There is no doubt that volunteers are the straw that stirs the drink for many organizations, associations, clubs, committees/boards, fundraisers and initiatives.  We are very blessed to live in a community, and a country, where so many people volunteer their time.  When you really think about the impact volunteerism has on our lives, it is truly everywhere.

I currently volunteer with a number of different groups.  I also feel very fortunate to be part of very strong volunteer groups right now.  To me, being a volunteer and leading volunteers provide unique sets of challenges.  First, to be honest, I know there have been times when I haven’t been the best volunteer.  Sometimes I exited gracefully like Wendy did with her situation.  Other times, I didn’t, but I should have – or simply, I should have worked (/be working) harder to be a better volunteer.

However, for this post I don’t want to focus on the key attributes of a successful volunteer.  Instead I want to focus on leading volunteers.  I have seen volunteer leaders face many challenges:

• Not enough volunteers for the task at hand
• The volunteers do not have the right skill set needed to accomplish the goal
• Varying levels of commitment amongst the volunteers
• Different work styles and personalities
• Volunteers have different agendas

One of the biggest challenges I have found in leading volunteers is holding people accountable.   As a leader there is a goal that needs to be completed and volunteers need to do what they say they are going to do.  However, these people have volunteered.  I want them to have a positive experience and want them to volunteer in the future.  Some volunteers are very influential, but may not be meeting expectations.  For me, holding volunteers accountable can be a very delicate task.

So, help me and other readers.   Share your stories about leading volunteers.  Give me your best tips and suggestions for leading volunteers.  Our community relies on effective volunteer leaders.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Some organizations have very strict rules for your commitment and they clearly tell you what finances, time and resources are expected from you. However at some small nonprofits the guidelines can be blurry. Primarily, at this grass roots level, they can’t define the need because the target is immediate and always moving. This can cause consternation for everyone involved.

Some natural, easy endings come when there is a change in your life around job, family or location. It is easy to explain and it makes sense for everyone involved and there is no need to justify your actions. But sometimes there isn’t an easy answer and there is a lot of stress that occurs, before someone makes a move.

In these difficult times many organizations are in a state of emergency. Staffing and funding are cut and all sources of assistance are being leveraged to the max. In addition, many individuals and families are feeling the same crisis at home. While this is the time nonprofits need the volunteers to “step it up”, the individual may be entirely tapped out and unable to give anymore.

So this is the situation I find myself in. I’ve been frustrated as my limited resources and talents do not seem to be what the organization wants, or needs. The nonprofit is disappointed because they thought they could rely on me and they expected me to stick with them through these challenges.

Both my resources and my time are scarce. I know a lot of parents are able to do it all, but honestly – I can’t. The timing couldn’t be worse for the nonprofit, but is there ever a perfect time to “break-up”?

So I did it. I said “it isn’t you, it’s me”, and I resigned. Am I deserting them when they need me most? Am I being too selfish? Did I over-promise and under deliver? Probably yes to all of the above. However, I am relieved and confident I made the right move.

What would you have done? Would you stay, or would you go?

Only about a month old, Coffee Party USA is a testament to how quickly an idea can spread through social media.  “Viral” is an accurate term.  There are already Coffee Party chapters in 30 states, including one in Minnesota and more requests are pouring in every day.  It’s Facebook Fan page already has more than 37,500 fans.

Its founder, Annabel Park of Silver Spring, Maryland, “did what any American does when she feels her voice has been drowned out:  She squeezed her anger into a Facebook status update,” according to a Washington Post article published in this past Saturday’s Star Tribune.

A few months ago, my post, Are we losing the fine art of argument, talked about a local group called “The Argument of the Month Club” which debates both sides of an issue in a civil manner.  The Coffee Party movement is one more example of people coming together to carefully consider facts and issues.  Yesterday, I caught part of a program on CNN, hosted by Don Lemon, with six Congressman, representing both parties, discussing why we’ve become so partisan and ideas to try to end the bickering and name-calling to fuel collaboration and meet in the middle-ground on issues.

This morning, on my way into work, I felt good.  Hopeful even.  It feels like the pendulum is swinging to middle ground once again.  That people want to talk about issues, to really understand them and make some progress.  Of course, it might just be those “hopey-changey” vibes coursing through this liberal’s veins getting me all discombobulated.

Leaders are transformative and following is always a voluntary act. Managers are paid to get things done, they like to site orders from their own boss as a motivational technique. Leaders do not have subordinates – at least not when they are leading. Many organizational leaders do have direct reports, but only because they are also managers. But when they lead, they have to give up formal authoritarian control, because to lead is to have followers.

Who do you work for? A leader or a manager and who would your subordinates prefer to work for? Even better who do you work with?

I was having lunch with a friend a couple of weeks ago describing my past weekend’s activities.  After sharing my usual routine of going to The Firm for my workout, doing some shopping for a new shirt at Ellsworth, grabbing groceries at the cop-op and getting a hair cut at the new Circle H barber shop, he looked at me and said, “Oh, you’ve done a 350.”  (Actually it would turn out that I’d done a 450.)

I thought that perhaps it was a new Olympic move on the half pipe.  But, no, I had spent my weekend supporting local merchants.

There is a movement afoot that is a now a year old called Project 3/50.  Project 3/50 promotes consumers spending at least $50 at three locally owned merchants a month.

According to an article in the Star Tribune on the topic, if you spend your buck with a local merchant, 70 cents stays in town compared with only 43 cents if spent with a merchant headquartered elsewhere.   Those 27 additional cents are more local taxes being paid as well as supporting local workers and vendors.

I like this idea for a number of reasons…I’m supporting the little guy or gal, helping build sustainable economic activity in my community, and people know me when I walk in the door.

What local businesses are you supporting?

One subgroup of charitable givers and volunteers has considerable long-term impact, and they may not even be aware of it. The subgroup? Parents.

Parents who communicate with their children about the importance of community stewardship, who openly support charitable organizations and, even more significantly, who engage their children in volunteer activities pass along a valuable legacy. They’re instilling in the next generation the concept that charity is a primary responsibility as members of a community.  They’re teaching their children that charity is an important line item in the family budget. And they’re ensuring that the impact of giving is not restricted to the single transaction, but creates a ripple effect by reaching into other situations and setting the stage to address other needs.

My parents taught my siblings and me the value of community stewardship – not through preaching but through their actions. Dad made sure we remembered our envelopes for the Sunday collection, but more importantly modeled his ideals through countless hours of volunteer board meetings and fundraising. As a busy mother of six, Mom found time to volunteer at church as well as for political and humanitarian groups. And she prevailed upon us to respond with compassion to those in need, once signing me up to help an unwed mother move her belongings to another apartment, and more than once persuading me to accompany the Fuller Brush salesman, who was blind, as he went door-to-door though the neighborhood.

Parents who donate, whether through cash, in-kind donations or volunteerism, are critical to the people and organizations in need. But when they demonstrate their values about charitable giving to their children, and engage them to participate, it increases the effectiveness of their actions exponentially. That’s truly high-impact philanthropy.

~ LuAnne Speeter is a guest contributor.

Please, take two minutes to get a glimpse of how one person started down the wrong path.  This blog is all about Leadership and Community and you owe it to yourself, your love ones and the community to listen and learn from this story.

The Story of Nick and Carolyn Ryberg

Please watch this 2 minute video before proceeding.

Nick’s video is the background most people never have the chance to hear about a person who seems just like you or I.  The difference is Nick is a convicted white collar criminal that was sentenced to 30 months in jail.  His wife Carolyn was sentenced to 24 months in jail and they had to sell everything and find temporary homes for their two daughters.

After listening to Nick video, you can listen to what it was like for his wife to leave her kids and be confined in the same prison as Martha Stewart.

Here is Carolyn’s video.

You can get the full details and more background on the Ryberg’s story at: http://www.stthomas.edu/ethicalleadership/research/professions/Ryberg.html

Leadership and Ethics

I was fortunate to hear the story of Nick and Carolyn Ryberg first hand this last week as they gave a presentation at General Mills to kickoff our Ethics week discussion.  This is the type of story everyone should have the opportunity to hear.

The story was moderated by Hank Shea, Senior Distinguished Fellow at the University of St. Thomas.  Mr. Shea started a program series which brings white collar criminals to colleges, corporations and community groups to tell their story and hopefully prevent others from going down the wrong path.  They are cautionary tales of how easy it is to take that first small step and what it can lead to down the road.

I had the great fortune of meeting Mr. Shea about five years ago when I was in the Leadership Twin Cities program and he was the Assistant US Attorney in Minnesota responsible for handling White Collar Crimes.  He had another felon speaking that day.  Overall I have attend three or four different sessions where Mr. Shea has brought different speakers to tell their story.  This is an amazing program that he has developed and one I hope each of you someday have the opportunity to attend and hear first hand.

“I see this organization through the lens of social and economic justice,” said executive director Tracy Fischman.  “Our services help people maintain – or achieve – self-sufficiency.”  Those services include tax preparation and tax clinics, delivered by a veritable army of IRS-certified volunteers and through a network of relationships with other agencies and organizations.  AccountAbility also offers a broader range of services to promote sound personal financial management.  For example, they have formed alliances with credit unions and banks to offer banking services for those who have never banked, or who have had problems banking in the past.

Tax credits constitute opportunities for clients to change habits and practices.  They might begin saving regularly, eliminate the (sometimes obscene) costs of check-cashing services, or break a cycle of payday loans.  AccountAbility has partnered with the Financial Planning Association to offer basic clinics on saving for retirement and financial management.  They even offer affordable refund loans for those who truly need the cash, and programs to purchase U.S. Savings Bonds or fund savings accounts when the payments arrive.

These services constitute a critical link for many in our society.  As social and economic policymakers rely on tax credits to deliver economic support, many eligible recipients need help completing the required paperwork.  AccountAbility provides this service very cost-effectively, too: with a small, highly capable staff and a budget of around $1M, the organization filed more than 17,000 tax returns and helped clients claim over $30M in tax credit funds in 2009.  The average family income among those clients was approximately $16,000.  These community leaders are making a huge difference, in ways that we might never have even considered.

As our telephone interview was ending, I asked about midnight rides to the Post Office. Fischman demurred.  “We file all of our returns electronically,” she said with an audible smile.

What a concept.

The concept of Return on Investment (ROI) is a common sense filter for budget decisions.  It allows you to differentiate between “expenses” and “investments.”  With this perspective, things like energy efficient windows for your home, medication that you need to stay healthy, or classes that could further your career can all be intuitively classified as “good investments.”

As our state attempts to deal with huge budget deficits, common sense ROI seems to sometimes get lost in the discussion.  Maybe it’s time for that to change.

What would happen if we used an ROI filter to make all of our budgeting decisions?  If each dollar spent could return two or four or more dollars down the road, how soon could we move our state back onto a road of growth and prosperity?

There are numerous examples of programs where ROI is easy to see.  Some that come to mind immediately are:

• Children’s Health:  When we cure a serious illness or a medical issue for a child, we end up with healthy, productive, tax-paying adults.  Leaving aside any moral and emotional appeals about helping kids, a simple look at the cost-benefit equation clearly shows we should be investing in children’s health.

• Early Childhood Education:  Kids who are put on a positive path for learning early in life are not only more likely to become productively employed adults, they are also less likely to become financial drains to society.  School drop out rates, crime rates, and incarceration rates will all decline if we invest in education.

• Affordable Housing:  It is virtually impossible for families to pull themselves out of poverty and to become productive citizens if they don’t have a healthy, safe, affordable place to live.  Programs that help people get off the streets and onto a plan for self sufficiency can turn a relatively minimal investment into a lifetime return.

• Parent Education:  One of the cheapest and most effective ways to break the cycle of poverty and abuse is to help new parents learn how to be good parents.  New parents often don’t have role models or support mechanisms to learn even the basics of how to care for a baby.  Programs such as ECFE that provide support and education are relatively inexpensive when compared to the very real costs of neglect or abuse.

These are just a handful of examples that demonstrate the power of ROI as a guide for spending decisions.  These are also areas that have to some extent been threatened as our budget deficit has skyrocketed.

Obviously determining ROI both in the short and long term is an inexact science.  Many programs that I think are vital to Minnesota’s quality of life (parks, the arts, and, yes, stadiums) may not easily lend themselves to an ROI analysis.  But if you believe quality of life is important for attracting business, talent, and jobs to a state, I believe these kinds of programs pass the test.

ROI analysis is not a silver bullet to make balancing the budget easy.   In fact,  MOST of the state’s major spending categories can make a reasonable ROI claim.  Transportation, higher education, public safety, the environment and our natural resources… each of these areas contribute to the health and growth of Minnesota.

I think ROI does lend itself to smarter fiscal policy in two ways.  First, ROI can help us analyze results and direct money to programs that are making a clear impact around these important societal issues.  Second, it can help us change the way we look at the other side of the budgeting puzzle, taxes.

Tax policy is an area that is ripe for ROI analysis.  Yes, there is a return when you cut certain taxes to encourage spending, investment, and job growth.  But sometimes tax increases are necessary when we need to balance the budget without gutting the programs that provide vital return to our communities.

What are some programs or investments that you think provide the best ROI for Minnesota?  What kinds of spending fail the ROI test?  And how important SHOULD ROI be in making budget and taxing decisions?

Join the discussion!

The book Home From Nowhere by J.H. Kunstler addresses some of the shortcomings that sprawl have yielded in our communities. In addition to an increase in heart disease and obesity as a result of longer commutes, we have lost the identity of place. Colleges and Universities have long understood the individual need to ‘organize’ through clubs and fraternities, but some municipalities have missed the impact of creating identity in smaller groups.

Starting in a one-bedroom apartment, buying a 500 square foot condo then a 900 sq foot condo and finally the single family residence we call home, I have for the past fifteen years called Linden Hills home. While some see the name and have a picture in their mind of either boulevard trees, rolling hills, shops and lakes, others see a pretentiously Liberal neighborhood with over-educated soy latte drinking inhabitants. Whatever your take, the neighborhood has done many things incredibly well and has developed a sense of place that is immersed not just in the charming small town village, but in many other indicators. Great school, great walkability and active residents are three that seem particularly noteworthy. Some of this can be attributed to having a neighborhood name and unique landmarks that surround us.

This past weekend we attended the winter festival held at our neighborhood park. Without spending a dollar, we were able to do some snowshoeing, sledding and take a horse-drawn carriage ride around the park. Regardless of the picture or stereotype that emerges for a City or a Neighborhood, at an experiential level, the impact is that living in Linden Hills makes me want to be a better neighbor.