I COULDN'T SAY IT BETTER: GREAT NONPROFIT IDEAS

Last week I wrote a "hate" post and created a del.icio.us tag "IhateMeetings"; Today I offer an antidote: a new del.icio.us tag: "Icouldn'tsayitbetter"

I've tagged articles (and blog posts) that are so well put that I'm left humbled. These authors write what I've felt for so long, but could not articulate.

When you're feeling overwhelmed by the insanity in the nonprofit world, here are some ideas that will help you find your way back to sanity (some already becoming "classics"):

1) Clara Miller talks about why the "normal" rules of accounting get very weird when applied to nonprofits in: The Looking-Glass World of Nonprofit Money: Managing in For-Profits' Shadow

Clara steps "through the looking glass" asking (and answering) the following true/false questions:


Rule 1: The consumer buys the product.
Rule 2: Price covers cost and eventually produces profits, or the business folds.
Rule 3: Cash is liquid.
Rule 4: Price is determined by producers' supply and consumers' ability/willingness to pay.
Rule 5: Any profits will drop to the bottom line and are then available for enlarging or improving the business.
Rule 6: Investment in infrastructure during growth is necessary for efficiency and profitability.
Rule 7: Overhead is a regular cost of doing business, and varies with business type and stage of development.

2) Erline Belton, an Organizational Healer, blows the roof off of corporate B.S. in: Truth or Consequences: The Organizational Importance of Honesty

3) Ever look around and see a lot of "dead weight" and why someone hasn't evaluated them out of there??? For a real breath of fresh air, read a post in my latest favorite blog, The Agitator: When a Nonprofit Isn't Good Enough


4) Kim Klein's keynote at a 2006 CAN conference was called Transparency, Integrity and the Nonprofit Sector. With that title I might have overlooked her revolutionary exposition on the shadow-side of nonprofits. Read Kim's article as she examines both sides of our longest held nonprofit myths.


Related Nonprofit Eye posts:

The challenge of working for (and staying in) a Nonprofit Job

Nonprofit Confidence Problem: Kim Klein Names the Shadow Side of Nonprofits


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