| Our focus is simple - making the sector stronger and more effective.
Olive Grove Consulting provides consulting services including strategy, governance, and leadership coaching.
DHR Nonprofit provides executive search for CEOs, Executive Directors, VPs and other senior leaders in the sector. |
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Strategy Shorts:
Tell me what you don't do
Nonprofits spend a lot of time developing the perfect "elevator pitch" (what you would say to someone about the organization in the time it takes to ride an elevator). What do we do? Whom do we serve? What makes us unique? Why should you support us? These pitches are crafted by development directors and marketing committees, and duly rehearsed by boards and staff.
I am a firm believer in the elevator pitch. In this age of a strained economy, shrinking government funding, lower foundation portfolio returns, a meteoric increase in the number of nonprofits . . . not to mention our increasingly truncated attention spans . . . a compelling and authentic pitch can grab someone's attention enough to check out your website and set you apart from (dare I say it?) your competition.
What you do, however, is really only half the story. In some ways the more compelling question, at least for internal strategic conversations, is "what do we not do?" Framing a discussion this way forces an organization to examine whether it is truly strategic and focused, or whether it tends to say yes to every need (and every possible funding opportunity).
Try out this quick exercise at your next board or staff meeting. The hypothetical is that a foundation funder approaches your organization at the end of the year and says they have some extra funds (don't laugh - this has happened to at least two of my clients recently). The funder proposes a new or expanded program. What questions would you debate to determine whether to pursue the funding? What decision "filters" do you use? Is everyone clear how the mission, strategy, values, and business plan would help inform the decision?
Next time you are in the elevator with a potential donor you probably won't focus too much on what you are not doing as an organization. But if you are clear internally on what you don't do and why, you can more compellingly articulate what makes your organization focused, strategic, and truly unique.
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What Would We Do Without . . .
Every now and then we find a vendor we love and want to share our good fortune. BPIA is the insurance broker for Olive Grove Consulting as well as a number of our clients. Full disclosure: we have no other business or referral relationship with BPIA - we just think they are great!
BPIA (Business Professional Insurance Agency)
BPIA is a local agency focusing on nonprofit organizations. With tight budgets and limited funding, BPIA works with organizations to reduce their premiums and find creative solutions to insurance needs. BPIA is a one stop shop for benefits and business insurance policies. Please contact Debbie Upland, CEO, dupland@bpia.net, 650-314-4484, x107, or Virginia Fontana, COO, vfontana@bpia.net, 650-314-4484, x109. | |
Mercedes Paz Joins DHR Nonprofit Practice
DHR International is pleased to announce that Mercedes Paz joins as Executive Vice President in the firm's Los Angeles office. She is a member of DHR's Nonprofit Practice.
Prior to joining DHR, Ms. Paz was a partner in a boutique-style executive search firm in Los Angeles, with a practice devoted almost exclusively to serving the non-profit sector. She has extensive executive management experience in the public and private sectors, having consulted and advised high-level decision-makers on issues related to the arts and humanities, government and politics, international relations, leadership development and career management.
Ms Paz is a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001. In this capacity, among other high level assignments, she was Chief of the US Delegation at the First Inter-American Summit of Ministers of Culture and Highest Appropriate Authorities, held in Colombia in 2002 under the auspices of the Organization of American States. She again represented the administration at a UNESCO sponsored conference on the International Creative Sector, held in Austin, Texas in 2003. She was one of the lead organizers of the very successful conference on the Global Perception of US Popular Culture through Film, Television and Digital Media, held in Los Angeles in May 2006. In June of 2007, she was part of the delegation of high level U.S. Cultural Officials invited to the People's Republic of China to discuss collaborations and exchanges between our two nations, which culminated with the signing of an Implementing Accord for Cultural Exchange and specific proposals for joint cultural projects, to begin immediately.
Ms. Paz is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Culver City Cultural Affairs Foundation and serves on the VIP Jury for FYI/Film Your Issue. She is a member of the Business Advisory Board of the Young Musicians Foundation. She has served on arts grants panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as for the City of Culver City. She is a former trustee of the California Health Professions Education Foundation, Freedom from Hunger and Los Rios Community College Foundation, and has served on numerous boards of directors of arts organizations in Sacramento, California.
From 1994 to 2000, Ms. Paz was Deputy Director for Partnerships and Interim Director of the California Arts Council. Previously, she served as Deputy Director for Legislative Affairs of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing; and Director of Business Activities and Special Projects of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
Ms. Paz holds an undergraduate degree in Social Sciences from the Universidad Mayor Gabriel Rene Moreno in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and has completed graduate coursework at California State University, Sacramento, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Institute for International Studies and Training in Fujinomiya, Japan. She is a graduate of the National Hispana Leadership Institute in Washington, DC. |
| Want to learn more about how we can make you and your organization stronger, more productive, and more sustainable?
For Consulting: For Executive Search:
Emily Hall Emily Hall
President Executive Vice President
Olive Grove Consulting, LLC DHR's Nonprofit Practice
650-212-4155 650-593-7700, ext. 308 | |
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