Coronavirus, COVID-19, Engagement/Recruitment, Fundraising, Leadership, Organizational Change, Organizational Development, Research, Strategic Planning
A nonprofit development assessment is exactly what it sounds like – a thorough assessment of your entire fundraising program. It’s perhaps the most important component of creating a smart fundraising strategy. And yet, so few nonprofits take the time to conduct a...
Board Development, Engagement/Recruitment, Leadership, Organizational Development
People generally have pretty strong feelings about nonprofit board meetings. On one end of the spectrum, I often hear comments like this: “Sometimes I’m sitting there on a Tuesday night, away from my family and my dinner and even my TV… And I imagine sending a...
Board Development, Leadership, Organizational Development, Self-awareness
Some of the most effective leaders I know make learning a priority: for themselves, for their teams, and for their organizations. Skillful leaders tend to be naturally curious about new ideas and different perspectives. They have vision and opinions, for sure, but...
Leadership, Managing Conflict, Organizational Development, Self-awareness, Vision
In Collaborating with the Enemy, author and facilitator Adam Kahane shares a meaningful anecdote about the challenges of navigating conflict, especially where people have longstanding reasons for distrust and disagreement. In the early 1990’s, as South Africa started...
Board Development, Leadership, Organizational Development, Vision
Recently, a former board member of an environmental organization explained to me why he resigned: “When I joined the board, I sat through meetings for six months. We sat around and listened to reports. We never really made any meaningful decisions, nobody asked...
Board Development, Organizational Change, Organizational Development
“Best Ever” is our new feature at Northwest Nonprofit Notes, an article with one favorite idea from several of our contributors all on the same topic. This month we asked our consultants to share one of their “Best Ever” ideas for improving board meetings, creative...