Weighing the Role of Best Practices in Nonprofits
Over the past several months, I have been struggling with the question of best practices: whose best practices? And, do best practices really allow for flexibility and latitude when integrating them into the unique culture that exists in each of our organizations?
As those of you who read this blog regularly probably know by now, my first career was as an academic criminologist. While there are many different theories that explain what makes some people criminals and others not, one of the more dominant ones explained Read more
The .02% Preferred
Another interesting study from GreyMatter, this one about the kinds of nonprofits donors prefer. GreyMatter asked 1000 American donors, a “demographically representative” sample, to name their favorite charity, excluding places of worship. They then researched all named nonprofits to understand the profiles of the favored ones.
The most astonishing—and terribly disappointing—finding is that this group of 1000 diverse Americans named only 289 different nonprofits as their most favorite. That is a mere .02% of the 1.6 million nonprofits in the country. More than half (54%) named Read more
The Solution or Part of the Problem?
Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking to 35 international who had spent the last three weeks travelling this country meeting with, hearing from and listening to nonprofits, funders, community partners, etc. They were here through the International Visitor Leadership Program, sponsored by the State Department, with the goal of learning all they could about American nonprofits. I was their wrap- up/integration session before their next day departure. I always enjoy when I’m invited to address invited guests of State. The experience is always Read more
Of Benefits, Entrepreneurs and Data and Wasted Opportunities
A recent Philadelphia Business Journal poll asked folks to name their favorite work benefit. The options included: flexibility, money, dress code, wellness, fun, and a “my work does not offer any of these.” (Sad, truly, for the 16% who had to had to select that option).
Coming in first with 30% of respondents was flexibility, with the annotation of “work times, teleworking options, extended or uncapped paid time off;” seven points behind in second place was “bonuses or financial incentives.” Rounding out the full picture: 11% Read more
Crazy Broke Nonprofit Workers
Recently, I heard a tiger expert in India interviewed about the controversy surrounding the suggestion that the tiger that has killed 13 people in two years should be killed. The expert was asked whether India could learn things from other countries and how they handle their tiger population. Without a moment’s hesitation, the expert responded that India was not humble enough to learn from others. And there it was: my missing link in understanding why seemingly smart people repeatedly do stupid things: they aren’t humble Read more
One Happy Family
Ever since I started teaching graduate students (something I totally spurned for my decades-long career teaching undergraduates) the traditional sadness at the end of summer has been somewhat mitigated. Grad students, with their different perspectives, their confidence, deserved and otherwise, their willingness – no desire – to explore new ideas, and, yes, often their naiveté about the sector, is inspiring and energizing and oh so welcome.
We’ve started out exploring leadership—characteristics of a successful leader, differences between management and leadership, leadership as position and leadership as Read more
End of Summer Musings
Whether we wish to acknowledge it or not, it is the end of summer. (Working on a college campus, it is hard to ignore this.) So, before our minds really ramp up and are back in gear for long, sustained thinking, here are several short thoughts I wanted to share.
Words: I love words. Finding the right word(s) to express your thoughts can make all the difference in the world—to you, to your audience. Sadly, though, the audience doesn’t always appreciate your choices, doesn’t recognize them Read more
The Future of Equality in Nonprofits?
Writing this post on the morning after the primary that has a transgender person running for governor of Vermont and a Muslim almost guaranteed to become a member of the Michigan team, gives me hope as I report on a less than stellar picture of our own sector’s equality.
“Race to Lead: Confronting the Nonprofit Racial Leadership Gap,” authored by Sean Thomas-Breitfield and Frances Kunreuther, while providing some “duh” findings also reveals some important lessons that every leader (yes, that absolutely includes board members) at every Read more
