About
Within this website you will find information about the annual Washington State Nonprofit Governance Conference. Over the years this conference has featured a number of national leaders in the nonprofit sector including Dick Chait, Peter Brinckerhoff and Bill Ryan. This year’s 10th annual conference is equally strong with Paul Light as Keynoter.
Click here for more conference information.
Here are some thoughts for you to ponder — all of which will be addressed in conference sessions.
“The growth in the scale and scope of the nonprofit (NPO) and nongovernmental organization (NGO) sector has been accompanied by growing governance challenges. These challenges manifest in a number of ways. Governance failures can result in high profile scandals and charges of mismanagement and misappropriation; such scandals have been prevalent in the media in recent years. High profile cases of nonprofit misbehavior threaten the reputation of all nonprofits and such threats may affect the ability of nonprofits to raise funds.”
From “Nonprofit Accountability Clubs: Voluntary Regulation of Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organizations” by Mary Kay Gugerty, Evans School of Public Affairs, and Aseem Prakash, Department of Political Science, University of Washington, Seattle
“…the vast majority of the several hundred high-performing nonprofit organizations I have studied over the past five years share one thing in common: They earned their position by strengthening their organizational capacity to withstand the uncertainty ahead. In a word, these high-performing nonprofit groups have become robust.”
From “What it Takes to Make Charities Effective” by Paul C. Light in the September 1, 2005, issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
“An SEI Quick Poll released today shows that nonprofit foundations and endowments are thoroughly evaluating their overall investment management process in response to continued market volatility. Nearly one- third (31 percent) of nonprofits currently using a consultant model for investment management said they are concerned about this approach and are looking into other options.” “Nearly one-third (30 percent) of all polled said that defining investment management fiduciary responsibilities for trustees and investment consultants is a top priority.”
From the SEIC Quick Poll “Nonprofits Focused on Investment Management Model And Defining Fiduciary Responsibilities,” July 7, 2009; www.seic.com
We hope to see you on October 30.
Click here for more conference information.
