Nonprofit Trends and Inspiration: Top 5 TrendSpotter Favorites of 2022
With so much negativity swirling around us, it is easy to let it color our view of the world. But as I told my students in our wrap-up class last week, we have a choice. If we let them in, negative news and interactions can convince us that the world cannot be...
How to Create a Nonprofit Advisory Council and Why
I love fall – with it comes so many possibilities. It reminds me of one of my favorite fall quotes by French author Albert Camus: “Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower.” It professes a love for the season of fall but also a season of life where...
How Dashboards Can Help Your Nonprofit Achieve Strategic Goals
London is one of my favorite cities – not only because it is a beautiful urban city that feels small and quaint, but because the people are so welcoming. This week I enjoyed spending some time exploring the city and I noticed the “Mind the Gap” PSAs in the Tube. The...
Q&A on Nonprofit Mergers, Acquisitions and Exits
Everything changed two years ago – so much so, many futurists, including myself, shifted gears from long-range planning to week-to-week survival. Now, as the country begins to get back to “normal,” we have begun shifting back to long-term planning. For nonprofits, the...
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Board Members
Now that school is back in session, nonprofit boards will be meeting regularly and gearing up for the fall season of Giving Days, annual letters and strategic planning. Did you know that the Latin root for governance (gubernare) means to guide or pilot a ship? It is a...
Nonprofit Board Icebreaker
Due to summer vacations and COVID-19, we know many boards need some help not only getting acquainted but staying the course together. To that end, we wanted to share one of our favorite ways to accomplish this task – the game of BINGO. We use it two ways: as an...
Hot Nonprofit Trends for Summer 2022
We are officially in the “dog days” of summer. Interestingly, this phrase refers to the sultry days of summer and came from the Romans, who associated it with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the “dog star” because it was the brightest star in the...
Where is Your Organization in the Nonprofit Lifecycle?
As the pandemic becomes more manageable and we explore possibilities for the future, I find that many executives and board members are reflecting on the “state of their organization.” Many are asking the question: “Where do we go from here?” I was recently asked by a...
How Are Nonprofit Business Plans Different From Strategic Plans?
I love cooking shows! People can be so imaginative with food recipes. While many of us are content with the traditional combination of peanut butter and chocolate, chefs and food enthusiasts are combining seemingly unrelated ingredients to yield culinary genius. Take...
Bring Your Nonprofit Strategic Plan to Life with Action Plans
When it comes to planning, social sector leaders often ask me how to ensure strategic plans get implemented. They are right to be concerned – their hard work matters and should not be relegated to a shelf. I respond with the Japanese proverb – “Vision without action...
