Incompetent boss is ruining the program I built
MagickalNarwhal
member
I worked at a non profit for about 3 years before leving in July to stay home with my son. I still work a a few hours a month for them on special projects. While I was there I built up a program into a really successful, fundable, thriving program. I worked really hard and it meant a lot to me to do it - I even came back to work PT 2 days after we brought home my son because it was the busy season.
My boss was/is totally incompetent. He takes incompetence to a new level, actually, and actively PREVENTS progress. Everyone knows it. He's leaving in May to move to another city.
I'm not going into all the details because they probably aren't needed, but basically my boss had screwed things up SO badly that it will be 100% IMPOSSIBLE to fulfill our grant requirements. If we are REALLY lucky we might get to 50%. This is FEDERAL funding that we are talking about, in addition to some private and some from other non-profit foundations.
I have brought up my concerns to my boss repeatedly, offering to assist up to 10 hours a week, since October when it because clear to me how dire things were. When I got shut down, I brought it up with the department director, who said that he knew my boss was dropping lots of balls, but perhaps didn't know how bad it was. He too has now dropped the ball.
I'm having a hard time knowing what to do. On the one hand, I want to cut all ties and NOT have my name associated with this project at all. But since I built it from scratch, and a lot of that was relationship building, and my work has not been forthcoming about transition planning with our funders, I feel like I'm tied to it anyway.
Also, on a personal level this program means SO much to me. It's a huge community service effort that has a direct impact on the people we serve (550 last year I ran the program). So it's also hard for me to walk away and know that those people aren't going to get service or if they do, it will be very very sub-par.
Maybe I just needed to type it out, but I'd love to hear some other perspectives on this. HELP!
Re: Incompetent boss is ruining the program I built
That really sucks :-( Could you put together a list of what needs to be done to get the 50% funding (and if possible to get back to 100% next year) and have a meeting with your boss and director to spell out what the consequences are and what needs to be done (and by when) to get things back on track. I would make it as specific as possible with timelines attached. You could bring up during the meeting that you're willing to help additional hours. Would it be possible to get interns or temps to help out as well if you helped oversee their work?
As far as having your name tied to it- could you reach out to the people that you've developed relationships with and explain that while you've been out of the office some balls have been dropped and you want to work with them to get the program back on track? I'd be very professional and don't throw anyone under the bus, but if they can see that things were going well while you were working on it and not so well when you left, I don't think they'll attribute thr problems to you- they'll probably be impressed that you're stepping in and going the extra mile to help get things back on track.
The people you're helping are lucky to have someone so dedicated going to bat for them the way you are!