Executives (& other employees) On Loan

A resource for corporations & other businesses

that want to make a commitment to social responsibility
by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)

Executives & Other Employees On Loan to Nonprofits

or Serving on a Nonprofit or Citizens Board

This page, and all the pages in this section of my web site, are based on my philosophy about CSR, which is quite different than the advice of other consultants.

An employee from a corporation or other for-profit business serving as an employee-on-loan to a nonprofit works part-time or full-time at a nonprofit organization for several months, possibly even a full year, usually while still drawing all or part of their salary from their corporation or business of employment.

Employees at corporations and businesses are also targeted by nonprofits to serve on their board of directors or advisory boards and by governments to serve on citizens boards, like a city's public safety commission or a county's public health advisory council.

What does this kind of volunteering involvement mean for a corporation or other business where such employees work?

Executives & Highly-Skilled Staff On Loan

Companies love the idea of executives-on-loan programs because they can channel retiring employees into such roles, paying them part of their salary but full benefits during the months they work at the nonprofit as their employment at the company winds down.

Companies also like sending senior level staff on volunteering sabbaticals, where a staff member, or even a team, undertake a longer-term project at a nonprofit or school. For instance, in 2018, it was announced that a team of Google techies would work with Goodwill, the largest workforce development nonprofit in the country, in various cities to develop a national-level data strategy to help the organization understand the effectiveness of various programs happening at the local level.

The corporations imagine the nonprofits being oh-so-grateful for that retiring head of product development or vice president of human resources or director of marketing walking through the door. Or a team of IT professionals coming in for several weeks and developing a system that will solve all of their tech problems.

But spoiler alert: nonprofits aren't always so crazy about the idea, and often say yes to the arrangement more because they are hoping for a cash grant from the corporation as well rather than because they really need that staff person or team.

The reason nonprofits are often cool at the idea is because of the approach and attitude of the corporation about the donated staff.

Let's take, for instance, an Executive On Loan, who very often:

seems to automatically assume he or she is equal in hierarchy to the Executive Director and that the rest of the staff also reports to him or her.
doesn't understand what the responsibilities are of each senior staff member at the organization and doesn't consult with that staff on how he or she would like to contribute expertise.
bristles at the idea of working with other volunteers (and make no mistake - this person is a volunteer, because this person is not being paid by the nonprofit).
comes into the organization with an agenda for action or a project without first collaborating with the organization, and without any understanding that the organization may say "No."
doesn't understand the expertise that different staff members bring to the organization - or that other staff members might be experts in any field at all. They often assume that all nonprofit staff are people who couldn't find jobs in the for-profit world, are young and inexperienced or are retired from "real jobs."
does not understand the budget and staffing restrictions of the nonprofit, and proposes action the organization cannot afford.
does not understand that all the written policies of the organization also apply to the Executive Onloan.
does not understand that he or she is NOT a board member.

Similarly, with a team of highly skilled volunteers on loan from a corporation, the reason a nonprofit isn't always crazy about the idea is because the corporate employee or head of the team:

doesn't understand what the responsibilities are of nonprofit staff.
doesn't understand the expertise that different staff members bring to the organization - or that other staff members might be experts in any field at all. They often assume that all nonprofit staff are people who couldn't find jobs in the for-profit world, are young and inexperienced or are retired from "real jobs."
doesn't consult with that staff on how to approach the project.
comes into the organization with an agenda for action or a project without collaborating with other staff, without seeing the organization as a client.
does not understand the budget and staffing restrictions of the nonprofit, and proposes action the organization cannot afford or cannot sustain after the volunteer leaves.
does not understand that all the written policies of the organization also apply to them.

The first step in placing corporate staff at a nonprofit is meeting with that agency more than once and finding out what they really need. What are the goals of that agency for the next 12 months, what staff do they already have and what could your employees on loan do to support staff in their work and to meet those goals? What measurable results could your employees aim for? Ask these tough questions and be ready to have a nonprofit turn down your offer.

If the executive or other employee is going to work onsite at the nonprofit, that person should

Go through the new employee and new volunteer orientation at the organization
Should be fully briefed on the organization's policies and procedures, and know what the grounds for dismissal are (and that they apply to him or her as well)
Know exactly to whom he or she will report at the nonprofit
Have a written role description, just as a paid consultant would
Agree to a mid-term and end-of-service performance review, one that will be shared with that person's employer
Understand and respect the organization's rules regarding confidentiality, and that violating such could be grounds for dismissal
Understand at what moments, under what circumstances, he or she reports to the nonprofit versus when to report to the original employer

If your company wants to loan a staff member to a nonprofit full-time for several months to a nonprofit, here are some ways to make that arrangement beneficial to the nonprofit:

Talk to the nonprofit and ask them what their biggest challenges are regarding human resources, accounting, IT, customer service, client services, facilities management, fundraising, and other specific areas of work. Work together on how an Executive On Loan or team of experts could specifically address one of those areas for a specific set of time.
Put the job description in writing and include to whom the Executive On Loan or expert will report to, what his or her goals will be at the organization and how these will be measured and reported, and any obligations the person will have relating to policies, meeting attendance, reporting, etc.
Have the person meet with each senior staff person to listen to what each of these managers and directors does. Emphasize that the Executive On Loan or other employee expert needs to listen first; at a later meeting, he or she can offer ideas on how to contribute to the goals of different senior staff members.
Fully brief the corporate volunteers regarding budgets and streams of revenue.
Have a frank talk with the employee about the hierarchy of the nonprofit, the expertise of staff, how decisions are made, and how to seek permission for action at the nonprofit.
Have a frank talk with the nonprofit at the end of the term of the Executive On Loan or team of volunteers about performance and expectations and look for ways to improve next time if another employee is offered.

Will the nonprofit be allowed to submit a funding proposal to your company? In-kind donations and volunteering are terrific - but in the end, nonprofits need cash to pay their employees, pay rent and/or utilities, pay for equipment upkeep, pay for services associated with their web site and more. Be upfront with the nonprofit if you aren't going to allow funding while the employee is on loan.

Board Service

Employees at corporations and businesses are often targeted by nonprofits to serve on their board of directors or advisory boards and by governments to serve on citizens boards, like a city's public safety commission or a county's public health advisory council. In fact, many programs reserve a certain number of seats specifically for representatives from the corporate sector or a particular business sector.

A board of directors at a nonprofit is far different from advisory board membership. A board of directors can be thought of as the owners of a nonprofit. The Executive Director reports to this board, and the board has hiring and firing power over that person. Expenditures of a certain size and certain program launches, expansions or elimination must be approved by the board. The board is also expected to fundraise on behalf of the nonprofit, either providing an annual gift themselves, of a certain size, or raising a certain amount. By contrast, an advisory board has no governance authority: they are volunteers who advise, and their advice can be accepted or rejected by whatever staff member at a nonprofit they are advising.

There are also citizens boards affiliated with government entities. Every city and county has different citizens boards made up of various volunteers. These include a city's public safety commission, a city's planning commission, a county's public health advisory council or a county arts organization.

When an employee of your corporation or business is serving on such a board:

What obligations does an employee have to your company and what obligations does that person have to the board? Get this clear, both with the employee and with the other members of the board!
If your company provides funding to the organization as a donor, it's inappropriate to demand a seat on the board, because then you are getting something for the money you are giving the nonprofit - you are paying for that seat - and that means your donation may not be seen by the IRS as a tax deductible charitable contribution anymore, because it is conditioned on receiving something of value in return.
All of these board entities have bylaws, and these bylaws include information on conflicts of interest. You need to review these carefully and understand the rules they carefully lay out. If your employee cannot adhere to these bylaws, he or she should pass up board membership.
Board members must be fully briefed regarding budgets and streams of revenue of the nonprofit or government agencies they are advising.
No organization should be punished if they have to dismiss your employee as a board member (by withholding funding, by refusing funding proposals, etc.)
Employees should not be asked by their employer to be on a board that they don't feel some personal commitment or interest in - the other board members, all volunteers, will know if someone has been required by an employer to serve on a board and doesn't have any real interest in it beyond that.
Employees need to take deliberate action to understand the culture of the nonprofit and the community it serves, or the issues and community being served by a citizens board. Board members with no understanding of the issue a nonprofit or a citizens board is addressing may say or do things that are inappropriate, even alienating. For instance, pushing for "double-digit growth" could have substantial negative implications for a program's capacity to fulfill its mission and serve clients. I heard a board member from the corporate sector at a public health commission meeting talk about young, impoverished mothers in a maternal health program referred to as "people who had made mistakes and were now dealing with the consequences" - and the entire room cringed (I found out later that this wasn't the first time this person had said something the rest of the room found offensive in terms of clients and community served; imagine what these folks think of the company this person works for!).
Board members, in their day jobs, often earn substantially more than the employees of a nonprofit they are overseeing, including the executive director - they need to remember the financial limitations of staff and, if they want to change that, they need to raise more money.

Also see: May a funder ask for a seat on the board from a web site that is not mine and board roles and responsibilities from the National Councils of Nonprofits.

Coming soon

Employees volunteering abroad

Some corporations cover the costs of employees going abroad to work on short-term assignments. I will have a page of advice on this later in 2019.

Return to my index of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) resources & advice for ethics, strategies & operations.

I'm Jayne Cravens. I'm a consultant regarding communications and community engagement, primarily for nonprofits, NGOs and other mission-based organizations. I have many years of experience working with corporations, governments, foundations and other donors, and for two years, I ran a corporate philanthropy program at a Fortune 500 company. I created these corporate social responsibility (CSR) pages on my web site out of frustration of the continuing disconnect between what mission-based organizations, including schools, are trying to accomplish and what corporations and other businesses want to fund and volunteer for. Most advice for CSR comes from people in the for-profit world who have never worked for a nonprofit, charity, public school, etc., and often has a paternal approach to working with mission-based organizations. My approach is different: I am urging the business world to be partners, not dictators, when it comes to the third sector.

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