WHY I STARTED RPNC

 

In 2013, I established the Central Arkansas chapter of Sheep Dog Impact Assistance (SDIA) and soon realized that leading volunteers was a lot like herding cats in a hurricane – I was the epitome of the Unconscious Incompetent. (I didn't know what it was the I didn't know.) I considered myself to have average intelligence, but I found leading a nonprofit was a whole different animal than anything I'd done before, one that my military and business experience hadn't fully prepared me for. So for the first couple years I just tried to figure it out. Lots of Google sessions late into the night, trying to determine how to make it work. The effort and enthusiasm that I had in abundance at the beginning slowly began to erode. After four years, I was completely burned out. I found a replacement and went away to rest and recover. After a year and a half the position became available again. My wife knew that I was going to return to the fight, and she knew that if I repeated my mistake of trying to do it all myself, I would flame out again. She made one request; If I were to return, I had to gather a team around me. So, being of average intelligence, I saluted and did what I was told. I pulled together great people that I'd worked with over the years and developed the leadership positions needed to lead the chapter. The job became easier because I spread the load. The challenges were the same, I just wasn’t alone in the struggle.

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Later, as SDIA’s National Director of Continued Service and Disaster Response, I managed chapter leaders across the country who were working to complete the mission locally and no matter the region or market, those same challenges came up:

• How do we accomplish the mission and do "Good Work"?

• How do we get the word out so we can find clients and supporters?

• How do we find a way to pay for it?

While these three key tasks were simple to define, they are difficult to accomplish.

 

As I tried to get my arms around it, I always came back to the same four skill sets needed:

   1. Nonprofits must work together; leaders cannot have the mindset that they must do it alone. When cohesive leadership teams works alongside of other mission-aligned organizations, they multiply their impact, strengthen their infrastructure, and serve more people—more effectively.

   2. You must run it as a business. And nonprofit or not, if you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your business. Effective management takes experience, knowledge, and sound judgement to navigate through the difficulties. You must be professional in your approach and run it as a business.

   3. People want to be part of something real. They want to support meaningful work and get their hands dirty. If your mission isn’t helping people, you’re wasting everyone’s time.

   4. You must take care of yourself. You can’t lead well if your life isn’t in balance—and you can’t expect your team to operate effectively either.

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I believe RPNC can be a solution to meet these challenges and will be a statewide force-multiplier, built to support existing organizations doing great work, train up the next generation of leaders to step up, and tear down the silos separating good people who work hard to help others.

I’m proud to start this initiative in my home state. Arkansas has a proud tradition of neighbor helping neighbors. When a need arises, we don’t wait for help to arrive, we rally together to meet the challenge head-on. RPNC is built to carry that spirit forward.

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So whether you’re a volunteer looking to get into the fight, a nonprofit leader who wants to be more effective in your mission or someone who wants to provide support toward the effort, now is the time. 

 

Join us.

 

Jeff Watts

Founder and Executive Director

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