The 6 Segments: COMMUNITY
All businesses, nonprofit and for-profit, exist within Community. That might mean a geographic location or neighborhood, a sector, or a business district. Getting out of the day to day of your business and participating in your community is crucial - not only to your organization but also to yourself. It is so important to belong to something bigger than yourself. It provides perspective, support and good ideas.
Plan your Community ongoing and annual tasks by getting them on the calendar - and stick to them! It is tempting to say “I’m too busy” or “the work is too pressing.” But the work will still be there when you get back - go out and support your community and promote your organization while you are at it!
Scroll down for examples of ONGOING tasks and ANNUAL tasks that you should get onto the calendar.
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Get out into your community and volunteer. Maybe you are doing community clean-up; maybe you are volunteering on a committee with your Chamber of Commerce or professional association. The important thing is, you are contributing to your sector and getting your organization’s name out there even while you get to do some feel-good work outside your normal workday. It’s good for the soul!
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General staff training is listed in Administration - this is similar but a bit different. You want to stay current with specific trends related to your organization and scheduling professional development activities within your sector can make that happen. Not only does it add to your continuing education, but it allows you to network within your community and build your brand.
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Who do you consider a mentor, advisor, or even just a very wise friend? Get out of the day to day on a regular basis and meet with someone who will listen to you and offer objective advice on how you can build yourself up and thrive.
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Do you value having a mentor? Of course! Now be that mentor to someone else. It doesn’t have to be a formal annointing - ask someone junior to lunch or coffee if you think you can be a helpful sounding board. Make it a regular thing.
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This kind of event should be related to your community - either you are going to a fundraiser, performance, or program at your friend’s nonprofit, attending a meet and greet at the councilman’s headquarters, or going to an event or meeting at an association to which you belong. Get out there in the community and be part of it!
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Get to know people in your sector and community. Chambers, associations, and coalitions often have networking events so people can get to know each other, exchange ideas and best practices and even become friends. Can you commit to doing this at least quarterly? How about monthly?
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“Reading” these days could mean books, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, audio books or even podcasts. Whatever you choose, get into the habit of staying current on issues, ideas and trends. Bill Gates used to set aside a week of vacation to do nothing but read. Perhaps you can aim for building a regular habit by scheduling it.
Stickers available in the 6+4 Planner System:
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Every sector has some kind of conference - can you get to one each year? You’ll meet people, learn about the important trends in the sector and even have an opportunity to tell people about your organization. It’s nice to know that you are part of something much bigger than your own organization’s world.
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Get your name out there as a thought leader in your sector. Maybe it’s an article in the newspaper, an opinion piece, a podcast, an academic study - the more you establish yourself as an expert in the field, the more respect and notice you’ll get for the organization as a whole.
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You’ll want to be a member of a handful of organizations - maybe in your sector, maybe in a nonprofit alliance, or maybe in your local chamber. Review the memberships annually to determine which are working for you and worth renewing.
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If you are a member of one or more associations, or even if you are not, set aside at least one day a year to review the association as a whole. Look to see what issues they work on, what platform they promote, and what opportunities there might be for you to get involved. Often, associations have benefits that you might not know about.
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Nonprofits have to be careful about advocacy because the organization’s by-laws may preclude political advocacy. And, you might jeopardize your 501c3 status with the IRS if you are inappropriately using your charitable status and donations to advocate for specific policies or legislation. Check and be sure. STILL, it is important to know what you stand for and to get your voice heard in the political arena. Perhaps you can invite a local legislator to your program or call your elected officials once a year just to let them know what you are doing and why it is important. It’s a fine line, but 501c3 status doesn’t mean the lines of communication are closed between you and government officials.
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Associations. Member directories. They all required you to set up a profile when you first got involved. Check those profiles annually and update them as needed.
Stickers available in the 6+4 Planner System:
The work you do can be overwhelming in terms of time commitment - there is always more to do. Community work often takes a back seat. And while that makes sense in the moment, overtime it becomes a series of missed opportunities.
For that reason, we’ve chosen the Number of Events as your quarterly metric. Set a goal for the number of community-related events and then make time to meet the goal.
Stickers available in the 6+4 Planner System:
Use the 6+4 System to schedule Community Tasks so that they don’t get lost among the many other things you have to do. Running a nonprofit is hard, but knowing you exist within Community makes the work just a little bit easier.
Yo’ll probably want to layer these events in last, after the management tasks of Administration, Development, Marketing, Finance and Programming - but make sure to squeeze them in on a regular basis. You’ll be glad you did, and your organization will be better off.
Need help? We’ve got you.