By Candace Higginbotham
Nonprofits across the country are facing a new set of challenges in the current economic environment.
Budget constraints are a longstanding issue for community organizations. But for many, those challenges have intensified with recent changes in government funding.
Gina Sian, head of Regions Bank’s Making Life Better Institute, recognizes the pressure this places on nonprofits and understands the hurdles leaders face.
For the past five years, the Regions Community Engagement team has been hosting the Important Insights for Community Organizations webinar series that leverages Regions’ inhouse knowledge and experience to provide assistance where it’s needed most, at no cost.
Staff development is one area that kept bubbling up as Sian engaged with nonprofits about their challenges.
“‘No money, no mission’ is a phrase many nonprofits are familiar with,” Sian said. “But an even more critical factor to their success is their team. Engaging people who care about your mission, have the necessary skills to implement your vision, and the willingness to grow with your organization is not an easy task, most especially when you have limited resources.”
‘No money, no mission’ is a phrase many nonprofits are familiar with.
Gina Sian, head of Regions Bank’s Making Life Better Institute
How can nonprofits support employee growth and performance without breaking the budget?
To answer this question, Sian assembled a group of Regions Learning and Development pros to share cost-effective strategies for employee training and development. Jinny Walker, Barry Ward and Ressie Chambers led the discussion, which included 71 attendees from 45 organizations in 39 cities.
Walker opened the meeting with a word-cloud exercise that gave participants an opportunity to share their specific challenges when it comes to employee and volunteer learning and development. To no one’s surprise, the responses highlighted issues around time, cost, technology, staffing and expertise.
With those challenges in mind, the obvious first question is where to start. Walker advised the audience to start with the basics.
“Think about your goals. Your organization’s priorities really shape the learning and development needs of your employees and volunteers,” Walker said. “Next, you should think about how to build a sustainable learning culture.”
Her advice for developing that internal learning strategy included:
- Break learning into bite-sized chunks or micro learnings
- Leverage existing expertise within the organization
- Place a high value on learning
- Promote self-guided development
- Leverage a learning champion
- And last but not least – make it fun!
She then passed the mic over to Ward, who provided readily available resources to execute that learning strategy.
“A lot of companies and organizations offer some really great free and low-cost learning resources – some available at the public library or online, others may be workshops or training offered by local community foundations,” Ward said. “And the topics may range from capacity building and fundraising to marketing and financial management. The key is picking the resources that best align with the needs of your organization.”
The key is picking the resources that best align with the needs of your organization.
Barry Ward, Learning and Development professional at Regions
The next host, Ressie Chambers, wore two hats during the webinar, providing insight from two specialty areas. Along with serving as a Learning and Development professional at Regions, Chambers also is the executive director of a nonprofit in Memphis, Tenn.
She and her husband, Jimmy, established Camp Chambers more than a decade ago to provide educational and life skills for underserved youth. Theirs is a volunteer organization, with no paid staff, so Chambers has a great deal of experience with training and development for an unpaid workforce — as well as a board of directors — with diverse backgrounds, skills, ages and varied perceptions about roles and responsibilities.
Chambers shared some successful strategies that have worked for her in the past, especially when communicating the mission of the nonprofit:
- Storytelling and real-life examples resonate deeply
- Interactive training is often more effective because it puts ideas into action
- Mentorship and peer support are important for knowledge transfer and skill development
Chambers was honest about what has not worked as well, including one-size-fits-all training and programs that deliver “TMI” or too much information that overwhelms participants.
For this group of nonprofit leaders looking for tools and resources, Chambers had some specific, actionable advice. “Definitely start out with the resources that are no cost, there are tons of those out there,” she said.
“Encourage staff members and volunteers with certain skill sets to lead informal training sessions. People that are involved in nonprofits want to give back – they want things to do. Lunch and Learns are great forums. Also, network with other nonprofits to share best practices, and join the local chamber.”
People that are involved in nonprofits want to give back – they want things to do.
Ressie Chambers, Learning and Development professional at Regions
Based on the comments and ideas springing up on the chat during the webinar, the audience was extremely engaged. Inspiring attendees to reflect, learn, share, and identify at least one action they can take is the most important goal of this quarterly webinar series.
Joan Wright, executive director of Childcare Resources in Birmingham, has participated in past Insights webinars and found this one particularly relevant and helpful.
“The biggest takeaway for me was the variety of free resources that can support staff professional development across several areas and skills,” Wright said. “I appreciated the active chat conversations and sharing of resources from other participants.”
Wright added that the entire webinar series has been valuable to her and other members of her agency.
“I’ve learned new ways to approach our work, from data visualization to staff development. The format of free, convenient, virtual sessions combined with quality, professional guidance provide an accessible way to gain insights, connect with others and apply new information to our work. I look forward to the next session!”
Investing in knowledge-sharing and skill-building opportunities is a win not only for community partners, but also for Regions associates who volunteer their time and expertise.
Not all organizations have access to the resources we’re fortunate enough to have here at Regions, and I’m grateful we can lend our support in a way that helps others grow their impact.
Jinny Walker, Learning and Development professional at Regions
“It was incredibly meaningful to have the opportunity to influence nonprofits and volunteers who are working hard to strengthen their communities, often with limited staff and budget,” Walker said. “Not all organizations have access to the resources we’re fortunate enough to have here at Regions, and I’m grateful we can lend our support in a way that helps others grow their impact.”
“I’m a Regions-grown L&D partner, so being able to share what I’ve learned here with our community partners is such a rewarding way to pay it forward. I love giving back, especially in a way that aligns with what I love to do every day at work.”
The presentation shared during the webinar, along with a list of free learning resources, can be found here.
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