Di(a)mon(d)s in the Rough
In listening to the “Di(a)mon(d)s”—Robert Diamond, recently resigned CEO of Barclays Bank (one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom and the 25th largest company in the world) and Jamie Dimon, still enthroned CEO of JP Morgan Chase (the largest bank in the United States, as measured in assets)—testify in front of their respective controlling government inquisitors, I could not help but feel a little sympathy for the two. More importantly, though, I wondered, as I frequently do when I hear of people at Read more
Having it All (Been There…Done That)
My 20-something niece and her friends truly believe that they can, indeed, have it all while they work in the top organizations in their fields, and have their careers and personal lives planned accordingly. While she indulged her mother’s and my rebuffs and buts (she’s very patient with us), and our pointing out quite bluntly that she and her friends were not all representative of the average American woman, she thought we weren’t seeing the progress that has been made.
The very next week, “the” Atlantic Read more
Mixing Art & Science
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the art and science of fundraising. But the truth is, that so much of what we do in the nonprofit sector – particularly when it comes to managing and governing a nonprofit – is a mix of art and science. A lover of art and a scientist at heart, I believe in the power of knowledge based on research, rather than based on what we want to be true or think is true or my experience of Read more
Playing the numbers
The Center on Philanthropy just released its Giving USA 2012 report. To announce the findings, they take their dog and pony show on the road and included Philadelphia for the first time. .
In case you have missed the high level summary of the results, here it is. (I’ll leave you to decide whether the news is good, bad or indifferent.)
Giving by individuals, 81% of all gifts given in 2011, rose almost 4% in 2011, but only .8% in inflation adjusted dollars.
Adding up individual giving, from Read more
Because I Said So
When I moved to Philadelphia almost 35 years ago, and I heard the regional idiom of “down the shore,” I shuddered. Never, I told myself—and several others—would I ever, ever let phrase pass my lips. And, to this day, I never have. I have adopted referring to the beach, language from my native tongue, as “the shore” when I am speaking to the local natives. But outside of this region it is and always will be “the beach.”
There are some other phrases that I have Read more
Putting the Human Back into Your Resources
Philadelphia was fortunate to be one of the sites around the country where Nonprofit HR Solutions brought its traveling symposia to discuss the results of the 2012 Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey.
The Nonprofit Center was fortunate enough to be asked to host the event, and I to moderate the panel. This last task got me perusing the survey results even more closely than my first go through. What the survey clearly reveals is how little time, attention and resources nonprofits pay to one of the most Read more
June 6th, 2012 0 Comment What’s Behind the Numbers?
Numbers tell a lot. On Monday of this week, as members of the military read the names of the dead from each war going back to WWI, I stood and counted each from this small, suburban Philadelphia community, noting that this community lost as many soldiers in Vietnam as it has, thus far, in the war on terror.
On Tuesday, on NPR’s Morning Edition, the First Lady cited two telltale statistics: an American child spends an average of 7.5 hours a day looking at a screen Read more
June 1st, 2012 0 Comment Dynamic Duo
There is, perhaps, no more important relationship in a nonprofit than that between executive director and board president. One of the key challenges in this relationship is that it changes with regularity (or it should!). Depending upon the organization, it may change annually, biennially or triennially. In some cases, the relationship may go on even longer.
Duration of relationship aside, obviously, the greatest challenge is dynamic of the duo. There are times when executive directors embrace the start of a new board presidency with great joy Read more
May 24th, 2012 0 Comment The Name Game
Decades ago, I had a friend who was getting divorced. She had taken his name when she’d gotten married, despite her feminist principles. When she was queried as to why she’d done that, she said, quite simply, “My maiden name was worse.”
As the divorce was getting closer to being finalized, she decided that in addition to no longer wishing to have her husband, she didn’t want his name either. Clear that she didn’t want to reach back to her maiden name, she decided she’d pick Read more
Job Title vs. Job Content
Based on reading CEO/ED profiles in various media outlets and listening to them talk, what the vast majority of these leaders dislike most about their jobs is anything related to HR. The issue within this expansive area of executive director responsibility where I hear the most gnashing of teeth, tearing out of hair, and, most disconcerting to me, self-flagellation, has to do with the director of development position. Executive directors beat themselves up because they can’t seem to “get it right;” as a result, executive Read more
