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Amaze Your Friends with these Nonprofit Factoids
When we believe something to be true but don’t have the data to support that idea, what happens when we do find the hard evidence? Two things: either we find out we were wrong after all or . . . we were right and now we have the facts to put into a gra …
Six Ways to Know If It’s Time to Leave
Are you tired, a bit listless? Maybe the demands of the job seem ever more burdensome, or the board seems increasingly dissatisfied, or your retirement clock is ticking. Do you need more than a megavitamin? Even better is this advice from Tim Wolfred, …
Switching Careers at the Worst Possible Time
Edie Boatman left a for-profit career for fundraising just as the economy crashed. With irony and humor her First Person Nonprofit essay reflects on her sense of timing and what she’s learned so far. August of 2008: Just one month before th …
Model Dress Code for Nonprofits
Following is sample language to use in your organization’s dress code: While work attire is casual at our organization, all employees should maintain appropriate standards of neat and professional dress and grooming. The key point in determining …
Tattoos and Piercings . . . and a Model Dress Code
Dear Rita: Our younger employees are increasingly decorated with ink and metal. Most of them conceal their “body art” while at work but in summer it’s become more visible. We don’t care about tattoos and piercing but we don’t want to look at them …
Alcoholics Anonymous vs. Best Practices
This article about Alcoholics Anonymous is not about how they help alcoholics, but reviews their unusual management and organizational practices, which fly in the face of much conventional wisdom about what good nonprofit management looks like. As part …
Nonprofits Portrayed in Popular Culture
Thanks to dozens of Blue Avocado readers who sent in examples of nonprofits in popular culture, here’s a quick look at the mostly-fake world of nonprofits on the big and small screens. Queen Latifah in “Life Support” is a refreshing exceptio …
The Volunteer Who Couldn’t
Martin Gorfinkel retired from the technology company he started and ran for 30 years. He is the legendary "retired and willing volunteer" but has run into roadblock after roadblock. We seldom hear from the would-be volunteer who never ended u …
Survival Strategies for the Arts
John Killacky, artist and arts funder, not only knows that we need the arts now more than ever, but gives us ten survival strategies for arts organizations and one for audience members — and reminds us that all of us are audience members. The a …
The Car Donation Controversy and the Right Way to Donate Your Car
Why is there a slightly sleazy vibe around car donations? Could it be the tacky, misleading-sounding billboards posted around town? As one example to the left, the “Outreach Center” (see news report) is reportedly a for-profit car liquidation fir …
