Smart Stewardship for Nonprofits E-Book

Peter C. Brinckerhoff

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Wiley Nonprofit Authority
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 328

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

A practical guide to effective decision-making frameworks andtools for nonprofits that ensure successful stewardship The basic tenets of decision making for nonprofits are similar,whether you're growing, shrinking, or trying to think your way outof a box. Smart Stewardship for Nonprofits provides the tools tomake the best stewardship decisions in these varied, but common,situations. Coverage includes the keys to smart stewardship foryour nonprofit, the smart stewardship decision tree, understandingcapability and capacity, making innovation the norm, understandingthe true cost of growth, going to scale, and smart stewardship inbad times. * Features tools to make the best stewardship decisions in everykind of situation * Written for executive directors of nonprofit organizations,nonprofit board members, CPAs, and other financial counsel fornonprofits, development directors * Provides a website hosting a variety of online tools andmaterials * Also by Peter Brinckerhoff: Mission-Based Marketing,Mission-Based Management, Social Entrepreneurship, andFaith-Based Management With innovative organizational change initiatives to foster newgrowth and effectiveness, Smart Stewardship for Nonprofitsoffers your nonprofit the critical guidance it needs to getthere.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview

The Need for This Book

Who This Book Is Written For

The Benefits of Reading This Book

A Preview of the Book

Our Three Case Organizations

Recap

Chapter 2: The Keys to Smart Stewardship for Your Nonprofit

Overview

It Always Starts with Your Mission

You're a Smart Steward of Other People's Stuff

Money Matters

Your Nonprofit Is Not a Charity. Your Nonprofit Is a Mission-based Business.

Innovation Must Be Baked Into Your Culture

You Have to Engage Everyone

You Need a Common Strategy and Decision Process

Recap

Discussion Questions

Chapter 3: The Smart Stewardship Decision Tree

Overview

Why Use a Decision Tree?

The Smart Stewardship Decision Tree

Developing Your Own Decision Tree

Recap

Discussion Questions

Chapter 4: Mission and Values

Overview

Your Mission: Your Most Valuable Asset

Values: How You Do Your Mission

The Mission/Values Intersection

Creating a Culture around Your Mission and Values

Recap

Discussion Questions

Chapter 5: Understanding Capability and Capacity

Overview

Core Competencies: What Is Your Organization Really Good At?

Choosing Core Competencies Going Forward

Capacity: Measuring Your Ability to Grow Your Mission

A Capacity Checklist before Growing

Recap

Discussion Questions

Chapter 6: Understanding the True Cost of Growth

Overview

What Growth Does to an Organization

How to Run Out of Cash

How to Run Out of Quality

Is a No-Growth or Slow-Growth Policy Smart Stewardship?

Recap

Discussion Questions

Chapter 7: Making Innovation the Norm

Overview

Why Does Innovation Seem So Hard?

Collaborative Innovation

Innovation Tools

Baking Innovation into the Organization

Recap

Discussion Questions

Chapter 8: Going to Scale

Overview

Can Your Mission-Provision Methods Be Duplicated?

The Truth about Models

What's a Reasonable Growth Curve?

How Much Time, Talent, and Treasure Do You Want to Invest?

Does Your Market Really Want What You Have to Offer?

Models for Scaling

Going to Scale—A Checklist

Recap

Discussion Questions

Chapter 9: Smart Stewardship in Difficult Times

Overview

In a Crisis, Start Here

Strategic Issues/Actions

Tactical Issues/Actions

Leadership Issues

Recap

Discussion Questions

Chapter 10: Final Words

Appendix

Books

Papers

Web Resources

Books by Peter Brinckerhoff

About the Author

Index

Copyright©2012 by Peter C. Brinckerhoff. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Brinckerhoff, Peter C., 1952-

Smart stewardship for nonprofits: making the right decision in good times and bad/

Peter C. Brinckerhoff.

p. cm.— (Wiley nonprofit authority; 7)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-08367-3 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-22277-5 (ebk);

ISBN 978-1-118-23664-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-26161-3 (ebk)

1. Nonprofit organizations. 2. Decision making. 3. Problem solving. I. Title.

HD62.6.B75 2012

658.15'9–dc23

2011043313

For my amazing wife Chris: Marrying youin 1978 was the best decision of my life.

Acknowledgments

Any book starts with one or more ideas that tend to roll around in your head for a while, percolate and then, one day, you realize that you may have the material for a book. For this book, the initial work that wound up in these pages was all done around collaborative innovation with three amazing people, Tim Brostrum from the Fieldstone Alliance, Fran Loosen, now with the Kellogg Foundation, and Jeff Nugent, from The Center for Leadership Innovation. Tim, Fran, Jeff, and I worked together for just more than 18 months, and our conversations and collaboration were one of the personal highlights of my career in nonprofits. You see the results of their inspiration throughout the book.

The next person I have to thank is Deborah Atkinson, Executive Director of Learning and Performance Excellence at NISH, a national nonprofit headquartered in Vienna, Virginia. Deborah runs the best national training program for nonprofits anywhere, and I've had the privilege of working with, and learning from, her for nearly 20 years. Deborah saw a presentation I did on collaborative innovation in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and asked me to flesh out a two-day training course that was about innovation in a rapid growth environment. As I thought through the pieces of that course one afternoon, I had my “Aha! There's a book in this material!” moment, and Deborah gets much of the credit for improving the material contained here.

I spent considerable time working with the three case organizations, whose chief executive officers (CEOs) and staff gave me great feedback and anecdotes about their experiences with decision making and organizational growth. All three are exemplary nonprofits, among the best the United States has, and I greatly appreciate all the time and energy they devoted to helping me. Particular thanks go to Mitch Tomlinson and the staff at Peckham Industries in Lansing, Michigan, “Mark” and staff at “Lakeview Christian Church,” and Ray Bishop and his staff at Goodwill Industries of North Georgia. You all are an inspiration, both to me and to your communities.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Overview

Welcome.

I hope this finds your nonprofit stable, growing at a healthy pace, providing high-quality mission, and using best practices in management, human resources, technology, and finance. I also hope your board fully understands the mission and the staff, and that all of your organization's key stakeholders are in lockstep as to your mission priorities, values, and the best way forward.

I hope.

Unfortunately, if you are like most nonprofit staff or volunteers, when you read the paragraph above you thought, for all or part of it, “I wish.”

So do I.

This book is designed to be a tool to get your organization closer to the nonprofit nirvana described above. In my 30 years staffing, leading, volunteering, consulting, and training nonprofits, I have seen many nonprofits that are in the place described above. It's hard to get there and harder to stay there. It requires constant management and board attention to mission, values, culture, communications, and the entire community of stakeholders. Even when you are doing everything on that list, it's easy to go off course.

I hold a private pilot's license and flew regularly for 25 years. I've also sailed all my life. It always intrigued me that the rule in both disciplines is the same: “Look away for three seconds and you're off course.” Three seconds. Thus, constant attention to your desired direction is crucial. First, though, you've got to get yourself and your nonprofit on the best mission course to start with.

And that's really what this book is about. Helping you get the mission, values, culture, tools, and skills to get your nonprofit on the right path and keep it there. For some organizations this will require big decisions and major course corrections. For others, a tweak here and an improvement there and you'll nearly be on autopilot.