Social Media and Boards
Amid the current atmosphere of uncertainty and polarization, people seem more apt to use social media as an outlet for expressing their concerns. For me, this has led to several recent conversations about board members sharing their personal political views on their social media pages and the problems that arise when those board members are clearly linked back to the organizations on whose boards they sit.
While you should already have a social media policy for staff and regular volunteers, you may not have realized the Read more
Don’t Start the Revolution without me
My son recently had to write a paper either agreeing or disagreeing with the statement that went something like this: Marx preached a philosophy of freedom. As he so often does before he has to start constructing an argument, he asked me what I thought.
Well, it has been a long, long time since I read Karl Marx, but it was an easy answer for me. Absolutely! Marx was all about freedom—freedom from the systems and structures that alienated ourselves from ourselves and breaking away from Read more
Brain Drain
So, the IRS has added 155 new employees to its Exempt Organizations unit, bringing the total to 921; 100 of these new employees have been assigned to the division that does audits of nonprofits. Yipee! Apparently, brain drain has been happening within the Exempt Organizations unit, as many with long service in the unit are retiring. So, whether this is an overall increase in bodies or not, it is clearly a loss of knowledge, experience and an expertise that comes only with years and years Read more
The Power and Influence of Nonprofits
People need to listen to Nancy Kolb, recently retired President and Chief Executive Officer of the Please Touch Museum. A highly accomplished individual, who steered the Please Touch Museum through 21 years of growth and accolades, she was able to negotiate not one, but two deals (okay, the first didn’t materialize once the deal was “signed”, but through absolutely no fault of Nancy’s) with the City of Philadelphia (one is not an insignificant feat; imagine what two is!) for a new site for the museum Read more
February 12th, 2010 0 Comment Do You Heart Volunteers?
> It is one thing when you say something and someone actually listens. It’s even neater when you say something and discover that others, whom you don’t even know, are saying the same thing. But when the President of the United States says what you were saying, well, that’s just way too cool! (And I am very jaded when it comes to Presidents of the United States.)
President Obama is urging Americans–whether employed or not–to volunteer, pitch in, give back, help out. Others have been Read more
February 6th, 2009 0 Comment Role Models
Instilling in children a sense of responsibility to help others less fortunate than they and to give back to others and communities is a challenge under the best of circumstances. When children grow up with one of two images—absolute devastation, as witnessed on September 11, 2001 or in the aftermath of bombing raids or Katrina and her sisters and brothers, or extreme opulence, as seen through the lives of entertainers, sports figures and other “celebrities”—it Read more
December 2nd, 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
Taglines…Just do it!
A tagline? Does your nonprofit have one? Do you really care whether you have one or not?
Does it make or break your organization? And I ask this as someone whose organization has a tagline: In the business of nonprofits.
Blogger Nancy Schwartz recently conducted a tagline survey and found that 72% of nonprofits don’t like or don’t have a tagline. (Twelve nonprofits won prizes for the best taglines, and to that dozen I send Read more
July 25th, 2008 2 Comments Ah, Symbiosis
“Are you biased?” asked the MBA student the first night of our Nonprofit Management class offered as an elective in La Salle University’s School of Business MBA program. Good question!
The basis of our question: Do I think nonprofits are better than for-profits? Do I prefer nonprofits to for-profits? Let’s not equate enthusiasm with bias. My mindset isn’t one of opposition, competition and tension, but one of symbiosis.
How often do you read somewhere in the literature of nonprofits that part of the Read more
June 2nd, 2008 1 Comment 