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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.

What are things you might stop doing that could improve the quality of your day-to-day life? Harvard professor and researcher Arthur Brooks calls this a “to don’t” list: things that you find yourself doing out of habit or obligation even though they lower happiness and productivity.

As you consider your own list, I encourage you to try the following:

As soon as I sat down at the table for the executive staff team meeting, I could tell there was tension in the air.

Bob Goff, author of the wonderful book “Love Does,” loves to remind us that “you can quit anything on a Thursday.” Bob is a lawyer, leads a non-profit, is a best-selling author and highly sought-after speaker, and even serves as the Honorary Consul to the Republic of Uganda. It’s fair to say, Bob Goff is a busy guy!

Each week on what he calls “Quit Thursday,” Bob challenges us to take inventory of what we are giving our finite time, energy, and resources to. What commitments fill our buckets, align with our values, and bring us purpose and joy?

As our firm has grown over the years, I’ve had the privilege of spending time with our new consultants, sharing our company history, axioms, and explaining how we “show up” for our clients.

Recently, the leader of a large $200M+ nonprofit asked me what I look for when hiring consultants. What advice would I give when hiring fundraising professionals? How does DBD Group differentiate itself from other firms in the same space?

I think he was surprised when I didn’t talk about years of experience, education or successful previous campaigns. Without pausing to contemplate the question I answered that I look for the gifts of presence and curiosity. These two gifts are a powerful pairing.

Do your board members regularly ask inquisitive and challenging questions? Does your board have a culture that promotes dialogue and debate?

An often-overlooked strategy of effective boards is to create and/or nurture a true culture of inquiry. Great boards engage members in a way that truly enlists their collective skill sets, thoughts, and differences of opinion. Dialogue with debate is a great thing to have in board meetings. Open discussions that include diverse perspectives position the board to make the best choices.

The past year has been challenging for everyone. As someone who works with nonprofits, I have been impressed and moved by how these organizations have stepped up to serve their communities in new ways. They’ve managed to make a positive impact for others, even with severe constraints.

The most important resource any organization has is its staff. Many nonprofits, like their counterparts in businesses, were forced to furlough or lay off employees as revenue streams dried up during the pandemic. That means that the staff who remained were often doing the jobs of several people while also trying to identify new ways of serving that would help to keep people safer during the pandemic.

Taking care of staff is always critical, but today it is more important than ever.

Recently while reading through the local business news, I noticed the profile of a local agency leader. One of the things this leader said that stuck out to me was “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It was the first time I had heard this phrase, but I now know it has been around in for a while and is credited to Peter Drucker.