Dysfunctional nonprofits

Dysfunctional Levels in Nonprofit Boards & Organizations.

Dysfunctional Levels in Nonprofit Boards & Organizations.

By: Eugene Fram

Viewer favorite updated and revised. (/Strong)

Article and studies from a Google search on “Dysfunctions in Nonprofit Boards & Organizations,” yields 543.000 items in .46 of a second. These items show dysfunctions on charter school boards, church boards, healthcare boards, trade associations, etc.

Rick Moyers, a well-known nonprofit commentator and nonprofit researcher, concluded:

“A decade’s worth of research suggests that board performance is at best uneven and at worst highly dysfunctional. ….. The experiences of serving on a board — unless it is high functioning, superbly led, supported by a skilled staff and working in a true partnership with the executive – is quite the opposite of engaging.”

These data and comments can lead one to conclude that all nonprofit boards are dysfunctional. I suggest that nonprofit boards can generate a range of dysfunctional behavioral outcomes, but the staff can muddle through and continue to adequately serve clients. (more…)

Dysfunctional Levels in Nonprofit Boards & Organizations

Dysfunctional Levels in Nonprofit Boards & Organizations

By: Eugene Fram

Viewer favorite–Updated & Revised

Article and studies from a Google search on “ Dysfunctions in Nonprofit Boards & Organizations,” yields 445,000 items in .32 of a second. These items show dysfunctions on charter school boards, church boards, healthcare boards, trade associations, etc.

Rick Moyers, a well-known nonprofit commentator and nonprofit researcher, concluded:

A decade’s worth of research suggests that board performance is at best uneven and at worst highly dysfunctional. ….. The experiences of serving on a board—unless it is high functioning, superbly led, supported by a skilled staff and working in a true partnership with the executive – is quite the opposite of engaging.

These data and comments can lead one to conclude that all nonprofit boards are dysfunctional. I suggest that nonprofit boards can generate a range of dysfunctional behavioral outcomes, but the staff can muddle through and continue to adequately serve clients. (more…)

Are Nonprofit Organizations Really Dysfunctional? Critical Thinking from a Viewer

Are Nonprofit Organizations Really Dysfunctional? Critical Thinking from a Viewer

Forwarded by Eugene Fram

By: Liz Swanson, Trusted Consultant to Non-Profit Leaders

I believe a good reason for nonprofits (being viewed as dysfunctional) is due to the scarcity mentality that many non-profits and their boards have. There is a mindset out there that non-profits are to be lean or intentionally do with less—or even the “joyful sacrifice” around pay. Our communities also embrace this mentality with the thinking that “overhead” is bad. Scarcity thinking drives the attitude of leadership, which then drives the behavior and ultimately the results we see (dysfunction, low or no growth.) If you don’t think you have enough time or resources, then you don’t. But if you believe you do, then you act differently and make different decisions about the investment of your time and resources.