Z&B Consulting
  • Services
    • Consulting
    • Coaching Programs
    • Speaking & Training
    • Events >
      • Living Room Sessions
    • Merchandise >
      • Book
      • Success Binder
    • Client Resources >
      • Group Coaching Calls
      • It's Call Time!
  • About
    • Tools & Software I Use
    • Testimonials
    • Where's Michelle? >
      • Past Speaking Engagements
      • Past Community Events
      • SCORE- Boardroom Business Bootcamp for Businesswomen
    • Free Resources >
      • How To's
    • Become a Guest Expert
    • Why Z&B
    • signup
  • Blog
  • Online Academy
  • CC 4.0

MICHELLE'S
​ MORSELS

4 Nonprofit Board Development Strategies to Set You Up for Success

1/25/2022

0 Comments

 
​Your board is a critical asset for making sure your nonprofit organization is a success. They’re the ones making the big decisions that will determine which direction your organization takes next, but that can be easier said than done when the decision makers have to work as a team.
​Making sure your nonprofit board works as a team starts with making sure you have the right team members, so let’s look at some nonprofit board development strategies that will set you up for success.

​Identify and Implement Nonprofit Board Development Best Practices

Picture
​Before you start recruiting nonprofit board members, take some time to look at the successful nonprofit boards of other organizations to see what’s working for them that you can implement into your own board. How are they recruiting their nonprofit board members? What are they doing to keep their nonprofit board members engaged to ensure the success of the entire nonprofit organization?
​Not everything that works for other nonprofit organizations will work for you, but it will at least give you somewhere to start and some ideas for making sure your nonprofit board is a success.

​Know Your Goals and Incorporate Them into Your Nonprofit Board Development Strategies

Everything starts with knowing your goals, because if you keep those goals in mind, you can make sure everything you do moves you towards those goals, and that includes your nonprofit board development efforts.
Picture
​Once you know what goals you want your organization to achieve, you can look for potential nonprofit board members who have the skills needed to achieve those goals. Getting your friends and family on your nonprofit board might fill seats, but it’s not necessarily in the best interest of your organization unless those people also have the right skillset.

​Establish Nonprofit Board Contribution Policies and Include Them in the Bylaws

​One of the most important steps to successfully recruiting a team member is to communicate your expectations for the role, and that’s as true of your nonprofit board members as it is of your staff and volunteers. To make sure everyone is pulling their own weight on your nonprofit board, you’ll need to establish policies on the minimum contribution you expect from each of your nonprofit board members. This could include everything from board meeting attendance to adding items to the board’s agenda or participating in board meetings.
​You might also want to vote on term limits for your nonprofit board members so you can be sure to free up space for new recruits.

​Have a Nonprofit Board Manual and Board Mentors

Picture
​Just like you have an employee manual and volunteer manual to provide guidance to people in those roles, you should have a board manual that lays out everything that’s expected of your nonprofit board members so there are no surprises.
​It can also help to assign a board mentor to each new nonprofit board member. Preferably this would be an existing board member who has been in the role for a while and can show your new member the ropes.

​Get a Strategy Rockstar to Identify Strategies for Your Nonprofit Board Development

​As a Strategy Rockstar with more than 20 years of experience helping both small business owners and nonprofit organizations increase their revenue, I can help your nonprofit organization through any challenge. Whether you’ve been considering some nonprofit board development strategies, you need fundraising tips, or anything in between, you can schedule your FREE clarity call now so we can talk about how I can help.
0 Comments

Motivation Tips for Frustrated Entrepreneurs

1/18/2022

0 Comments

 
It’s that time of year when everyone is talking about new year’s resolutions, and while I think that’s important enough that I wrote my own blog post on it a couple weeks ago, I also think it’s important to talk about some motivation tips.
​Life is a roller coaster with ups and downs, and that can be especially true of entrepreneurship as our businesses go through ups and downs. The downs can be especially frustrating when you’re working long hours and you think you’re doing everything right, but nothing seems to be working. It can be hard to stay motivated through all that, so let’s look at some motivation tips you can use to tackle your business goals all year long.

Motivation Tip 1: Take a Break

​We all need to take a break every now and then, especially when we get frustrated. When we get frustrated, we can have a harder time seeing the mistakes we’re making or the direction we should be moving in because we’re just so focused on what’s not working.
Picture
​Taking a break can mean going on a long vacation, but it doesn’t have to be a long break. Just going for a walk can be a great way to refresh your brain, not only by getting away from the problem, but by getting outside for some fresh air and exercise, both of which will help you think more clearly.
There’s a reason people often recommend walking away from a problem you’re having a hard time solving ​and moving onto
something else for a while. It’s because focusing on the problem can make it harder to see the bigger picture, and by taking time to step back and think about something else, you give your brain space to “breathe” and work on that problem in the background while you do something else.
​Meditation is also a great way to clear your head, and it only takes a few minutes, so if you don’t have time for a vacation or a long walk, a quick meditation can be just as effective.

Motivation Tip 2: Get Help

No one knows everything, so sometimes the best thing to do when we get frustrated is to talk about it with someone else. This could be a business coach or mentor who could talk you through strategies for overcoming your challenges, or it could just be getting together with a friend over coffee (or your beverage of choice) and venting. They might have some strategy ideas for you, or they might just be able to lend a sympathetic ear, in which case you can vent and then get back to work refreshed and motivated to tackle your big goals again.
Picture
If you do want to talk to a business coach to provide motivation tips all year long, or just to provide the accountability you need to achieve your big goals for your business this year, I’m here to help. You can schedule your FREE clarity call with a Strategy Rockstar now to talk about how I can help keep you motivated all year long, no matter what life throws your way.
0 Comments

How to Make Young Adult Volunteering Work for Your Nonprofit Organization

1/11/2022

0 Comments

 
​If you’re struggling to attract and retain enough volunteers for your nonprofit organization, there’s an important group you might have overlooked: young adults.
Picture
​The youth of today are both incredibly engaged with the issues of the world, and empowered to make the changes they want to see. That means they’re motivated to volunteer for issues they care about, and as a bonus, they tend to have more free time than their older counterparts, so if you have not yet considered how you can take advantage of young adult volunteering for your nonprofit organization, here are some tips for you.

​Get Involved with Young Adult Volunteering Programs of Local Schools

​Most schools offer some sort of extra credit for students who volunteer, and if you approach a local school that does not currently have a young adult volunteering program, ask if they’d be interested in starting one. Then you can volunteer to be the first nonprofit organization to join.

​Get on Social Media to Promote Your Young Adult Volunteering Program

​If your nonprofit organization is not already on social media, it’s past time to change that if you’re trying to get involved with young adult volunteering.
​Remember to be strategic about which social media channels you use. Today’s young adults are not on Facebook or LinkedIn, but they are on some of the newer social media channels, such as TikTok. Do your research to see where your ideal volunteer is hanging out online and start hanging out there yourself.
Picture

​Talk to Parents About Your Young Adult Volunteering Program

For the young adults you can’t reach directly, see if you can talk to their parents about the benefits of young adult volunteering programs. Most parents would be thrilled to have their children volunteering for a local nonprofit organization, and since they already know their child’s interests, they’ll have an idea of whether your organization is the right fit for their child before they even bring it up to them.

Host Events to Grow Your Young Adult Volunteering Program

Picture
In addition to raising money for your nonprofit organization, your fundraising events can also be a way to raise awareness for your organization. Someone who might not normally think to volunteer with you or donate through your website might be intrigued by a party you’re throwing with a certain theme. ​
​So in addition to hosting such events for your regular donors, also think about how you can leverage the event to raise awareness for your young adult volunteering program. Make the event something young adults would want to attend, and be sure to host it at a time and in a location that’s easy for them to access.

Get Help from a Nonprofit Strategy Rockstar

​If you’ve tried everything you can think of to build your young adult volunteering program for your nonprofit, but you feel like you’re not getting any traction, it might be time to talk to a Strategy Rockstar. You can schedule your FREE clarity call now to see how a Strategy Rockstar can help you achieve all your goals for your nonprofit organization.
0 Comments

How to Set New Year’s Resolutions for Business Success

1/4/2022

0 Comments

 
​It’s that time of year again. We’ve taken stock of the past year, sent it off with a glass of champagne (or your beverage of choice), and now it’s time to look forward to the year ahead and think about what you want this year to look like. What do you want to see when you look back this time next year?
Picture
​A lot of people focus on personal development when setting their new year’s resolutions, but many of us also have big goals for our businesses. I want you to have your best year yet for your business, so here are some tips you can use for setting new year’s resolutions for business success in 2022.

​Set Realistic New Year’s Resolutions for Business Success

Picture
​One of the most important tips for goal setting is to make sure the goals you’re setting for yourself are goals you can actually achieve. There’s something to be said for shooting for the moon, but if you don’t have the skills or the equipment to get there, you could be setting yourself up for failure, and no one likes to feel like they’ve failed. Failure to achieve a goal can actually make you less likely to set and achieve goals in the future, so this is not about treating yourself with kid gloves. It’s about setting new year’s resolutions for business that set you up for success.
​Many business owners want to be making six figures, or even seven figures, but if you’re just starting out, that might not be realistic for you, at least not for 2022. By all means, keep those big goals for your 5-year plan and your 10-year plan, but for this year, start by taking stock of where you are now and what it will take to get you where you want to go. How much of that can you realistically accomplish in one year?
You want to make sure it’s a little bit of a stretch for you, because we want to get you outside your comfort zone, but we don’t want you biting off more than you can chew. It’s a fine line to balance on, and it’s OK if you veer from that line a bit. Just don’t go too far off course.

​Delegate

​A common mistake I see small business owners making, especially when they’re just starting out, is thinking they have to do everything themselves. Not only is that a recipe for burnout, but you can end up wasting a lot of time and effort trying to do things that are not your strong suit. You’d be much better off hiring a professional to take care of that task for you while you focus on doing the things in your business only you can do.
Picture
​If you’re just starting out and you don’t have a budget to hire someone else, get creative. Find someone who’s willing to barter. Offer an internship to a college student, or even a high school student who would be willing to work in exchange for class credit.
​If you have kids of your own who are old enough to type, put them to work. You already know which skills are their strongest, so find out where they can help you in your business when it comes to tasks that, either you’re not so great at, or you can do, but it’s not the best use of your time. It can be a great learning experience for your kids, and even a bonding experience for both of you.

Make a New Year’s Resolution for Business Promotion Regularly and Consistently

Picture
​Remember what I said earlier about making sure you set realistic new year’s resolutions for business success? Where a lot of people go wrong when it comes to promoting their business is they lack consistency, which matters more than frequency. You might be determined to make hundreds of sales calls every week, but is that a resolution you can realistically keep for the entire year?

​If it is, great! Go for it.

​But if you’re like a lot of small business owners, you’re committed to promoting your business when work is slow, and as soon as work picks up, promotion tends to fall by the wayside. Then business gets slow again because you haven’t been promoting your business.
​The key is to find a nice middle ground - something that will drive results, but that you also know you’ll be able to stick to when you only have a few minutes a day to pick up the phone or post on social media.
​It’s OK to hit the promotion a little harder when business slows down, but by setting a goal you can realistically keep all year long, you’ll be more likely to stick to it instead of giving up as soon as business picks up and you don’t hit your goal for a week or two.

​Make a New Year’s Resolution for Business Planning on a Consistent Basis

Another common mistake I see a lot of small business owners making is spending so much time in their business that they forget to work on their business. It might feel like you’re spending all your time serving your clients, making sales calls, attending networking events, etc., but if you’re not consistently taking time to work on your business, you’ll just end up spinning your wheels and struggling to get to the next level in your business.
Picture
When people talk about business planning, they often talk about sitting down and writing a business plan, which is a very time-consuming process. That’s not what I’m talking about here. Instead, just take a few minutes, maybe an hour each week to take stock of your business. What went well this past week? What could have gone better? In which areas would you like to improve for next week?
​No one expects you to set or achieve huge business goals for your business every week. But you should take some time every week to check in with the big goals you set at the beginning of the quarter or the year and make sure the things you’re doing in your business each week align with those goals. If they’re not, it’s time to adjust so you can intentionally go after those business goals, no matter how big they are.
​As a Strategy Rockstar, my favorite thing is helping small business owners set and achieve their biggest business goals. If you’re tired of spinning your wheels and ready to make 2022 your best year yet, schedule your FREE consultation to get started.
0 Comments

    Why Morsels? 

    Business advice,
    like chocolate chips,
    is best digested
    a handful of morsels at a time.  I think we'd all agree that devouring a lot of either all at once can be too much for the average person to handle..

    Picture
    Please tell me how you found me

    Submit

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    January 2016
    December 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

michelle@zandbconsulting.com
Office: 815-524-4307

Proud to be actively involved in the following organizations. 

Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
Picture
  • Services
    • Consulting
    • Coaching Programs
    • Speaking & Training
    • Events >
      • Living Room Sessions
    • Merchandise >
      • Book
      • Success Binder
    • Client Resources >
      • Group Coaching Calls
      • It's Call Time!
  • About
    • Tools & Software I Use
    • Testimonials
    • Where's Michelle? >
      • Past Speaking Engagements
      • Past Community Events
      • SCORE- Boardroom Business Bootcamp for Businesswomen
    • Free Resources >
      • How To's
    • Become a Guest Expert
    • Why Z&B
    • signup
  • Blog
  • Online Academy
  • CC 4.0