Sofia S Crisp took time, in the last post, to share a recent Board Development success she and her Team achieved. This achievement, however, would never have occurred if two earlier successes hadn’t happened. The housing organization survived its first 5 years. As well, Crisp’s visionary approach to training and educating her staff, and herself, stands as a noteworthy success. These 2 successes laid the groundwork for the evolution of her non-profit’s Board.
In this Series, My Non-profit Journey: What I Wish I Knew When I Started, eight leadership wishes shared by Sofia Crisp with Your Outcomes Well will be explored.
- Crisp is the Executive Director/Founder of Housing Consultants Group (HCG), Greensboro NC.
- Her 3rd wish: Successes I’ve Achieved. This blog post will focus on:
- Team education and training
- Surviving the early years
SHARE
Sofia Crisp:
As I shared in my last post (link), one of my greatest successes, in recent years, has been the evolution of the organization’s Board of Directors. An active and engaged Board is a vital part of any successful non-profit. However, if we’d not successfully overcome the many challenges faced in the first five years or so, the calibre of our Board of Directors would be irrelevant! Why? We’d be out of business or still struggling to survive month-to-month.
Frankly, my Team and I survived in spite of a less-than-ideal Board. Surely, a better Board in the early years might have made that period somewhat less stressful. The collaboration of such a body would have worked wonders.
Surviving the Early Years
A lot of startups and non-profit organizations fail in the 1st five years. To start a venture, and assume you’ll still be operating in 5 years, is a fool’s errand! I started my housing counseling organization in 2004, in downtown Greensboro NC. I consider the fact that, in 2009, we were still ‘alive and well’ a success. We have contracts with two local cities: Greensboro and High Point. Because of our size, in part, we are nimble. There are other local housing organizations which could have been awarded these city contracts. As compared to larger housing organizations in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point NC area, we can be more responsive.
We can make an idea happen easier than a less Team-oriented, less responsive organization. Our nimbleness is a key reason we made it in our early years. Because of these qualities, we’ve been able to be very competitive with other similar organizations in the geographic area we serve. While we’re still, I believe, the smallest housing counseling organization in the area, we do a lot of work.
In a nutshell, prudent cash management and organizational nimbleness were at the core of successfully seeing our 5-year anniversary. Having the right people, growing as a Leader, and visionary team training also allowed us to reach that milestone – and go beyond it!
Training
Another success, beyond surviving the early years and building a better Board (explored last week), is the training practices that I’ve chosen to establish. Once you have the right people on board, you have to make sure they are trained and educated to fulfill their role in the organization. Training is a necessity, it is not a luxury, I firmly believe. In terms of team education, I feel it is necessary for everyone, including myself, to stay on the cutting edge. We can’t know enough to truly fulfill HCG’s Mission, and serve our clients, if we aren’t properly trained, educated, and certified. It’s that simple.
While much of the training done over the years has been formal and class-based, some hasn’t been. For myself, I can say that I am ‘coachable’. I am not afraid to say I don’t know something. I’m willing to find the person, or people, who do have the knowledge or expertise required. You might call this an ‘I don’t know now’ mindset. To put it simply, as a situation presents itself I learn from others I’ve sought out.
- Being a know-it-all Leader can be dangerous! Not keeping your staff properly educated, for financial or philosophical reasons, can be dangerous too.
Housing Consultants Groups’ visionary training approach and engaged Board are two successes which have allowed us to do more than survive. A non-profit organization with an undereducated Team and/or an unengaged Board isn’t going to thrive I feel. However great its Mission, poor training and poor Board development can cause a leader to stumble on their journey.
LEARN
- Get good advice from others, be open-minded, and be resourceful for the benefit of your non-profit.
- Be and stay at the top of your game by having your whole organization truly embrace learning through training.
- Capitalize on the distinct benefits of being a non-profit, syncing up with any and all local groups for non-profit organizations. Crisp joined the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium; the information, connections, and resources which this local NC group offers her are innumerable! What groups, local or national, are you tapping into now?
GROW
- Jim Rohn, a Motivational speaker, once remarked: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” In talking with, and trying to determine why Crisp felt she’d succeeded in the early years, she said it really came down to keeping good folks around her at all times. Rohn’s ‘five people’ principle immediately came to mind. This principle speaks to a basic truth: The folks that surround you most of the time will have the greatest impact on your outcomes and successes. Why? Because they affect and influence, in ways big and small, how you see the world, your mission, and life in general.
- What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? Evaluate what makes you stand out from everyone else in the market; this is a core marketing principle. Surviving and thriving as a professional requires you to know your USP. If you do, you will be able to: Discern your position in the Marketplace; decide how you can leverage your strengths, to make your organization viable and successful in the long haul.
- Are you, or do you plan to be, on the cutting edge? Always be in Growth Mode. Those in this mode are never too old to learn something new and are never too young to lean in and go after big objectives, huge visions, and lofty goals. Part of that process is trying to stand out from the pack, by being innovative, thinking ‘outside the box’, and doing what others have not yet attempted – or even imagined.
Successes I’ve Achieved
- What do you consider to be the most meaningful successes achieved by your non-profit organization?
Sofia Crisp has shared, in this and last week’s post, 3 successes that she and her Team have enjoyed. When one succeeds, the organization, or those it seeks to serve, Win. Planning, and being able to react well to the unexpected, allows leaders, of emerging non-profits, to win in the end. Crisp did. You can too.
The journey of one non-profit leader, Sofia Crisp, continues next week.
Your Outcomes Well
(to be continued)
Photo Credit: iStock
Your Outcomes Well
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
