You are browsing: Jan Masaoka
Ten Quick Ways to Invigorate Board Meetings
Board members invest a tremendous amount of time and energy at board meetings. A few simple changes can often make that investment pay off in important ways. Make a resolution to implement at least one of the following ideas this month:1. Supply name t …
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 …
Critical Path for the Board
What is the board supposed to be discussing, anyway? What is the board supposed to be doing, anyway? Rather than suggesting a strategic plan or a conventional list of discussion topics, in this issue we offer a powerful approach to determin …
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 …
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 …
What’s the Point of a Nonprofit Board, Anyway?
Democracy is the worst form of government, said Winston Churchill, except for all the other ones. The same might be said of nonprofit boards. Here we take an unconventional look at three dimensions of why boards exist: legal reasons, mission reasons, a …
Loans From Nonprofit Board Members
In many nonprofits, a time comes when the question arises: should the organization accept personal loans from board members? This article does not try to answer that question. It does try to outline — very briefly — some of the choices in how …
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 …
Succession Planning for Nonprofits of All Sizes
The term “succession planning” brings to mind a large corporation with a long-time CEO first choosing, then grooming, a successor. But this practice is sharply declining even in large corporations and is even less relevant to most communi …
The Nonprofit Board’s Role in HR
I once served on the board of a group whose executive director adamantly insisted that managing staff was her responsibility, not the board's. We stayed hands off until we started to hear rumors of favoritism. After we prevailed in a battle with he …
