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Why You May Need to Delete Half of Your Email List
When Facebook changes its news feed algorithms, it’s all nonprofit communicators talk about. But much more important changes are underway elsewhere: Over the last few years, big email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo! have been changing the lin …
In the boardroom: Asked to join that board?
Asked to join that board? Here’s what to look for before you sign on the dotted line Most board recruitment is relationship-based. Often a friend or colleague, already serving on a board, will recruit you to join their Community Benefit Organiza …
If Your Board Looked Like Your Community
Moving Board Diversity from a ‘Problem to Solve’ to ‘Something to Practice.’ Staff and Board Members Weigh in on Common Hurdles and How to Overcome Them. This story is part of New Faces New Spaces, a series by the Irvine Foundation exploring how …
I Followed A Founder: a First Person Nonprofit Tale
Too often the focus on nonprofit executive transitions is about the departing executive. We’re in the middle of interviewing 58 executives who followed founders or long-time leaders. Here’s just one of their stories; we’ll call her “Amanda”: The …
Ditch Your Board Composition Matrix
You know the board matrix: it has a list of skills and competencies that are “supposed” to be on the board, such as legal, marketing, HR, fundraising, finance. And typically there are also demographic qualities, such as gender, race, age. The boa …
Nonprofit Conflict of Interest: A 3-Dimensional View
Most nonprofit discussions about conflicts of interest are similar to those in the for-profit sector: they focus on financial benefit to board members or staff to the detriment of the nonprofit organization. The classic examples: the nonprofit buys som …
Board Terms: 1 Year – 3 Years – 2 Years
Several Blue Avocado readers responded to our query about unusual board terms, and we were intrigued by comments from Jeanetta Issa, CEO of Child Abuse Prevention in Kansas City; we talk with her here: Q: What are the board terms in your organization? …
Eight Strategic Mistakes with Memberships
If you have members (whether those members fit the legal definition of member or not), chances are you’re making at least one of these strategic mistakes identified by Ellis Robinson. With striking clarity she points the way not only to bui …
What to Do with Board Members Who Don’t Do Anything
In this Board Cafe column, we look at short-term and long-term strategies for the board members known as deadwood or worse: “He never comes to meetings or does anything. Why does he even stay on the board?” “She always says she’l …
