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Nonprofit Spotlight: Donna Murray Brown is Tearing Down the Silos in Michigan
Donna Murray Brown is the President and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) She is also only one of a handful of African American CEOs of a statewide nonprofit association in the state. The MNA is a membership organization that is “d …
Nonprofit Spotlight
A new feature of Blue Avocado. Each issue, we’ll highlight a community nonprofit that is doing great work within their sector. This issue brings you a nascent nonprofit that bridges social services and the arts. The Trenton Community A-Team (TCAT) in T …
Rewrite the Script When These Characters Show Up in Workplace Politics
At some point, each of us joined the nonprofit sector as a starry-eyed idealist. Take a second now and channel that spirit: you were ready for a change, you were ready for action and you were determined, resourceful and optimistic. And why shouldn’t yo …
A Tiger Escaped Today, and I’m on the Zoo Board
It made international headlines: tiger attacks three visitors and kills one of them after escaping her enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo. What was it like to be on the Zoo board at that time? We are grateful to our friend for sharing his First Person …
Downward-Facing Budget and Other Nonprofit Yoga Poses
Don’t you love Vu Le, Blue Avocado’s humor columnist? This time he turns to giving us health hints! We in nonprofits work a lot and oftentimes neglect important things. Like flossing. And exercise. There are many benefits of yoga, which are the …
Surprise! Most Legacy Gifts DON’T Come from Major Donors
Planned giving professional Greg Lassonde gives us step-by-step instructions for soliciting bequests and planned gifts, and sets this in the context of paradigm changes in the field: While there is a growing amount of data about the importance o …
Mental Health Counselor May Have a Mental Health Problem – What Can We Do?
Dear Rita: Ruth has worked for our nonprofit for about three years as a Mental Health Counselor. Until recently she has been an excellent employee. However, starting about two months ago, Ruth’s behavior has gone into a problem-filled free fall. Her su …
How to Recruit Terrible Nonprofit Board Members
Susan Sanow has been a wonderful board member on most of the boards she's served on, and a terrible board member some of the time. So she knows of what she speaks:Board members wanted. Requirements: Warm Body. Nice. Has a title or an employer or a …
Nonprofit Funding: Buying a Cake and Restricting it Too
Blue Avocado’s humor columnist Vu Le dreams about restricted funding for cakes: For the past few months one of our staff has an eye that’s been twitching. “It’s this grant!” she says. “It’s for our after-school program. It pays for instructo …
Kirk Kramer: An Uncomplicated Path for Developing Leaders
Kirk Kramer of The Bridgespan Group suggests some new approaches to leadership development in his recent papers. For Blue Avocado readers, he cuts right to the chase: Blue Avocado: Kirk, what’s the single most interesting point you have to m …
