Just when you thought things were going so well, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) suddenly steps down. Now what? No one from either the board of directors or the professional staff saw this coming. Everyone figured that at some point, most likely after assuming the lead role as head of the organization, the CEO would eventually step down, but so suddenly? And so soon? When this happens, it’s important to take a few steps back and ask some Big Questions, such as: What does an organization do when faced with this situation? Who breaks the news to the board of directors, the staff and the community? How does the board organize itself to move forward? Who assumes executive responsibility for the organization after the CEO relinquishes responsibility? What becomes the focus of activity in the … Continue Reading

Nonprofit agencies are often stretched to the limit. It’s understandable, too, since nonprofit work is very demanding while resources are often scarce. As a result, something has to give and unfortunately, it is usually the one thing organizations need the most: the constant give and take between exploring, studying and developing a response to identified community concerns while keeping tabs on what has to be accomplished and whether there are enough staff and resources in place to get the job done. A possible approach to an agency feeling stretched beyond its means during these kinds of planning processes is to reach out to people who are not members of the board of directors or the professional staff. It means opening up the exploration of issues to a set of fresh eyes by inviting people who … Continue Reading

In the nonprofit world, change is inevitable. No matter the nature of the change - from relocating offices to re-conceiving the organization’s purpose; from hiring new staff and bringing on new board members to shifting funding patterns - every instance of change leads an organization into a transitional phase. You might say that when it comes to the words “change” and “transition” it is all a matter of semantics. I beg to differ. I want to stress the difference between the “changes” themselves and the process by which an organization seizes change as an opportunity to really experience transition. For example, a new chief executive officer (CEO) is hired to take over the administration of the organization. This is a change in the professional leadership of the organization but … Continue Reading

What makes a nonprofit organization great? This is a perennial question faced by many volunteer and professional leaders. The challenge is always to figure out what must be done to make an organization stand out among the plethora of nonprofit agencies in existence providing a myriad of services in the areas of health, education and welfare, among others. Is the difference between mediocrity and greatness what an organization does to service its clients and members? Or is it the way an organization functions internally that makes it stand out among other institutions? On the surface, the recipe for greatness is an organization that is innovative, creative, responds to social, education or health needs, works effectively and efficiently, develops active volunteer leadership and has achieved … Continue Reading

Every time a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) takes the reins at an organization, change is inevitable, particularly because each CEO brings his or her own unique administrative style and vision to the organization. Often the new CEO brings to the position a great deal of enthusiasm and a desire to improve the way the agency delivers its services to the community. Often this change greatly impacts either positively or negatively on the staff and board of directors. The process of finding and hiring a new CEO usually involves a committee made up of members of the board, volunteer leaders affiliated with the greater community and key personnel of the agency itself. The search process provides an opportunity for the board to attract someone who is not only able to direct the organization, but who … Continue Reading

We have reached the time of the year in our cyclical reading of the Torah where we start at the beginning once again. The creation story in the book of Bereshit (Genesis) is not only exciting, it can also guide our work with nonprofit organizations. The commentaries on the Biblical text teach us that this was not God’s first attempt to create a world, rather the only successful one since all earlier worlds were destroyed because they did not live up to God’s expectations. There is an important message in this story. The creative process is a very important part of an organization’s life, however, it does not mean that each time we create something it will succeed. If a decision is made to change an existing policy or implement a new program and it does not work, then it is important to … Continue Reading

The day-to-day pressures we all face at work in the nonprofit sector only seem to expand with each passing day. Even if we sometimes take a step back to look at what we have accomplished in relation to what we hoped to accomplish or to identify our priorities, the list of what we must do just seems to get longer and more diverse and out of our grasp. Often we are overwhelmed and we have difficultly identifying our priorities. The issues we deal with can include everything from the community we serve, the board of directors and voluntary leadership that provide support and social sanction for our services, the staff members who deliver the needed services to our clients and members - and perhaps one of the most important parts of our efforts, our donors and supporters who provide the financial … Continue Reading

Have you ever thought about how important someone’s title is to them? We know that people who have advanced academic and professional degrees have titles such as Dr. or Prof. and these titles remain affixed to their name even if they are not related to their position within an organization. Then here are other titles that depend on the specific position a person has in an organization and may also reflect the nature of their responsibilities in the agency. For example, someone who is the “Executive Director” or “Director General” (in Israel), is thought to be the most senior person in the organization and would be characterized in North America as the Chief Executive Officer. A title like this has several functions. It clearly identifies who is administratively responsible for the … Continue Reading