By Molly Penn Just last week, I heard complaints from two CEOs or Executive Directors who wish their board was somehow “better.” In one case, the board is overreaching and micromanaging. In the other, the board is too disengaged. These are common complaints that represent opposite ends of the spectrum, but share similar root causes. […]
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By Molly Penn and Marissa Lewis We’ve been reflecting on the leadership changes that are unfolding (and have been predicted for years) in the nonprofit sector as they intersect with our considerations around equity. We recently created a workshop series focused on succession planning with an equity lens, which was met with appreciation by nonprofits
Guest Blog Post by Ally Dommu, Director of Service Development and Worker-Owner at Big Duck Nearly every big organizational decision a nonprofit makes—new programs, leadership changes, refined fundraising strategies, upgraded technology—has a communications opportunity attached to it. But it can be challenging to regularly take a step back and think strategically about what’s most important to prioritize.
By Molly Penn Summer season offers a great opportunity to do a retreat with your board or staff members. Business as usual tends to slow down a bit and summer is a great season for reflection. If you can handle the nightmare that is aligning schedules in the summer, getting people together for a thoughtful,
By Molly Penn Nonprofit organizations are part of an ecosystem of our social safety net (and we include arts organizations in that category). Nonprofits pick up where government support and protection leaves off. What we find over and over in our work is the importance of adopting a relational approach to working in communities. Nonprofits
by Molly Penn It’s the beginning of the year and if you’re like many nonprofit leaders, you’re in planning mode. It’s time to think about your plan for fundraising for the year ahead. It’s an important one – the pandemic is turning into an endemic, the government relief funds are no longer available – so
We tend to think of strategic planning as a long process comprising many meetings among internal stakeholders (board and staff) working together diligently to turn their intentions into clear strategy to propel the work. Often, we recognize we need the help of a consultant to add discipline to our thinking, create the process that will
by Molly Penn Have you ever thought about what systems can do for you? We specialize in thinking about this question. As consultants who work with nonprofits and foundations to help them change the world (a lofty goal), we recognize the importance of starting with the smallest step – building systems to support people in
by Molly Penn Strategic Planning is a term that gets used fairly frequently, but not always to refer to the same work. As an example, lately we’ve gotten requests for strategic plans ranging from budgets of $15,000 to $150,000. This describes a completely different scope of work. Consulting is a time-driven business – we charge
By Molly Penn Reflecting on all the work we do with incredible clients, and the many, many conversations we have with prospective clients, I find myself noticing some natural tension points that arise as we try to move away from transactional relationships towards more transformative ones. Here are some examples as food for thought and
by Molly Penn How do we ensure that planning = intentional and strategic change? Simple. Every good planning process needs to be rooted in a set of powerful strategic questions. Do your change initiatives feel like business as usual to you? If so, you are missing an opportunity to think about planning as an opportunity
by Marita Phelps and Molly Penn Many of us are asking ourselves, in both our personal lives and professional roles: What can I do to end racism and create equity for people of color? Last year, many formerly complacent Americans woke up. The deaths of people like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Eric Garner, and Tamir
By Molly Penn and Sofiya Cheyenne “They’re a great culture fit.” Have you truly considered what you mean when you play the culture fit card? The notion of “culture fit” has been exposed for what it is – a way of upholding white supremacist, ableist culture in organizations. By definition, culture refers to the collective
By Janice Shapiro Last year, in a matter of days, our world changed without warning. Within months of the pandemic we found ourselves faced with a new normal, and we had to figure out how to sustain our organizations when everything shut down, how to protect our employees’ jobs where we could, how to address
By Mairta Phelps If you manage a team in 2021, it is likely you are faced with new challenges. Forty-two percent of the American workforce continues to work remotely, and an estimated 27 percent will still be working from home through 2021. This is an 87 percent increase in the number of new remote workers
How much of your time is spent managing others instead of leading change? Are you ready to move from a place of managing people to leading with influence? No doubt leadership development looks very different today than it did a year ago. Here are some of the trends we see emerging in 2021 and some questions for reimagining your agency’s leadership strategy.
In the 2020 workplace, people are fully showing up. Your employees are juggling more today than ever before, attempting to work, parent, teach, and survive—all while isolated from critical community resources and support. In this new working normal, how are you creating an environment where employees feel safe, seen, heard, and respected?
A global pandemic, an economic recession and an exploding social justice movement are convergent forces calling on nonprofit leaders, funders and consultants to do our work differently going forward. For the first time in modern memory, we have an opportunity to reevaluate all of our assumptions, perceptions, procedures and systems.
Are there just too many nonprofit organizations? Alliances can take many forms. In this post, we’ll detail some of the most common forms of alliances and why organizations might want to use them. The important thing here is to keep your mission delivery at the forefront of your rationale, and to summon the personal humility that brought you to nonprofit work in the first place.
Ever heard this from a board member? Many board members simply dread being asked to raise funds. We are taught that how much money someone has is considered personal information and is socially inappropriate to discuss. Since fundraising is a core responsibility of nonprofit boards, it’s well worth the effort to turn this around.
Everyone struggles with how to articulate your strategic plan goals so they compel others to join you in your noble quest. How many organizations do you know that spend months and months and thousands of dollars only to roll out a plan with … meh goals? We’d bet the answer is too many. We’re setting out to change that.
Imagine coming to work every day full of purpose and conviction. The role of a vision statement is to serve as your true north, the motivation for working in the social sector, the difference you are in business to make. Here are some key questions to ask yourself when framing or refining your vision.
Wouldn’t it be easier just to do the work and not have to worry about engaging people? Sure, it would be easier – and a whole lot less effective. How each nonprofit defines its community may vary, but the idea that the organization exists to serve a particular community is at the center of the nonprofit form. Here are some tips for how to manage these conversations.
The best laid plans can be facilitated or foiled by organizational culture – the (mostly) invisible force that guides how people in your organization interact with one another and with those you serve. So if culture is invisible, how do you pay attention to it? Here are some tools to help you be more proactive about building a culture where people want to work with you and do their best work when they’re there:
By Molly Penn Strategy should always factor in your organization’s current business model. You need to understand your business model in order to ascertain how bold you can be in your strategy. Do you have assets and liquidity to allocate to new initiatives? Or, is your plan more about regaining financial sustainability? These two situations
While nobody wants to emulate Frank Cross, leaders are often unsure how to end the employment of a staff person who isn’t working out but hasn’t violated any laws or obviously failed. To be clear, you always want to seek legal assistance or advice on the proper procedure when you are thinking of firing someone. But whenever possible, strive to make this process less painful and more humane so as not to negatively affect the morale of the remaining staff.