Learning to Lead for Impact
leadership insight from Tom Okarma
the latest and greatest…
10 Characteristics of Effective Nonprofit Leaders
It’s no secret we’re living in a world of increasing turmoil. Violence is escalating. Hate is rising. Lines are being drawn and redrawn every day as portions of our country band together to oppose...
How to Fix Common Nonprofit Board Problems in Two Easy Steps
If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times. Nonprofit leaders often tell me, "Our board is weak" or, "My board just sits there and agrees with whatever I say and whatever I want to do."...
Running a Nonprofit: Are You Managing or Leading and What’s the Difference?
People perform at their best when leaders cast a compelling vision and provide everyone with enough leeway to pursue it. This is especially true in the nonprofit world. Many are motivated by an...
5 Tips for Bringing Your Strategic Plan to Life
Every nonprofit agency has a strategic plan, somewhere. Maybe in a file cabinet, on a credenza, on its website, but they have one. It's there, you just have to search it out. The problem is, you'd...
What is Nonprofit Governance and Why Does it Matter?
Have you ever wondered why some nonprofit agencies are so successful, why they run so smoothly, or why the board and staff members work so well together? It could be due to everyone liking and...
5 Reasons Why Board Training is Critical to Nonprofit Success
Why is it some boards demonstrate a culture of excellence year after year while some seem to struggle just to get a majority of directors to show up for meetings or to make important decisions? Why...
leadership
Want to be a Better Leader?
Switch to this type of Leadership. Leadership used to be simple and straightforward. The boss decided what had to be done, told someone, and that person or committee got working on it. Clear, simple, quick, and efficient. It was called top-down, or positional...
How to Make Better Decisions
Decision making season is here. We're closing in on the end of 2018 and that can only mean one thing. For better or worse you probably have some tough decisions to make. Are there changes you need to make in your organization? People you need to let go, or new ones...
10 Ways to Deal With Difficult People in Your Nonprofit
On the surface, leading a nonprofit might look like a piece of cake. You assemble a group of people passionate about the mission, point them in the right direction and get out of their way. For the most part, there are no ego problems, no hidden agendas, and no one...
Will End-of-Year Fundraising Be Risky For Your Agency?
Nonprofit leadership is challenging. And it's no secret that fundraising -- especially end-of-year fundraising - can easily top the list of stressors. Can you really count on all those pledges to come in at year-end? What if they don't? It's Fall of 2018 and once...
Could Serving on a Nonprofit Board Help Your Career?
Does Board Service Help? We all have a LOT going on. Work commitments, family obligations, the never-ending list of things to do. We're already pulled in a dozen different directions, likely trying to steal time from wherever we can get it. So why would you pile one...
5 Hidden Reasons Your Strategic Plan is Failing
Planning is great, but execution wins the game. College and professional football teams will go into every one of their games this Fall with a solid game plan. Run first, to set up the pass; pass first, to set up the run; keep the football away from the other team's...
board development
Fundraising for Nonprofits: Empower Your Board To Get Involved
Effective fundraising and donor relationships are the lifeblood of a nonprofit. But many agencies tend to overlook one of the most critical — and yet often most effective — tools for improving fundraising for nonprofits — the board. It’s no secret that best practices...
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...
5 Nonprofit Challenges and How To Fix Them: #2 – Fundraising
Challenge #2: Fundraising This week, we are taking a look at five of the most common challenges I hear from nonprofit leaders, and how I advise approaching these issues. While I cannot diagnose the specific issues your organization is facing, I can guide you...
5 Nonprofit Challenges and How to Fix Them: #1 — Your Board
Challenge #1: The Failing Board I offer advice to many nonprofit leaders and board members each week. Over time, several common nonprofit challenges have surfaced from those discussions. This week, we will be taking a look at five of the most common challenges...
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...
strategic planning
7 Keys to the Right Kind of Board-Part 2
Last week I introduced this discussion about my friend having the right kind of board serving her organization. Briefly, I told her it depended on where her organization was in its life cycle and what it needs to succeed. Today, in part two I share more of my...
7 Keys to the Right Kind of Board-Part 1
I was recently asked by a friend of mine about the difference between an organization having a board of directors versus a board of trustees. He is trying to determine which model best helps him grow and refocus his small but successful organization. He wants to grow...
Shaping the Organization’s Future
Have you ever had to rebuild a department, ministry, or an entire organization or church? Did you wrestle with how much to structure the process versus letting others handle it? We did. One of our departments had gone through a tough period. An ego-driven leader had...
Why Most Small Organizations Fail
I recently reread an excellent book written in 1995 and was struck by the timelessness of its subject matter. And, with the holidays approaching I thought it would serve as a terrific gift for someone you know who leads an organization: any size, any type, nonprofit,...
One Hour Plan for Growth
No one can deny that planning is critical to success. While I personally thrive in an organizational culture of creativity and entrepreneurial thinking, eventually, if you want to get things done, you have to have a written plan. Still, planning can be very tedious...
Why Boards Fail-Practices That Failing Boards Do Very Well
With a tip of the hat to a certain late night TV talk-show host, I have been thinking about what makes a board “good” or “bad” and have come up with a top twenty list that covers a lot of ground. I originally titled this article “Top Five”…then Top Ten…but had to go...
everything…
Could Serving on a Nonprofit Board Help Your Career?
Does Board Service Help? We all have a LOT going on. Work commitments, family obligations, the never-ending list of things to do. We're already pulled in a dozen different directions, likely trying to steal time from wherever we can get it. So why would you pile one...
Inside the Mind of a Donor: 5 Things They Really Want to Know
In my decades of being involved in the nonprofit world, I’ve had the privilege of holding many different roles. I’ve been a board member, board chair, committee member, consultant, volunteer, and for many years — a donor. I’ve seen nonprofits from many sides, but...
Better Board Meetings: 5 Questions to Better Engage Your Board Members
Who likes nonprofit board meetings? Please raise your hands... Board members often have a full-time job. They put in a long day, then skip dinner with the family so they can have cold pizza and room temperature soda, gathered around a conference table. You and your...
5 Hidden Reasons Your Strategic Plan is Failing
Planning is great, but execution wins the game. College and professional football teams will go into every one of their games this Fall with a solid game plan. Run first, to set up the pass; pass first, to set up the run; keep the football away from the other team's...
5 Things Every Board Member Wishes You New
Whether you are a board chair or an executive director, leading a nonprofit is a special calling. It’s exciting, unnerving, challenging, and fulfilling. It’s a role most of us wouldn’t give up for anything… We've all been there. You find yourself sitting at the head...
Improving Board Effectiveness: Why Isn’t My Board Better?
Why Isn't My Board Better? Keeping up with the Jones’ is about as American as Apple Pie and baseball. I sense it is alive and well in the nonprofit world, too. Specifically, I hear nonprofit leaders often whispering, “Why isn’t my board better?” “Why can’t we do the...
Nonprofit Risk Management: Is Your Agency Exposed To Risk?
As a nonprofit leader, your attention is drawn in many different directions in the course of a week, sometimes, all at once. You are responsible to look into the future to ensure the agency is headed in the right direction. You also need to look internally to...
Is Your Leadership Style Helping or Hurting Your Nonprofit?
There Is No One Right Way To Lead Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. Understanding your leadership style is a crucial step in empowering your agency to succeed. There are leadership styles that fit much better in some circumstances than others. Sometimes, an...
Nonprofit Volunteer Recruitment: Find Your Agency’s Best Ambassadors
Recognize The True Representatives Of Your Nonprofit Believe it or not - you are very likely overlooking and underutilizing the most valuable off-balance sheet asset in your agency. I am talking about the face of your organization, those who actually do much of the...