You are browsing: Jan Masaoka
New Growth from Old Wood: Heroes & Nonprofits (and Sarbanes-Oxley) 1.15.09
Textbooks make it seem as if Rosa Parks just one day decided not to sit at the back of the bus. In fact, of course, many other African American women and men had done just that over the years, only to be thrown off the bus. But when Rosa Parks refused …
A 360-Degree Look at the Organization: Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us
Who should judge if a meal is good? The cook? The nutritionist? The restaurant critic? Aristotle had a good answer long ago: “The guest is a better judge of the feast than the cook.” There are 360 degrees in a circle, and the 360 …
Speed Up the Board Recruitment Process!
Imagine getting excited about volunteering for something, and then waiting six or seven months before you actually get to do it. Can we accelerate the process by “pre-qualifying” candidates? One of the most frustrating parts of board recruitment …
Too Many Nonprofits? No — There Aren’t Enough Good Nonprofits
While Jan Masaoka was executive director at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, the organization completed two mergers, rejected four merger offers, and was rejected by the other party in two other merger explorations. In addition to consulting …
The Board Builds Its Sense of Self: Body-Building for Boards
Perhaps the single most important attribute of an effective board is also its most intangible: an independent sense of itself. This sense of self is the board’s identity as a BODY rather than, for instance, as a loose collection …
Closing Down the Right Way
In the last Board Cafe column, we discussed how to think about the possibility of closing down a nonprofit, including alternatives to closure. But sometimes closure is the best choice of the possible options. In recent weeks we’ve had a chance to see s …
Thinking the Unthinkable: Maybe We Should Shut Down
When we think about the important work we do at a nonprofit, it’s hard not to think that closing down is the ultimate disaster. But sometimes a lack of money or energy raises the question for us. Here at Blue Avocado, where we turn things on their head …
How to Take a Public Policy Stand, with sample criteria
When the Colorado Association for Recycling was approached to endorse the No Child Left Inside legislation, they didn’t know WHAT to decide, but they did know HOW to decide (see what they decided at end of article). They already had a proce …
Should the Board Hold Executive Sessions?
Nonprofit boards are often criticized for a lack of vigor, being subservient to their executive directors, and for weak evaluation of their chief executive. The need for frank and informal discussion about staff performance, and the importa …
Boards of All-Volunteer Organizations
Volunteerism is an enormous economic force, yet it is never mentioned in business school or in economics departments. –Walter Hoadley, former Chief Economist for the Bank of America All-volunteer organizations (AVOs) are a major social …
