Counting Mosquito Nets
If you think it’s simple to measure a nonprofit’s effectiveness, think again. I’ve written before about the failings of Charity Navigator and other rating systems, which resort to vastly oversimplified…
Read More Building the Right Board — Or Not
Do you want to build a great board of directors for your nonprofit? Sure! But it’s harder than it looks. Even if you recruit terrific people, which of course is…
Read More The Greatest Philanthropist You’ve Never Heard Of
. Julius Rosenwald isn’t much remembered today, but eighty years ago he was considered one of the “big three” of American philanthropy, along with John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.…
Read More Think Before You Endow
I was recently asked at a public forum why I don’t like endowments. I answered: “It’s not so much that I don’t like endowments. It’s that nonprofits and their donors…
Read More The Departed
So what should a nonprofit board do when high-ranking staff members leave the organization? This may sound radical, but shouldn’t the board try to figure out why these staff members…
Read More Donor-Advised Funds: By the Numbers
Last week I participated in a terrific debate about donor-advised funds with my good friend Stuart Comstock-Gay, the president of the Vermont Community Foundation. (Thank you, Planned Giving Council of…
Read More Cheap Easels
If you want to understand the nonprofit world’s approach to spending money, take a look at their easels. Every small nonprofit owns metal easels. They use these easels a dozen…
Read More Foundering
“So what’s your boss like?” I asked a friend, who had recently taken a position at a nonprofit. “Well, you know. He’s a founder.” My friend then listed the adjectives…
Read More Identity Laundering
Some charitable gifts are made with open hearts and great altruism. Other charitable gifts are made largely to curry favor or gain attention. And then there are gifts that use…
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