Vision Catalyst

Having an impact and seeing lives changed can be very rewarding. But, from my own experience as CEO of an international organization, it can also be mentally and physically exhausting. We give everything to others and don't have enough left for ourselves. Here are some 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.

𝟏. 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 🗣️- connect with other nonprofit leaders in your community for mutual support. Sometimes it just feels great to hear, "this is really hard and you are doing a great job!"

𝟐. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 🖐️ - you may feel as if everything around you will collapse if you stop, but taking care of yourself is always the most important task on your list. The needs are great, and there is always someone else to help. You already know this, but you can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself first. I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

𝟑. 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 🧡 - it is important to be as present as possible when you work with people. Take a walk, make time for your hobbies, spend time with friends and family. Get those endorphins activated.

Nonprofits need to be continuously innovating and evolving to meet the needs of their communities. The only way to make a change in this world is to be learning every day. The world is changing rapidly and we need to able to change with it to make a difference.

The dream of starting and running a nonprofit is a long one, that’s why it’s important to make sure you know from the very start if this is the right move for you.

👉 Start by defining what your mission is. Does your community have a need or is there a larger benefit from what your nonprofit would do?
👉 Do you have a team of people who will join your cause?
👉 How do you plan on practically meeting the needs of the community of your cause?

These are just some examples of what you should think about before forming a nonprofit in order to determine whether you are yet suited for starting a nonprofit organization.

Volunteers are integral to the success of any nonprofit. According to Nonprofit Source, the top four volunteer areas are religious (34.1%), educational (26%), social service (14.9%), and health (7.3%) organizations. So I am curious to know what is your favorite charitable cause to financially support or volunteer for.

Nonprofits often come to me asking how to recruit good Board members and keep them involved. Your Board members are all busy people. So creating and executing an efficient meeting agenda will keep your Board members engaged and interested.

👉 Send your Board meeting packet to your members 3-7 days before the Board meeting. The packet should include: agenda, minutes from the previous meeting, financial report, Executive Director report and any committee reports. This way everyone comes ready to vote.

👉 When there are many items that need to be discussed, is so easy to get distracted by other topics that are not part of that meeting's agenda. Add a “Parking Lot” section within the agenda where all topics are added to be further discussed in a future meeting. This will keep your meeting moving.

Seeing the success stories of the people we help is always a motivational boost!

𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐔𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬?
👉 It's unlikely that your board members will always have the collective expertise to handle every problem or situation your nonprofit will face. Board committees and Advisory Boards are a powerful tool to expand the work of your Board without adding additional Board members.

They also allow you to bring in people with particular expertise in certain areas
(such as finance and event planning) that are interested in a short-term
commitment to your organization, but are not interested in a Board
position. Additionally, they also allow you to see how a Board prospect
fits into your organization before offering them a seat on the Board. Finance, Events, Fundraising, Program are all powerful committees to consider.

I love to lead board trainings on strengthening policies and processes!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧s 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤?
Having a well-defined operations handbook not only helps protect the nonprofit legally, it's an important reference guide for those running the organization. A nonprofit's operations handbook should address topics such as confidentiality, conflicts of interest, code of ethics, and whistleblower protections. Previously well-defined and stated policies and procedures help protect the organization as a whole, but also its volunteers and employees.