1.5 Million is Enough
Bad enough that I had to learn this morning of another nonprofit board that thinks it can do away with its executive director, thereby saving money, and just let board members run the organization. (That was last week’s rant, I mean blog.) Boards can’t do their own job! What makes them think they can do fulfill both the management and governance functions at once and still do well by the organization?
But now I have to see organizations and individuals all over the country Read more
March 6th, 2009 0 Comment Nickel & Diming Nonprofits
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Dateline Vermont: if you work at a nonprofit that receives more than 50% of its funding from the state and you earn more than $60,000, there is a bill pending that would require you to take a 5% salary reduction. (This money would Read more
February 27th, 2009 2 Comments Heads in the Sand (Again)
Last week, we sent out an e-mail blast with the subject line: Does your board want to be the best? While we always receive responses, there was an immediate one that was unique in both content and brevity. It read, simply: “No!”
After I stopped laughing, my concern kicked in: I stopped and thought: oh, maybe the writer was being serious. Maybe he, let me call him Bob, and the board had zero interest in doing things right. As opposed to how I Read more
February 20th, 2009 0 Comment Why Can’t They Be More Like Us?
Earlier this week local public radio’s Radio Times featured a columnist from the Philadelphia Business Journal and an editor and senior writer for Business Week. The topic was the value, potency, impact, etc., of President Obama’s mandate of a cap on the compensation of senior executives at companies receiving federal bail out money.
It took the first comment of one of the guests to have me fuming. He was discussing how executive compensation consultants are already advising people on how to get Read more
February 13th, 2009 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 My Aching Head
My doctor says I need to ease up on the head banging. I’d actually let up a little until I received a response to my recently published Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed. The commentary suggested that those laid off from for-profit jobs should look to the nonprofit sector for satisfying employment: their skills and talents are needed and will be valued and they can feel good while doing good. The responses to this piece was phenomenal and all extremely positive, with many saying, “Thank Read more
December 5th, 2008 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 The Mother of All Sins?
Greed. I am not the only one to put at the feet of greed the current financial mess in which America currently finds itself. Larger lifestyles, larger profits, larger risk. All to get more. Greed, greed, greed. As a result of these voracious appetites —which most of us were taught is not a trait to be coveted or embraced—folks are actually being rewarded. We have bailouts in the works for greedy homeowners, greedy bankers, greedy insurance companies, greedy mortgage companies, even greedy car manufacturers. Read more
November 21st, 2008 0 Comment A Lost Art
During tough times, be it the current one effecting all of us and brought on by the seeming collapse of our economic system or those more idiosyncratic to a particular organization, it is important to pay attention to our most valuable asset—people. So, what are you doing to express loudly and clearly just how much you appreciate all of the good work your paid and volunteer employees do for your organization and the clients it serves?
And before the “but” escapes Read more
November 7th, 2008 1 Comment Take Heart
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Unless this year is the exception to the rule, nonprofits should not be worrying about whether or from where their next dollar will be coming. Relax; it will be coming.
According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University (the Center), philanthropy is stronger than the stock market, social upheaval Read more
October 17th, 2008 0 Comment 