March, 2005 -by Peter C. Brinckerhoff

This Month's topic: Core Competencies

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NOW AVAILABLE: TRAINING ON NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP I am happy to announce a new training session that I am providing on nonprofit leadership. Based on my new book, Nonprofit Stewardship: A Better Way to Lead Your Mission-Based Organization, the training covers the entire range of nonprofit issues, including staff and board leadership, financial stewardship, ways that funders can support nonprofit leaders, organizational transparency, and how to lead in difficult times. The training is available in half or full-day lengths. Click to see a sample agenda, and click to see other training information, including fees, other topics, sample audio and video, and a partial listing of past clients.

Blog! Problem: There is so much going on in our field that a once-a-month communication doesn't seem adequate. Solution: The Mission-Based Management Blog. I am trying to post every day with something of value to nonprofit board, staff, volunteers, and funders. Check it out, see if you find things that can help you. My postings are in no particular order, just what's on my mind, or what has crossed my desk or monitor that I think you should be aware of. And, like any blog, you can comment right on the blog for others to see. If you agree, disagree, or have other resources to share, please do!

Websites of the Month

This section includes websites of interest on this month's topic, core competencies.

www.quickmba.com/strategy/core-competencies/	A good, basic overview of the theory of Core Competencies from QuickMBA
www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/core_competencies.htm	Another excellent overview.
www.moravecglobal.com/findings/022.asp?Source=Results	A good quick review.

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Core Competencies - do a lot of what you do best.... and less of the other stuff.

A core competency is a knowledge, skill, or ability that contributes to successful completion of a task on the job. Put simply, organizations that focus on what they do well do better work, with higher quality, and have more satisfied customers. Sounds pretty basic, right?

Then why is it that so many nonprofits get into new lines of work that they know very little about? For example, a nonprofit community mental health center that has done outpatient counseling with high levels of skill for 15 years is approached by their state mental health agency to develop group homes for people with mental illness. Does the organization have skills in mental health? Sure. Do they know about running residences, 24 hour staffing, security, and all the other things that go with group homes? Quite possibly, no. Do they take on the challenge? Almost every time.

In the old days-- up through the early 90's we could get away with this. Not any longer. People expect us to provide as good a service set as our for-profit peers.

Here's the key----carefully assess what it is your organization is good at. Then look at the key abilities you need to both keep doing what you are doing and to expand into the areas you are planning on for growth. If you don't have the core competence, either DON'T pursue the area, or FIND THE SKILLS BEFORE YOU START. In other words, hire the expert. On-the-job training is no longer appropriate for mission-based organizations.

That having been said, there are some base competencies in a few areas you need, and I've developed a self-assessment (that's free) that lets you weigh your current situation with where you need to be.

Go to: http://www.missionbased.com/downloads.htm and click on "Self Assessment".

Don't be seduced by taking on things you don't know enough about, and then figuring it out as you go. That's chasing the money. You need to be chasing good, high-quality mission.

If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free.

And, remember to take a look at the Mission-Based Management Blog.

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My recommendations in core competenciesare shown below. You will see that these are first and foremost nonprofit management books, but each focuses on core competence as a key ingredient of success.

If you want more information on these recommendations, click on the cover image. You will go the page about the book on Amazon.com. There, you can look at more info about the book, and read some reviews before you decide whether or not to purchase or look for this book at your local library.

Note: If you want more recommendations on publications in a wide variety of areas, including core competencies, go to the publications section of my website: http://www.missionbased.com/publications.htm

Again, If you don't find enough choices there, type "lifelong learning" or "Learning Organization" at Amazon.com and you'll have more choices than you probably want!

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I want to use this space to emphasize that technology, for all not-for-profits is a key, an essential, a mandatory, core competence. You simply must have at least one person who likes tech, and can think about how to use tech to pursue your mission better, to be more transparent, to be more accessible to your public, your staff and your board.

I am not saying that every nonprofit needs an IT pro. For many small organizations that is far too expensive. But you must foster an environment where people think of tech not as a luxury, not as just a tool, but as a potential catalyst to better, more effective mission.

A simple example: your website. Here's a list of questions for you to consider:

• Do you post your current 990 in .pdf form on your website where everyone can access it?
• Do you have separate password-controlled sections of your website targeted to board and staff members to vastly increase their access to organizational information?
• Do you accept credit cards on-line for donations?
• Do you post volunteer opportunities on your website?
• Do you have an educational section of your site that includes articles, books, tapes, etc. that can inform the public on the issue that is core to your mission?

Each of these items is cheap to do, and returns a huge benefit. It's a simple use of technology that can enhance your mission.
Find your tech geek, encourage them to stay up to speed and to regularly come to you with ideas of how to use tech to enhance your mission. Talk to peer groups and trade associations about what they are doing. And, of course, stay on this--tech is always changing, most of the time for the better!

If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free.

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Below you'll see the date, location, and topics of training I'm scheduled to do in the next few months. For more information on a particular speaking engagement, get in touch with the contact person listed in the right hand column, or email me.

For more information on my availability throughout the next 12-18 months, available topics, sample agendas, and fees go to www.missionbased.com/training.htm

Date	City	Topic	Contact
3/01/05	Silver Spring, MD	Nonprofit Stewardship	Maryland Nonprofits Jill Stephenson jstephenson@mdnonprofit.org
3/02/05	Mt. Washington, MD.	Managing In Difficult Times	Maryland Nonprofits Jill Stephenson jstephenson@mdnonprofit.org
3/11/05	Quincy, IL	Mission - Based Management	Chelona Edgerly Quincy University edgerch@quincy.edu
3/21/05	London, U.K.	Mission-Based Marketing	Peter Dyer National Centre for Voluntary Organisations peter.dyer@ncvo-vol.org.uk
3/23/05	London, U.K.	Generation Change and Charities	Peter Dyer National Centre for Voluntary Organisations peter.dyer@ncvo-vol.org.uk
4/13/05	Houston	Mission-Based Marketing	Shunney Nair Faimily Services of Greater Houston
4/17/05	Chicago	Performance Management for Nonprofits	Liz Livingston Howard liz-howard@kellogg.northwestern.edu
4/28/05	Fargo, N.D.	Mission-Based Management, Social Entrepreneurship	Mary Mercer Minot State University mercer@minotstateu.edu
5/10/05	Chicago	Mission-Based Marketing	Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management Melissa Morriss-Olson mmorriss-olson@northpark.edu
5/23/05	Ann Arbor, MI	Nonprofit Stewardship	NEW Dallas Moore dmoore@new.org

Knowing more about marketing....another crucial core competence.

In the technology section above, I talked about how tech needs to be a core competence in every nonprofit. Same is true of marketing. I am not referring to marketing as sales, nor as fund raising. It is much, much more than that. Marketing is figuring out what all your different (and sometimes conflicting) markets want, and then getting as much of what they want to them in the way they want, at the time they want, for the price they want.

Appropriate applications of marketing as a core competence can improve staff satisfaction as well as customer satisfaction, retain board members, and open funders' wallets.
If you want to be successful, marketing competence is crucial. You need to develop expertise in asking, in listening, and in applying what you have learned to improve the organization a bit every single day.

In a competitive environment, good marketing is crucial to good mission.
In the Management Tip above, I referred to my organizational self assessment which is on-line at
http://www.missionbased.com/downloads.htm

There is a section of the Self-Assessment that has to do with Marketing. Go through it and see how you score, and then start your planning on how to increase your marketing expertise.

If you want to see more about this in detail, take a look at more about my book Mission-Based Marketing; Second Edition

If you found this hint helpful, there are lots more management, marketing, and technology ideas for you in the "Ideas" section at www.missionbased.com. Check them out--they're free.

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Future Topics in 2005 for the Mission-Based Management Newsletter....

April	Expanding to New Markets
May	Endowments
June	Mission Uses of Technology
July	Sustainability (yes Michelle, this means you...)
August	Entrepreneurship
September	Ethical Employee Benefits
Send me your topic suggestions at peter@missionbased.com

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You asked, so here they are: Past Single-Topic Issues of the Mission-Based Management Newsletter...

	2004	2005
January	Business Development	Strategic Planning
February	Fund Raising	Leadership
March	Volunteers
April	Financial Management
May	On-line Marketing
June	Transparency
July	Nonprofit Start-up
August	Governance
September	Political Activities
October	Attracting and Retaining Younger Staff, Board, and Volunteers
November	Outcome Measurement
December	Lifelong Learning