Blog

Imagine it’s a starless, moonless night and you are in the flattest part of North Dakota. You light a small candle on the open prairie, and walk slowly away from it, backwards.

I genuinely thought this would be a five-minute fix.

One of the knobs on our gas stove broke, so I did what any reasonable person would do: I looked for and ordered a replacement. When it arrived, it wouldn’t fit. I checked the model number, confirmed it was correct, and assumed the problem was a manufacturing issue. So, I ordered another knob and returned the first one I ordered.

Same result.

My next-door neighbor volunteers as a board member for a local nonprofit organization. She and I were talking while working in our backyards. She asked my thoughts on how to make routine and often boring meetings worth her time and energy.

Her thoughts expressed a frustration that I know too well: board meetings that often feel, well, less than inspiring. As she described the predictable flow and the sense that they weren't truly digging into the meaty issues, a question popped into my head, one that I think holds the key to unlocking more engaging and impactful board sessions.

One of our axioms - possibly the one we talk about the most with our clients - is Leadership is Everything. We have trained and written about this topic from day one. It's true for our nonprofit clients, and it's true for us.

At DBD Group, we've been in a period of growth, adding consultants and serving more clients than ever before. What we quickly realized was we needed to create a structure of leadership to ensure we can serve our clients - and our consultants - in the best way possible.

We are excited to announce the following "new" leaders to DBD Group. (Their faces are familiar, but the roles are new!) Along with continuing service to our clients, these team members have additional roles within DBD Group.

We live in uncertain times, with constant social, political, and economic shifts. During the American War of Independence Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown while the British band played the tune “the world turned upside down”. The most powerful army in the world had just been defeated by the American patriots. It must have indeed seemed like the world was upside down.

Today, nonprofit leaders may feel similarly challenged, as the funding and practices they have counted on in the past may no longer be available in the same ways. Whether you work in a nonprofit or volunteer as a board member, navigating uncertainty is part of the job description. Strategic management of resources is key to managing these uncertainties and ensuring your organization’s ability to fulfill its mission.

I’d be willing to bet that every nonprofit I’ve worked with has spent some time wishing their board members “helped more” with fundraising.

When they say that, they usually mean they want more people to make direct asks for gifts. I say not all board members should ask for money, but every board member can tell a moving story about the meaningful impact of their organization.

Development staff, CEOs, and marketing teams can empower board members to use storytelling as an effective and comfortable way to participate in the crucial work of raising money. To tell a great story, board (and staff) members must be authentic, passionate, and focused on the mission.

Working with boards is a topic that DBD Group has written about at length. Less popular, but only slightly less important, is creating an effective Finance Committee for your nonprofit. This group can be the most dynamic, exciting and important group in your organization.

From monitoring financial performance to approving budgets and financial policies, vetting loan options to overseeing the audit process, there is plenty to dig into. The best committees don’t just happen though. They are intentionally built, diverse in more ways than you might think, and given a clear chart of work.

Nonprofit volunteers that serve on boards are the backbone of the organization. They offer invaluable guidance, support, and resources. While most new board member orientations cover fundamental responsibilities, a recent interaction with a CEO candidate in one of my executive searches highlighted a powerful framework for maximizing board impact.

Nonprofit boards often find themselves stuck in a rut, performing the same old tasks with the same agenda month after month, with little impact. This "old work," as described by board expert Richard Chait in his 1996 article "The New Board Work of the Nonprofit Board," remains highly relevant today. I had the opportunity to rediscover this valuable resource in my files, and it reaffirmed that boards have the potential to move their work toward a more impactful and relevant approach.