Happy Hours with a Difference!

Many nonprofit organizations have a wealth of resources that they do not recognize. It’s so easy to get caught up in the details of the urgent tasks to be completed every day, and to lose sight of the deep values, principles, and vision that brought you here in the first place.

Within a nonprofit, it’s possible to begin seeing the staff and volunteers as obstacles in your path of successful implementation. Some people even start to blame the very people they are working with to support for their own problems; they may believe they must do so to have the “objectivity” to be “effective.”

The first step to resolving the internal conflicts and waste of resources with which many organizations struggle is relaxing the tensions that have developed over time and finding the perspective needed to recognize the complex truths of the situation.

We need a space to breathe!

Creating the space to breathe allows us to remember that each of us is a gifted, valuable person; that we are all committed to the overall goals; that none of us is intentionally trying to make things harder.

I have begun sponsoring the “Happy Hour with a Difference” series each month as a way to help create that space.

I invite a resource person to join us, to share part of their story with all of us, and to have individual conversations with anyone who is interested.

We all get to try a new restaurant each month, while meeting and relaxing with nonprofit leaders, and we each have the opportunity to hear from knowledgeable, supportive resource people.

Each month is different. This month, we heard from Austin Heberger and May Gonzalez with Wells-Fargo Financial Advisors.

Next month we have the opportunity to spend time with Dan Portnoy of Portnoy Media Group.  And each month we meet and talk with more nonprofit leaders.

Join me for a Happy Hour with a Difference sometime soon!

[ Image by Dmitry ]