Jul 15

Time for boards to tackle nonprofit leadership transition planning is now

By Feature

By Johnson Grossnickle and Associates

A recent Boston Globe article has once again drawn attention to an issue we have been warned about for several years – a predicted mass leadership transition among nonprofits.

Though we have long been warned about the anticipated change as boomers retire from leadership roles at the nonprofits many of them started, it seems few nonprofit boards have taken the necessary steps to prepare.

Cited in the article, for instance, is a soon to be released study of New England nonprofit leaders which indicates two-thirds of them have plans to leave their role in the next five years, but the majority of their organizations (60%) have yet to begin working on succession plans.

The industry has been lucky to date in that the transition of boomer leaders to retirement has been slower than originally predicted, likely due to the recession delaying retirement plans for many boomers. However, it is time for nonprofit boards to begin getting serious about tackling plans for the transition.

Here are a few things your board should begin doing now if you have a leader that will be retiring in the next few years:

  • Begin budgeting for professional development and leadership training to help groom staff to take the reins down the road
  • Take steps to deepen relationships with donors beyond the Executive Director, so their connection lies with the organization rather than one individual.

Click here to read additional suggestions from Johnson Grossnickle and Associates.

Jul 14

Top five mistakes of boards

By Governance, Sponsor Insight

By Zac Kester, JD, LLM, CFRM, at Charitable Allies |

In the past few months I’ve received many calls regarding badly behaving boards, and have become aware of at least two Indiana Attorney General investigations into nonprofits. That got me thinking about the top mistakes of nonprofit boards.

I am not going to round up the “usual suspects” in this article — many nonprofit leaders already know about fiduciary responsibility and keeping good records. Instead, here are the “sleeper” mistakes — the top five mistakes of boards that, in practice, often create more damage than the obvious oversights and might not be on your radar:

  • Failing to monitor programming effectiveness or make course corrections
  • Not wrestling with tough questions
  • Board-level confidences are not kept
  • One person or a small group runs the show
  • Executives and inactive board members who are not held accountable

Are you on a board characterized by one or more of these mistakes? If so, you may want to think about starting a board meeting by analyzing one these issues and discuss how to be more effective.

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Jul 14

Applications to help manage projects

By Feature, Technology

By Idealware for TechSoup |

What kind of software is out there and which tools might support your organization’s particular project-management needs? Idealware shares what nine nonprofit project managers are using to manage their projects.

So you need software to help with project management. Great! But wait… What do you mean by project management? Do you need to map out project plans and schedules? Collaborate on documents? Track tasks? Time? Documents? Issues?

The definition of “project-management software” varies widely, and your needs are likely to depend substantially on your project, your team, and your project-management style. What’s available out there and what tools might support your particular project-management needs?

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Jul 14

Nonprofit brings technology to disaster recovery

By Feature, Technology

By Devin Thorpe, contributor, Forbes |

Field Innovation Team or FIT is bringing hi-tech into the disaster recovery arena by training responders to use it and developing strategic relationships with technology partners to bring their best to bear when it’s needed most.

FIT, a nonprofit, has been in the game since 2010 and has responded to hurricane Sandy, the Boston Marathon Bombing and the 2014 mudslide in Oso, Washington.

By deploying drones over the mudslide, FIT was able to get a better read on the dangerous topography than would have been possible with manned aircraft and was able to do it without putting any humans at risk.

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Jul 07

Volunteer management software

By Feature, Technology

By Janna Finch, market research associate, Software Advice |

Every year, Software Advice speaks with hundreds of professionals from small nonprofits (organizations with annual operating budgets of $1 million or less) looking for the right volunteer management software. This provides us with valuable insight on what challenges these buyers face and what functionality they look for when evaluating new technology.

This report highlights our findings from a recent analysis of interactions with prospective buyers. It can help guide the decisions of other buyers evaluating volunteer management software.

Key findings

  • Sixty-three percent of buyers currently use general-purpose software, such as Microsoft Excel and Outlook, to coordinate volunteers.
  • Twenty-five percent want the adoption of new volunteer management software to result in more accurate volunteer records.
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Jul 07

Why DC’s nonprofit organizations are targets for hackers

By Feature, Technology

By Chris Bing, staff reporter, DC Inno |

D.C. is home to a conglomeration of high-profile, global nonprofit organizations who have progressively become extremely attractive targets for hackers.

These organizations are especially susceptible to attacks because of the sensitive financial information they store via their donors and the propensity for sharing information between offices that are working in coordination to accomplish a specific mission.

Virtru, a D.C.-based cybersecurity company that specializes in email encryption, now plans to offer up to 50 free seats of its software to eligible, high-risk non-profits, as part of a grassroots marketing strategy.

“It’s no surprise that nonprofits often lack the resources they need to succeed; both from a personnel perspective and, especially now, from a technology perspective. Unfortunately, trying to stretch budgets and gain funding for day-to-day operations can be a job in itself … nonprofits may also struggle to adhere to compliance regulations such as HIPAA, FERPA and Dodd-Frank, depending on the nature of their work,” Virtru CEO and co-founder John Ackerly told DC Inno.

The normal cost of each software subscription for an organization per year would be at least $3,000 without the program (Virtru for Nonprofits). Through this software, users will have another level of control and security behind their email exchanges.

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Jul 07

Nine organizations share their tech success

By Feature, Technology

By Jim Lynch, writer, TechSoup |

Over the past year, TechSoup has been doing impact stories about nonprofits, churches and libraries doing great work with TechSoup’s product donations. Here are nine.

Braided River

Seattle-based nonprofit publishing company Braided River has used a TechSoup donation of Adobe software to astounding effect. It’s undertaken 16 conservation projects to date with just three staff people. Among the wild places Braided River has featured, millions of acres have been moved to a stronger level of protection. The organization’s project on Last Polar Bear reached 26.5 million people through national media outreach, including an appearance on “Good Morning America.”

Braided River’s director of development and communications, Lace Thornberg, told us, “We work really hard with a very little budget to have the highest impact possible. We wouldn’t be able do it without TechSoup donations. I asked some of my colleagues for some examples of how they use TechSoup donations. They said you want an example? You mean everything we do, every day?”

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Jul 02

Focus on mission

By Feature, Governance

By Jane Page-Steiner at JPSNonprofit Strategies |

Don’t let your board get so entangled in day-to-day challenges of your organization that they lose sight of your larger purpose. As your board discusses critical issues, your mission statement can provide perspective and a reminder of your organization’s true purpose. At every board meeting keep your mission statement as a central theme.

Nonprofit leaders can help their boards keep focus on mission by:

  • Reading the mission statement at the start of every meeting
  • Sharing a story of how the organization’s mission impacted someone’s life in the last month
  • Taking 15 minutes at a board meeting to discuss the elements of the mission statement and how it guides your work
  • Asking board members to share how they see the organization living out its mission
  • Discussing how one of your programs reflects and implements your mission

Your mission statement informs your board, constituents and the community of what you do, who you serve and how you provide services. I recommend you regularly review your mission statement and revise it if you have changed direction or if it no longer seems relevant. I can help you create a fun and engaging planning session that reviews, and if needed, revises your mission statement.

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Jun 30

Good intentions or intentionality: Which describes your board of directors?

By Governance, Leadership, Sponsor Insight

By Steve Sauer, senior manager, BKD |

Most historians agree the form and function of today’s board of directors began around the advent of the 20th century. English authorities decided the ultimate authority in a company was vested in the board of directors, and the nature and extent of its authority was to be enumerated in the articles of association (or incorporation).

So after 100 years of practice, these boards have evolved into exceptional governing bodies presiding over their organizations … right? Not exactly.

According to a January 2015 study conducted by BoardSource, boards of not-for-profit organizations are not as close as they think to achieve the pinnacle of effective governance. On the contrary, the study reveals that, on average, not-for-profit leaders give boards a B- in overall performance. It would appear, then, that in our age of constant political, economic, regulatory and demographic changes, significant improvements are necessary — even vital to the health of the not-for-profit sector as a whole.

BoardSource, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to advancing the public good by building exceptional not-for-profit boards and inspiring board service, supports, trains and educates more than 100,000 not-for-profit board leaders from across the country each year.

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Jun 30

Salaried workers could get overtime pay

By Feature, Governance, Leadership

By Katie Johnston, Boston Globe staff |

Millions of American workers who put in extra hours with no extra pay would soon be eligible for overtime under a plan unveiled Monday night by President Obama. The proposed regulations would more than double the current threshold at which many salaried employees stop getting overtime pay, covering those who make up to $50,440 a year.

That is welcome news for workers like Gassan Marzuq. As the manager of a Dunkin’ Donuts in Kingston, Gassan Marzuq sometimes worked 80 or 90 hours a week — spending most of his days serving coffee, running the cash register, and mopping the floors.

Yet because he was a salaried employee who had been deemed ineligible for overtime, his $825 a week in pay sometimes averaged out to roughly the same hourly rate his workers were paid — a reality for many managers when they work more than 40 hours a week.

The Obama administration’s proposal, revealed in an op-ed by the president on the Huffington Post Monday night and set to be officially announced Tuesday, would extend overtime protections to roughly 5 million workers in 2016.

In 1975, about 62 percent of the salaried workforce were eligible for overtime pay, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank that advocates for low-income workers. Today, because of inflation, 8 percent are covered.

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