Most people understand that you’ll get more done if everyone is rowing in the same direction, however, it’s amazing how many organizations neglect to provide key documents that can point the way. Below are five tools that every nonprofit should have in place and why. Over the next few weeks, I’ll dedicate a blog post to each that will describe in more detail what should be included.
1) Updated Mission Statement -- If your mission statement is old and tired, it’s time to refresh it. Your mission statement is the foundational building block of everything you do. It can act as a fantastic litmus test when you must prioritize and decide which critical projects to focus your attention on. If you stay true to your mission, you’ll stay on track.
2) Volunteer Handbook -- If you have volunteers or interns, they deserve to have the rules of the road spelled out for them in one, easy-to-access place. Volunteer handbooks are also part of your organization’s risk management plan. They help volunteers understand their rights and responsibilities to the organization and draw a clear connection between the your mission and the reason volunteers are part of the mix.
3) Employee Desk Manuals -- Not to be confused with employee manuals, desk manuals contain info about a specific staff or volunteer position. They include information about the step-by-step processes used to get tasks done. If you have individual people performing a specific job, the desk manual acts as a back up, if that person becomes ill or leaves the organization. It’s your insurance against the loss of valuable institutional knowledge.
4) Communications Style Guide -- Your organization may suffer from a split personality in terms of what you communicate to the public. Any inconsistencies undermine the effectiveness of your outreach and marketing efforts. Make sure you give your team clear guidelines about how to represent your organization visually and verbally. A communications style guide is a simple tool that keeps info about your logo, chose of language to use, etc. in one place that everyone can reference when they have questions.
5) Social Media Policy -- Even if you’re not using a lot of social media yet, chances are some of your staff and volunteers are already sharing, chatting, posting, tweeting, etc. A social media policy gives common sense guidelines about what can be communicated about your organization using which channels. It should also detail what to do if something is inadvertently shared that shouldn’t have been. When these small crises are figured out ahead of time, you can address the issue with ease and move on.
Looking for templates and samples to create these yourself? Check out IdeaEncore, an online resource center for sharing nonprofit tools and templates. Many of the documents that can be found there are either free or low-cost. Don't have enough time? Consider hiring a consultant to get them done with less stress. Check out my website for a more comprehensive list of documents you can get help with.
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