A Guest Post by Tony Poderis In my opinion, there are limits (compared to the business sector) for nonprofit organizations regarding the building of their markets, the percent return on activities, investment for the future, general operational efficiencies, and some business practices and tools. There are things nonprofit organizations simply cannot do, which are second […]
The whole gamut of board issues is covered from “A Blue Ribbon Nominating Committee for your Board” by Jan Masaoka to “Act Your Age: Organizational Life Cycles and How They Impact Your Board” by Mike Burns to “Don’t Just Whack“Em and Plaque“Em” with an excellent example for an exit interview of Board members by Carol Weisman.
Boards – In the last few years there has been a great deal of progress with governance – even for small organizations. Board members are taking this responsibility much more seriously and this is good news. Now what is also happening is that Boards are beginning to wake up to their responsibility for financial management and fundraising. They are connecting the dots…if you approve a budget you also need to ensure that the revenue is there to support that budget. And Behold! That often requires fundraising.
“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson This post is part 2 in a series of posts dedicated to the committed stakeholders I’ve worked with over the past year, who continue to inspire me to follow […]
A common situation in small organizations is this: the finance department consists of a bookkeeper, the executive director’s background is as a program manager and there are no accountants on the Board. Many of these organizations are continually at the edge of a fiscal cliff and deal with ongoing crisis with staff cutbacks or skimping in other ways that actually hurt the organization. Even small nonprofits need to have a sound financial strategy.
Some action steps should include:
“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson This post is dedicated to the committed stakeholders I’ve worked with over the past year, who continue to inspire me to follow their example of helping others. The season […]
This question has nagged me for a while. It emerged to the forefront as I recently considered the most efficient way to carry out my responsibilities, spurred on by the 20-80 rule: 80% of our outcomes come from 20% of our efforts. So how do you evaluate on a budget? Should you do-it-yourself (DIY) or outsource? […]
Tip #3: Use trained interviewers who are able to build rapport Effective interviewing is both an art and a science and takes training and lots of practice! As I mentioned in my previous post, interviewers need to think quickly on their feet. This is important because they need to “go with the flow” so it […]
Interviews are a way to collect useful data for program evaluation. They provide qualitative data, which is more text-based–for example: quotes, stories, descriptions– versus the quantitative or numbers-based data that written surveys (also known as questionnaires) provide. I recently interviewed people for a program evaluation and gained a new and fresh appreciation for the following […]
This is part 2 of a previous post on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) evaluation model. The goal of these posts is not to give an exhaustive description of this model but to whet your appetite for further study, to refer you to other sources and to share with you some related […]
Marion is a popular facilitator of workshops and Board retreats. Her expertise includes strategic planning, board development, governance and harnessing the power of technology. [Read more ...]
Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, provides organizational development, consultant training and Action Learning services, and is developer of the Free Management Library. [Read more ...]
