“Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.” Those words, attributed to the Dalai Lama, speak not only to the importance of change, but the need to maintain a focus on one’s mission when going through...
I just returned from a job interview for the position of CEO of a nonprofit organization. In their strategic plan, they indicated that they were going to hire a full-time fund development manager to handle all development areas, and that...
Many small charities and churches start out tracking their donors and donations, and creating their charitable receipts, using a homegrown system. Most often, in my experience, this is built with Microsoft Excel and Word, but sometimes Access or another simple...
Last month, we spoke about the different types of people that can cause conflicts on the board. This month, we are going to talk about the ten things you need to keep in mind when you encounter one of these...
The company I approached for a grant this week asked for information to confirm that my charity operated in accordance with corporate socially responsibility. We exist for public benefit and are not a corporation in that sense, though we are...
On May 27, 2008, Canada’s nonprofit sector descended upon Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre for an unprecedented one-day event. With the tagline, “advancing the sector, an action plan,” The Summit was the first of its kind in the country. Organized by...
If you feel like you are bombarded with challenges, barriers, problems, and other energy-draining negatives, you're probably in just the right head space to learn more about appreciative inquiry. David Cooperrider and his colleagues at Case Western Reserve University developed...
This checklist may be of use to those considering joining a board of a charity. As well, it may be useful to staff and the board of charities who are interested in improving their legal compliance and improving their risk...
The American Society of Association Executives’ (ASAE) most recent environmental scanning project generated Mapping the Future of Your Association (PDF) – a book describing eight super trends affecting not-for-profit organizations. The super trends are: 1. Demassification. Break-up of the mass...
When international development organization, Plan Canada, recently decided to change their name, they also underwent a number of other self-assessments and transitions. But it wasn’t necessarily a dissatisfaction with the status quo that spurned on these evaluations. Simply put: they...
