News & Views

By Pavitra Menon, Senior Consultant - One very important aspect of a nonprofit leader’s job is to align the organization’s resources in service of the mission. And critical resources in this regard are the people, the staff. When staff’s professional needs are met in meeting the organizations mission, it’s a perfect fit! When an organization is structured to accommodate people, it often spells disaster! This is not to say that people don’t matter – in fact because they matter so much, it’s important to place them within the organization doing the things they are most capable of and motivated to do.   Read more >>

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Jeff Ballow, Senior Consultant - You have just posted a new position on a variety of job sites, circulated the position description to colleagues near and far, and among the initial wave of inquiries is an e-mail from a current member of your board of directors expressing interest in the position. You stare at your computer monitor and wonder, “How should I handle this situation?”  Read more >>

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Pavitra Menon, Senior Consultant - When nonprofit organizations are created, the emphasis and focus resides on getting the work done, fulfilling the mission by providing programs, and/or services that serve the needs of the clients and communities. Hiring program staff to do the work is priority and, when resources permit, staff expansion happens in the form of hiring fundraising personnel and maybe someone to manage finances. Most nonprofits do not have the capacity to hire a staff person dedicated to the HR function (with the training and skills necessary to manage this critical function well).   Read more >>

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Michael Hickey, Independent Community Development Consultant - Just recently I attended a very compelling conference put on by The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, and my alma mater the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, entitled The Power of Collaboration. The title of the event comes from the very engaging article “Collective Impact,” published by the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Its authors make the argument that only through collaborative efforts can funders and nonprofit providers rise above the fragmentation of their service niche. The lay out a helpful framework include the following four components of effective collective action:  Read more >>

Thursday, November 17, 2011 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

  By Holly Delany Cole and Valyrie Laedlein, CRE Co-Directors: It’s grim – politically and economically – for nonprofits, including CRE, and more significantly, for the people nonprofits are working with and issues that are important to them and us. CRE sees five key issues facing the nonprofit sector in the Fall of 2011.   Read more >>

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Louisa Hackett - The following is a continuation of a previous blog post introducing the Five Questions Driving Organizational Effectiveness.

Strategic plans come in many shapes, serve a variety of purposes and always take time.  Read more >>

Thursday, September 08, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Louisa Hackett - What makes an organization effective? Sure strong managers, high performing staff, visionary leaders, sufficient resources and up-to-date technology all play a part. But a critical element, maybe the most critical, is clarity of purpose. Without knowing fundamentally what an organization is striving to accomplish and for whom, the chance to have the most effective programs is lost and muddled, diffuse programming can follow.  Read more >>

Thursday, September 01, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

 By Valyrie Laedlein, CRE Co-Director - I’d been looking at data from the Daring to Lead 2011 study about how Executive Directors spend their time – and how they THINK they should be spending their time – and was preparing to write a blog about what prevents us from focusing on “what matters.” Simultaneously, of course, I was reading articles and analyses about the debt ceiling agreement that has been reached in Washington and finding myself increasingly incensed by how the decisions being made by every level of government are impacting our communities, the nonprofits that serve them, and the impossible quandary about just what should get our attention as nonprofit executives.   Read more >>

Monday, August 08, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

 By Jean Lobell - The talk about succession planning tends to be fraught with some anxiety, some confusion, and some misconceptions. My experience is that this can be avoided or at least minimized, if we got clear about three things:   Read more >>

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

 

By Valyrie Laedlein, CRE Co-Director - The recent publication of Daring to Lead 2011, the national survey of over 3,000 nonprofit executive directors about their organizations and experiences in leadership, makes plain the nature of the challenge in getting a Board of Directors to make a solid contribution to the nonprofit it governs. The small to medium nonprofits participating in the survey (roughly 2/3 of respondents had organizational budgets of under $3 million) face a particular set of constraints.  Read more >>

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink