Strategic Planning
Why Don’t Foundations Build Capacity in Fundraising?
Why do so few grantmakers invest in building the capacity for nonprofits to raise independent money?
A Fork in the Yellow Brick Road to Oz
The CEO of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County describes an approach to strategic choices that has us singing, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
Matrix Map Part Two: The Strategic Imperatives
Beyond helping nonprofit leaders understand the business model, the Matrix Map can help you strengthen it.
The Matrix Map Approach Part One: How to Create the Matrix Map
You may have heard of the Dual Bottom Line: the idea that strategic choices must serve both mission impact and financial viability. But how do you turn this idea into a quantitative decision-making tool?
Stuck Between a Financial Crisis Wrought by the Founder and a Hard Place
A deputy director describes the crisis at an organization where the founding executive director left, and how the organization almost closed.
Ditch Your Board Composition Matrix
Board composition matrices focus our attention on what people are, rather than on what the organization needs board members to do.
High Pay for Nonprofit Execs? Analysis of 100,000 Salaries
Everybody has an opinion about nonprofit executives’ salaries, but almost nobody has any real data outside their own experiences.
And Now for a Different Type of Board Agenda
Board meeting time is precious time, and the fulcrum of board-staff opportunity or disappointment. Let’s be smarter about how we use it.
Stance: The ED’s Role and Attitude in Strategic Planning
An overlooked but crucial element in strategic planning is the attitude or stance that the executive director takes to the process.
Getting Real About Real-Time Evaluation
Evaluators explain a type of program evaluation — and how to make it work for your nonprofit.