Category: whitepaper

From the new Spark whitepaper, The Mission Driven Volunteer, written with Peggy Hoffman:

We know that switching to a mission driven model of volunteering isn’t easy. However, the era in which members had ample time and resources to serve on traditionally-organized committees that made all decisions slowly, deliberatively, and collaboratively is over. Data shows that your members still very much want to contribute their ideas and energy to your association, and, through you, to the profession or industry you serve. But they are asking for new things from your association. They want to contribute in ways that are meaningful to them and make a demonstrable difference, in small bites, and on – and only on – their schedules. They are mission-driven volunteers. Are you ready for them?

Want more? Download your free copy at http://bit.ly/13Wwe1F.

From the new Spark whitepaper, The Mission Driven Volunteer, written with Peggy Hoffman:

The Maryland Association of CPAs realigned all their volunteer roles along a grid where the X-axis represented high value to members and the association and the Y-axis represented alignment to strategy. Then volunteer teams used that grid to pull resources away from committees and chapters doing low priority work and refocus those resources on activities and projects that were in the high-high quadrant. This eventually ushered in a complete governance restructuring, including a leaner Board and a reorganized staff, and a shift in the organizational philosophy of volunteering.

The National Fluid Power Association reorganized their volunteer program to focus on engaging members in ideation, development, and delivery of new programs, products, and services that aligned with the strategic direction of the association, and doing that  efficiently and in a way that would break out of the traditional hierarchical organization chart. This resulted in a new volunteer structure that allows anyone who wants contribute to do so at the level that fits the needs of that individual volunteer, with strategic communications flowing out and level of engagement flowing in.

The Oncology Nursing Society completely revamped their governance model to be based on the principles of adhocracy, which replaces bureaucratic structure with an organic entity that thrives on decentralizing work and responsibility, and capitalizes on the involvement of many different voices. In the end, only two standing committee remain (Nominating and Audit). The rest of the volunteer work of the association is done by task forces who come together, do the work, and disband.

Want more? Download your free copy at http://bit.ly/13Wwe1F.

 

From the new Spark whitepaper, The Mission Driven Volunteer, written with Peggy Hoffman:

From the new Spark whitepaper, The Mission Driven Volunteer, written with Peggy Hoffman:

The current model of volunteering in associations, based on standing committees, is broken, leading to:

• Difficulty recruiting volunteers
• Do-nothing committees
• Poorly attended meetings
• No new ideas
• Volunteer burn out
• Disengaged and disheartened volunteers

All these are artifacts of a system that values form, position, and title over function, meaning, and action.

This model is pathological for several reasons:

• It ignores the reality of generational differences.
• It handcuffs organizational decision-making.
• It limits opportunities for involvement.

Want more? Download your free copy at http://bit.ly/13Wwe1F.

 

I’m excited to announce the third Spark white paper – The Mission Driven Volunteer – co-authored with Peggy Hoffman, CAE, President of Mariner Management.

This week, I’ll be blogging about the contents of the whitepaper.

The basic premise is:

Associations’ current model of volunteering is broken. Standing committees value form and position over function and effectiveness. They ignore generational differences, produce slow, inefficient, and unoriginal decision-making, and limit participation.

Mission-driven volunteering is a new model that allows associations and our volunteers to focus our limited resources, measuring everything we do by how well it supports and contributes to the mission of our organizations. Mission-driven volunteers embrace ad hocracy and micro-volunteering, allowing diverse groups of members to contribute in ways that make the most sense to them.

I’ll be writing more about each of these points this week, but in the meantime, pick up your free copy at http://bit.ly/13Wwe1F, no divulging of information about yourself required.