For-profits tend to accept the benefits of coaching as a given. Nonprofits, on the other hand, question whether or not coaching actually works, and are more concerned with return on investment. But, as Bill Ryan explains, rather than asking “Does coaching work?,” nonprofit organizations invested in the practice would be better served figuring out how to make it work in their particular situation.

NPQ has always cautioned that ignoring your public policy context is akin to turning over the keys to your house and having to ask permission to sleep on the couch. And of all the aspects of your public policy context, the scaffolding of tax structures is king

Sometimes power is wielded in the most penny ante (but destructive) ways in nonprofitland. When does the wielding of positional power become an abuse and what should you do about it? The Nonprofit Ethicist is here to answer even the most mundane and sordid of questions.

How many professional ethicists respond to questions that cite Sun Tzu and The Art of War with answers drawn from Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes? NPQ’s Nonprofit Ethicist finds answers to ethical conundrums concerning ugly confrontations among staff and board members, dysfunctional executive directors, and organizations chasing money in logic, philosophy, and literature. Remember to weigh in with more. 

Few things are more loathed by the public than taxes, and our cultural models encourage us to view government as something to be resisted and our tax system as a faulty or rigged vending machine. So how do we change these entrenched ways of thinking? The FrameWorks Institute has some ideas.

When it comes to taxation, our country isn’t broke, just twisted—with a system skewed to favor the super-rich. What can nonprofits do to help? The author proffers seven ways to promote tax progressivity.

Participatory Budgeting allows communities to shape their own fiscal destiny. Originating in Brazil and spreading across Latin America, it has now arrived in the United States. Where is PB headed, and what hurdles does it face?

In order to weigh in on tax reform, nonprofits must first understand how states raise their money—which, thanks to murky documentation, is no easy feat. This investigative report delves into state taxation schemes and how they affect the nonprofit sector.

Given the economic crunch, it’s no surprise that traditionally tax-exempt entities are being squeezed by local governments. When done without conversation, as in levies, this is problematic—but nonprofits would do better to come out fighting by making a strong case that the public actually want to see tax dollars devoted to their missions.

You may think that a personnel committee is a necessity for a well-functioning board, but Dr. Conflict assures you otherwise. The board governs but does not manage the organization; personnel matters are not its job.

Many groups are interested in building an online hub of shared resources that will get members “on message,” but few do what it takes to get it right. This study shows how, by joining forces, a network of organizations reframed the discussion of the “war on terror.”

Billionaire philanthropists have many options for doling out their mega-funds, and many will opt for traditional private foundations. But how do we raise questions about the timing of long-term grantmaking? And does the “spend down” model need rebranding?

After participating in an online roundtable discussion on nonprofit capacity building, the author was inspired to extend the ideas to nonprofit branding.

Most land-conservation efforts are not community based, which can leave protected lands prey to poachers, miners, and other threats. In this article the authors explore the effectiveness of the grassroots, bottom-up approach.

The most recent edition of our print journal the Nonprofit Quarterly focused on the moving target of nonprofit governance. The target is moving not only because ideas and practices in governance are shifting more generally but also because many nonprofits have, frankly, been lazy thinkers where governance is concerned.

This article proposes that nonprofit leaders are increasingly focused on secondary issues, and asks, What does the sector stand to gain as a result of retraining our focus from structural concerns to the central questions and principles of nonprofit governance?

The most substantive decisions on your organization’s governance are likely happening far from the board room. How should your governance systems respond?

In a first-of-its-kind study, nonprofits report on their transactions with board members—some for the better and some for the worse.

A decade since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act first appeared, organizations still worry that aspects of the law will continue to seep into the sector. But doesn’t the sector actually have little to worry about and much to gain?

Diversity on boards has to be good, right? So how is it that study after study suggests the opposite? A closer look at boards today reveals that exactly how we diversify makes all the difference.

It’s a wonder that social-movement networks survive long enough to make an impact. What’s the secret sauce of these organizing efforts?

Does governance only reside in the board? Most of us know that it is more widely held than that, but few really design their governance systems to make full use of the intelligence and energies of their stakeholders.

Whether by the book or ad-hoc, the defining feature of successful boards is not the model but the people who make it work.

Do you know one when you see one? Initial research shows that there is a great deal of agreement about what makes a good board chair.

Several insights into the world of nonprofit governance have emerged in recent years, yet much remains to be explored. This article discusses five areas for future inquiry.

From lying to staff to conflicts of interest, unethical behavior in nonprofits abounds. Here the author outlines three particularly relevant markers of a responsible organization as well as four trends shaping future standards for nonprofits.

This article describes how a group of service providers, funders, and policy makers used value network analysis to assess the adolescent health system in Austin, Texas, and mobilize for positive change.

Nonprofits can feel like philanthropy’s “tiny dancers”—performing the latest and greatest ideas at philanthropy’s behest, whether or not the intervention fits the organization’s infrastructure and practice. But every so often a proposed “new” management practice leads to meaningful change.

It may be that one of the reasons that mergers are not approached with more enthusiasm is because they are being sold more negatively than they should be. Approaching them as a strength-promoting proposition might work better, no? That said…