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May, 2007 -by Peter C. Brinckerhoff

This Month's topic: Generation Change and The People You Serve

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My New Book on Generation Change Is Available!

generations cover  My newest title, Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime  for Your Nonprofit is available for review and purchase at the  Fieldstone Alliance website. I'm really excited about the  reaction to this book, and I know that the issues covered in it  are affecting your nonprofit and will continue to in the coming  years. Check it out.

 Here's what people are saying about the book:
“Helpful ideas for immediate action! Great insight into the different generations in a practical way that lends itself to clear thinking about how to most effectively engage people. Easy to understand and engaging—a pleasure to read.”
—Janet Froetscher, President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago:

“An invaluable guide—it will be a frequently consulted resource. Brinckerhoff’s ‘Six Big Actions’ provide an excellent operational framework to plan for generational change.”
—Joan M. Twiss, M.A., Executive Director, Center for Civic Partnerships, Sacramento, CA

Take a moment and check out the book--I think you'll see that it applies to your organization.

This Month's Topic: Generation Change and The People You Serve
Note: This issue covers the second of a number of topics related to generation change in nonprofits, which is the subject of my newest book, Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit. In February, we covered Generation Change and Your Staff. In coming months, we'll look at Generation Change and Technology (September), and Generation Change and Marketing (November). As you'll see, it's a big, big topic.

Sites of the Month

Each month, this area provides with a number of my favorite and most helpful sites regarding the topic of the month.

Management Tip of the Month

Each issue, I start with a discussion of my management perspective on the month's topic, and give you a few hands-on ideas to consider.

Recommended Publications

Here, I provide you with my recommendations on the  materials available that can help you become more mission-capable in the area of Generation Change and The People You Serve

Technology

I provide you with some good ideas for uses of tech to better your organization in the area of Generation Change and The People You Serve

Marketing Tip

So much to say, so little space to say it.....

Next Issue

In June, you'll get my spin on an area where you can do yourself a lot of good: Mentoring

Past Issues:
You can see the topics of past Mission-Based Management Newsletters, and then view those that are of interest to you, by scrolling to the bottom of the newsletter, or by clicking here.

Websites of the Month

Here are my recommendations for websites of interest on this month's topic: Generation Change and the People You Serve:


www.fieldstonealliance.org Fieldstone Alliance's Tools You Can Use April Newsletter: on the things you can do about generation change.
www.census.gov

For a US government website, this is pretty darn good. Start with The American Community Survey, and drill down. You can find information by age, country of origin, income, marital status, even characteristics of people who speak a language other than English in the home. All great information and updated every year (in projection form) in addition to the decennial census.

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Management Tip of the Month
Generation Change and the People  You Serve
The entire issue of generation change is so incredibly important, that, as you saw above, I've written an entire book on the subject, titled Generations: The Challenge of a Lifetime for Your Nonprofit. One chapter in that book is dedicated to the People You Serve. .

The first thing you need to do is to figure out what the generational breakdown of your service recipients is and, equally importantly, where it's going. Is the mean age of your service recipients going up? Down? How fast? Do you need to change your focus? Our population is changing, by age, by ethnicity, by family configuration. So, even if you don't think the generation "thing" that I'm so obsessed with is any big deal, you have to pay attention to family, ethnicity, language proficiency, cultural differences, etc.

So start here: Go to the census (see the link above0 and look at the status for your community in 2000. Now look at the American Community Survey---and drill, drill, drill down. If you're like most communities, change is happening right under your feet.

If you have the data, look at the ages of your service population 10 years ago, 5 years ago, and this year....what's happening. And remember, age changes wants. From Generations:

"Ask yourself this. Does a college freshman (at 18) want the same thing as a college freshman at 24, who has just finished her hitch in the Navy? No.

Does an alcoholic at age 25 want the same thing as an alcoholic at age 45. In one sense, yes, they both want to learn how to manage their addiction, but the way they are treated will vary: their life experience (by reason of being 20 years apart in age) is much, much different. A similar set of differences holds for two people seeking spirituality at vastly different ages.

Why does this matter? Because most nonprofits are making a significant push to standardize their mission output (their services) so that it is more measurable, more scalable (you can do more service more efficiently, like a factory) and costs less to provide on a unit basis. The unintended consequence of that with different generations is that you may well please no one generation fully, and you can’t afford to lose a single person you serve in our increasingly competitive world."

Getting a handle on what generation your service population is and will be is crucial to your nonprofit's long term success. Start looking at how the trends are going sooner rather than later.

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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