There was a television series that was a big hit beginning in 1966. It had a trademark scene that would open up with a man receiving a clandestine message about an evil problem. This man would be told about the problem as well as who was causing the problem. He would also be told about some support that would be assigned to him if he decided to eliminate the problem.
This television series was called Mission Impossible. The series, which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller, follows the missions of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), a team of secret agents employed by the United States government. The team is sent on covert missions to combat dictators, evil organizations, and (primarily in later episodes) crime lords. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Just as in the series, a mission is always preceded by acknowledging that there is a problem needing to be addressed. A mission can be short termed or on-going according to the depth of the problem. The IMF specialized in short term missions that could have long term consequences. However the leader maintained an ongoing mission which was to eliminate evil threats to the United States. This is why the leader was always contacted about specific problems.
Today’s non-profit organizations are also started by leaders who recognize problems that they want to eliminate. These leaders consider a problem to be significant enough to make it their mission to do whatever they can to eliminate it. Therefore a good mission and mission statement first requires the recognition of a problem that needs to be eliminated.
An effective mission statement is concise, to the point, realistic, operational, inspirational, motivational, informative, and even emotional. It is not too abstract or even too intellectual. The mission clearly states the purpose of the organization. It is forward-thinking, positive, and describes success. It is clear and focused so that the reader can identify with the statement. It reflects the organization’s values, and clearly enumerates the reasons why the organization exists. (Boardsource –http://www.boardsource.org)
DETERMINING A PROBLEM
Since a mission statement expresses why an organization exists, it should be easy to understand the problem that is being eliminated by the success of the mission. The Yong Women’s’ Christian Association (YWCA) has an example of a clear mission statement that expresses an underlying problem that is associated with the mission statement. The mission statement for the YWCA reads as follows: The YWCA USA is a women's membership movement nourished by its roots in the Christian faith and sustained by the richness of many beliefs and values. Strengthened by diversity, the YWCA draws together members who strive to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership, and power in order to attain a common vision: peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all people. The YWCA will thrust its collective power toward the elimination of racism, wherever it exists, and by any means necessary.
In their mission statement, the YWCA presents a problem as well as what they plan to do about the problem. A problem must be something that stops or hinders positive progress. It is a wrong that requires one or more solutions to make it right. The importance of a problem depends upon how much of an impact that it has on others. When determining a problem, several factors are considered. It is important to determine who has the problem as well as who is effected by the problem. Even though there are problems that effect things, animals, etc. the importance of a problem is not realized until it is associated with its impact on people.
The YWCA was originally formed in London by Emma Robarts and Mrs. Arthur Kinnaird in 1855. The YWCA movement was introduced to the United States with New York City and Boston opening women's residences in 1858.
Mary Jane Kinnaird, Emma Robarts and the YWCA, YWCA Central Club, 16-22 Great Russell Street WC1. The Young Women’s Christian Association has its roots in two separate developments in 1855. The first was the setting up of a hostel for Florence Nightingale’s nurses, on their way to and from the Crimea, by Mary Jane Kinnaird. In 1857 it was opened up to working girls. This hostel was in Upper Charlotte Street and continued to offer accommodation and other facilities such as a lending library after the war. Three further hostels followed in the early 1860s following the establishment by Kinnaird of the Association for Girls (1861).
Meanwhile, Emma Robarts in Barnet founded ‘a band of 23 friends who agreed to meet in spirit each Saturday evening to plead for each other, for loved ones individually and for young women as a class’ (Percival 1954: 54). By 1859 this had become a successful prayer union - spreading to a number of towns and villages. But it did not stop there - in the words of Robarts, ‘If we pray for others, we must also work for them’. At the time of her death Emma Robarts was working on a union of the Prayer Union and the Association for Girls. Arrangements were soon completed - and the title Young Women’s Christian Association was formerly adopted in 1877. (Reproduced from the encyclopaedia of informal education [www.infed.org])
A mission statement that includes the problem helps those who join the cause to stay focused upon solutions that are foundationally connected. At the same time if the problem changes then the mission may also change. It is very important that the mission is associated with a clearly defined problem in order to maintain direction within the organization. Therefore I believe that a problem statement should be determined even before a mission statement is developed.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Organizational E-Learning
With the challenge and expense of transportation, many organizational leaders are turning to on line skills development. These tools often include helpful scenarios taken from case studies. Scenarios place the participating student in a real situation in order to demonstrate the relevance for what is being taught.
However what I have found in most of these is that they are primarily text offered via the internet. They lack the interactivity that we look forward to experiencing in live sessions.
While preparing the R.A.T.E.S. E-Learning modules, we look for ways to accommodate those who simply love to read and want the information, along with those who have difficulty reading th more technical aspects of organizational development. I have incorporated a format that features information connected to a deeper understanding. This is followed by practical application and then a brief quiz that includes the type of questions found in the actual R.A.T.E.S. exam.
However what I have found in most of these is that they are primarily text offered via the internet. They lack the interactivity that we look forward to experiencing in live sessions.
While preparing the R.A.T.E.S. E-Learning modules, we look for ways to accommodate those who simply love to read and want the information, along with those who have difficulty reading th more technical aspects of organizational development. I have incorporated a format that features information connected to a deeper understanding. This is followed by practical application and then a brief quiz that includes the type of questions found in the actual R.A.T.E.S. exam.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
R.A.T.E.S. Foundation: The Beginning
WHY WE ESTABLISHED THE R.A.T.E.S. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
I found that even though I understood the mechanics of grant proposal writing, I felt distressed with getting funds to do a project that I really did not want to do. At the same time I felt that people who really wanted to work in a particular area should know how to get the funds and resources needed to be successful. I wanted to develop a program to get financial support for what I felt led to do rather than just do something because money was being offered for it.
I also realized that organizations that tried to stay afloat on their own had a difficult time. But those that were connected with other productive organizations helped each other to sustain. I concluded that in order to launch and sustain a results driven organization, we needed to partner with others. We needed to have other contributors who would know how to tap into their own resources for the good of overall success. We also needed to know how to work together to serve common clients while realizing that each organization is needed in order to see success. In other words we needed to enhance our ability to succeed by working together.
However, most of the organizations did not know how to work with others. Many were not certain about what they offered or what they needed. They still required help with defining themselves so that they could assess and utilize their own resources. We did not have a “user friendly” instrument that could help us to understand ourselves. We also lacked the ability to communicate what our needs and assets in order to service our mutual clients.
R.A.T.E.S. Development proved to be a valuable tool for first getting participants to have a universally understood platform for a standard of assessment, planning and operation. We could be confident that those organizations that understand and operate according to the R.A.T.E.S. principles would at least have a foundation that we could all build upon.
R.A.T.E.S. Development principles compartmentalize non-profit practices into a foundation that can be easily referenced. These foundational practices establish a comprehensive platform for building instruction and measurement tools. As a standard of operations R.A.T.E.S. allows for easy transference of knowledge and organization mentoring. An added benefit of teaching the R.A.T.E.S principles is that we could also communicate our practices according to the language of R.A.T.E.S. to help determine where each participating organization would fit into each other’s efforts. In other words the language of the R.A.T.E.S. platform made collaboration easier to establish and monitor.
I found that even though I understood the mechanics of grant proposal writing, I felt distressed with getting funds to do a project that I really did not want to do. At the same time I felt that people who really wanted to work in a particular area should know how to get the funds and resources needed to be successful. I wanted to develop a program to get financial support for what I felt led to do rather than just do something because money was being offered for it.
I also realized that organizations that tried to stay afloat on their own had a difficult time. But those that were connected with other productive organizations helped each other to sustain. I concluded that in order to launch and sustain a results driven organization, we needed to partner with others. We needed to have other contributors who would know how to tap into their own resources for the good of overall success. We also needed to know how to work together to serve common clients while realizing that each organization is needed in order to see success. In other words we needed to enhance our ability to succeed by working together.
However, most of the organizations did not know how to work with others. Many were not certain about what they offered or what they needed. They still required help with defining themselves so that they could assess and utilize their own resources. We did not have a “user friendly” instrument that could help us to understand ourselves. We also lacked the ability to communicate what our needs and assets in order to service our mutual clients.
R.A.T.E.S. Development proved to be a valuable tool for first getting participants to have a universally understood platform for a standard of assessment, planning and operation. We could be confident that those organizations that understand and operate according to the R.A.T.E.S. principles would at least have a foundation that we could all build upon.
R.A.T.E.S. Development principles compartmentalize non-profit practices into a foundation that can be easily referenced. These foundational practices establish a comprehensive platform for building instruction and measurement tools. As a standard of operations R.A.T.E.S. allows for easy transference of knowledge and organization mentoring. An added benefit of teaching the R.A.T.E.S principles is that we could also communicate our practices according to the language of R.A.T.E.S. to help determine where each participating organization would fit into each other’s efforts. In other words the language of the R.A.T.E.S. platform made collaboration easier to establish and monitor.
R.A.T.E.S. Organizational Development
R.A.T.E.S. Organizational development proved to be a valuable tool for first getting participants to have a universally understood platform for a standard of assessment, planning, capacity building and operation. Those who operate according to the R.A.T.E.S. principles are easier to receive targeted technical assistance which helps them to build and sustain stronger programs.
We could be confident that those organizations that understand and operate according to the R.A.T.E.S. principles would at least have a foundation that we could all build upon. We could also communicate our practices according to the language of R.A.T.E.S. to help determine where each participating organization would fit into each other’s efforts. This greatly supports effective grant proposal writing.
Each R.A.T.E.S. principle is described as follows:
Response-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to give a favorable response to problems and needs. This includes the needs of the client, staff, partners, donors and the organization as a whole. Learning Goal: Learn to develop the fundamental elements for problem and basic needs statements. Participants will first learn a technique to focus upon a specific problem to eliminate. This process is designed to encourage and demonstrate commitment to make a measurable improvement in society. Then the needs statements will be developed with projected solutions for meeting those needs.
Account-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to account for program and fiscal activities along with associated resources. Learning Goal: Learn to develop a basic intake and attendance form to account for a client’s qualification to participate in a program and to prove the level of participation. This lesion will also cover the development of budget summary and elements of a budget narrative to explain expenses.
Technical-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to apply technology in order to maximize productivity. It also includes having the ability to engage the technical communication, practices and policies that govern an area of interest. Learning Goal: Learn how to assess and plan technological support according to needs. This lesson will address basic internet communications and tips for developing a basic client and resource support database.
Evaluation-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to engage an independent and unbiased evaluator who will assess the strengths and challenges of your organization and related projects. The results of the evaluations will help develop strategies for ongoing improvements. The techniques for planning an evaluation will also help strengthen program structure and efficiency Learning Goal: Learn how to plan an evaluation strategy to demonstrate project and organizational outcomes. Learn the basic elements for developing a logic model to demonstrate the elements that will be evaluated.
Sustain-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to continue providing support and development for your organization through diverse and effective resource and revenue development activities. Learning Goal: Learn about types of contributions and partnerships to consider for donor and resource development.
We could be confident that those organizations that understand and operate according to the R.A.T.E.S. principles would at least have a foundation that we could all build upon. We could also communicate our practices according to the language of R.A.T.E.S. to help determine where each participating organization would fit into each other’s efforts. This greatly supports effective grant proposal writing.
Each R.A.T.E.S. principle is described as follows:
Response-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to give a favorable response to problems and needs. This includes the needs of the client, staff, partners, donors and the organization as a whole. Learning Goal: Learn to develop the fundamental elements for problem and basic needs statements. Participants will first learn a technique to focus upon a specific problem to eliminate. This process is designed to encourage and demonstrate commitment to make a measurable improvement in society. Then the needs statements will be developed with projected solutions for meeting those needs.
Account-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to account for program and fiscal activities along with associated resources. Learning Goal: Learn to develop a basic intake and attendance form to account for a client’s qualification to participate in a program and to prove the level of participation. This lesion will also cover the development of budget summary and elements of a budget narrative to explain expenses.
Technical-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to apply technology in order to maximize productivity. It also includes having the ability to engage the technical communication, practices and policies that govern an area of interest. Learning Goal: Learn how to assess and plan technological support according to needs. This lesson will address basic internet communications and tips for developing a basic client and resource support database.
Evaluation-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to engage an independent and unbiased evaluator who will assess the strengths and challenges of your organization and related projects. The results of the evaluations will help develop strategies for ongoing improvements. The techniques for planning an evaluation will also help strengthen program structure and efficiency Learning Goal: Learn how to plan an evaluation strategy to demonstrate project and organizational outcomes. Learn the basic elements for developing a logic model to demonstrate the elements that will be evaluated.
Sustain-ability is having and demonstrating the ability to continue providing support and development for your organization through diverse and effective resource and revenue development activities. Learning Goal: Learn about types of contributions and partnerships to consider for donor and resource development.
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