So far I haven't wanted to choke anyone. A very interesting question was raised at the first meeting I attended after volunteering at their big event on New Years Eve. In a nonprofit there are types of organizations, would we rather be an efficient organization, or a community driven organization? How much of one are we willing to sacrifice for the benefit of the other.You poor bastard. As a fellow poor bastard serving on a board, remember, its a not for profit, you are trying to do good, and choking everyone in the room would be bad PR.
When I was dragged back into not-for-profit boards and politics, there were under 50 paying members of the society. I came up with a number of members that we needed to keep the lights on- property taxes, fees, upkeep, IRS fees, etc- and we were less than 1/6 that number. We've increased our visibility and are dragging more people into doing outreach and posting online, so my hope is that I hit my number this year. Had the same issue here. Pick one, then hit that hard. Then, work slowly on the second, building the organization. Which one you pick will depend on the human and financial capital at your disposal. We needed bodies, so we went there first, and are slowly working on the efficiencies in the background as they come up. The more people we get the more we can talk about making things run better. Everything is a long process. Everything gets frustrating. But I'm starting to see some of the good happening. Digging out of a hole, on top of feeling great, also looks amazing on a resume. Good luck out there.would we rather be an efficient organization, or a community driven organization?