NonprofitEye

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 ...

Changing of the Guard: Nonprofit Transition by Pam Ashlund My head is spinning tonight. At the CA Association of Nonprofits conference last month I heard the news: founder, Flo Green, is retiring. It came as a shock to me because Flo and CAN are synonymous to me. We don't know each other at all, and therefore are not on a first name basis, but I think of her as Flo. That says something about her charisma. Upon hearing her talk, people leave thinking of her as a friend. And she has been a friend, to the nonprofit community and to me by way of inspiration. At that same conference I was introduced to the ideas of Fundraising speaker Kim Klein. She delivered a keynote I covered in NonProfit Confidence Problem . And, as with Flo, I was inspired and I left feeling like I had another friend. And now I hear (thru the Chronical of Philanthropy's article ) that Kim is also retiring. Just yesterday I was talking to a friend over lunch about the whole changing of the guard phenomena. Peo...

Nonprofit Confidence Problem: Kim Klein Names the Shadow Side of Nonprofits by pam ashlund What's in a name? Nonprofits struggle with this. Marketing professionals everywhere espouse different theories. Myself? There was nothing so powerful as Nike's "swoosh" or it's "Just Do It" mantra. I don't wear Nike's, I don't buy Nike's, but I know that symbol is called a "swoosh" and when I need something done pronto I'm known to say "just do it!". And this wasn't a passing thing either. In the early 90's I was known as the "Nike-boss" for my overuse of the slogan. That was not necessarily a good thing, but sure says something about branding. Last week, at the 2006 CAN Conference, I had the pleasure of hearing the keynote speaker: Kim Klein. Although Kim is known as the leader in grassroots fundraising, this was not the focus of her talk...or if it was, I must have missed the point. She spoke on trust and ...