You find an abundance of advice for nonprofit boards and executive directors about the advantages of "partnership" and "open communications." But sometimes that advice just isn’t enough.
Who's the boss? The board or executive director/CEO? The answer: It depends on whether the board is acting as a body, or whether board members are acting as individuals. The key is remembering that the board is different from board members.
Research suggests that a skilled interim executive director (ED) helps nonprofits to emerge stronger, more fiscally sound, and with higher levels of optimism. Learn how an interim ED can lay the groundwork for the next leader's success.
© North Carolina Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Inc. From Common Ground, a publication of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits, www.ncnonprofits.org.
Financial shortfalls and other circumstances sometimes force nonprofits to dissolve, file for bankruptcy, or merge. Of course, this impacts your programs, clients, and stakeholders. Here are some important questions to consider.
© North Carolina Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Inc. From Common Ground, a publication of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits, www.ncnonprofits.org.
To show the effectiveness of their programs, nonprofits are asked to evaluate and assess them. W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Logic Model Development Guide provides practical assistance to the underlying principles of "logic modeling" so nonprofit staff and community members can enhance their program planning, implementation, and dissemination.
W.K. Kellogg Foundation's 2017 Step-by-Step Guide to Evaluation: How to Become Savvy Evaluation Consumers provides a framework for evaluation as a useful program tool for grantees, nonprofits, and community leaders. "The original handbook provides a framework for thinking about evaluation as a relevant and useful program tool.
Today's environment for nonprofits is full of tempting traps that can take the organization off its core mission. Learn about the top ten traps and how to avoid them. (North Carolina Center for Nonprofits)
As the Baby Boomers edge into their 50s and 60s, nonprofit organizations will soon be making room for a new generation of leaders. Not only should organizations consider the generational differences that will impact leadership styles, but also consider that members of Generation X, now in their 20s and 30s, are a dramatically smaller group than the Baby Boom generation. Up Next: Generation Change and the Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations (The Annie E.
For many nonprofits, closing down or going out of business is the unthinkable. There may be a crisis or serious warning signs or simply a lack of energy in the organization. Whatever the long-term causes may be, it's time to look at the options (Blue Avocado).
Why Boards Don't Govern, Part 1 by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services: "In the aftermath of every “nonprofit mismanagement” news story is the question: Why didn’t the board do something? Yet the boards of the nonprofits recently headlined with scandals did not do any less than most nonprofit boards. The reality is that most nonprofit boards are ineffective in their governing function. Only when gross mismanagement occurs does a failure at governance come to the fore."&nbs
In Why Boards Don't Govern, Part 2 (CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, 2006), Jan Masaoka and Mike Allison advocate for board to receive at least part of their information from someone else besides the Executive Director, how to improve board meetings, encourage question asking, and qualities to look for when recruiting. See also Part 1 of the Board Café series on Why Boards Don't Govern.