Executive Issues

Nonprofits are messy. It’s true even for the best nonprofit organizations out there. Not enough money. Too many cooks. An abundance of passion. Often on this blog I write about what nonprofits are doing wrong and how to fix it. After all, “nonprofits are messy” is more than just my tagline—it’s my mantra. And my…

We are working with a client who is undergoing a CEO transition. Over the past two years, this organization had invested in a master planning process and also an extensive strategic planning process. When asked if it should pause while searching for a new CEO, our response was an emphatic "No!"...

It never ceases to amaze me how often nonprofit leaders give away their expertise and their time—for free. Here’s the most recent example I’ve encountered: A leader of an education nonprofit, let’s call her "Amy," was approached by a group of funders who wanted to start a similar program in a different city. They already…

I got to spend time in Omaha this week, one of America’s great philanthropic cities, and was happily reminded of the force for good that is a high-functioning fundraising department. Show me a focused group of professionals devoted to donor relationships and revenue targets, and I can anticipate world-class results. We have had a fond…

Who won last night's debate? Many say Hillary Clinton. Some say Donald Trump. There's no debate, though, that the nonprofit sector largely supports Clinton. A new study from NAPCO Media Research surveyed executives across four industries to determine where each sector's political loyalties lie. There were some surprises...

Last week, I wrote about the importance of firing people faster. Some employees are not effective, and sometimes they’re downright toxic, and we need to let them go. However, often it’s not the employee who is incompetent or toxic, but his or her supervisors. So, to bring balance, this week I am writing about horrible…

Anyone reading this hoping for an attack on the fact that there are too many nonprofits, should stop reading now. The primary problem we have in the sector is not that replication occurs because too many nonprofits exist. It is much more about having a nonprofit economy that rewards individual performance instead of collective impact,…

In an online forum for nonprofit professionals, a recent post struck a chord. A group member described sitting in her office over a long weekend, working on a grant proposal in her underwear. The air conditioning in her office was turned off until the next business day, and it was hot. Surprisingly, the post came…

A group of 21 states is suing the U.S. over the new overtime rule set to take effect Dec. 1. The attorneys general of Texas and Nevada, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of their states and 19 others, alleged that the rule is unconstitutional and will place too great a burden on businesses, nonprofits and other employers. A coalition of 50 businesses on the same day filed a separate lawsuit seeking to overturn the rule...

If football coaches do not recruit well, their teams will not have winning seasons. In the nonprofit world, a losing fiscal year could mean a reduction in programs, services and staff. If you have too many losing fiscal years, you could end up looking for another position at another nonprofit...