Capacity

The whole is always bigger than the sum of its parts, finding your soul mates or your partners in crime, all these expressions show the vital importance of working together and building your tribe to promote and defend human dignity with positive and long-term impact. The below list of resources shall support you in hiring, training, and working with your people while building your own working culture. 

• Many organizations struggle to motivate young people to get engaged in the promotion of human rights. While recent movements of young people have shown the importance and power of the young generation to stand up and demand their rights, many refrain from becoming professionally involved due to a number of obstacles. Humanist International as published a comprehensive guide how to best integrate young people into your organization.

• Alda, the global alliance of local and regional authorities and civil society actors working together with a participative approach for resilient, inclusive and sustainable communities. It is a key stakeholder in the field of local democracy, active citizenship, and cooperation between local authorities and civil society in Europe, its Neighbourhood, and all around the World. The organization has published a step-by-step guide how to interest young people to engage in human rights and democracy. 

• The nonprofit sector is nothing if not resourceful. Programs are often run on shoestring budgets, employees are meant to wear many hats and financial constraints are ever present. Yet the sector attracts incredible talent, dedicated to the meaningful work of driving positive change in society. Three Hong Kong-based small-sized organizations leaders have come together to develop a core competency framework, a set of knowledge, skills and capabilities that help hire and guide employees, both in volunteer or paid position, to be successful within an organization.

• Various elements under human resource management define your capability to successfully promote and defend human dignity. They are therefore listed under the human resource capability section of the platform.

• Learn from your peers 

2015 was a critical year for Circuit Pointe in Nigeria because it was the year the organization started; we had our highest number of volunteers that year  (84) and lost 75% of them in the same year. Read from their experiences how they improved their volunteer management.

• Effective nonprofits recognise that their people are their greatest asset. Promoting teamwork involves creating a supportive environment where collaboration, respect, and shared responsibility flourish. Leaders should invest in professional development, encourage innovation, and recognize contributions to nurture growth and retain talent. By cultivating strong teams united by purpose and empowered to excel, nonprofits enhance operational efficiency and create a workplace culture that drives sustained success. 

• Team dynamics can make or break your organizations efforts to grow and thrive. The same holds true for organizations in the human dignity  sector, where success often depends on the  dedication of teams of volunteers, staff and supporters, while overcoming major hurdles like limited budgets or high volunteer turnover. Consider team building and collaboration as a valuable investment. Without it, your non-profit  may find it difficult to succeed and achieve your goals. Iskren Kulev has put together a detailed checklist for team collaboration:

• Developing strategies to attract, retain, and develop employees can give  an organization a significant competitive advantage. This course by Philanthropy University will  lead you through the basics of developing a human capital strategy. You will learn how to intentionally design your organization’s values and  culture, recruit and hire the right people, adapt your organizational  structure as you scale, and build effective teams: