Planning for Sustainability: Tapping into Existing Personnel Resources
Learn why and when you might want to take advantage of personnel resources, where such people might be found, and how to go about it.
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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY AVAILABLE PERSONNEL RESOURCES?
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WHY TAP INTO AVAILABLE PERSONNEL RESOURCES?
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WHEN SHOULD YOU TAP AVAILABLE PERSONNEL RESOURCES?
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WHERE DO YOU FIND AVAILABLE PERSONNEL RESOURCES?
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HOW DO YOU TAP INTO AVAILABLE PERSONNEL RESOURCES?
The Public Arts Forum was finally getting to the point where its board felt that the organization could stand on its own two feet. There were enough subscribers and contributors to the performance series to keep the artists coming (and paid), and the building renovation program seemed to be doing well.
The administration was a different story, however. The part-time Executive Director was overworked, and all the financial work was the province of the Treasurer, a volunteer board member with a full-time job. As a result, there were drawers full of files that no one had gone through in years, contracts got buried or accidentally thrown away, and most of the financial records of the organization existed only on random sheets of paper or on post-it-notes that might or might not make it into a file folder.
The organization clearly needed organization, but it wasn't easy to see where it would come from. Then the Director got a call from the local university. An undergraduate business program was looking for internships for its students, many of whom were majoring in nonprofit management. Would the Arts Forum be interested?
The Arts Forum was definitely interested. It was able to arrange for two interns, one of whom assumed the task of straightening out the financial records and creating systems to make sure they stayed straightened out. The other worked with the Director to clean out old files, organize and refile what needed to be kept, and take care of much of the business that had been buried in the clutter. In return, the interns gained valuable experience and confidence from working with real-world problems, exposure to all the aspects of running a non-profit organization, and the Arts Forum's undying gratitude.
Sometimes, organizations have needs that can't be met from within. These may be long- or short-term, general or specific. The solution may be to look outside the organization for people who can fill those needs without the organization having to hire them. This section will discuss why and when you might want to take advantage of these services, where such people might be found, and how to go about it.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY AVAILABLE PERSONNEL RESOURCES?
Available personnel resources are people who are already doing, or could do, the job you want doing, but who don't work for your organization or initiative. They might come from any number of sources - other organizations or institutions, government, the community, schools - wherever people do or are interested in, the kind of work you're looking for.
The issue behind the use of available personnel resources is usually money. This chapter, after all, is about sustaining your efforts, and that often comes down to money - to buy materials, to pay rent and utilities, and, most expensive, to pay people to do the work. If you can find interns, for instance, as the Arts Forum in the example did, to do something your organization needs, but doesn't have the financial or other resources for, that's a huge help.
Money isn't always the issue, however. The personnel in question might not work for your organization at all, but simply deliver a service your participants need or do something else as part of their regular jobs that help to further your organization's mission. In that case, it makes sense to use what already exists, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.
The need for this kind of "borrowing" can vary tremendously. It could involve a time-limited, very specific task (creating a database of program participants past and present, for instance), or a longer-term programming need (employment counseling in a shelter for battered women). Someone from another organization might come in once a week to offer services to participants in your program, or you might find yourself with a full-time staff member who's paid by someone else. You might need people just to respond to an emergency - a mailing to protest a pending decision that could be disastrous for environmental quality in the community, perhaps. Any of these situations, if the conditions are right and you've laid the groundwork, might be addressed through the use of personnel outside your organization.
WHY TAP INTO AVAILABLE PERSONNEL RESOURCES?
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