Executive Issues

If you find strategic planning boring, you’re not alone. Here are top reasons why you’re struggling to get your plan off the ground.

I realized that each Hogwarts House has admirable traits and that they could be combined to create some truly stellar teams. If we look at the descriptors of each house, we’ll see that the nonprofit arena needs Hufflepuffs as much as it needs Gryffindors. Let’s check out the Nonprofit World Houses.

The overwhelm can seem close to immobilizing. Leaders always need to make decisions. But this year, the amount of decision-making required to lead feels crushing. So much so that many nonprofit leaders are delaying big decisions.

It’s increasingly important for nonprofit organizations and their advisers to assess gifts holistically and engage in donor vetting practices to minimize financial, legal and reputational risk.

Picture this: A funder is about to sign on the dotted line, but they ask to see your financials. You pull numbers from your system only to realize they don’t look quite right. Upon investigation, you realize they’re not correct and discover the root of the problem is issues with your finance process — employees are tagging expenses with the wrong codes.

When I stepped into the leadership role at Chicago Scholars more than a year ago, I began searching for other nonprofit leaders of color so we could share and learn from our common experiences in navigating the nonprofit landscape. I knew I’d have to look far and wide for these peers, as it’s common knowledge in our world that diversity is lagging at the highest levels.

Keeping hope alive describes what the nonprofit sector is about. Humanitarian relief to Ukrainian refugees and in-country citizens has been extraordinary. We see hope alive in the surge in charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations.

Did you know that it is possible to have a nonprofit board committee that has more power and authority than the full board? No, I’m not making this up. This is most often in the form of a standing executive committee described in the by-laws.

I know what you're thinking: "My team isn't broken. Thank you very much." You may be surprised to hear that it doesn't matter if your team is functioning well or not; everybody could benefit from a bit of team building.

Nonprofit executive directors need to know what can make their organizations thrive. Think about what personal skills you need to improve, especially if you are interested in enhancing your job performance or if you aspire to the position of executive director.