November 27, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
NEW BOOKS
The Charismatic Organization: 8 Ways to Grow a Nonprofit That Builds Buzz, Delights Donors, and Energizes Employees
by Deborah Jospin and Shirley Sagawa
Charismatic charities — compelling, exciting nonprofit groups that seem to attract supporters effortlessly — begin with relationships.
“For a nonprofit organization, that means a committed community of staff, donors, volunteers, and friends who can provide access to other social networks. These networks lead to other essential forms of capital — financial, human, and political —that allow the organization to increase its impact and influence even more, beginning a continuing cycle of impact and growth,” write Deborah Jospin and Shirley Sagawa, who together run a consulting practice for charities and businesses.
People may assume that such an organization is the result of a charismatic leader, the authors write, but that is not always the case. Charismatic leaders are not necessarily strong managers and their personalities can steal focus away from their charity as a whole.
Rather, a charismatic organization creates strong social networks by excelling in eight areas: They are driven by their charitable missions; build a can-do culture; make decisions based on hard data; come up with innovations that change the way their fields operate; manage employees with respect, good communication, and support; communicate with the public in a compelling manner; actively reach out to foundations, corporations, and individuals; and involve volunteers in meaningful work.
The book contains a chapter on each of those eight qualities, and gives examples from charities that excel in each area. For example, YouthBuild USA goes beyond the standard in helping its employees: The Massachusetts group kept paying health-insurance premiums for a longtime employee who could no longer work when he became disabled.
“These kinds of gestures are more than random acts of kindness; they let all employees know that the employer respects the challenges they face and cares about them and their families,” the authors write.
That respect inspires employees to work harder for the charity, stay involved longer, and become supportive links in the social networks a charity needs in order to thrive.
Another chapter, “Data-Driven Decision Making,” underscores the importance of a group making choices based on hard facts, not emotion, because, the authors write, “If are effective, they are attractive.”
An opinion article based in part on this book is available here.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103; (415) 433-1740; fax (415) 433-0499; http://www.josseybass.com; 288 pages; $34.95; ISBN 978-0-470-19546-8.
