Welcome to the BUILDing for Growth Webpage

As a part of a Ford Foundation-supported initiative called BUILDing for Growth, La Piana offered a series of resources to 63 social justice organizations over the course of 2 years. Participating nonprofits were selected from among many to participate in Learning Communities, Communities of Practice, workshops, and one-on-one consulting, all aimed at helping them manage rapid growth. Since BUILDing for Growth's conclusion, we have made the program resources below publicly available.

We've Curated Resources from our CoP's, Leaders, Consultants, and More!

Burnout and Staff Retention

Infographic: 7 Tips to Address Staff Burnout & Retention

Avoiding Burnout and Preserving Movement Leadership: Burnout is endemic to the nonprofit sector, especially in human services-centered organizations. Nonprofit executives in particular face a high risk of burning out, and this is even more true for leaders of color.

Compensation, Wellness, Culture: Three Ways Nonprofit Leaders Are Tackling Employee Turnover: As more and more employees leave their jobs, nonprofit leaders are asking themselves “how do I keep and attract employees?” Nonprofit CEOs share some steps they’re taking to weather the Great Resignation.

Creating Policies in a Growing Organization

Podcast: The Nonprofit Architect: Debbie Korge, Do you Need a Policy for Everything?

Toolkit: Nonprofit Policy

Toolkit: Decision Making Tool: RAPID

Toolkit:Addressing Accountability and Ownership of policy enforcement – Variations on clarifying roles/responsibilities in project management

Reading: State-specific Best Practices

Reading: Internal Control Policies

Reading: Policies 101 Overview

Video: BUILDing for Growth Workshop January 2022: Reduce Your HR Worries and Woes: HR Strategies & Best Practices for Growing Organizations

Video: Policy Ideas from: BUILDing for Growth Panel Discussion from October on Staff Retention

Hiring, Onboarding, and Culture

Reading: 8 Tips for Effective Employee Onboarding at Your Nonprofit

Reading: 4 Remote Onboarding Challenges and Their Solutions

Reading: Top 10 Tips for Running a Good Nonprofit Hiring Process

Reading: Culture Change in Three Not so Simple Steps

Reading: HBR: What does Your Company Really Stand For?

Toolkit: Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success

Toolkit: Nonprofit Hiring

Podcast: Why Culture Determines Your Brand

Real-Time Strategy and Proactive Change Management

Reading: There Are (Still) No Shortcuts to Any Place Worth Going

Reading: Which Comes First: New Executive or New Strategy?

Reading: Strategy Screen

Reading: Principles for Strategy Development

Reading: Power Board Diversity by Linking it with Strategy

Reading: Three Takeaways for Strategic Planning while in Financial Crisis

Toolkit: In This Environment, We All Need to Adapt

Transparency and Decision Making

Transparency

Article – Six Ways to Become a Transparent Nonprofit Leader

Article – A Comprehensive Guide to Nonprofit Transparency

Article – 8 Steps to Take for Complete Nonprofit Transparency

PDF – Centering Transparency, Accountability, and Community

Decision-Making

Article – Decision-Making Basics for These Times

Article – MOCHA Explanation Videos from The Management Center

Article – How to Use DARCI framework in project management

Article – Three Keys to Faster Better Decisions

Article – Decision-Making in Teal Organizations

Toolkit – The Hum: Resources for Decentralized Decision Making

Cultivating Effective Leadership

Article – 6 stay interview questions that top employers ask

Article – How Flexibility Made Managers Miserable

Article – ‘Reverse mentorship’: How young workers are teaching bosses

Article – 29 tips for being a horrible supervisor that everyone hates

Article – How to Build Nonprofit Talent Systems During Times of Rapid Growth

PDF – Nonprofit Leadership Development: Competency Bank

Podcast – The Office is Dying. It’s Time to Rethink How We Work.

Monthly Themes

October 2022: Burnout and Staff Retention – This month addressed the critical challenges associated with staff burnout and retention. We dug into the root causes of turnover and provided support on how to prevent and address burnout. View the October Newsletter here.

November – December 2022: Creating Policies in a Growing Organization – This month identified the tipping point of when orgs need to create more formal or standard policies and protocols, and how to balance equitable policies with the need for flexibility. View the Winter Newsletter here.

January 2023: Hiring, Onboarding, and Culture – This month discussed the changing demands on Human Resources in terms of structure and responsibilities, and also dove deep into the most effective approaches to onboarding, making space for evolving organizational culture while maintaining or enhancing cohesion. View the January Newsletter here.

February 2023: Real Time Strategy and Proactive Change Management – This month focused on maintaining strategic focus in a dynamic environment and managing constant change to achieve your (ever-evolving) goals. We also discussed how to create a change-friendly culture. View the February newsletter here.

March 2023: Transparency and Decision-making – This month will address how to increase transparency and enhance staff communication, particularly as it relates to decision-making processes. View the March newsletter here.

April 2023: Cultivating Effective Leadership – This month will address the many challenges associated with effective leadership across the journey from building pathways to development to successfully leading during times of change. View the April newsletter here.

May 2023: Futurizing Your Nonprofit – This month will address how to anticipate and proactively prepare for critical trends that will impact the future sustainability of nonprofits, including climate change, technology, political shifts, and changes in traditional funding patterns. View the May newsletter here.