Over this past week, I have been interviewing people who are reported by their peers to be really good board chairs; this is for an upcoming article in the Winter issue. The people I have talked to are all over the country. We wanted to get a sense of what characteristics excellent board chairs bring
A Short Conversation with Eli Pariser (Dec 04)
The commuter boat that I rode across the bay this morning had a very wind-beaten Christmas tree lashed to the open deck. The crew had obviously been committed to the endeavor and had used at least ten heavy ropes tied from various portions of the tree to various parts of the rail to secure it.
Charity’s Response to Tsunami (Jan 05)
A few weeks ago the world was knocked off its axis and the same ocean that had acted as a life-source violently swept over its shores destroying the land, people and economies it had once fed. This brings home again the idea that things can have both great positive and negative potential all at once.
Rough Weather Patterns In The Nonprofits We Love (Feb 05)
Perhaps you saw my hometown on the national news. It was the one covered in saltwater, seaweed-embedded ice. This was the second biggest snow storm I can remember. The last one didn’t just coat the shoreline in ice, it destroyed a whole bunch of houses. The difference this time–what mitigated the damage–had to do with
Boards and Beyond: an Invitation to the Earthbound (Feb 05)
I was talking with a newly installed executive director the other day who was bemoaning the fact that the board of his decades old organization had failed to acknowledge some core trends in the organization’s own work that led to a narrowing of its focus. This eventually ended up in this influential group serving primarily
Sticking to Our Knitting (Mar 05)
It has been hard, for some reason, to write a cover letter for the attached two articles because, well, they make me mad. I did write one letter but my colleagues here advised against actually sending it to you. It's for my own good, I suppose. Anyway without further ado, I send to you one
Coming Soon to a Regulator Near You (Apr 05)
I seem to be writing to you every two weeks now instead of every month, but there is a lot happening right now that I feel we should share sooner rather than later. This time I wanted to let you know about what is happening at the federal level regarding the regulatory environment for nonprofits.
Meeting Face to Face (Apr 05)
There is a sign above my desk right now that says in big letters "Go Home, Ruth." It was a not-so-subtle directive from one of my colleagues here at the Nonprofit Quarterly who may have been concerned last week that I had entered an over-stimulated state that promised only diminishing returns. Too true — I
The Weirdness of Nonprofit Money (May 05)
When I was a time-constrained ED trying to make sense of managing nonprofits, I loved finding those rare articles that acknowledged problems I was having trouble even naming — never mind addressing. Every now and then the Nonprofit Quarterly publishes an article like this — an instant standard. Such is the case with Clara Miller's
Fiduciary Funnelvision (Jun 05)
I know that it does not always seem like it when we are buried in our day-to-day routines, but a good board that knows how to make the most of its duties is worth its weight in gold. On the other hand, a board that doesn’t know how to act wisely on what is in
Boards Behaving Badly (Jun 05)
The reason why I like my job is that I get to meet lots of people who are both good AND interesting. This is not an automatic pairing, of course. This is why if you really like “interesting” your personal life can end up in shambles — ’nuff said I guess. Anyway, so when I
Ethically Challenged? (Jul 05)
We want to hear your quandaries and conundrums! Below you will find a link to the first installment of a new regular Nonprofit Quarterly column, "The Nonprofit Ethicist." https://www.dev-npq-site.pantheonsite.io/section/730.html This column is designed to help answer your questions about any situation in or around your nonprofit in which an ethical choice is required of you.