What’s Normal About the New Normal?
I hate current hot phrases and this one is no exception: the new normal. If the current economic conditions—by which I don’t mean the level of unemployment, the number of home foreclosures on the books, the lack of agreement as to how we got where we are and hot to get out, but rather the reduction in credit availability, people’s fear of unemployment and their hesitancy to spend money on anything other than essentials, and more—are, in deed, the new normal, why haven’t nonprofits moved Read more
Starting a Nonprofit is the Easy Part
I was never a big Judy Garland fan, but recognize that she had an incredible voice. But her classic, “Let’s put on a show!” comes screeching into my head every time I hear of someone wanting to start a nonprofit For reasons that are beyond fathoming, I would think, to anyone who has been in this sector for more than several years, people think operating a nonprofit is a cakewalk. And truth be told, it is not.
Starting one, as I’ve said before, is Read more
Survival vs. Sustainability
As the daughter of two writers, I gained early on a deep appreciation for words. I learned early on the power of words and how subtle—and not so subtle differences—could be made by the mere substitution of one word for another. Meetings can energize or enervate, and I worry for those who equate the outcomes.
But my worry ascends to angst as I consider all of those in the nonprofit world who are making the mistake of seeing survival as a synonym for sustainable. They Read more
June 10th, 2009 0 Comment Weight Watcher’s for Nonprofits (Or Does this 501(c)(3) Make Me Look Fat???
Why is it that Americans always associate growth with good? (Except, of course, when it comes to personal weight growth, which most people generally perceive as bad.) The bigger the better, the more the merrier, etc. And the bigger something gets, the “more better” it is.
Well, I beg to differ. In recent years, the rate of growth in the nonprofit sector has outpaced that in the for profit sector. And people hail that as a great sign. Of what, I ask? Does this growth mean Read more
February 22nd, 2008 0 Comment 