As we discussed in a previous post, one of the largest challenges faced by corporate America, including non-profits, is how to retain and motivate qualified employees. Is your organization having trouble motivating employees? Do you understand employee motivators? Are you responsible for understanding what motivates employees? If you answered yes, then you have recognized half of the solution. The other half is engaging at the employee level and meeting their basic work environment needs.

So what defines employee security, commitment, fairness, respect and development opportunites?

Let’s review the criteria established by Alexander Hiam in his book Motivating and Rewarding Employees.

1. What makes a workplace “unsafe”? - Some of the factors include the risk of downsizing/cutbacks, linking rewards with performance are considered threat-based management. Why don’t employees feel secure? Because there are lots of little injuires they experience or anticipate (financial concerns, fear of the unknown, erosion of power/influence, difficulty breaking old habits, inconvenience). Your management goal is improved performance. The employee feels you are threatening them by forcing them to relearn their job. That is the dilemma with security.

2. Commitment – are you committed to whatever direction you are asking your employees to go? As managers are you “changeable” – do you reshuffle and shift priorities? Often, managers collectively seem to act like squirrels caught in the headlights of an oncoming car – first they dash one way, then another, then back again. And with each new dash, they expect perfect commitment from their employees…have I defined your management style…dashing squirrel?
3. Fairness –if an employee does not feel that the workplace is fair, this will definitely interfere with your efforts to motivate them. They understand that managers have more authority than they do…but treatment (in their eyes) has to be fair. Look in the mirror and see if your actions are fair, perceived or not.
4. Respect – do you respect your employees? When you take someone seriously (requirement for all managers), you care about their needs and desires, not only what they produce. You care about what they feel and what they can become. You care about their inner life. According to Michael Hammer, “The biggest lie told by most corporations, and they tell it proudly, is that people are our most important assets. Total fabrication. They treat people like raw material. If you’re serious about treating people as an asset, we’re looking at a dramatic increase in investment in them.” Is this your sorespot? Is work a prison?
5. Development Opportunities –employees have a very natural and healthy urge to accomplish things, both short and long-term. They wish to grow and develop so that they are able to accomplish more and more as time goes by. Do you believe this? If not, you are out to lunch and fishing with your peers. What motivates employees is not just compensation. Do you understand? If not, buy some more worms and good luck fishing.
Hiring, Motivating and retaining people are corporate challenges. Are you up to it? You decide.

“Success seems to be connected with action.  Successful people keep moving.  They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”  Conrad Hilton, Hotel Executive
Qualities leaders possess that enable them to make things happen:
1. They know what they want
2. They push themselves to act
3. They take more risks
4. They make more mistakes - and don’t let it bother them
How to improve YOUR initiative?
1. Change your mindset – “If you lack initiative realize the problem comes from inside yourself, not others.  Find the source of your hesitation and address it.”
2. Don’t wait for opportunity to knock – be proactive
3. Take the next step – do something about it!
Above information derived from John C. Maxwell’s “The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader”, Chapter 10.

Raffles are a great way to earn revenues in combination with special events. Donors will generally provide the raffle items as a donation to your organization, which allows your organization to raise funds without incurring substantial related costs. Along with this relatively easy revenue generator come some strict guidelines due to restrictions contained in the gambling/gaming laws of Texas and IRS requirements on the form 990. To be allowed to hold a raffle you must be performing the raffle in order to use the proceeds for a charitable purpose.

What is a raffle? According to www.dictionary.com, a raffle is a form of lottery in which a number of persons buy one or more chances to win a prize.

According to Texas state statutes, Chapter 2002 of the Occupations Code sets the rules for charitable raffles. Some of the notable provisions of the law include:

• No more than two raffles can be conducted per year.
• The two raffles cannot be conducted simultaneously.
• Organization must set a specific date to award the prize.
• Mass communication (via newspaper, radio or television) is not allowed.
• Individuals may not be compensated for conducting/promoting the raffle.
• The tickets must be sold by the organization and its representatives.
• The prize cannot be cash.
• The organization must have possession of the prize in your possession at the time of ticket offering.
• A $50,000 maximum prize value.

Due to these requirements, Organizations must act wisely when scheduling these events. The tickets must also have the following specific information on their face:

• Name and address of the organization
• Ticket price
• Description of prize(s)
• Date the prize will be awarded

How does gaming affect the redesigned Form 990? If you collect more than $15,000 from the gaming event, the information must be disclosed in Schedule G. Need help in determine what is a “game”? Call me.

The following is an excerpt from Rick Warren’s new book, The Purpose of Christmas: The night Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, a small group of poor shepherds were quietly tending their flocks of sheep in a nearby field, looking up at the stars. Nothing seemed any different from a thousand other nights. But what was about to happen would transform not only their lives but billions of other lives as well. The world would never be the same again.

Regardless of your religious background, you need to know how the three purposes of Christmas solve your three greatest needs.  Christmas is:

A time for celebration.

A time for salvation

A time for reconciliation.

As you enjoy the gifts of this holiday season, may they represent hope, joy, peace and the grace of understanding, and goodwill to all.

Note: Rick Warren is the author of the bestselling hardcover book in history, The Purpose Driven Life, and the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.

According to Barry Gaberman, Board Chair of BoardSource, getting out of bed, turning on the television, reading the newspaper, going to the local coffee shop…all forms of communication tell us that our economy is in turmoil. Tax-exempt organizations look to their senior leadership to provide vision during recessionary times.

According to Gaberman, the following represent board recommendations, addressing the crisis:

1. Don’t panic – remain calm and collected.
2. Strategize – examine and re-examine the organization’s goals and objectives
3. Open your eyes – evaluate financial assets/resources
4. Be creative and plan an alternative (a contingency budget; potential merger or acquisition if needed)
5. Work closely, communicating frequently with CEO or ED
6. Ask for more (from management and from the community)
7. Go on a diet (reduce expenses – especially administrative discretionary expenses)
8. Meet the test; be constructive partners with management holding the organization accountable
9. Evaluate compensation and effects of negative publicity
10. Guard the organization’s mission. Don’t forget the why.

According to Goldman, “no one has a crystal ball. The economy may only dip, then recover quickly, or we may be headed into a prolonged recession. While we all hope for the former, boards that prepare for the worst – strategically, financially, and operationally – will be in the best position to fulfill their mission now and when recovery does occur.”

Can your organization whether this crisis? Post comments on other solutions or thoughts.

For further information, see BoardSource’s November/December 2008 Magazine, or www.boardsource.org.

Peggy M. Jackson, DPA, CPCU and Toni E. Fogarty, Ph.D., MPH, have written a wonderful book for nonprofits. It is called Sarbanes-Oxley for Nonprofits. Now I know that most people involved in nonprofits are “people dedicated.” Most do not spend their time reading accounting rules. This book shows why it is important for the nonprofit’s management and board members to have a basic understanding of financial statements and how to analyze them. This information shows a picture of the financial health of the nonprofit. The healthier the exempt organization, the more people that can be helped. Isn’t that something we all want?

In my next few articles I will give some very basic information about the four financial statements and some financial ratios to help evaluate them. Don’t worry. This will be simple and valuable information. Who knows? You might even find it interesting and fun. Be careful. You might be an accountant in the making.

According to www.Viewpoint.tscpa, the Texas Comptroller is tightening the belt on governmental entities, requiring more “transparency”.

Texas Comptroller, Susan Combs defines transparency as:
You pay for your government, and you deserve to know how it spends your money.

“Transparency is a broad term that, quite literally, means something that can be seen through. When we [the state] talk about transparency in terms of government spending, we are referring to government opening its books to the public so that taxpayers can see exactly where their money is going. Transparency ensures that your taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently by making all decisions in the open and on the record. Transparency means that citizens can review and question policymakers’ decisions, examine documents, root out inefficiencies and hold officials accountable for the way tax dollars are spent. In our Texas Transparency Check-Up, we’re tracking just how transparent local governments, school districts and other entities across the state are with your hard-earned dollars. In our determination, a government entity is meeting a high standard for transparency if it:
1. Opens its books to the public, providing clear, consistent pictures of spending

2. Provides information in an easily accessible, user-friendly format

3. Lets taxpayers easily drill down for more detailed information”

Does this terminology sound familiar? Transparency and accountability: not only in government but in tax-exempt organizations and the private and public sectors.

Is your board having trouble with transparency? Call us.

Having that “bad apple” in your workplace can be very distracting if not destructive.  So in response, candidates are run through an exhaustive process of evaluation.  This process may not be the most productive method for measuring an employee’s emotional intelligence. If you want to pick good apples without hoping they fall from the tree, consider the following:

• Is the candidate self-aware and self regulated- you cannot have a loose cannon who does not understand how to control anger or anxiety.
• Is the candidate able to read others and see others’ reactions to their behavior- this can be defined as a social “radar”.
• Can the candidate learn from mistakes made- this is the best way to judge how a person responds to adversity.

Here is a short list of effective questions to detect the prospect’s emotional intelligence:

• Tell me about a conflict you had with a peer or supervisor, and how it started and became resolved?
• Tell me about a time you said or did something that had a negative impact on a peer, supervisor, or customer. How did you know the impact was negative?
• Tell me about a situation when you discovered that you were on the wrong track.  How did you recognize this, what did you do, and what did you learn?

If this approach interests you, see Adele Lynn’s book The EQ Interview: Finding Employees with High Emotional Intelligence.

According to John Maxwell’s book, 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, there are two purposes for listening: to connect with people and to learn. Philip Stanhope, the earl of Chesterfield, believed, many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request.
Good leaders always make it a priority to keep in contact with the people they’re serving.
To improve your listening skills you must first: change your schedule (make it a priority to spend time with people and really listen). Second meet people on their turf – find common ground with people (what do you have in common?). Lastly is to listen between the lines. Do not only listen to the facts they are expressing but also the emotions behind the facts.
Are you a good listener?
Authored by Lauren McComic, audit senior