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THE REVERSE BOARD JOB DESCRIPTION

Posted by Kellie Wardman

A CEO once said to me, “I would like us to have a conversation with one of my new board members.”

“Of course,” I said. “What would you like to talk about?”

“He wants to know what he is going to get from being on my board,” she said. “And I have never had anyone ask me that before!”

The CEO was intrigued.


Change Your Perspective on Boards

Typically, when non-profits are recruiting board members, they discuss the gifts, skills, and experience different volunteers might contribute to the organization. What time, talent, and treasure might they bring?

But what if instead we talk through what the volunteers will get from being on the board? Volunteers typically gain satisfaction from helping a community. They feel good about using their skills toward greater good.


A New Board Job Description

Imagine a reverse job description. Consider one that stresses what board members will receive from being part of your organization.

What would yours say?

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Topics: Board Development, Fundraising, Nonprofit Leadership, Strategy, Board Leadership, Planning, Campaign Planning, CEO Coaching

CLICK RESET

Posted by Thom Peters

Those of you who love high-brow films most certainly didn’t miss the 2006 Adam Sandler classic, “Click.” In it, a workaholic husband and father finds a universal TV remote that allows him to fast forward and rewind parts of his life. Complications ensue.

While I admit I enjoyed the movie, it was the premise that captured my interest. What if we could reset our lives with the click of a button (complications not included)?

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Topics: Learning, Fundraising, Case For Support, Positioning Campaign, Change, Nonprofit Leadership, Strategy, Board Leadership, Planning, Campaign Planning, Attitude, Ideas, Covid

SIX LESSONS FROM THE MARTIAN

Posted by Michelle Gorham

No spoilers…I promise! In both the book, The Martian, and the equally excellent movie by the same name, astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) is left on Mars after an unexpected dust storm forces the rest of the crew to abandon the planet without him. With scarce food, an inability to communicate, a living environment built to last only a month, and only disco music, as “setbacks” go, this one is colossal.

If you’ve worked in a nonprofit (or probably just about anywhere), you know that not every project goes as planned. In fact, sometimes plan A turns into plan D or E or F. Often, the setbacks are minor – like you used the wrong mail permit number on a mass mailing – and easily fixed. Sometimes, they are more significant – like a lead gift in a capital campaign changes course and decides not to give at all – and mean you need to go back to reset and re-strategize.

Just as Watney (also, luckily, a trained botanist) figures out how to grow enough potatoes to keep himself alive for four years until another mission can return to save him, there is another setback and it’s a doozey!

What does he do? He “works the problem.”

 

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Topics: Fundraising, Nonprofit Leadership, Planning, Fundraising Campaign, Campaign Planning, Ideas, strategic planning

WHEN TO RETHINK YOUR STRATEGY

Posted by Richard Clegg

Every nonprofit organization builds its success on well-defined strategies. But what happens when those strategies, once so promising, start to show cracks? Knowing when to adjust the strategies in your strategic plan and when to give your strategy time to play out can be a critical turning point for the leadership of your organization. How can you tell if something is amiss?

 

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Topics: Stewardship, Fundraising, Positioning Campaign, Nonprofit Leadership, Planning, Fundraising Campaign, Planned Giving, Campaign Planning, Mission Alignment, Ideas, strategic planning

Podcast: Show and Tell Works

Posted by DBD Team
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Topics: Donor Stewardship, Fundraising, Storytelling, Fundraising Management, Vision, Giving, Campaign Planning, Nonprofit, Client Stories

How One Donor’s Visit to a Vision Room Inspired Her to Increase Her Gift

Posted by Sara Luke
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Topics: Capital Campaign, Donor Stewardship, Fundraising, Capital, Fundraising Management, Vision, Giving, Campaign Planning, Nonprofit, financial management

SABOTAGING YOUR CULTURE OF PHILANTHROPY

Posted by Danny Maier

Recently, I attended a board meeting for a great nonprofit organization. Afterward, the CEO confessed that he was “really troubled that we can’t create a culture of philanthropy here. It is just so frustrating.”

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Topics: Volunteer Leadership, Board Development, Board Management, Campaign Planning

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