A number of years ago I got to know Dick Chait, one of the authors of Governance as Leadership. But this was before that important work was done, and Dick was describing the relationship between a Board and its Executive Director. Two analogies have stayed with me (these are not direct quotes but you’ll get [...]
Thanks to NPQ’s Nonprofit Newswire, published daily by the folks at the Nonprofit Quarterly, I’ve just read an interesting but disturbing article. The key statement is that the authors (university researchers) found that consumers perceive nonprofits to be “less competent than for-profits.” This belief makes people “more likely to buy products from for-profits than non-profits.” [Click here [...]
Micromanagement! It’s not easy being a board member. The work we have to do on a board is not intuitive. Nor is it the kind of work most of us do every day. We are human, and we want to be successful in what we do. However, what we do may not be the right [...]
10th Annual Washington State Nonprofit Governance Evaluation Survey Many of you filled out evaluations at the conference, and we thank you for that. Now we’re hoping you will share with us the impact the conference sessions had on your role as a board member. In addition, some of you who attended did not fill out [...]
Peg Giffels, Interim Director of Fund Development at NPower Seattle, wrote a great post about Paul Light’s key Note speech at the 10th Annual Nonprofit Governance Conference last month. As she says of Dr. Light, He proposes choosing a future of Rejuvenation for the nonprofit sector, and he issued a challenge to each one of [...]
The other day I had a conversation with a woman who, like me, has been involved in the nonprofit sector for more years than we care to count. We were talking about what nonprofits need to be more successful, and that very quickly led to a discussion of boards and what would be helpful to [...]
Below is a reprint of a column published in The News Tribune on November 21, 2004. “There is no question that the nonprofit sector has a board problem.” These words begin Governance as Leadership, a new book about nonprofit boards by three leading writers in the nonprofit field, Dick Chait, Bill Ryan and Barbara Holland. [...]
Thanks to the participants, presenters, partners, exhibitors, sponsors, speakers and especially the staff of the Nonprofit Center for making the 10th Annual Governance Conference a success. We will be back again next year and in the mean time this space will feature articles, tips and resources on nonprofit governance related issues. Be sure to check [...]
Board retreats serve many valuable purposes. The provide concentrated time in which to address complex challenges in depth. They build camaraderie among board members. They are platforms for future action. And they re-energize boards for their work. If your board hasn’t “retreated” recently – say in the past two or more years – consider planning [...]
Mike Phillips, former Chairman of Russell Investments, will be the luncheon speaker at the 10th Annual Washington State Nonprofit Governance Conference being held on Friday, October 30, at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. The Conference luncheon will be a celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of The Nonprofit Center. Phillips, currently Chairman of Altaira [...]
