Compliance for a nonprofit organization is key to success. As leaders in this crowded and sometimes frustrating world of red tape and piles of paperwork, it takes a back seat to other daily duties and responsibilities. That said, it must be priority number one.
Even though you are leading your organization, you don’t have to take the weight of the world on your shoulders. You have a strong network of supporters including the office team, board members, and volunteers to turn to for assistance, especially when you are feeling overwhelmed.
But, it starts at the top. As a leader, you are responsible for setting goals, boundaries, and expectations. This includes a culture that shares, understands, and follows through with compliance issues. It’s all about transparency and gaining the trust, respect, and buy-in of your home office team. Take a look at helpful strategies to build a culture that backs compliance.
Transparency Tone Starts At The Top
It does not matter how large or small your nonprofit is, it is essential to share expectations with everyone in the organization from the leaders at the top, and everyone who is involved. If someone gets left out of the loop or feels unimportant in any way, this can cause emotional stress, breakdowns in communication, and negative outcomes. Plus, everyone should be treated and communicated with consistently and fairly.
Relationship Building Strengthens Compliance
The relationships you make, develop, and nurture are part of any nonprofit's growth and stability. This includes your team. Think about how you keep donors a priority and keep connecting with them on a regular basis. It could include newsletters, phone calls, invitations, emails, social media, etc. This should also be a priority for the heartbeat of your office…your office team! Add all the above, and include team-building and training events as one more layer of nurturing and growing your team.
Everyone Should Have Expectations
Do you provide your colleagues with expectations? Never assume someone on your team understands everything they should be doing. Involve them in the big picture and make sure they know the what, when, why and how valuable and important their individual tasks and assignments are. Make sure everyone knows 100 percent what is expected of them, and what others on the team are expected to do, including all management levels. Remember to outline and explain the consequences that could occur if something falls through the cracks or someone drops the ball. When everyone understands and is clear, the sky is the limit.
Reward and Recognize Accomplishments
Part of a strong company culture that adheres to compliance is recognizing the team for a job well done. Simply saying, "thank you for your hard work," is sometimes all it takes to transform an apathetic team member into a committed trustworthy colleague.
Company culture is all about how you get things done each day. If you need assistance with making sure your nonprofit is compliant to receive donations & your state registration renewals, please contact us today – we’d love to be a part of your team!
