to innovate and measure your progress? Let us know in the comments!
You can follow the link to watch Episode 27.
Nic has listened to and helped #nonprofit leaders tell compelling stories for more than a decade. Her work has shown her that there is a strong connection between a nonprofit’s ability to say, “No,” to a grant and compelling storytelling.
Today’s Fast Build Friday episode is about the connection between infrastructure and the ability to say, “No,” to a grant. It is the final installment in our three-part series that started with Fast Build Friday Episode 24.
Having structured grants to support communities in nearly every region of the world, Nic knows the power of a compelling story. And she appreciates the connection between story telling and infrastructure. When you do not have the ability to say, “No,” it indicates that you have no convictions about the way you work, the way you are structured, or the way you should be structured to provide sustained support to the communities you are working with. Without the ability to say, “No,” it is the story you risk telling.
How are you telling your story? How are you supporting other organizations to help them tell a compelling story? We would love to know in the comments!
You can follow the link to watch Episode 26.
Does it really matter how you build your infrastructure? Does how you build your infrastructure determine whether you can say, “No,” to a grant?
Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is again about the connection between infrastructure and the ability to say, “No,” to a grant. In it, Nic shares the second of three indicators of infrastructure strength that are connected to an organization’s ability to say, “No,” to funding – brave infrastructure building. It is the second part of a three-part series that started with last week’s Fast Build Friday Episode 24.
When you have the ability to say, “No,” it indicates that you are unapologetically building a strong foundation and infrastructure to support your work, which is what our communities need.
How do you build bravely? How does that building connect to your ability to say, “No,” to a grant? Let us know in the comments!
You can follow the link to watch Episode 25.
Would you ever say, “No,” to a grant?
Nic has spent years working with #nonprofits around the world and she knows that the ability to say, “No,” is often an indicator of just how strong your infrastructure is. And she also knows that by saying, “No,” to certain funding, you are opening doors to diverse, revenue sources.
Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is the connection between infrastructure and the ability to say, “No,” to a grant. Nic shares the first of 3 indicators of infrastructure strength that are connected to an organization’s ability to say, “No,” to funding – revenue diversification. It is the first part of a three-part series.
Being terrified of even the thought of saying, “No,” to a sizable grant is often an indicator of a weakened infrastructure, namely insufficient revenue diversification. Revenue diversification feeds your sustainability. And your sustainability impacts the way you serve vulnerable communities.
Diversifying your revenue often strengthens both your ability to say, “No,” and your infrastructure.
Do you have the ability to say, “No”? How is that ability tied to your revenue diversification? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
You can follow the link to watch Episode 24.
Can you tell us the most important component of a grant agreement? Chances are, you probably have to think a bit more about it because you probably do not think about your grant agreement that often to begin with. Right?
What if we told you that your grant agreement can often hold many of the keys to your infrastructure? What would you do differently?
Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is about the critical components of a highly effective grant agreement. Nic shares the 4 critical components of these agreements. As in-house counsel and in her current practice, Nic has drafted and negotiated thousands of grant agreements for awards in countries and regions around the world and she knows highly effective grant agreements can be one of the fundamental pieces of your infrastructure.
If you only see a grant agreement as a technical tool, you are missing an opportunity to communicate with partners and better serve communities in need.
What will you do differently with your grant agreements going forward? Let us know in the comments!
You can follow the link watch Episode 23.
As a nonprofit or social-impact #startup, how much can you do with limited capacity? With no capacity? Do you want to find out or do you want to learn how to build your capacity almost immediately?
We can tell you that without capacity, your compelling programmatic vision and strategy do not matter. As a startup, it is therefore critical that you build capacity to support your vision and strategy.
Today’s Fast Build Friday topic is again about the fundamental infrastructure considerations for nonprofit or social-impact start-ups. In it, Nic shares the second of my two fundamental considerations – capacity – and discuss three ways to build capacity almost immediately. It is part two to last week’s Fast Build Friday Episode 21.
How are you thinking about #capacitybuilding in startups? Let us know in the comments!
You can follow the link to watch Episode 22.