Board

The importance of a high-functioning and accountable nonprofit board of directors has never been greater. An effective board can mean the difference between expanding mission objectives and failed initiatives, between meeting constituent needs and shrinking programming, and between hitting financial goals and worrying about meeting payroll...

Outside the obvious red ink or even absence of financial reports, what might be the indicators for the board to reference that all is not right with their nonprofit?...

It’s still one of the chief complaints among nonprofit CEOs: Board members not engaged enough in fundraising. It’s frustrating to have the responsibility fall back on you. It’s too hard and demoralizing to think you’re in this alone. It detracts from the rest of the competing priorities you need to address...

Learn from others. Measure what matters. Start out right. Live out thankfulness. This old dog knows that it takes more than these four things to be a successful and fulfilled fundraiser, but this isn’t a bad place to begin for anyone new to the profession or looking to hit the reset button on his or her career in the nonprofit sector...

To date, nonprofit leaders have looked skeptically at the concept of compensating board members for their “volunteer” service. But the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations & Executives (NANOE) is backing the move to financially compensate board members, as well as give more oversight to those paid professionals who manage nonprofits. The movement is cause for…

J.C. Watts, former U.S. Congressman and former CEO of the Oklahoma City-based Feed the Children, is suing the organization for allegedly firing him for reporting issues and irregularities to the state attorney’s general office...

Regardless of where you are in the fiscal year, you should be constantly looking for new volunteers and potential board members. These individuals, if chosen correctly, can bring much needed new contacts, finances and open doors for future possibilities to your organization...

A CEO who is actively interested and engaged in fundraising is critical to attracting transformative philanthropic investment. For CEOs who have a passion for building relationships with donors or who perhaps served as fundraisers earlier in their careers, rolling their sleeves up and jumping into the fundraising fray comes naturally...

I’ve seen great turnarounds in poor-performing nonprofits. I’ve also seen many fail terribly. To map out a plan for greater mission focus, increased impact, heightened leadership and transformational philanthropic support are invigorating. But to get to that vision, you must first deal with reality—where you are. And that often means making tough decisions...

More and more often, we hear this catchy phrase "culture of philanthropy" and how essential it is to high levels of nonprofit fundraising success. Having worked as a staffer for many years, I’m a firm believer. If you want to raise more money and retain more donors, start by looking at your collective mindset toward philanthropy—a culture shift doesn’t start with strategy...