Richard Buery, 37, will soon depart from his position as Founder and CEO of Groundwork in East Brooklyn, N.Y., to head up one of New York City's oldest and most venerated institutions, The Children's Aid Society. Buery himself grew up in East Brooklyn, where more than half of the population lives below the poverty line, and with the highest crime rate in all of New York's five boroughs.
After attending Stuyvesant High School, a magnet school in Manhattan, and continuing on to Harvard College and Yale Law School, Buery returned to his home community to establish Groundwork, a profoundly effective organization that helps young people to achieve academic success. Just a few years earlier, in 1999, Buery co-founded iMentor, a highly successful mentoring organization.
As the newest leader of Children's Aid, Buery will head the organization founded by 1850's social reformer and innovator Charles Loring Brace (who preceded the term social entrepreneur by well over a century). Brace and Buery share the vision that all children deserve the opportunity and society's support to help them to become productive and successful adults.
Now a $100 million agency, Children's Aid established the nation's first day care program for working mothers, first free school lunch program, and the first visiting nurse service. Their community school model has been adapted by public schools throughout the U.S. And their concurrent planning approach to foster care became the basis for the federal 1996 Adoption and Safe Families Act, which defines today's modern foster care system.
Buery describes Children's Aid's roots as the "hotbed of innovation." He relishes the opportunity to further the organization as today's innovator in youth development, education, and child welfare that transforms the lives of New York's children, while serving as a model for other cities. "It's in our nation's interest to help every child to have the opportunity to succeed," says Buery.
"We are now in an age of active, self-made wealth, and these individuals are becoming just as active in their philanthropy. The key skills that many learned whilst building their wealth in the commercial sector are now being applied in the not-for-profit world. Just as they do in business, entrepreneurs are applying the same business acumen and innovative approach when engaging in philanthropy. Whilst money is by far the most common way all donors give to charity, entrepreneurs are more likely than other groups to state they are providing business expertise, networking, and fundraising to help the causes they support." This according to Barclays Wealth's new research report called, Tomorrow's Philanthropist, conducted in cooperation with Ledbury Research.
"The wealthy are still giving despite the downturn, and some wealthy individuals are actually increasing the levels of their funding," says the study. Here are additional trends: donors are giving away their money while they are alive, pooling their resources for greater impact, giving more internationally, expecting to see measurable outcomes, and are as ambitious and impatient in their expectations of the nonprofits in which they invest as they were with the companies they built. The study also explains that donors seek to solve problems, not simply support causes, and that today's donors see the internet and technology as key elements in helping to enable measurement and impact.
Most importantly, according to Barclays Wealth, "philanthropy is likely to become more deeply embedded in the heart of companies as the world seeks to find a more sustainable and ethical form of commerce." And "the wealthy will increasingly seek professional advice for giving as they do in business."
In my work with corporations, foundations, and philanthropists, I have seen these patterns, and recommend and help donors to achieve their interests. If you are a donor or prospective donor, here are key steps:
Determine the issues you want to address as an individual or an institution
Partner with nonprofits/NGOs that have expertise and effective leadership in addressing the key issues
Engage personally and actively, including in helping to ensure that the organization gets the resources it needs, has an effective strategy, and achieves success (through iterative planning and measurement)
On a related note: Listen here to the new Carnegie Council interview on my work in helping companies and their executives to engage with nonprofit boards and high-impact philanthropy, and my leadership development work in strengthening boards to envision and achieve more ambitious results for the nonprofit sector.
"Echoing Green deeply relies on the content expertise of its volunteers and supporters," according to Cheryl Dorsey, President of Echoing Green. Since 1987, Echoing Green has helped to launch 471 new social enterprises, including Teach for America (1990), City Year (1991), SKS Microfinance (1998), and The Global Fund for Children (1993).
Dorsey elaborates by explaining that "our global business plan competition rallies close to 300 volunteers including business professionals to vet the submissions of our applicants--budget review, plan feasibility, revenue generation models, etc. It is a wonderful example of how an organization extracts maximum value from the relationship. Our business leaders share with us their knowledge, wisdom and expertise; if we were to monetize this intellectual capital, the total would be staggering. The organization gets top flight, invaluable advice that allows us to identify and support some of the world's best emerging social entrepreneurs. Can you imagine the loss of value were we to ask these supporters to stuff envelops or answer phones? Important work for the organization, but a total mismatch in volunteer skills and organizational needs."
Having trained and consulted to a number of the Echoing Green social enterprises on board development and board building, I have seen the creativity, drive, and commitment of these extraordinary leaders, and the impact of their organizations--globally and regionally.
I also see the value that businesses and business people add by collaborating with Echoing Green enterprises. As Dorsey describes, "nonprofits, usually under-capitalized and under-resourced, struggle to generate the brand equity that companies with significant marketing budgets can. Thus, business leaders are critical partners of Echoing Green, supporting us in doing the kind of outreach and validation so necessary to building a sustainable nonprofit enterprise."
As Dorsey says, "business leaders working in common cause with not-for-profit leaders is a formula for success." Visit here to see how you can help!
“Customers… are making purchase decisions based upon companies' behaviors. When companies do find the things that are important to their customers and go above and beyond with regard to the corporate responsibility that the customers expect, [companies] frequently can charge higher prices, they get better market share, better customer loyalty, et cetera, and that is of course something that all businesses want,” according to George Pohle, in an interview with Julia Kennedy in Carnegie Council’s podcast series on Advocates for Ethics in Business.
Pohle’s recommendation’s ring true to my experience with corporations that have become highly strategic with philanthropy and CSR, as well as nonprofits that are leveraging corporate engagement to advance good causes locally and globally.
I asked businesses for their advice about being strategic in their approaches to philanthropy and community engagement. I also asked nonprofits how businesses can be most useful to them in advancing their missions to the community. Their responses resonate with Pohle’s comments. Here are a few:
Being Strategic and High Impact
Allyson Peerman is President of the AMD Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AMD, “an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and partners to ignite the next generation of computing graphics and solutions.” Peerman advises that “companies need to invest in issues that both help society and eventually benefit the business.” She explains that AMD is investing in AMD Changing the Game, their “signature education initiative designed to inspire kids to learn important skills by developing social-issue games on topics like the environment, energy, health, and poverty.” Peerman recommends to companies to “focus on issues and partners that tap into the businesses’ core competency in order to have the greatest impact.”
From the nonprofit perspective, according to JD Hoye, President of the National Academy Foundation, “businesses who open their doors [for internships] to young people represent a cross-section of American enterprise—from multi-national corporations to local, family-owned businesses. Across the board, the internships businesses provide to our students are transformative. They give students a window onto a world they probably would never see otherwise, and inspire them to finish high school and go to college.” What’s the win-win for the company? Among other things, the program “provides businesses with important opportunities to shape their own future workforce and identify young people whom they may hire one day,” says Hoye. NAF schools focus on career paths in finance, IT, engineering, hospitality, and tourism.
Developing Employees and A Brand Identity
In the Pohle interview, he stresses that “allowing the employees to engage in a local community can be as effective as launching some nationwide campaign. Local participation on the part of the employees can be a very strong mobilizing force and a very strong brand-building force in a local community.”
Accordingly, Seth Merrin, CEO, Liquidnet Holdings, Inc., advises companies to “get your employees involved and make them proud to work at your company.”
Craig Medwick, Managing Partner for the Americas, Clifford Chance, also believes that involving his firm’s talented people is key. In addition to firm-wide volunteerism and pro bono activities, partners are encouraged to serve on nonprofit boards where they have a strong personal interest and where they and the firm can add value. “Our partners are developing as leaders while helping nonprofits achieve greater results,” Medwick explains. “We are investing in organizations that are building healthier, more educated, and more sustainable communities.”
Wendy Kopp, CEO and Founder, Teach for America, reports that the best ways that companies can help are through corporate partnerships, financial contributions--to enable TFA to field a corps of more than 7,300 members nationwide, and in-kind support (examples include pro bono support from McKinsey, Bain, and Cisco). Also, “individual and corporate donors can get involved in one of the 35 regions where we place corps members. They can sponsor an individual teacher, provide mentoring support, and participate in TFA Week…These experiences create even stronger advocates who know that with the right commitment and focus, our country can make educational excellence and equity a reality.”
Janice Weinman, President of Kids in Distressed Situations (KIDS), says that companies can help by providing funds, donating products (toys, books, and clothing), and encouraging and supporting employee volunteerism. Toys “R”Us is one of the companies that participates in this global organization that distributes over $60 million of essential clothing as well as educational materials to help in the development of children’s academic and emotional development. Look here at why and how companies support KIDS.
Aaron Hurst, CEO of Taproot Foundation, that matches talented business people with nonprofits on a project basis, recommends the value of businesses “helping to train nonprofits on human resources best practices to inform their volunteer management systems. This would help ensure the wave interest in services is not wasted and instead is harnessed.”
Accordingly, Doug Loescher, Director, National Trust Main Street Center, businesses have “critical talent that can be lent to nonprofits to help them weather the current economic climate.” Further, he comments on the value of leadership development opportunities provided by companies like American Express through its Nonprofit Leadership Academy.
CSR, Innovation, and Consumer Interest
Pohle recommends that “corporate responsibility is a domain that is as ripe for innovation as any other domain is.” He also cautions that “there has to be a commitment to actually execute on the overall CSR initiative, and the execution has to come before the communication and the ‘marketing’ of it.”
Furthermore, says Pohle, “despite the fact that you'd think that the recession or the financial crisis would negatively impact CSR requirements, the consumers haven't really changed their behaviors, and, as a result, companies realize that it hasn't gotten less important, it continues to get more important.”
Pohle’s final advice: “The main issue here is that it is the market that's talking. That's why companies can't ignore it, right? There's more information available to people. They now make different decisions based upon the information. At the end of the day that's not going to go away, that's not going to change. So companies are paying attention.”
Nicholas Kristof, first, toothpaste sells because people have dirty teeth and bad breath. They need and will buy toothpaste to get the girl or boy, job, sale, customer, etc., of their dreams. Most importantly, people buy toothpaste to serve their own self interest--no one wants rotting teeth.
Unlike toothpaste companies, nonprofits have a harder sell. They are appealing to people's selflessness, asking them to rise above their personal needs and wants, and to dedicate their time, treasure, and emotions to others. There is no risk of gingivitis or a looming threat of a root canal for a person who declines to give to a nonprofit.
Given this large hurdle, the real story is how well the nonprofit ethic is actually selling, with total giving to U.S. charities exceeding $300 billion for the second year in a row in 2008, including more than $15 billion in online contributions alone. Additionally, Gen Y's wanting to work for employers who will provide them with opportunities to advance good causes is more proof that the nonprofit ethic is selling.
In fact, businesses have been adopting innovative business practices and shifting their philanthropic approaches to involve employees simply to attract and retain the most talented employees and to gain public approval.
Mr. Kristof, it's time to wake up and smell the Starbucks coffee (Starbucks is a collaborator and investor with Root Capital)--after you brush your teeth of course.
I am seeing this first hand, working with nonprofit boards and CEOs who are making tough choices in reducing programs and services.In some cases, board discussions relate to possible mergers or affiliations with other providers, which might ultimately result in more robust organizations and better services.I am also involved with a number of boards and their CEOs who are expanding their organizations because there are opportunities to build resources and add value – regionally, nationally, and globally.
Business people bring vital experience and expertise to strategic decision-making in nonprofit boardrooms.Business people and their companies also bring valuable resources to the table.
At the same time, nonprofit board service presents a tremendous opportunity for businesses and their executives.
In today’s challenging environment, nonprofit board service is the ultimate experience in ethics, accountability, leadership, group dynamics, crisis management and communication… in other words, the best breeding ground for companies to develop their most talented people.Not only do business people on nonprofit boards engage with peers from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to lead organizations for success, but business people on nonprofit boards also build knowledge of vital issues including economic development, environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility, education, healthcare, social justice, and the arts.
Your company’s professionals and executives will become stronger and smarter if you involve them on nonprofit boards. The only caveat is that your executives will only be effective board members if they are properly trained for nonprofit board service, and matched to boards based on their personal interests as well as their qualifications. And in my experience, the better the preparation and the matching, the more likely the board member is to rise to board leadership and play an even more meaningful role in leading the organization to success in serving the community.
By helping nonprofits to emerge stronger and smarter, your company’s executives will also emerge stronger and smarter.Good for business.Good for the world.
In Good Boss, Bad Times, in May's McKinsey Quarterly, Robert Sutton from Stanford’s Graduate School of Engineering provides the recipe for bosses that have to deliver the bad news of layoffs and pay cuts, and face anxious employees.
To set up his recipe, Sutton first describes the hazards of the “toxic tandem,” when the boss is oblivious to the needs and actions of subordinates, at the same time that subordinates are hyper vigilant – alert to every signal from the executive suite and the boardroom to figure out what’s going on, and likely to assume the worst. “Tiny signals get magnified,” explains Sutton.
Sutton’s recipe for leadership and organizational success is: prediction – letting people know when they are safe to the extent possible; understanding – providing people with an explanation; control – giving people some control over the way it happens (cutbacks, layoffs, etc.); and compassion.
Sutton’s mention of the hyper vigilance reminds me of Ken Chenault’s advice when I met him in April.He underscored the importance of leaders communicating and being present, especially in times of economic stress.“Don’t assume that people are seeing what you are seeing.And, you’ve got to act. Never let events freeze you up.”
Looking ahead, Sutton reminds leaders that they will be remembered for how they handled these tough times. Regarding the employees who remain, he says that “when they see that it’s fair, they are more likely to stay loyal, suffer less psychological damage, and also feel more guilty and work even harder to help you… whether people lose their jobs or not—has an effect on the whole system.”
“Sex and the Boardroom: Is power the ultimate aphrodisiac?” screams from the tip top of the front page of today’s Financial Times in bold letters, referring to a page 10 article by Luke Johnson entitled “The sex snare set for top dog executives.” Poor guys…sounds tough!A snare…a trap!In the article itself, citing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the writer mulls about ambition, testosterone, the temptations of power, men’s “sexual appetites,” anthropologists, biologists, “lusts,” and “nubile women.”
Sorry to bring this down from such erotic heights, but what does this have to do with the boardroom?
Where sex is concerned, it is probably more relevant to shareholders that boards be comprised of women and men with the experience, expertise, and diversity of backgrounds and perspectives to make decisions that will maximize shareholder value.That companies have policies and practices to identify, recruit, and promote the most highly qualified and talented women and men for employment, and provide an environment that motivates people to be their most productive.
How about "gender in the boardroom," not "sex and the boardroom."
Boomers and Gen Y, the largest cohorts in the workplace, both want to “contribute to society through their labor,” according to a new article in Harvard Business Review by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Laura Sherbin, and Karen Sumberg, of the Center for Work-Life Policy. Furthermore, “their workplace demands have significant practical implications for how employers should design work environments to attract and keep talent.”
“As the economy recovers…companies will return to the challenge of winning over enough highly capable professionals to drive renewal and growth,” according to the authors. The article provides examples of companies that are making the best use of their talented personnel, often reducing costs, while appealing to the interests of Baby Boomers and Gen Y’s. The companies include UBS, CVS, American Express, Time Warner, Cisco, Booz Allen, Novartis, and Ernst & Young.
According to the authors, Gen Y’s say it’s important that their work make a positive impact on the world, profess to be very ambitious, and are comfortable working with people from different ethnicities and cultures. Baby Boomers say being able to work flexibly is important, report having elder care responsibilities, and are members of external volunteer networks, with more than half volunteering their time to advance environmental, cultural, educational, or other causes.
Moreover, Boomers and Gen Y’s “rate other forms of pay as at least as important as money: a great team, challenging assignments, a range of new experiences, and explicit performance evaluation and recognition.”
This information reinforces the trends among businesses to engage employees in local and global service opportunities. Companies that encourage and support regional and international volunteerism among their Gen Y employees foster personal and professional development, while building company loyalty, improving their brand, and building stronger communities where their customers and employees live, here and around the world.
Businesses that facilitate nonprofit board involvement among their well qualified Boomers help strengthen nonprofits that improve communities, while providing productive opportunities for their experienced executives and professionals to apply their experience and expertise. Although the HBR article indicates a lower rate of interest among Gen X’s in “giving back,” my experience indicates that Gen X’s are also avid participants in service, including on nonprofit boards.
This important new study by the Center for Work-Life Policy gives further evidence that purposefully designed corporate social responsibility programs will advance the interests of businesses as well communities.
Thanks to Cone and Intangible Business for a useful study ranking nonprofit brands.As the study states, “the findings present important lessons about the role both revenue and brand play in determining an organization’s value and growth opportunities.”
My advice is the same to nonprofits as it is to for-profits: Build stronger boards and board leadership in order to build your brand to achieve your greater potential.
My recommendations are based on experience working with national and regional chapters of nonprofits listed in the The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, including many in the Top Ten, and also consulting to many other boards of directors of global, national, and regional nonprofits that are not on the list – including civic and cultural arts organizations, hospitals, and universities (the Cone list is strictly social, environmental, and/or animal-related services).
Here’s my advice to nonprofit CEOs and boards of directors:
·Only with the right organizational leadership – CEO and board chair, and the right board composition, with clear roles and responsibilities, and highly focused board agendas, can organizations build their brand to achieve their greatest potential.
With a board of committed individuals, with the expertise and experience that is needed, from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, an organization can successfully increase stakeholder engagement and loyalty, while also building a more robust revenue model in order to achieve both its mission and vision.
Just read Fast Company to see how quickly new brand names emerge and succeed, while old brand names (need I mention those in Detroit and Wall Street) plummet while their boards fail.It’s all about the board.
