Now, our staff retreat was not actually intended as a skill building training. Three Ways to Turn a Grant No into a YES! The retreat facilitator must guide interactive activities or moderate discussions and report outs. If them require your board members enthusiastic and engage throughout the year, she need to function because a team. The DLP suggests this is best achieved through follow-up support and post-assessment. Not providing enough free time or breaks, running over time, and not scheduling appropriate transition time are all common retreat-planning mistakes. 6 Ways to Thank Your Nonprofit Board Members, The One Thing That Makes Board Meetings Worthwhile. Outside help promotes a sense of neutrality that may help clarify and reduce the conflict. Once you decide on the facilitator, the next steps are: developing the agenda, deciding on who is to attend, creating expectations about the retreat for the team or organization, and finding a suitable site. They complete a few key activities on their own, get thinking about the issues, and then use the meeting time to process and apply the information together. It's nice when your facilitator can take a decent picture. A team retreat is more than just an extra-long staff meeting, so take care not to structure it this way. Once the framework and direction for the retreat has been firmly established, then the agenda will usually include a number of substantive discussions or interactive activities around clear topics or problems. We engaged in thoughtful dialogue with our colleagues on some pretty difficult issues. Want to know more? Four Steps To Ace Your Donor StewardshipAnd Keep Supporters Around for Life, Six Mistakes NOT To Make When Planning Your Next Nonprofit Fundraising Event, Who Owns a Nonprofit? At the Employee Retreats And Party Tricks Read More The principles used in ETRs retreat come from theDistributive Learning Process. So skipping the topic of fundraising and revenue generation is a huge mistake. Institute for Transformational Nonprofit Leadership & Board Performance, Chief Executive Officer Annual Performance Evaluation, Executive Leadership & Board Governance Online Assessment Survey, Organizational Leadership Development Programs, The King of Nonprofit Leadership Connections and Consulting, 5 Stages of a Successful NPO Executive Search Process, Social Current SPARK 2023 Presenter The Nonprofit Leadership Dilemma How to Identify and Develop New Leaders for Tomorrows Challenges, 5 Tips on How to Lead a Nonprofit Organization, Thinking about the future of the organization, Engage and motivate your board and leaders, Developing desired standards of performance, Confronting evolving challenges and opportunities, Examining the skillsets of board members and executive leaders, Creating renewed enthusiasm and commitment. And you as a leader must be very persistent in communicating about retreat goals, managing expectations, and ensuring follow up with any key retreat action items. Theres a ton more on this website about becoming a great Executive Director. Heres What You Need To Know, Build an Email List for Your Nonprofit With These Five Easy Strategies, Why Hosting a Virtual Panel Discussion Is Still a Great Idea for Your Nonprofit, How To Scale Your Nonprofit with Social Media: A Step-by-Step Guide, The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Graphic Marketing For Your Nonprofit (Checklist), Why Community-Centric Fundraising Principles Are a Natural Fit for Our Organizations, WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER TO UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GAME FOR YOUR NONPROFIT. Begin the retreat with a cogent opening statement which includes your sense of how the retreat and retreat output fits your overall agenda. I was most impressed by how seamless they were, and how they moved the day forward in an exciting and engaging way. 6 Tips to Foster an Environment of Success This planning time should involve brainstorming, discussion, and even interactive activities. It is also extremely important for you to avoid trying to indirectly steer the group so they get the right answer or make the correct decision. Place Category: Cycling retreats. ETRs retreat planning team set objectives that Goldilocks herself would have been proud of. Simply include Welcome and Introductions on your agenda, and slip your ice breakers into that section of the day. But then I really got it. If there are already tensions between groupings within the organization, will inviting or not inviting make those divisions better or worse? [Must-Read]. Stay local to invest in your community, or travel to let your staff really disconnect. A retreat is a retreat. Provide balanced meals, plenty of snacks and beverages throughout the day, as well as small toys and other fidget items to keep folks attention throughout meeting sessions. We are blessed beyond compare by their compassion and undying devotion to our mission. Copyright 1992, 2014 If youre struggling to create an agenda, are unsure of how to engage members, or dont know how to solidify action items, retreat facilitation may be right for you. Keeping them in view reminds people of progress. A cross-section of people can be interviewed by the outside facilitator, or if there is none, by members of the planning committee (or by some combination). Dennis C. Miller Inc. United States of America. We are a distributed workforce of 90, with folks located all around the country. While retreat sessions that produce concrete outcomes can make a real difference to the organization on an operational level, the kind of substantive discussions across lines and reconnecting with one another can engender relationships that influence positively the capacity to work together for months into the future. Im heading to the West Coast to facilitate a full staff retreat for one of my clients I actually reviewed this post MYSELF!!!! Check these samples below. ), Eight Simple Tricks to Secure Funding for your Nonprofit, Want To Set Up a Nonprofit Membership Program? Our theme, A Patchwork of Connections, brought us back to these goals throughout the day. Such a committee should have no more than 5-8 people on it, and should have its role and timeline clearly defined (is it to plan the retreat, give advice on key issues, or react to your plans). Helping your staff connect to one another on a personal level will breed positivity about the organization and the work you do. Following up on this intention, the planners presented activities that made this possible. It still surprises me when I hear of organizations holding board retreats without any fundraising training or discussion around revenue generation. To make the time you never have to consider the issues that actually deserve the most time of all. Retreat Planner's Guide. Nonprofit Endowment Funds: Are They Right for Your Small Organization? First, a facilitator can be an outside consultant or someone from within your organization if it is large enough so they do not have much contact with your area, or they are from a unit that has this as role mandate (some HR units have this). To combat employee disengagement, both for-profit and nonprofit organizations look to group activities like team retreats to foster connection amongst team members and build shared commitment to the work at hand. You may think that your role at the retreat is to be silent and listen. Our retreat had all of these elements. In this final review process, it is good to ask questions like the following, Think of our regular workload can we do all these things and still get the work out? 4301 Wilson Blvd., You need to stress the importance of the retreat and that it is but one part of your leadership approach in renewing and sustaining an effective organization and team.You can then state your expectations of retreat behavior (full participation or open exploration of these ideas or advice to me so I can make these particular strategic decisions or whatever); it also needs to be stressed that interruptions will be kept to a minimum. The 25 staff members at Young Community Developers (YCD) drove about an hour and a half away from the organization's San Francisco headquarters for an employee retreat in 2013. At this meeting, you may decide to put some of the items on hold, agreeing it is better to choose fewer items and accomplish them than to choose many and fail. If an outside facilitator isnt in the budget, have no fear! Nonprofit Retreat Planning | Nonprofit Staff Retreats | Nonprofit Board Retreats Tips for Knocking Your Next Staff or Board Retreat Out of the Ballpark by Suzanne Smith | Jun 13, 2023 | Board Development, Communicate, Grow, Lead, Organizational Culture, Retreats, Social Impact Architects, Storytelling After the opening presentation, the retreat leader (you, the outside facilitator, or planning committee member) needs to share the goals and the agenda for the retreat. Nonprofit Board and Staff Retreat Agenda Items. Plan your nonprofit staff retreat as a welcome respite from the day-to-day grind. The most compelling reason for retreat failures is the lack clarity about purpose and what the organization or team is really trying to accomplish by having a retreat. Retreat Agenda - 9+ Examples, Format, Pdf | Examples It's important to think carefully and clearly about retreat purposes since they become the foundation for the retreat design. 10 Creative Ideas for Nonprofit Staff Retreats - Joan Garry Consulting Plan your nonprofit staff retreat as a welcome respite from the day-to-day grind. So pack yourself a good facilitator, a passionate tribe of staff members, a clear set of goals and get out of your office for an effective retreat. As ETRians, I think its safe to say we knew pre-work was coming. Get the blood flowing and people interacting with someone they dont normally interact with. Group interaction, discussion and sharing They emailed a checklist so our retreat learnings, connections and commitments stay alive. It included action steps (literally: Join the ETR Steppers and thrive!), key learning, and reminders of where and how to access resources discussed during the retreat. This may be done at an off business site such as a board member's home. After introductory getting started activities, you as leader need to begin with a well-planned opening presentation. Web nonprofit board and staff retreat agenda items. As such, it is critical to share the purposes with participants and help set expectations about what the retreat intends to accomplish. Instead, the objectives were just right. Books & Projects She can be reached at sarah.axelson@etr.org. Also, it is important to assign leaders and reporters, or to ask the small groups to choose them. "You physically get so tired from tackling difficult problems or learning new information; you need a break.". However, when I probe a little, it turns out that there are some board members who are clearly outside the group. Night golf. By Amy Eisenstein Leave a Comment. Or, on the contrary, you might use your behavior at the retreat to signal a slight (or not so slight) change in leadership style. Its also important to host the retreat at a location all members can travel to. Whatever process you as leader end up choosing to help inform retreat design, a draft set of goals and an agenda can be finalized and shared within the team or organization four weeks or so in advance of the retreat. Keynotes & Workshops Deciding to hold a board retreat is excitingbut take your time with the planning. You can host a staff retreat pretty much anywhere a conference room, an oceanside Airbnb, or a woodland retreat center. You can identify what you think are the salient issues for the retreat, and organize them in an order suitable for the time allotted. Staff are not machines who work at the whim of the board and donors. Facebook for Nonprofits: 4 Easy Steps to a Killer Profile, Four Easy Steps to a Nonprofit Fundraising Plan That Works for You, Time To Move On? Your email address will not be published. [Click to Tweet]. I started to tear up. How to Design and Execute a Powerful Board Retreat - Joan Garry Consulting Strategic Planning Part 6: The Board Retreat What makes an effective nonprofit retreat anyway? The goal is to ensure that adult learners areprepared to learnnew information, and then able totransferthat information toapplicationafter the event. Stay local to invest in your community, or travel to let your staff really disconnect. They didnt set the bar too low, aiming only to network with colleagues or learn something new. They also didnt overreach, promising to deliver a deep understanding of organizational concepts that would require hours of discussion and reflection. 10+ Sample Retreat Agenda Templates Not only that, a professional facilitator brings years of experience in leading interactive and engaging retreats. Upon further reflection, should we eliminate or temporarily shelve any of these items? ONE board retreat serves trio primary key, and you'll want your agenda to reflex whole triple. It included items that were fun and made us feel part of something biggerlike adding a song we loved to the ETR playlist. (This music was played in the meeting room during transitions and breaks. How to Design a Worthwhile Nonprofit Board Retreat | Davis An effective board retreat is an important part of your nonprofit's strategic planning process. These steps reinforce the content, skills and information from the learning event. Do whatever you want with a Nonprofit Board and Staff Retreat Agenda Sample (Stop . New board member orientation (see attachment) president/executive committee 2. Planning a 2022 Nonprofit Board Retreat? If youre thinking about planning a nonprofit retreat, consider facilitation services from DCM Associates. Simply Google ice breakers and you get hundreds of examples. Help . Three Essentials to Grant Reporting. Integrate meaningful breaks. Keep people satiated and comfortable. I can only hope that those of you who dont work at ETR can take a little bit of our retreat and infuse it into your own, so that your staff retreats can be ever more exciting places of learning and connection. She leads the conceptualization, expansion and management of ETRs training and professional development work. Start planning your next board retreat. One way is to do this is for the staff to tee up an issue and then outline possible paths or raise a series of questions that the board and staff can then grapple with together. If you continue to use this site we assume that you accept this. And yes, there are public spaces that can be used and if so, build the agenda in such a way that attendees get fresh air, a walk, perhaps conduct a session outside under a tree. 1. A group retreat can be intense and Rotstein stresses the importance of establishing meaningful breaks, where the time is maximized and staff are given the chance to re-energize. It must engage them at an emotional level. Nonprofit Outsourcing: Should You Consider Hiring Contractors Instead of Employees? What should your company retreat conference look like to ensure a productive offsite? I have stopped donating to several nonprofits which spent unnecessarily on such things. Most people work hard in their organizations and want their work to be meaningful they want to be involved and work toward an ideal. Beyond the logistics of when, where, and for how long, think about what will occur during the retreat. 2023 All rights reserved. Some facilitators help during planning, while others can attend the retreat as well. They wanted to strengthen connections with ETRs Health Equity Framework, an evolving model that is essential to all of the work we do. If the goal is to increase staff input and participation, then it is logical to extend an invitation to a greater number of people. Ill talk about my really cool baseball card collection from the 1960s. In situations like this, small group work optimizes participation, and gets better, more substantive thinking. | Site design by Eve Simon Creative. When retreat numbers get over 25, it is a good idea to get some professional facilitator help for the design or delivery stage, or both. Its so much more than an ordinary ice breaker, and it works great to get people talking. Note from Beth: Blocking out time for your nonprofits staff to do planning and work on areas like organizational culture is essential for success. You and I have had different experiences, and Im sure there are others who will agree with me that there are thousands of nonprofit staffers out there who deserve a little pampering after pulling all-nighters, managing crises during an event or project, and dealing delicately with board members and donors. Annabelle. Before we go any further, there seems to be a trend to call nonprofit retreats an advance.I guess the idea is that the gathering is in the service of advancing the work. Before I knew it, the 20 people in the room were all crying. 4 Critical Things You Should Never Leave Out of Your Nonprofit Employee Handbook, Six Simple Tricks For Running A More Effective Nonprofit Meeting, Miracle Marketing for Your New Nonprofit, Part Two: Social Media, Strategy & Evaluation, Miracle Marketing for Your New Nonprofit, Part One: Who Youre Talking To (and How! Here Are 3 To Watch Out For. Nonprofit Video Editing for Social Media: Three Basics for Successful Content, Copywriting for Nonprofits: Why You Dont Want to Miss Out on Cashing In, Employee Benefits for Small Nonprofits: Why and How To Offer Health Insurance. The person needs to be an extremely good listener and an effective discussion leader asking open-ended questions, and getting a variety of people participating and involved with responses. Or at least somewhat clearly. Here are some key areas to cover during your board retreat: A facilitator is a valuable tool to take advantage of when planning a nonprofit retreat. There are several occasions when its best for you to consider outside help. To this end, the day before the all-staff event, the R-Team participated in a half-day retreat of its own. After all, thats what most nonprofits have to do! The first step in the DLP is identifying projected outcomes: what do you want learners to achieve? There are so many creative ideas. The rush and priorities of everyday business will sidetrack the intentions of almost everyone. Its the perfect time to have meaningful discussions about the future and the vision of your organization. The Importance of a Nonprofit Staff Retreat By Duke Haddad, Ed.D. Review decisions, action items and responsibilities at the end; spell out plans for follow-up.Follow-up on high priority action items; be a cheerleader, acknowledge accomplishments, push when action is not forthcoming. Staff retreats can mean all sorts of things: hours-long strategic planning sessions, reviewing annual reports and budgets, feedback sessions where staff are encouraged to ask questions of leadership but no one speaks up because everyone is in the same room. Are there things here that should take priority over some of the regular work? For example, youll want everyone to be mindful of how much theyre contributing, or ask folks to observe boundaries and good time management by addressing non-emergency communications during their break times. If thats the case, let me be blunt. Activities were separated by Pop-Ups, delightful little three-minute segments where staff members popped up and shared information about something helpful for others to know. A good agenda usually features a mixture of these kinds of activities to help keep things active for all participants and, if designed well, learning and discussions from one kind of activity can contribute greatly to another activity. This is something we dont often get to dive into during busy days. . Getting decisions made or problems solved is harder than it might initially appear. Staff of Somaly Mam Foundation. This is great! Nonprofit Board and Staff Retreat Agenda Sample (Stop Having Poor Watch the clock, stick to your agenda, and dont skimp on breaks theyre valuable tools for letting you and your team catch your breath, process learning, and take care of personal needs. Check the dictionary. There is one almost foregone conclusion about retreat follow-up: if you do not take an active role in tracking progress and reinforcing work on key action items, not much progress will occur. An outside facilitator is helpful if there are 20 or more people involved, if the retreat members include more than staff, or if it is unusual for the individuals in the group to meet together. Gallup estimates that only as little as 39 percent of Americans actually feel engaged at work and thats an increase over 2019s numbers! This sixth article in our nonprofit strategic planning blog series is about the board retreat. The facilitator must also make sure no one person is dominating the discussion, and help everyone who wants to participate get a chance to do so.To the extent that input into decisions are an important part of the retreat, you as the leader (whether or not you are also serving as the facilitator) need to be clear when decisions are to be made, and how you are using the group in the decision-making arena to advise, to vote, to reach consensus, or to provide input to you, who will then make the decisions at some later point. Begin your time together by getting everyone up and moving around the room. The first workings began around 1820. But the manager in that case needs to consider whether that kind of vision is consistent with his/her own agenda for the organization. 4. I was genuinely inspired. Turnover is really bad for the clients we serve- keeping staff engaged, trained, and appreciated is a GREAT investment for our donors. (Retreats may last anywhere from a half day to three days.) For example, doing an e-survey can give overall good broad input that can be very useful. Baseball cards? Although it is appropriate to put an emphasis on listening, if your retreat behavior is completely out of character, the staff will think something is wrong, and may view the proceedings as not being real. The difficult thing for you, of course, is to maintain a balance, and share views while encouraging participation from others. Manage expectations of the whole organization about the retreat. The agenda can be based on, or at least influenced by, the data produced through this process. Lucky for us, this retreat delivered! Consider hiring an outside facilitator who is skilled at getting the best from teams not just watching the clock. Required fields are marked *. The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning Board Retreats | Site development by Cindy Leonard Consulting. Staff Retreat Agenda portofcascadelocks.org Details File Format PDF There are no right answers here, but the decision about who does not come, what that implies, what message it sends, needs to be carefully considered. My BoD is big on follow up surveys and I want to make sure the survey is brief but helpful for future planning. If a candidate whether from outside or within the organization does not exhibit this approach when interviewed, it is perhaps best to seek other facilitators. Yes, a Blog Is a Great Idea for Any Nonprofit. If done in in a 3-4 hour session, this can serve as a fun gathering. Staff member Kim. Resources. In addition to the preparation work described above, there are six essential elements for effective retreat implementation. Planning and Implementing Retreats: A Leader's Guide You can choose casual or business casual attire and yes, jeans are okay! It was truly a wonderful experience, one that I cant wait to repeat next year. When is the last time your organization held a staff retreat? Ground rules are critical to the success of any retreat. All this while delivering a stellar end product to the constituents we serve. You can participate in a facilitator training, for example, or implement pieces of a method like Study Circle training on your own. Trip agendas have been used mostly on tours. I realized that the execution of a mission demands passion and that this passion manifests itself in strong emotions, sometimes conflict (which is why I am now a certified mediator) and yup, tears. Nonprofits typically can identify resources I am a big fan of asking a donor to lend their apartment or home for a day for an offsite so that you have a comfortable location.

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