Donating to make a splash
Like American Express’ support of the little guy with its “Small Business Saturday” campaign on the Saturday after Black Friday, I want to a day that promotes supporting small nonprofits. While it lacks alliteration, it makes an important point, and failing to do so is harmful to our community all across the country.
My concern for the disappearance of the small(er), community-based nonprofit has been growing over the years. Are they ready to be put on the endangered species list? Not yet, but there is certainly Read more
Too Big to Succeed
People tend to look for the easy answers. For example, I’m asked all of the time, “How long should an executive director stay in her/his position?” Simple question to ask; complex question to answer, as it isn’t a functions of years (the answer folks are looking for), but rather a function of the person’s actual performance of the job, the continued interest in doing the job and the interest in, and willingness to, push the envelope in order to be the best possible and not Read more
Ethics Start at the Top
Ethics, smethics (yes, I’ve blogged about this before). Increasingly, and sadly, that appears to be what the nonprofit sector thinks of ethics. Something to rhyme with, but nothing to take seriously, as evidenced by story after story, from every corner of our country, of organizations operating unethically.
Pulled from headlines just in the last several weeks: nonprofits operating as a family business, too numerous to mention, and then making loans to family’s private business (Footings, in Monroe, New York); executive director embezzling $500,000 with the aid Read more
