Last month I found myself in New Orleans. For about 20 hours.

It was just enough time to roam the infamous French Quarter, kick around Bourbon Street, take a historical walking tour and head out to the next city.

I’d never experienced New Orleans, Louisiana (or NOLA as the locals call it), but I thought I knew it well. After all, every February I got to hear all about Mardi Gras.

I got the full, media-saturated story on Katrina as the events themselves unfolded. I’d even watched Emeril cooking with his special spices plenty of times.

I thought I knew what to expect…
…people who had been down on their luck, who held on tight to everything, were slow to trust.

Turns out, I was wrong. About all of it. In less than one day, I realized that NOLA was filled with not just a unique group of people, but a treasure trove of lessons. I present three of them to you now.

Lesson #1: NOLA does not whine

The people of New Orleans have had some tough times. They’ve seen poverty and tragedy in their city, experienced natural disasters and man-made neglect. I expected it to have taken its toll. I expected people to talk about how they were wronged, how horrible their situations have been. I admit it—I even provoked a bit. I asked my tour guide, a NOLA native, about Katrina. He shrugged, and without any tone in his voice or any tension in his fists he said, "yeah, it was tough…really…

(Since this is Research Friday, I’ll point out that he summarizes years of research studies in support of this phenomenon.)2

You probably knew this. After all, this is the nonprofit world, where…

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit scholar or practitioner to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice. We welcome your comments and feedback.

Many volunteer managers cite recruitment as their greatest challenge; however, Brudney and Meijs (2009) contend that “the preoccupation with recruitment distracts attention and resources from the management and retention of volunteers” (p. 568). If their argument holds, of increasing importance is the need for volunteer managers to identify and cultivate volunteer sources that have potential for growth and replenishment. One such source, which is intensely under-cultivated, lies in the for-profit sector: the corporate volunteer.

Orchestrated effectively, a corporate volunteer program has the potential to render benefits not only to the nonprofit, but to the corporation as well. The hours of unpaid labor afforded by such programs is the obvious contribution to the nonprofit organization. Often overlooked, however, are the many benefits that can be provided to the corporation. A Walker research survey confirmed that a company’s perceived community involvement affects consumers’ spending habits, concluding that “47 percent of the consumers surveyed would be more likely to buy from a ‘good’ company, if quality, price and service were equal… 70…

Providing formal training to staff and volunteers has obvious benefits for an organization, individual staff members and volunteers. For the organization, it is a means of ensuring staff and volunteers are knowledgeable, making them exceptional ambassadors for the organization in and outside of work.

In addition, training is an essential part of risk management – failing to properly train individuals, providing services to clients, or even representing the organization to the public can have serious consequences. For staff members and volunteers, training is a means of professional development many are eager to receive. In addition to it being an essential part of effective volunteer management, many volunteers find personal value in the training provided to them by organizations about which they care deeply.

Regardless of whether or not your organization has a formal training program, there are things nonprofit leaders can do to ensure staff and volunteers are appropriately oriented to the organization and able to continue to learn and develop professionally.

Before committing to a training plan:

• Be strategic – have an understanding of what staff and volunteers need to know and when they need to know it. Providing training is an investment, so be sure to develop a way to measure whether your…

Very recently I made a bit of a mistake and by bit I mean that I made a speaking gaffe in front of a crowd of 100 plus people while representing an organization at arguably their biggest event to date. Luckily it hasn’t appeared to do any real damage, but still is something I need to learn from. This is an event that most young and even experienced professionals have to deal with at some point. So here is what I have picked up from my all too regular experience in this area.

I find that the first step in overcoming a mistake is to own it. My first reaction and the wrong one, was to down play it. While this is natural, it does you no good and makes you appear more unprofessional then the original event. So don’t make excuse or point fingers compounding the mistake. Even if others contributed to the mistake you can’t control their behaviors, you can only affect your own. Most professionals will be willing to give you a second chance, but not if you can’t admit it.

My second reaction, being overly critical of myself was just as useless. Luckily, I have learned to go through this phase quickly learning to funnel that energy into something useful, but in years past I often got stuck. Guilt can be a good wake up call, but it also can prevent you from making amends and lead to further mistakes due to a lack of focus. A couple realizations have helped me to move on from this reaction. First, mistakes happen and very few are so bad you can’t recover. I…