Largest species of bird…or feather duster?
Perhaps this isn’t fair to say, but I do believe that there are some things that we can afford to ignore—at least for a while—and other things that we cannot—not even for a nanosecond. Something that falls into the latter group is all matters financial: your own, your organization’s, the country’s, etc. Recently, a subscriber to our e-mail notices asked to be removed from the list because she had received a notice of two upcoming workshops—one on the basics of Read more
October 10th, 2008 0 Comment In Praise of Nonprofits
I am desperately searching for something uplifting about which to write this week. Surely, there is something good out there? Not so much. But not to worry, I am not going to do what everyone else is doing: talk about how to protect yourself from this economic mess, wring hands about how dire the future looks, bemoan the fact that so many of our nonprofit peers will be working harder with fewer resources. Those of us in the sector know all of this and cannot Read more
Have you lost your compass?
Announcement: there will not be, now, tomorrow or ever, a $700 billion or even an $85 billion bailout for the nonprofit sector. So, when we say we are businesses, don’t get too carried away with that thought. Remember, we are businesses that must be beholden to our mission, balancing our bottom line with how well we are delivering on the promises of our mission. Like so many other examples of the past, we are facing another perfect example of the fact that “we must run like Read more
September 26th, 2008 0 Comment Who needs a bailout?
This week, The Nonprofit Center held its first grantmakers panel of this academic year. As the moderator, I got to ask a number of questions up front before opening it up for questions from the floor.
And even though I knew what the elephant in this room looked like, I intentionally held off asking about it until I made sure that the audience had heard what it needed to hear: what are the strategic priorities of the particular funders represented on the panel, how do Read more
September 19th, 2008 0 Comment Jumbo Shrimp
I love oxymorons, and frequently get tired of having to use the crystal clear example of jumbo shrimp to explain to the uninitiated what an oxymoron is. Thanks to Thomas Wolf, author of Managing a Nonprofit in the 21st Century, I was reminded of one I’d clearly long forgotten: organized abandonment. (It was Peter Drucker who introduced this concept.) Whenever I hear this term, I see a wonderful flower power child running through fields with a billowing skirt, long hair blowing in the wind, flowers Read more
September 12th, 2008 0 Comment Reflections on Reflecting
I don’t know whether it is because I have spent so much of my life in academia or because I am Jewish, and later in life decided to use Yom Kippur as a day to fast and reflect, but September is the start of new years for me. Not the time when you sing Auld Lang Syne and party. But the time when you reflect upon the past year and on what worked, what didn’t, what you want to change and what you want to Read more
September 5th, 2008 2 Comments Golden Fleece Redux
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In the mid-1970s, Senator William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, created the Golden Fleece Award. He would give this award to the organization which Read more
August 29th, 2008 0 Comment Big Profits….No Taxes. The American Way?
According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal taxes between 1998 and 2005. And a whopping 68% of foreign companies doing business in the United States also paid no federal taxes during that same period. All while doing “trillions of dollars in sales.”
I must say, I am inclined to agree with Senator Byron Dorgan (D.,N.Dakota), who observed in response to the report, “It’s shameful that so many corporations make big Read more
Wish You Were Here
Dear Executive Directors:
I am writing to you from summer camp and want to share with you the joys and benefits of vacations. Something all too many of you feel that you can’t possibly take. Why is that? There really is nothing better for the mind and the soul to take breaks, remove yourself from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, allow the gray matter to breathe, the nerves to be released from the tight ball in which they normally find themselves, the blood pressure Read more
August 8th, 2008 0 Comment Passion is Overrated
I am changing my tune! I’ve been wrong all these decades when I’ve been saying that in deciding about board service—and in recruiting individuals for board service—the most important thing is real passion for the mission of the organization. A board member has to truly believe in the goals and means of the organization.
Wrong! If I hear one more executive director say to me, in speaking about her/his board, “They are all such nice Read more
August 1st, 2008 3 Comments