Shifts in Nonprofit

Organizational Culture

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Fall 2017

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Kelsey Jae Nunez, JD/MPP/LEED GA

www.kelseyjaenunez.com

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I want to help create more:

• Social enterprises
• Worker cooperatives
• Cohousing communities
• Shared commercial kitchens
• Maker spaces
• Community gardens
• Car and ride sharing groups
• Ecovillages
• Local currencies
• Barter networks
• Time banks
• Tool lending libraries
• Land trusts
• Grocery cooperatives
• Community owned solar
• Community supported agriculture

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Our conversation this evening:

• Talk about some problems in the “nonprofit industrial complex” due to conventional nonprofit management styles

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• Discuss the value added by the movement towards “worker self-directed nonprofits”

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• Share resources about how to learn more and continue improving this work

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SOURCE ATTRIBUTION - THE SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIES LAW CENTER www.theselc.org

From the brilliant lawyer cartoonist, Janelle Orsi:

Some problems with traditional management structures

• Hierarchical structure creates feedback loops that don’t always work
• Staff needs to tell management who needs to tell board who needs to decide then tell management who then implements with staff . . .
• Details and ideas can change during this time and much gets lost in translation.

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• Management bottleneck is stressful:
• for management who has to balance implementing prior decisions with responding to new ideas.
• for workers who lose confidence and get resentful or disengaged when they don’t feel that they are trusted or supported.

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• Managers increasingly demand higher compensation
• The organization relies on them so much to filter all the hierarchies.
• This can create resistance and distance from lower paid workers who [feel they] work just as hard.

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“So what’s a worker self-directed nonprofit?”

“We are defining this as a nonprofit organization in which all workers have the power to influence the programs in which they work, the conditions of their workplace, their own career paths, and the direction of the organization as a whole. Our own experience practicing worker self-direction and an emerging body of research both show that distributing leadership throughout an organization can create organizations that are more effective at advancing their mission, more adaptable and responsive to complex systems, more accountable to their communities, and more equitable and fun places to work!”

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http://www.theselc.org/worker_selfdirected_nonprofits

In other words, the pros of WSDN include:

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• Increased ownership

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• Reduced founder syndrome

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• Quicker feedback loops b/c staff has more authority and info gets to the board and back quickly (also good for compliance)

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• Feels better to work there, attracts more talent and becomes more stable

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How WSDN improves an organization:

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Nonprofits must adopt written structures to implement worker self-direction!

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• Human nature tends towards hierarchy and powerful personalities tend to dominate

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• Written structures and systems can keep people on track and allow for regular checkins

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• SELC makes their “Organizational Policies” available to the public on Google Drive

The SELC website is an amazing resource:

Topics and Videos (more coming soon):

• Who Sets Priorities at a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit?
• The Role of The Board
• Meeting Processes
• Tour the Office of a WSDN!
• Onboarding New Staff
• Dividing Labor and Assigning Responsibilities
• Fiscal Sponsorship Versus Independent 501(c)(3)
• Bringing our Whole Selves to Work
• Alignment and Resiliency
• Setting Staff Compensation
• Peer Accountability and Performance Reviews
• Transparency and Information Sharing
• The Roles of Culture Versus Structure
• Human Resources
• How WSDNs Evolve as they Grow

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http://www.theselc.org/worker_selfdirected_nonprofits

Self-governance takes constant practice and learning

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Nonprofit Democracy Network - a community of practice, organizational development training program, and peer support network for nonprofit organizations that want to deepen democracy within their organizations and make our movements for justice more participatory, responsive, and leaderful.

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1. Social gatherings in Oakland to celebrate and build the community of nonprofit and movement workers committed to social transformation: Sign up here and SELC will be in touch!

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• Get trained up at Rethinking Nonprofits: Aligning Equity and Justice with your Organizational Structure, a full-day workshop on how to infuse the governance, management, and operational practices of your organizations with values of social, racial, gender, and ecological justice.

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• Explore their growing collection of resources and videos on workplace democracy in nonprofits.

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http://www.theselc.org/nonprofit_democracy_network

Legal issues that must be managed when self-managing

• How much can a board of directors delegate its duties?

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• How? In the bylaws and policies?

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• What kind of oversight does board have to have?

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• What are limits of being managed by interested persons (people being paid)

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• How to identify and navigate conflicts of interest?

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Legal issues that must be managed when self-managing

• Certain legal requirements cannot be ignored
• Board of directors providing general overview of management and staff
• No private inurement
• Stick within tax exempt purpose

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• Board must act within best interest of organization and with reasonable care
• Must be able to show worker self-direction is a good model.
• Can delegate but not too much - should have an ongoing assessment of appropriate delegation (by resolution showing great track record, policies, things going well, etc.).

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Some cons/potential negative issues with WSDN

• Harder to set up fiscal sponsorship arrangement with worker self direction - can put some on board, but it’s hard to manage

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• Harder with member-driven organizations and trade associations where members and workers don’t work close together

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• Overtime: various roles can change an employee’s status at different times

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• Union membership: sometimes not supposed to be a manager

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• Lawyers: must maintain professional independence

What’s next for you?

Shifts in Nonprofit

Organizational Culture

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​

Fall 2017

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Kelsey Jae Nunez, JD/MPP/LEED GA

www.kelseyjaenunez.com

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