The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently concluded something close to my heart - that nonprofit organizations need to do a better job of recruiting and training volunteers, and keeping them engaged. We have all been there, personally and professionally, no doubt... asked to join a nebulous committee, perform volunteer feats that no mere mortal could be expected to achieve, pester and bully our family and friends into donating their time and money, and stuff envelopes too.

This is not a recipe for long term success. Instead:

• Recruit and orient your volunteers, and staff, carefully and with consideration for the skills and attributes you need. A live body or bum in the chair is not a recruitment goal! A volunteer or staff mismatch only leads to dissatisfaction.
• Once you have the right people on the bus, give them what they need to work and feel great -- tools, information and leadership!
• Keep them informed and engaged, making sure they know how they fit and how their efforts are appreciated.
• And last but not least, listen to them...communication is intended to be two-way!

We've all heard the expression about one person's trash being another's treasure. This happens in our work environments too. Often our perspective is so narrow, and so laser-focused on our organization, that we can't see it the way others do.

If you are filling in the blanks for your donors, staff or other important audiences, you could be missing opportunities to connect with them in meaningful ways. By assuming what you think is important to them, from your organization's perspective, you could be:

• Overlooking untapped markets 
• Underwhelming important audiences
• Underselling benefits and attributes that they value the most about you.

In marketing terms, a value proposition is a clear statement of what a company or organization offers its clients. Like most things in life, simplicity is the key to clarity. The more focused the value proposition, the more effective the resulting communication.

The most powerful statement in the world will lead nowhere, however, if your value proposition is in direct contrast to your organization's core and culture. Nothing breeds disillusionment among your staff and volunteers (and your donors!) than the rank whiff of disconnect. An organization's culture, sometimes defined as how people behave when they think no one is looking, needs to be authentic and in tune to resonate. Inconsistency is the greatest demoralizer. Organizations that live their values are:

• authentic - act and do as they say they do
• receptive - actively interested in their donors' and staff needs and interests
• giving - focused on the needs of their clients first
• prosperous - attract supporters and partners

Proving life really does come full circle, I have found an interesting parallel between games of childhood and boardrooms across the nations -- the game of Truth or Dare.

If you've played this game, you know that most of the time, given the choice, people pick Dare. This is because it is easier to risk embarrassment, and to gain admiration through an act of courage or daring, than it is to reveal one's personal feelings and Truths. In fact, our culture rewards daring (and stupid acts of daring) above truth, much of the time.

This revelation came about because I have been immersed lately in a lot of "deep thought" and tough conversations, due to a project I am working on with a client on internal culture as well as a presentation I recently delivered on the importance of building internal teams.

In a nutshell, if you are setting out to change your organization's culture, the most important thing you can do for your organization is to frankly agree to the rules you are going to live by, and have consequences for not doing so. If you approach this by asking what you are prepared to accept, and not accept, you will soon get to the hard truth. This will take your mission statement and list of values beyond a piece of paper and will instead tell your staff, volunteers, donors and the world, what you are all about. It becomes what you stand for and how you do things, and makes decision-making clearer and more decisive. Above all, it gets to the truth of your organization. And exposes the less than truthful very quickly, in other words, the disconnects between what your organization says it upholds, and what it actually does.

Don't get me wrong - a certain amount of daring is necessary too! But looking at ourselves in the proverbial mirror is the most difficult, enlightening, and transforming step we can take. So pick Truth!

p.s. another definition of culture - how people act and what they do when no one is looking.

Attend a few gatherings of fundraisers or nonprofit executives and you'll soon tap into what's on the minds of people working in this sector. One of the most common topics of discussion is how to create a giving environment, a.k.a. culture of philanthropy (another example of bad language in fundraising). I spend a lot of time helping others communicate better within organizations, and I have always been a strong advocate of what I call inside-out communications.

At yesterday's presentation to the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Winnipeg by Tom Ahern and Simone Joyaux on Keeping Your Donors (based on their recent book Keep Your Donors --buy it!),the unavoidable and ever present link to the level of support and understanding within the organization for fundraising came up more a few times. Lucky for me as I will be speaking on this topic to the same group in a few weeks.

So here's my spin on this: If you are lamenting that no one understands you, that fundraising doesn't get the support it deserves, etc., convincing others how important fundraising is to your organization is not going to work. The same way you can't argue a prospective donor who is not interested in your cause into making a donation, assaulting other staff with facts and figures is not likely to help you much. A culture of philanthropy is not something you grow in a petri dish or in a series of statistic heavy, carefully crafted debates -- it's gained through shared experiences, rowing in the same direction and those little "emotional aha" moments when someone has realized on a personal level, how they have contributed to something that makes a difference. And they want to do more of it!

Of course, there is more that you can do, and it doesn't happen overnight. However, it bears remembering that in fact, accountants are only human and not the mutants they are called in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium -- although they might like numbers more than the average person, they have feelings too! (p.s. I am married to one).