What Happens When the Boss Has Cancer?

For everyone — a reality check.  How would you handle it?  Leadership and management

Excerpt:  There are now more than 12 million U.S. cancer survivors, about quadruple the number in 1971, according to Cancer Support Community, an educational nonprofit. As a result, “you see more senior executives admit their cancer diagnosis and continue working than ever before,” said Kim Thiboldeaux, the group’s president.

Read full article via What Happens When the Boss Has Cancer? – WSJ.com.

How Small Charity Projects Can Sidestep Complex Tax Rules

Hey, guys …..  here is a good idea or maybe you already know this one.   Nonprofits

Excerpt:   Even if you have a brilliant idea for a new charity, your altruistic intentions could get derailed by a morass of complicated 501(c)3 tax rules and regulations.

There is an alternative, however. Consider piggybacking onto an existing organization’s infrastructure and tax status, a process known as fiscal sponsorship. This allows you do good work, without the tax hassle of running your own organization.

Read full article via How small charity projects can sidestep complex tax rules | Reuters.

Becoming a Networked Nonprofit | Stanford Social Innovation Review

Nonprofits “keeping up” with today’s challenges to ensure their “thrivability“.   The how-to and tips.  Leadership and management

 Excerpt:  Redesigning your nonprofit organization to become more participatory, open, authentic, decentralized, collective, and effective—via social media, networks, and beyond.

Read full article via Becoming a Networked Nonprofit | Stanford Social Innovation Review.

An Apollo Program for American Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector – HBR

Good read.  This is a rallying cry for the nonprofits themselves, not for their worthwhile programs and focuses but for their nonprofit business health.

Excerpt:  The nonprofit sector builds movements that rally people to action against some of the greatest problems facing humanity. But it has no movement to support itself. The sector speaks for the voiceless. But it remains silent on the systemic misperceptions that undermine its own potential. It defends the weakest among us. But it takes punches to the face when it comes to the issues that affect it directly — issues like spending on overhead and infrastructure, investment in talent, risking donor dollars in the present to achieve a brighter future down the road.

It’s time to change all that. It’s time for a movement for the movement-builders. It’s time for the sector to stand up for itself, speak up for itself, defend itself, organize itself, and advertise itself with the same sense of mission and purpose with which it has long subjugated itself to the sacred canons of frugality and martyrdom.

Read full article via An Apollo Program for American Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector – Dan Pallotta – Harvard Business Review.

Building Reflective Boards: Self Assessment

Another great article today on board of directors for nonprofits.   The board self assessment  —  what a great tool or program.   Is there a similar excercise for the for profit sector?

Excerpt:  It is critically important for nonprofit boards to stop, reflect, evaluate and appreciate their performance. It’s also extremely rare that the typical board takes that time – or uses what members learn when they do.

Board self-assessment has been on my mind in the last month, thanks in part to the launch of an online version of Alice Korngold’s powerful Board Vector tool. I saw great potential in the original, paper-based version of her assessment process. Taking it online will only enhance its capacity to provide meaningful, data-driven opportunities to evaluate our performance as boards. I also had a chance to facilitate a local board’s self-assessment process, appreciating its commitment to taking this step and helping them to explore what members could learn from the results.

Read full article via Laramie Board Learning Project: Building reflective boards: Self-assessment.

Nonprofit Law Blog: Youth Board Members: Can Minors Serve on a Nonprofit Board?

This is a cool idea that I didn’t know.   Is your nonprofit using minors on boards and for voluteer work?   Read here.  The article is extensive in ideas, examples, legal ramifications and more.

Excerpt:  Youths represent a growing volunteer population for nonprofits and for some, a potential pool of nonprofit board members. The 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health estimated that 78% of youths between 12-17 years of age had participated in at least a few volunteer work or community service events that year. Some groups have taken note of this increasingly service-oriented age group and focused discussions about integrating younger individuals into nonprofit boards beyond young professionals and even young adults to youths (i.e., person under the legal age of adulthood).

Youth board members are most commonly found in youth-serving organizations such as, for example, America’s Promise Alliance which has two youth board members and Youth As Resources which has a primarily youth board. While interest in the idea of youth board members may be growing in recent years, in practice, it still remains an anomaly

Read full article via Nonprofit Law Blog: Youth Board Members: Can minors serve on a nonprofit board?.

Not-for-profit Governance: Rising to the Accountability Challenge

This is an interesting read, written with stats and opinion on Australian nonprofits, I believe the same picture emerges in other countries as well.  Small business good read.

Excerpt:  …. for charities that have broader remits, such as fighting world poverty or tackling the homeless problem, social impact is harder to gauge.

Hems says the problem lies in the lack of “market intelligence” and benchmarks for not-for-profit directors to follow. “Whether or not you are delivering on the social mission is incredibly complex to measure – there are no comparative metrics,” he says. For example, members of the board of a homeless charity would have little idea of performance, unless they examined the annual reports of similar charities and had access to evaluations of the programs they operate. “It is a huge measurement challenge – and sadly the focus for not-for-profit sector boards is still on the narrow measurements around financial sustainability and compliance,” says Hems.

Read full article via Not-for-profit Governance: Rising to the Accountability Challenge – Knowledge@Australian School of Business.

Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work | Stanford Social Innovation Review

More today on the evolution going on in our nonprofit world and for profit in some collectives.  Good read small business.  Article does a good job defining and by example for understanding.  The introduction below mentions the previous article on backbone organization.

Excerpt:  …… initiatives share the five key conditions that distinguish collective impact from other types of collaboration: a common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and the presence of a backbone organization. (See ”The Five Conditions of Collective Impact,” below.)

Read full article via Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work | Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact: Part 1 | Stanford Social Innovation Review

Information and definition of what are backbone organizations and the challenges that remain to be undertaken.  Good read small business.  Our nonprofit world is also evolving.

Excerpt: The work of a backbone organization is complex. The roles played in accelerating change can be challenging to articulate as, by design, their work is largely behind the scenes. Therefore, GCF’s new approach to community leadership means that evaluating and communicating the value of backbone organizations has become all the more important. In addition, defining and communicating what “effectiveness” really means is another driver of the Foundation’s work. The backbone organization is an emerging concept necessary to the collective impact approach. GCF needs to paint a clear picture for stakeholders—board members, staff, donors, volunteers, current and potential grant recipients—of what success looks like and why this strategy is ultimately worth pursuing. This is the challenge and task before us.

Read full article via Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact: Part 1 | Stanford Social Innovation Review.

YouTube Updates Platform for Social Good

They also have training for nonprofits beginning July 31st.  Sounds like features for nonprofits are definitely worth checking out.

Excerpt:  YouTube announced two updates to its non-profit program on Friday, streamlining how non-profits and viral philanthropists can use the social video-sharing platform to turn views into action.

Read full article via YouTube Updates Platform for Social Good ~ Sociable360.com | Useful Social Media, Blogging, SEO & Marketing Resources..

The Power of Pro Bono: Getting Back More Than You Give

Great article.   Nonprofits gain with pro bono assistance pledged from the for profit sector.   If you can — then do!

Excerpt:   This is the third in a six-part series highlighting innovative trends in skills-based volunteering from pledge companies of A Billion + Change, a national campaign to mobilize billions in pro bono and skills-based volunteer services from corporate America by 2013. To date, more than 200 companies have pledged an estimated $1.8 billion of time and talent to help build nonprofit capacity at home and around the world.

Read full article   The Power of Pro Bono: Getting Back More Than You Give.  From CSRWire

How Many Hours Per Week Should Your Nonprofit Invest in Social Media?

Nonprofits need to use the social media avenues.  What does it take in terms of time and committment?  This article addresses each with reasonable estimates.  Also, there is a link to a prior related article you should also check out while you are there.

Excerpt:  The estimates below allow for the time required to research and create content for your social media campaigns, the actual time spent engaging and participating in your nonprofit’s online communities, and the time necessary to monitor and report ROI. It’s important to note that the time requirements for each tool are fluid and are always changing from week to week, but the estimates do provide a framework that will help you draft a realistic social media manager job description and decide what social media tools your nonprofit can utilize based on your capacity.

Read full article via How Many Hours Per Week Should Your Nonprofit Invest in Social Media? « Nonprofit Tech 2.0 Blog :: A Social Media Guide for Nonprofits.

Ten Nonprofit Funding Models | Stanford Social Innovation Review

This is a reprint but well worth bringing it to your attention now  —  great information and takeaways for nonprofit ideas and business models.  Recommended

Excerpt:  For-profit executives use business models—such as “low-cost provider” or “the razor and the razor blade”—as a shorthand way to describe and understand the way companies are built and sustained. Nonprofit executives, to their detriment, are not as explicit about their funding models and have not had an equivalent lexicon—until now.

Read full article via Ten Nonprofit Funding Models | Stanford Social Innovation Review.

What to Look for in a Nonprofit D&O Liability Insurance Policy

Nonprofit leadership and management need-to-know.  If you believe you do not need this insurance, perhaps you should read this article.

Excerpt: Nonprofit clients often ask us whether they really need to purchase Directors and Officers Liability Insurance (“D&O Insurance”). Our answer is always an emphatic YES! D&O Insurance is an important safeguard for any nonprofit organization. D&O Insurance protects the directors, officers, and often even the employees and volunteers from personal liability that arises in connection with the organization’s activities

Read full article via What to Look for in a Nonprofit D&O Liability Insurance Policy.  From Charity Lawyer Blog

Governance Committees and Compensation Decision-Making in the Nonprofit Community

Good read for all nonprofit board of directors, leadership, management.  Governance today requires better and bigger responsibilities. .  Not the least of these is the same as for profit groups, namely compensation of executive staff.

Excerpt: Committees of the board of directors or trustees of various not-for-profit entities are being asked to assume increasing responsibility and be proactively engaged in the leadership and success of the organization. Accompanying these expectations are new requirements and pressures from regulators, funding agencies, donors, beneficiaries, employees and other stakeholders that require board members or trustees to implement programs and structures that can effectively respond to and administer a decision-making process consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities of loyalty, honesty and care. The governance committee plays a critical role in deepening the understanding of the full board about appropriate processes that can assist in its critical role as a fiduciary. In relation to compensation decision-making, the governance committee can assist the compensation or human resources committee by helping identify potential new committee and board members who are well-versed in the expectations set by regulators and governing agencies, such as the Intermediate Sanctions Regulations, Stark Law requirements in health care, presidential housing valuation requirements for higher education and many more compensation- and benefits-oriented issues. In addition, the governance committee should understand the best practices for general governance protocols and other committees within its own not-for-profit community (e.g., higher education, health care, social services, religious). The committee should also be willing to adopt successful tactics from the for-profit community. A successful not-for-profit organization will have transparent internal communication processes and practices, policies and programs that can evolve along with the organization. •

Read full article via Governance committees and compensation decision-making in the not-for-profit community – Grant Thornton LLP.