What’s a Nonprofit to do?
For a variety of reasons, many of us are happy 2009 is over. But that doesn’t mean 2010 will be our knight in shining armor. As I’ve said before in this space, the economic fat lady hasn’t sung for any of us yet, least of all the nonprofit sector. She’ll be singing for us years after she’s sung for others.
So, what’s a nonprofit to do? Ask the tough question.
I don’t believe in this thing called “human nature.” There are just too many discrepancies. Let’s take Read more
January 8th, 2010 0 Comment Crucial time for charities
With the economic downturn staring us in the face, it’s hard to feel charitable even during this season of giving. But this has been a grim year for charities, just as it has for individuals and businesses. So charities are hopefully and anxiously anticipating this crucial period of year-end giving, traditionally fueled by goodwill and the promise of tax deductions.
If you’re wondering how you can afford to give to charity, I would ask how you can afford not to. Nonprofits enrich us with a wide Read more
Embrace Trust
Trust. It is such a huge word for the nonprofit sector yet one we spend little time talking about. Our whole currency, if you will, is based on trust: our clients, donors, collaborators, and others trust that we will do a good job, deliver a valuable product, protect and steward our dollars, fulfill our mission promises, etc. If these stakeholders stop trusting us, we are doomed.
Yet, when was the last time the staff and board of your organization talked about trust? What does it means Read more
December 18th, 2009 0 Comment Lasting Lessons from Enron
Last month, Newsweek printed excerpts of an interview with William Powers, current President of the University of Texas.
And while not belittling either the title or responsibilities of a president of a large university (as both are huge), what is important about Mr. Powers in the context of this blog is that prior to becoming university president, he was asked by the Board of Enron to head a special investigation into the company’s collapse in order to uncover what went wrong—and why.
The focus of Newsweek’s excerpted Read more
December 11th, 2009 0 Comment111 Million Reasons
News Alert: An estimated 111 million people plan to use the web to donate to nonprofits this holiday season (Nonprofit Times).
A Minnesota nonprofit fundraising campaign, GiveMN, raised a remarkable $14 million via the Internet with its 24-hour “Give to the Max Day” event on November 17. The money, donated by 39,000 people, will support 3,400 Minnesota nonprofits, reports the Foundation Center.
Between now and the end of the year, we will be asked by every charity we know—and many we don’t—for our gifts—or investments, as I Read more
Happy Thanksgiving from The Nonprofit Center
We’ll be back on 12/4/09. (Guess we could have tweeted that. )
November 23rd, 2009 0 CommentA Tough Hybrid to Swallow – the L3C
My intent was to write about L3Cs—low-profit limited liability companies. Five states already allow them, several more have legislation pending, and many are encouraging the congress to create such legislation. Ever heard of them?
So I went looking for a simple, yet clear, definition of just what an L3C is. In the process, I got sidetracked by a table comparing an LLC, an L3C and a nonprofit.
According to the design and intent of an L3C, it is a cross between a for-profit and nonprofit organization: it Read more
November 19th, 2009 15 Comments Can We Fix Charitable Giving?
There is so much chatter these days about what needs to be done for nonprofits do to get the resources to survive these tough economic times, from what organizations should organizations do; to what should funders do; to what individuals should do. But from what I’ve seen, with the only exception possibly being social networking, nothing is new. But that’s not necessarily bad.
Pablo Eisenberg, who I have always deeply respected, but do so even more when he plays the role of “irascible critic,” had an Read more
November 13th, 2009 0 Comment What Would Peter Do?
I understand that sometimes people just aren’t ready to hear things. A couple of years ago, received a card from a student that I’d had in class a good 15 plus years before. She was writing to thank me for something that I had, apparently, repeated multiple times throughout the courses she took with me. She finally understood why I had stressed it as I had. Why I then repeated—and continue to do so today—the important messages in hopes that someday, they will stick.
But sometimes, Read more
November 6th, 2009 0 CommentSo How’s that Recovery Treating You?
So how’s that recovery treating you? I am NOT a crepe hanger, trust me. But I am concerned that nonprofits aren’t being so smart smart about this “Great Recession.” While economics experts tell us that the recession has begun to recede, they are also telling us something even more important for nonprofits. Economists are now calling this a “double-dip recession”—meaning that the recession “technically ends” but then, before we get into true and real sustained recovery, there is another economic downturn.
According to CNNMoney.com, the 1980 Read more
