Blog Archives

One of the greatest casualties among non-profits is the burned-out CEO. Being the head of a nonprofit has always been a challenging job. The long hours, inadequate resources, and sometimes uncooperative or negative Board members can all take their toll on a person. Still, most people make nonprofits their careers because they know [...]

Can you imagine trying to start a new non-profit during a Recession?
In recent months, I have been fortunate to be engaged by a number of new nonprofits who have just received their 501(C) 3 certification and want to get their new creation off to a good start.
In these difficult financial times, when many established nonprofits [...]

Why do people give up their precious leisure time and their accumulated wealth to become engaged in philanthropic endeavors?
There is a ton of literature on the subject, but I have a very practical and ground-floor view, which I would like to share.
1. To do what we can to make this a better world.
Whether it’s [...]

In our rush to become efficient, are we paying too little attention to the glue that holds our voluntary organizations together?
These days, Much attention is focused on how nonprofits can become more efficient by being more business-like in their operations. I believe that there is a lot to be learned from successful businesses. Why [...]

“Why are we in need of committees? Our Board members have enough to do without going to extra meetings.”
That’s a common complaint I hear while consulting various clients. The answer is simple, committees are the work horses of the board.
Committees are where the board finds solutions to problems and challenges that represent [...]

“It’s that time again to plan this month’s board meeting agenda.”

If you are an Executive Director, you know that this task comes up at least once a month.
What happens?
We usually pull out last month’s agenda, see what is needed to be added or deleted, and send it out. Some ED’s don’t change anything, not [...]

How can we turn our successful business board members into nonprofit leaders?

We must recognize:
• People bring their business and life experiences to a new culture (nonprofit) where everyone is participating on a voluntary basis. While most volunteers are very committed to the agency’s cause, people are busy with work and their personal life and often put [...]

Why do we need volunteers in a nonprofit?
The whole nonprofit field was built on volunteerism. Almost every nonprofit began with a group of volunteers sitting around a table trying to find ways to solve a community problem. As our agencies have grown and become more complicated, we needed to hire staff, and we have professionalized [...]

How do you assure that your board is fulfilling its legal and operational responsibilities while at the same time keeping your board meetings interesting?
Conducting interesting board meetings is a must if you are going to attract and maintain top-level leadership for your agency. I have written that Board meetings must include at least three [...]

HOW TO UTILIZE A CONSENT AGENDA

In the last blog I introduced the concept of a Consent Agenda. This blog will deal with how to utilize it and how to introduce the idea to the board.
How does it work?
1. Committee chairs are told they have to write reports to the board and have them [...]