Board members’ service is most effective when they feel they are making a tangible contribution to the organization, and they find meaning and satisfaction in their work. Providing a structure and setting aside time for your board to set individual goals are powerful and underutilized opportunities.   Ideally, your organization is setting its goals for the next fiscal year based on its strategic plan, or in lieu of a strategic plan, it is setting annual goals and identifying

As nonprofit professionals plan their career growth, I often recommend they join a nonprofit board. The ability to understand nonprofit...

In Part 1 of The Elephant in the (Board) Room we discussed the idea that, as an organization grows out of the start-up phase or beyond...

Let’s talk about the elephant in the (board) room. Many of us – both staff and lay leadership – have said “I want my board to fundraise”...

Often email messages feel like they enter a black hole. Messages from staff are sent to board members and the board’s responses lag. This is

What's the upside? As colleagues started to reflect on the changes they were making in their work, they uncovered some early wins - that...

Back at the beginning of the pandemic, before "Pivoting" felt redundant, I wrote a piece with some tips for managing both our changing...

A throwback to my 2018 article on Philanthropy Northwest's Reflective Practice blog - Try "Putting Something in the Middle" and "Free...