You are browsing: Jeanne Bell
Deconstructing Sustainability
Maybe in some mythic past it was possible to think first about strategic impact goals, and then about how to raise the money. But today we know better: you can’t talk about what you’re going to do without talking about how to get the money. And, …
Stance: The ED’s Role and Attitude in Strategic Planning
An overlooked — but crucial — element in strategic planning is the attitude or stance that the executive director takes to the process. Jeanne Bell of CompassPoint suggests a variety of roles and stances that will be appropriate: As we exp …
Take A Fresh Look at Scrip Fundraising
Wait! Scrip is not just for churches and schools anymore. Increasingly, nonprofit cultural centers, health clinics, civil rights organizations and environmental coalitions are finding scrip to be a comparatively easy way to raise funds: How …
Focus on the Destination, Not the Route (Budget)!
It’s time to stop looking at budgets, argues Jeanne Bell in this provocative finance column, and pay attention instead to projections and financial goals: In this precarious era, annual budgets have become like new cars: they los …
A Nonprofit Dashboard and Signal Light for Boards
(If you have trouble seeing the graphics in this article, you can download a PDF free here.) The dashboard in a car gives an instant update on many important factors: speed, gas left in the tank, engine temperature, whether the air conditioner i …
Six Things Every Board Member Should Know About the NEW 990
Just the thought of an IRS form can bring out the clouds on a sunny day. But now that this annually required nonprofit form is on the web for everyone to see (at GuideStar.org), it goes beyond compliance to being an important way to t …
Is It Time for an Audit?
Blue Avocado reader Bill Mitchell writes: “As a board member of both a small ($400k/year) and a much larger ($1.8m/year) nonprofit, what are the criteria to determine whether or not to conduct a formal outside audit? I have worked on staffs, sat on boa …
Nonprofit Budgets Have to Balance: False!
As nonprofits serving people and communities in these difficult financial times, we don’t expect things to turn around for our communities in the near future. Many of us are wondering: how can we achieve a balanced budget in these times? When is it oka …
