Learning to Lead for Impact
leadership insight from Tom Okarma
the latest and greatest…
15 Things Non Profit Board Members Should Be Doing
You've Got New Board Members, Now What? New non profit board members are often confused, uncertain, and unclear on exactly what their responsibilities are once they are on the board. They are eager...
11 Easy Ways To Start a Board Training Program For Your Nonprofit
Speed of the leader, speed of the team. No organization can succeed, let alone thrive, with weak or untrained leadership. The same holds true for nonprofit boards. One of the most prevalent problems...
Nonprofit Leadership: Who Does It Better, Men Or Women?
In the mid-90’s, we learned from Dr. John Gray, Ph.D., in his best seller Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, that men and women are quite different. It was apparent to Dr. Gray then that...
Making Tough Calls On Difficult Nonprofit Board Members
Leading Nonprofit Board Members Is Not Always Easy Sooner or later, every nonprofit leader has a problem with a board member. How this issue is dealt with separates the successful leaders from the...
Nonprofit Board Training: 23 Unwritten Rules Your Team Needs To Know
Take Your Nonprofit Board Training To The Next Level New board members typically receive some level of orientation when they step into their role. A more experienced member or agency leader will...
Powerful Life Lessons from Serving On A Nonprofit Board
Last time, I shared many of the professional lessons I learned by serving on a nonprofit board. I could easily transfer these lessons into my business life and become a better leader. As I was...
leadership
5 Nonprofit Challenges and How To Fix Them: #4 – Avoiding Mission Drift
Challenge #4: Avoiding Mission Drift Every nonprofit organization started out with a mission. We all want to affect meaningful change and make a difference in the world. But sometimes, the stresses of working for a multi-faceted organization with many moving...
5 Nonprofit Challenges and How To Fix Them: #3 – Board Recruitment
Challenge #3: Board Recruitment Finding the right person to fill a board director position is a challenge for most nonprofits. Where do you turn when you are searching for a good quality candidate with a strong skill set and adequate experience? This week, we are...
Leading With Data: 5 Ways To Make Better Decisions For Your Nonprofit
As Nonprofit leaders, it can sometimes feel like we are facing a never ending barrage of important, agency-defining decisions needing our immediate attention. On a good day, this can be an exhilarating and rewarding process that fuels our passion and clarifies our...
Nonprofit Bylaws Discussion: An In-Depth Overview
Bylaws are one of an agency’s most essential yet least understood documents. Along with the Mission, Vision and Values statements, bylaws describe the basic foundation for the entire agency. They define the agency’s purpose and crucial elements of its operation.Every...
Nonprofit Trends 2017: Is Your Agency Future-proof?
Since 2014, we have seen the volunteer rate drop nearly 13%. Nearly 50% of nonprofit leaders report their organization has no strategic plan, yet nonprofit giving has increased over the last 4 years, and continues to grow. Nonprofit Trends 2017 -- What do these...
Why We Need Strong Nonprofit Leadership Now More Than Ever
It’s no secret we’re living in a world of increasing turmoil. Protests are climbing. Hate is rising. Lines are being drawn and redrawn every day as portions of our country band together to oppose others. Culturally and politically, we are as divided as we ever have...
board development
Why I Believe Leading a Nonprofit is Harder than Leading a Business!
When I became involved with nonprofits—starting with volunteering, then board service, and finally board chair—I thought it would be an easy transition from my previous business leadership roles. I have been a small business owner and the president and CEO of an...
3 Reasons Your Nonprofit Board is Having Problems: How to Overcome 3 ICK FACTORS of Board Leadership
There are several reasons why certain nonprofit boards struggle and I believe the top three reasons override almost everything else. Fix these three problems and you will see your board soar to new levels of impact and success. ICK FACTOR 1: POOR BOARD CANDIDATE...
Means and Ends: Who does What
One of the major causes of friction in the area of nonprofit leadership and poor nonprofit board performance, and a big reason why boards and CEO's may part ways, is poor boundary setting between the board and the CEO. For most agencies, everyone understands each...
Who Owns Your Nonprofit Agency?
The board of directors has a weighty responsibility-to convert the vision of an owner into a viable organization and to keep it in alignment with that vision. Its job is to take the owner’s concept, create it and watch over it once built. In this process, the board’s job is to accurately reflect the owner’s vision and values. For this reason, I think my question raises serious issues, especially if you haven’t thought about it previously…so, who owns your nonprofit?
Bully Boards-Here’s One Way To Avoid Them
Every so often, I hear about tough, demanding boards but nothing like a board I recently “met” through a friend who also serves as the CEO of a separate, very successful, well-mannered nonprofit agency. My friend told me about the rude, abrasive, unruly practices a different board had, including a confrontational, in-your-face, no-fun board style. My friend asked, “How do I keep my board from becoming like this one?
25 Ways Your Board May be Failing
Do many of these sound familiar? If so, it’s time to do something. Let me know what else you might add to this list. No strategic plan in place Poor alignment between goals and:resources, staffing, structure, budget, decision-making Infrequently monitoring financial...
strategic planning
Metrics
They say if you want to improve something, start measuring it. School grades, weight, financial results; we measure a lot. But, do you measure what really counts-the activities that ultimately determine results? Do you know what key activities determine your...
Serving the Client: Evaluation
Every company and leader says they are client-centered and are there to provide services that help them. And, most of the time, the services do. But, have you taken a close look at your clients lately? When was the last time you evaluated your current service...
everything…
How to Start a Nonprofit
How To Start a Nonprofit You want what you do to matter more. You want to make a difference in the lives of others. You believe passionately about helping the community. You don’t understand why someone isn’t doing more to help solve a social problem. These are just a...
The 1 Thing That Will Have the Biggest Impact on Your Non-Profit Leadership
Is there a secret to successful non-profit leadership? If you're leading at a non-profit then your world is filled with a never-ending stream of new challenges. Whether you’re a new leader just stepping in, a seasoned pro, or somewhere in between, there is one thing...
4 Key Areas That Can Kill Productivity in a Non-profit
Declining productivity can suck the life out of a non-profit... and a non-profit leader. Feeling overwhelmed? Way too much to do and no where near enough time? Never-ending to-do list? Sometimes I think when it comes to productivity, we can be our own worst enemies....
Are You Making The Right Impact?
6 Questions to tell if your agency is on the right track. Leaders of just about every type of organization--church, nonprofit, or business--say they are client-centered and offer services tailored to their clients' needs. And, most of the time, they do. But, have you...
10 Ways to Have Better Board Meetings
Anyone who has served on a nonprofit board, will know this feeling all too well. We’ve all been there… suffering through a board meeting that makes a root canal seem like a night on the town. Whatever the reason, too many board meetings feel like a waste of time with...
15 Simple Ways to Use Your Board For Marketing
Nonprofit marketing can be challenging at best. If you’re like most agencies, you're constantly on the look out for new ways to share your mission, more effective ways to build awareness, and new cost-effective avenues to get more people to help your cause. While...
Should You Start a Nonprofit?
The Critical Things You Need to Know to Make a Better Decision Should You Start a Nonprofit? According to the 2016 Nonprofit Trends Report nonprofit growth is climbing at a staggering rate. Some of these new organizations fill much-needed gaps in services, but others...
Is Rising Employee Turnover Hurting Your Nonprofit?
7 Ways To Help Reduce Nonprofit Employee Turnover In compiling the 2016 Nonprofit Trends Report, we discovered hiring at US nonprofits is at an all time high. Great news for all those needing a job with more purpose. But our data uncovered another trend and it’s...
The 25% Solution: How to Work Smarter as a Nonprofit Leader
Executive Director. CEO. Board Chair. No matter the title, if you're in a position of leadership in a nonprofit, your real job (no matter the size of the organization) is Master Plate Spinner. Is balance in nonprofit leadership even possible? I think we...