Thoughts on Nonprofit Leadership

      This article is about understanding and dealing with people’s reactions to change. People react to change in predictable ways, as do organizations, and they generally don’t like it, even if the change is for the better. Be ready for change. Change will happen if...

     This article is about how to make your vision a reality. Last week in 3 Steps Toward Achieving Your Wildest Dreams we talked about the role visioning plays in achieving nonprofit sustainability. This week we address how to prepare your organization for the changes that will...

      This article is about achieving your dreams and taking the first steps toward sustainability. Imagine your nonprofit attaining sustainability and you accomplishing more in less time and effort, taking a vacation and spending your nights and weekends with family and friends....

     This article is about empowering you to raise big money while still having a life outside work. Imagine having enough money to not only meet expenses and get past the status quo but grow. Imagine on-the-job stress and exhaustion are gone. Imagine time for friends, family, and...

This article is about how we, as nonprofit leaders, can ensure staff perform at their best. Leadership is fundamentally about facilitating performance, getting others to do their best, and to do their work effectively and efficiently. One of the most robust, consistent findings in the social...

This article stresses the importance of self-care for busy nonprofit leaders who are working sixty-hour-plus workweeks, have no time to tend to personal needs, and want to spend more time with family and friends.  Although there may seem like no way to do it, you must set aside time to take...

     How engaged are your board members? According to a Boardable survey, 50 percent of respondents said that they felt more passionate and engaged about the importance of their work on a board or for a nonprofit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While 24 percent of respondents...

     According to BoardSource, fundraising tops the list of board challenges, as it has since they first started collecting these data in 1994. In multiple studies, fundraising ranks first among board areas needing improvement.

     According to data from an Evelyn...

     You may look forward to board meetings as much as a visit to the dentist. In my experience, most board members are good people who know next to nothing about nonprofit governance. Yet, your board is the most valuable leadership asset your nonprofit has. Board members teach the...