Common Waters, Diverging Streams
As I am sure someone much wiser than I once said, “There are lessons to be learned from tragedy.” So, I hope nonprofits all around the world are watching what is happening in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania is almost two months overdue in passing a state budget. Until last week, state employees had not been paid since the start of the new fiscal year. Vendors have not been paid since the start of the new fiscal year. And the emergency budget that was Read more
August 28th, 2009 0 Comment And I’m Worth It
I run a business. It is a business that is designed to help nonprofits. So, our product is help. That’s how we earn our living, pay our bills. But why do people think that we should give that product away for free? If my business were manufacturing sneakers, my phone would not ring off the hook with requests that I give away free sneakers. I would not be contacted by people three blocks away saying they are starting a sneaker factory and would I please tell Read more
August 21st, 2009 0 Comment Crime and Punishment
When one has a past profession and a new one, there is the opportunity for those worlds to collide. And so it has happened. My decades as a professor of criminology have met my current world as a nonprofit executive. But the cause for the intersection is nothing to celebrate.
In the aftermath of a criminal conviction, as the judge is weighing sentencing options, victims, their family and friends, are allowed to testify or have statements read about the impact of Read more
August 13th, 2009 0 Comment Term Limits for Nonprofit Boards
In response to a recent blog, I was asked the following question: What is your opinion on term limits for board members and officers? Opinions are one thing of which I have no shortage. So, be careful what you ask!
The debate on term limits has been waging for decades, if not centuries. So, there is no “settled” answer to this question. But my own answer is very firm: term limits—both for board members and officers—are a must. My reasons underlying this Read more
August 6th, 2009 18 Comments Corporate Social Responsibility is Good Business
What a brilliant idea! Robert Goodwin, co-founder of Executives Without Borders, has suggested that every corporation adopt a nonprofit, providing IT, marketing and logistical support, as well additional business expertise that could help nonprofits do better at delivering their mission. He sees this as a win-win situation, noting that:
“Companies that integrate altruistic activities into their core business model will have the competitive advantage that comes with delivering a social profit: They will retain employees, recruit top talent, and build better community relations and a stronger Read more
July 22nd, 2009 1 Comment A Tale of Two Boards
It wasn’t quite the best of boards nor the worst of them, either. But it was a lesson in contrasts. In the space of an hour, I got to shore up a newly minted board president struggling with a board that hadn’t yet listened to reason and also field the questions of a board that, once a table of bobble-heads, had morphed into a take charge board. God, I love my job! Chapter I:
a thoughtful, Read more
July 9th, 2009 0 Comment Calculating the Risk of Risk
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It is funny Read more
June 25th, 2009 0 Comment Survival vs. Sustainability
As the daughter of two writers, I gained early on a deep appreciation for words. I learned early on the power of words and how subtle—and not so subtle differences—could be made by the mere substitution of one word for another. Meetings can energize or enervate, and I worry for those who equate the outcomes.
But my worry ascends to angst as I consider all of those in the nonprofit world who are making the mistake of seeing survival as a synonym for sustainable. They Read more
June 10th, 2009 0 Comment Supersize me?
True confession: I was not always a popular feminist, even my feminist peers. I didn’t believe that just because we wanted to be regarded as equal to men—we already knew we were, if not superior to—that we had to be the same as men. We didn’t need to mimic them, working ridiculously long hours, barking orders, wearing suits, being cut-throat; but rather, we could be just as successful if we played to our strengths and did things our way, bringing Read more
June 5th, 2009 0 Comment When it’s not good for nonprofits to emulate for profits
Behind as always in my reading, I just caught an amazing statistic in the March 30 edition of Newsweek. I was scanning the article, as I confess to being quite bored with the debate as to whether Washington or Wall Street is to blame for the current economic situation.
The Newsweek story featured both sides of the debate. Skimming each short snippet on the writer’s opinion, I came across one from Jim Chanos, “In 1998 Business Week put out Read more
May 15th, 2009 0 Comment 