Boards of Directors are essential. They are required by law to ensure that the public good is furthered. They should also be a vital resource access not just to funds but also to community connections and expertise. Unfortunately, too many boards are ineffective and seem to the staff and to themselves to be of questionable value.… Read the rest
Strategic Planning has always been a key leadership tool in the development of successful for-profit organizations. Its format and time scope may vary, but it serves as an important function in business success. It has helped many businesses focus their priorities on future growth and profitability.
What about non-profit charitable organizations? Although their objectives are not to generate a profit or provide its stockholders with a dividend, they must look into the future to increase its service to the communities it serves and find the necessary funding to support those services. Their ultimate success may not be defined as business success, but is measured in the effectiveness of their humanitarian service. Stripped of profitability goals and materialistic rewards, these organizations face enormous challenges in focusing their efforts and motivating those involved.… Read the rest
Nonprofit boards of directors can either be a great asset to an organization or of little value. They are required by law to ensure that the public good is furthered. They can be viewed by the staff as being important to the organization or a nuisance. Let’s consider three areas of concern. Who should be on a board? What should the board and its member do? What should be the on-boarding process for new members?… Read the rest
In Traction-Get a Grip on Your Business, Gino Wickman provides insights for success in entrepreneurial for-profit businesses; but with some modification, many of his concepts need to be considered by nonprofits. Whether the organization is cause-based, membership-based or a foundation, these concepts can be applied to insure success.
Let’s consider the six key areas described in Traction and how they apply to nonprofit organizations. They are: vision, people, data, issues, process and traction.… Read the rest
Hank Rosso tells us, Fund Raising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving. The real question is once that joy is recognized, how can that joy be channeled into a gift for your cause. We live in a very generous society. Some people can make major donations to support a cause, but many, with minimal means, will also provide support. During the holiday season we are inundated by requests from many worthwhile causes. Which one should someone chose and why?… Read the rest
In his book, Traction-Getting a Grip on Your Business, Gino Wickman tells a story which needs to be consider by both businesses and nonprofits. Picture a small plane flying across the Atlantic Ocean. Halfway across the captain announces.” I’ve got bad news and I’ve got good news. The bad news is that the gauges aren’t working. We are hopelessly lost. I have no idea how fast we are flying or in what direction and I don’t know how much fuel we have left. The good news is that we’re making great time. Management meetings often center on solving the crisis of the day or celebrating the lasts success, but metrics, the airplane’s gauges, are not often reviewed.… Read the rest
It is a very rare association or non-profit who has not developed and written a Strategic Plan. If they have not, they should. It is also not unusual that, after a relatively short period of time, the work put into creating that plan is forgotten and results expected are not achieved. At the core of the Strategic Plan is the Vision for the organization. Let’s consider ways to move the organization towards that Vision and overcome some of the obstacles along the way.
Running a non-profit and want to understand what successful organizational people have in common? What kind of life, and organization, do you want to run? This is the kind of goal many people have in mind when they begin to forge ahead with their business ideas. The truth is that successful people have 9 characteristics in common. We all have the potential for greatness if we can train ourselves to keep these in mind as we go about our business day.… Read the rest
In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins states, “The first thing is to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus.” He, of course, is referring to the bus as being the company or organization. In our practice, we have worked with both for-profit and non-profit organizations. In the for-profit world the people are employees, while in the non-profit world many of those people are volunteers. Strategic from 2013 have shown that 80% of the non-profit workforce are volunteers, total of 62.6 million. Leaders in non-profit organizations should recognize this important work force and learn how to best recruit, motivate and retain them. They need to appreciate why people volunteer, how to get them on-board and how to retain them.… Read the rest