A resolution to get and stay fit In the past few weeks, many of us have made a resolution to get in shape. But when the cold hard reality of the gym sets in, we may be disappointed that we...
I'm the executive director of a medium-sized organization. One of my board members is keen on having a succession plan. I'm not convinced that we need to formalize the staffing process to such an extent. I'm also confused; the words...
What type of board do you want ‘yours’ to be? A nonprofit organization recently asked me to help them figure out “what type of board they wanted to be”. This reminded me of discussions with a colleague who suggests that...
My executive director read some motivational books and now wants us to have a Can-Do attitude where anything is possible. I would dearly love to say yes to everyone, but our shelter has limited space and people do get turned...
Introduction Many of our previous discussions have looked at the various components of project management and what a project manager does on a daily basis. These have been tip-oriented to help you manage the project and your sanity as you...
We're a mid-sized organization with 80 staff, mostly frontline workers who are out of the office most of the time. There seem to be two camps developing: those in the main office who see each other every day, and those...
My community has many needs. Sometimes as executive director I hear about new grant programs that would serve my community well, but the type of service is well outside what my organization does. I cannot just tweak. Should I go...
Not-for-profit organizations are increasingly investing time and resources in planning: strategic planning, risk management planning, crisis management planning and more. Equally important is the task of evaluating the work and progress of the organization, especially as it relates to delivering...
This article continues our series on a charity’s dispute with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In our last article we dealt with the first formal stage of a dispute, the audit process, culminating when the charity receives a notice of...
Introduction Everyone has worked on a project at one time or another that has been 'challenged'. These are the projects that keep us working well beyond sunset or that keep us up at night. The best case scenario is that...
