We Can All Gain From Commitments to Nonprofit Institutions : The spirit of giving that made the county’s small businesses thrive can do the same for compassionate service.

Now is the season we count our blessings. Can we imagine opening the golden heart that has earned Orange County its position as a world capital of small business to make the county a global beacon of compassionate service? The strong heartbeat of service can help recharge the county’s sluggish economy and lead our community to a new surge of general prosperity in the latter half of the ‘90s. This is the vision that is emerging out of discussions at the recent Chapman “Nonprofit Summit” that drew more than 300 community leaders to the inaugural event of the university’s new Center for Nonprofit Leadership.

As civic leader Jack Lindquist pointed out in his keynote address: “It is the municipal government that is in bankruptcy, not the Orange County economy or the Orange County conscience.” But you wouldn’t know this from national and global headlines that have disparaged the county and tarnished its image around the world.

Pressures on nonprofit organizations everywhere have been building for years, in tandem with the decline of government capability and a rise in community needs. In Orange County, the bankruptcy has made a challenging situation far more complex. In fact, a best estimate of the potential financial loss to county nonprofits alone is in the $200-million range.

The magnitude of this potentially disastrous situation for our county’s charities and other nonprofit organizations may be far greater than previously realized, even as it has been vividly characterized in the recent series of articles in The Times. The impact is far broader. Conservative calculations for Orange County alone estimate that there are at least 7,000 nongovernmental voluntary organizations with more than 70,000 employees, bolstered by some 700,000 volunteers, operating on an annual investment of $5 billion in operating funds.

Most Orange County residents are touched in countless ways by these organizations. Through houses of worship, social services, health care, education, the arts, civic advocacy, business and professional associations, service clubs and foundations, nonprofit organizations fill many gaps of community need that business and government do not reach. The bankruptcy has not changed this essential mission of compassion. Instead, it challenges visionary nonprofit leaders to rethink their strategies.

Now Orange Countians need more than ever to search their hearts and seek out their friends to help serve their neighbors in need. We have the capacity. Will we shift the golden heartbeat of our well-known customer commitment to the cause of community as well?

Contrary to conventional wisdom, successful fund-raising drives and answered grant requests, important as they are, are not the prime determinants of longevity and success for nonprofits. First and foremost, nonprofit organizations must revitalize their primary commitment to volunteerism, which is the distinguishing feature of all 1.5 million volunteer-led organizations serving America outside the arenas of business and government. One of every two adults in America volunteers some time every week to a nonprofit organization, usually a church or other charity. But a recent survey of U.S. metropolitan areas indicates that Orange County and the rest of Southern California are laggards. There are too few volunteers and donors. Many of them are burned out. Will they be able and willing to recruit their successors?

Both recruitment and development of new volunteers need to be significantly increased. More advanced professional training of nonprofit executives, who help recruit and serve with volunteers, is greatly needed. Whatever purpose they are serving, volunteers need to know that their efforts help others achieve a better life. In fact, they need to feel the fire of compassion so strongly that they are impelled to assist others convert inabilities to capabilities. Such transforming compassion can literally be a life-changing gift to the fortunate recipients.

Clearly, tax-subsidized government is not in a position to step in as it once did. Only concerned citizens can do that if they are mobilized and act together voluntarily.

To committed volunteers, demonstrable need is tantamount to “show time.” Their leaders then need to approve strategic plans that integrate team effort into all parts of the organization. These must clear four critical bases of any voluntary organization: program delivery, client services, financial management and fund development. Just as the economy experiences periodic business cycles, so too do organizations. Each cycle has its own set of distinct priorities. In nonprofit leadership, these cycles can best be managed as strategic campaigns, each with its own mission and objectives.

In each cycle, nonprofit leaders must address strategic issues anew. Should we grow or shrink? Should we diversify or consolidate services? Should we raise or lower fees? Should we seek more gifts or settle for less? Should we plan for strategic alliances by acquisition or by partnership? Responses need to be shaped by uncompromising vision and a strong ethic of volunteerism.

While others debate the many issues raised by the county’s financial crisis, nonprofit executives and volunteers must decide and deliver. The sick, the illiterate, the hungry and others less fortunate cannot wait. Their needs and the nonprofit sector’s duty are immediate.

We don’t need a $200-million, quick fix fund-raising campaign to bail us out. It won’t work. We do need a long-term friend-making campaign to buoy us with the equivalent of far more than $200 million in the time, talent and treasure of Orange Countians who are driven by the golden heartbeat of proven success. As we join in this season of joyous celebration, we should consider how our golden hearts, world renowned for customer service, may become a global beacon of community compassion.