Printable Version
National Reach
is a prestigious and venerable U.S. advocacy
organization. MAG designed a customized
capacity-building program to help this
organization harness the power its 50 state
affiliates.
In her first few months at the helm of National Reach, the Executive Director recognized a potentially powerful but unevenly developed asset: the group’s 50-member network of state-based affiliates. While each affiliate had at least one paid staff person, half of the affiliates were strong and financially independent from the national organization, and the other half were less well-developed and were subsidized by headquarters. These smaller groups were typically located in the most challenging states, and managed overwhelming workloads with small staffs and smaller donor lists.
The new executive asked the Management Assistance Group to help her build the capacity of these small affiliates to lead critical efforts in their states, support their participation in nationwide strategies, and strengthen the relationship between the national organization and these groups.
ANALYSIS
In surveys and interviews, affiliate directors expressed needs for assistance in: setting and sticking to priorities, clarifying the roles of the Affiliate Director and Board of Directors, enhancing the Board/staff relationship, and strengthening the Board’s composition. In MAG’s view, these challenges often came together to create a common pattern—directors who were besieged with requests and understaffed, and trapped in a constant state of reaction. They struggled, usually unsuccessfully, to find the time to build the strength of their affiliates.
CUSTOMIZED ASSISTANCE
To begin to address these key issues, MAG designed a two-day intensive session for affiliate directors. Through this session, MAG helped affiliate directors to see the pattern that kept them in a reactive mode and identify ways to deal with it. These included ways to lead staff, volunteers, and the board more productively, how to set their own priorities instead of letting them be shaped by events of the day, and how to target resources to increase effectiveness even if funding did not dramatically increase.
In evaluating the workshop, some typical participant comments were:
“The workshop was invaluable for me in the area of ‘new ideas for old problems.’ I found myself, for the FIRST time, doing a self-evaluation and realizing I DID have the ability to change the direction of my board of directors.”
“I got a new way of thinking. I am conscious that every choice is a decision on priorities. I will immediately start getting the priority setting process rolling.”
“You gave me very specific solutions to management, board, and administrative problems/kinks.”
To build on this progress, MAG worked with a small planning group of affiliate directors to design the program’s second phase, which ended up with three main elements:
(1) Workshop on Role of Board and Relationship to Staff. The planning team recognized that affiliate directors could not transform their boards alone, so board members were invited to participate in a two-day workshop that clarified and deepened their understanding of the most appropriate and critical roles and contributions of a board. Because many small affiliates had only two or three staff members, they relied heavily on board members to function as volunteer staffers. This led to a great deal of confusion about who was in charge in those situations, the staff or the board member acting as a volunteer. Board members came away from the workshop clear that when they operated as staffers, they worked for the executive director, but when they functioned together as a governance body, they were in charge. Participants in the workshop made the following observations on its value:
“We thought we had a great affiliate because we had a great executive director but we didn’t see our board as adding value. I now see the contribution a strong active board can make to building a great affiliate.”
“I gained a better conscious understanding of the roles of the board and areas of responsibility of the executive director and can clearly distinguish the governance and volunteer roles of the board. I learned the importance of involving the board in developing a long-range plan, and bettering our recruitment of board members.”
(2) Managing People Workshop. To further strengthen the leadership and management of affiliate executive directors, MAG designed a two-day session that focused on improving their ability to effectively manage staff, both employee and volunteer. They learned how to delegate, how to adjust their management style to fit different situations and diverse employees, how to make more discerning selections of new staff, and how to deal with problem employees. In evaluating the workshop, participants reported:
“I realize that my management style reflects the way I like to be managed and that it’s not the right style for everyone on my staff.”
“I understand more clearly how to bring out the best in people and how to empower them to fulfill their responsibilities.
(3) On-site Consultation. For affiliates with complex challenges, or those poised to dramatically increase their impact, MAG provided customized onsite assistance. For these organizations, MAG (a) conducted a brief but intensive diagnostic study of the affiliate to identify core issues and barriers to success, and (b) traveled to the affiliate to share its findings and work with staff and board members to generate plans for addressing and resolving key issues.
CONCLUSION AND LONG-TERM IMPACT
Over three years, MAG worked with 19 affiliates of the national organization, and delivered to them the following benefits:
These approaches can kick-start or supplement the work of internal affiliate support departments and are greatly needed by the many nonprofit advocacy organizations that are striving to make their national-affiliate structures more powerful and dynamic.
In her first few months at the helm of National Reach, the Executive Director recognized a potentially powerful but unevenly developed asset: the group’s 50-member network of state-based affiliates. While each affiliate had at least one paid staff person, half of the affiliates were strong and financially independent from the national organization, and the other half were less well-developed and were subsidized by headquarters. These smaller groups were typically located in the most challenging states, and managed overwhelming workloads with small staffs and smaller donor lists.
The new executive asked the Management Assistance Group to help her build the capacity of these small affiliates to lead critical efforts in their states, support their participation in nationwide strategies, and strengthen the relationship between the national organization and these groups.
ANALYSIS
In surveys and interviews, affiliate directors expressed needs for assistance in: setting and sticking to priorities, clarifying the roles of the Affiliate Director and Board of Directors, enhancing the Board/staff relationship, and strengthening the Board’s composition. In MAG’s view, these challenges often came together to create a common pattern—directors who were besieged with requests and understaffed, and trapped in a constant state of reaction. They struggled, usually unsuccessfully, to find the time to build the strength of their affiliates.
CUSTOMIZED ASSISTANCE
To begin to address these key issues, MAG designed a two-day intensive session for affiliate directors. Through this session, MAG helped affiliate directors to see the pattern that kept them in a reactive mode and identify ways to deal with it. These included ways to lead staff, volunteers, and the board more productively, how to set their own priorities instead of letting them be shaped by events of the day, and how to target resources to increase effectiveness even if funding did not dramatically increase.
In evaluating the workshop, some typical participant comments were:
“The workshop was invaluable for me in the area of ‘new ideas for old problems.’ I found myself, for the FIRST time, doing a self-evaluation and realizing I DID have the ability to change the direction of my board of directors.”
“I got a new way of thinking. I am conscious that every choice is a decision on priorities. I will immediately start getting the priority setting process rolling.”
“You gave me very specific solutions to management, board, and administrative problems/kinks.”
To build on this progress, MAG worked with a small planning group of affiliate directors to design the program’s second phase, which ended up with three main elements:
(1) Workshop on Role of Board and Relationship to Staff. The planning team recognized that affiliate directors could not transform their boards alone, so board members were invited to participate in a two-day workshop that clarified and deepened their understanding of the most appropriate and critical roles and contributions of a board. Because many small affiliates had only two or three staff members, they relied heavily on board members to function as volunteer staffers. This led to a great deal of confusion about who was in charge in those situations, the staff or the board member acting as a volunteer. Board members came away from the workshop clear that when they operated as staffers, they worked for the executive director, but when they functioned together as a governance body, they were in charge. Participants in the workshop made the following observations on its value:
“We thought we had a great affiliate because we had a great executive director but we didn’t see our board as adding value. I now see the contribution a strong active board can make to building a great affiliate.”
“I gained a better conscious understanding of the roles of the board and areas of responsibility of the executive director and can clearly distinguish the governance and volunteer roles of the board. I learned the importance of involving the board in developing a long-range plan, and bettering our recruitment of board members.”
(2) Managing People Workshop. To further strengthen the leadership and management of affiliate executive directors, MAG designed a two-day session that focused on improving their ability to effectively manage staff, both employee and volunteer. They learned how to delegate, how to adjust their management style to fit different situations and diverse employees, how to make more discerning selections of new staff, and how to deal with problem employees. In evaluating the workshop, participants reported:
“I realize that my management style reflects the way I like to be managed and that it’s not the right style for everyone on my staff.”
“I understand more clearly how to bring out the best in people and how to empower them to fulfill their responsibilities.
(3) On-site Consultation. For affiliates with complex challenges, or those poised to dramatically increase their impact, MAG provided customized onsite assistance. For these organizations, MAG (a) conducted a brief but intensive diagnostic study of the affiliate to identify core issues and barriers to success, and (b) traveled to the affiliate to share its findings and work with staff and board members to generate plans for addressing and resolving key issues.
CONCLUSION AND LONG-TERM IMPACT
Over three years, MAG worked with 19 affiliates of the national organization, and delivered to them the following benefits:
- Encouraged Affiliate Directors to think in new ways about their leadership and their ability to catalyze change.
- Enabled affiliates to reposition themselves and their work, shifting from reactive firefighting to the proactive, pursuit of carefully chosen goals. Many affiliates developed and implemented proactive state-wide strategies and built their organization’s capacity to support these goals.
- Clarified the most effective roles affiliate Boards can play, and enhanced the board/staff relationship.
- The program allowed the national organization to “put its money where its mouth is” and demonstrate its commitment to strengthening its affiliates. The momentum generated by MAG’s work helped to facilitate the development of a highly effective affiliate support department at the national organization.
- Generated a
powerful model through which an external
consultant can support a national organization
and its network of affiliates. The
hallmarks of the model MAG developed
include:
- Strong involvement by the
national organization
- Carefully delineated and transparent confidentiality agreements.
- Substantial input by affiliates
- A mixture of individualized assistance and group workshops
- Carefully delineated and transparent confidentiality agreements.
- Substantial input by affiliates
- A mixture of individualized assistance and group workshops
These approaches can kick-start or supplement the work of internal affiliate support departments and are greatly needed by the many nonprofit advocacy organizations that are striving to make their national-affiliate structures more powerful and dynamic.