Blog

What 40+ years with nonprofits taught me about great boards

What 40+ years with nonprofits taught me about great boards

Effective boards matter! But merely declaring it so doesn’t help you achieve the board functioning level you know your nonprofit needs and deserves. Until relatively recently, we haven’t had research to help nonprofit executives and board members know how to go about improving the board—how to catalyze it to “get better.”  I did some research and identified three critical success factors for effective board development.

read more
How to Create Abundant Community Support

How to Create Abundant Community Support

Tips from my guest blogger, Joanne Oppelt MHA: The questions I hear most often from the nonprofit professionals I encounter are, “How do I increase community support for my cause?” and, “Where do I find people to support my agency?”  The answers, strangely enough, are not based on fundraising theory. Rather, they are based on marketing theory and adapted for fundraising.

read more
Part II: Reputation Counts in Getting Funding

Your reputation matters! by Joanne Oppelt, MHA

What is your nonprofit’s reputation? Is it intact? What about your leadership? What is your reputation as executive director? What about the fundraising and grant liaison? What do others really think about you and your nonprofit? And what in the world does reputation have to do with grant funding? Your nonprofit’s, leadership’s, and your reputation have a lot to do with the nuances of what goes in in the funding deliberations room. The competition for resources is fierce.

read more
Do you think training’s like candy?

Do you think training’s like candy?

To be effective, learning is best in small doses extended over time. It’s just how the human brain works. Yet education and training are too easily compartmentalized – like something you do on your “off” time. Worse yet, too many nonprofits consider training a treat, like candy, something extra. “If you’re good” you’ll be rewarded with an all-expense paid “training” (pseudo-vacation) to an exotic destination.

read more
Happy Mothers’ Day!

Happy Mothers’ Day!

This time of year I reflect on my mother—not just how much I loved her and miss her now, but how I am like her and how she influenced me as a role model. This is a big topic of course!

But I’ve realized that she was a key reason I’m working in the nonprofit sector. I was blessed with a mom who was passionate about social service. Her gentle giving soul was obvious to everyone but, she was savvy and smart too—not to be dismissed as “just a softy” as many women were in her day.

Mom was gone as I was just starting out on my nonprofit journey. But she is with me and has been all along the way.

How about you?

read more

6 Steps You Must Know to Unleash the Potential of Your Nonprofit Board



Let’s Talk

 

Experiencing challenges? Schedule your free consultation with Mary today.

 

Schedule Your Appointment Today