Gaining Momentum as a National Nonprofit Sector

As many of you know I am on many national nonprofit committees--too many in fact. I care deeply about the nonprofit sector as well as recruiting new people to work in the nonprofit sector and retain the current employees in the nonprofit sector.

There are a lot of ideas going on in these committees and excitement around nonprofit leadership, nonprofit careers and nonprofit awareness.

In my effort to scale back on my commitments I am trying to step down from some of my committee involvement. I've also noticed a lot of the committees I'm involved with include the same people. I really like these people and we have amazing ideas :), however I really wish that more peoples voices were heard in the nonprofit sector and there was greater representation of the nonprofit sector on these committees. I know people who work for and run nonprofits are super busy and that is why many cannot serve on committees that don't relate to their own nonprofit's mission. However, it is still frustrating to me because I believe the system of the nonprofit sector does not allow staff development in many nonprofits and it does not allow for people to try to address sector wide issues that are so important!! Also another issue I am struggling with is not having our committees do duplicated efforts. We are all passionate about the nonprofit sector and we are all desperately seeking funding, however we are doing very similar efforts. If we come together as a sector and reach out to the American public we can improve the overall image of the nonprofit sector!!

So my question is, do you want your voice to be heard?

Do you want to serve on a national nonprofit committee?

If you are interested in getting involved in any of these committees and will commit to one conference call per month and several hours of follow up work please e-mail me heathercarpenter at nonprofitalternatives dot org

Here are descriptions of the national committees:

National Campaign to Promote Nonprofit Sector Careers
The Nonprofit Workforce Coalition is comprised of over 50 national nonprofit organizations, associations, foundations and academic centers focused on identifying and addressing issues facing the nonprofit sector workforce. More specifically, the Coalition exists to connect talented, skilled, and diverse young people to nonprofit sector careers, and to help nonprofit organizations recruit, retain, and cultivate the diverse leadership they will need in the decades ahead. The National Campaign to Promote Nonprofit Sector Careers, a committee of the Workforce Coalition, was created in 2007 to create a campaign to promote the availability and diversity of nonprofit sector career opportunities at the national level.

National Careers Month Committee
Let’s work together to dedicate a single month in 2009 as ‘Nonprofit Career Recruitment Month’. The campaign will coordinate the efforts of organizations within various states. By carrying out activities in states within the same month, we will raise awareness to national attention. There are a dozen or more organizations that have national reach and a vested interested in training or recruiting new leaders for the sector. There are also institutions in every state that carry out activities such as career fairs. Our goal is to help organize and support recruitment activities and media attention, on a state-by-state basis, within the context of a national nonprofit career recruiting campaign. The outcome should be increased local interest and activities at campuses and within HR departments for nonprofits, state and national media attention for this issue, and ‘buzz’ on campuses and among nonprofits debating careers for the common good.

Next Generational Leadership Forum
Was created by the Craigslist Foundation. The committee is culling nonprofit leadership resources and programs in an effort to find out what is missing in the nonprofit sector for nonprofit leadership development. The committee is also trying to create a repository or central website to house all nonprofit leadership resources and links.

Leadership Working Group Nonprofit Congress
The goal of the Leadership Initiative is to strengthen the nonprofit sector’s workforce and leadership by supporting emerging leaders and capturing experience from established leaders. The Leadership working group has produced the following workbook and report.

• Work With Me: Intergenerational Conversations for Nonprofit Leadership
• Nonprofit Leadership: A Sampler of Networks, Fellowships, and Workshops
  

Public Awareness Committee Nonprofit Congress
The public awareness committee is led by Flo Green formerly CEO of California Association of Nonprofits is working to create public understanding and support so that nonprofits can continue to do their best work.