A Traditional Nonprofit Board vs. A Nonprofit Policy Focused Board: The Difference is Operational
By Eugene Fram
Scenario: The nonprofit agency, ABC, has been criticized for not having enough minority staff members. Because ABC, a large well-known organization, primarily serves urban residents in a major U.S. city, board members are concerned about the criticism. (more…)
A 21st Century Nonprofit Reality – The Chief Executive Needs to be a President/CEO
By: Eugene Fram
Many of my viewers* know that I strongly favor nonprofit boards, which develop a budget level of more than $1 million (US) and employ about 10 full and part time people, should designate their chief executive as the President/CEO. A volunteer director then becomes the board chair. Below, in italics, is a response I received to my viewpoint listed on the Board Source blog site:
Interesting points. However, where I come from, executive director is the recognized title for the heads of non-profits, with the possible exception of multimillion-dollar agencies. Everyone understands it. Even when the ED is recognized (in bylaws and/or policies) as the CEO of the agency, they still tend to use the ED title, The CEO title smacks of the for profit sector, which may be off-putting to the social service sector, perhaps a tinge of “playing out of your league.” President is definitely from the for profit sector, and could be confusing from the perspective that some boards still refer to their chairs as “presidents. (more…)
What’s in a Name? Benefits of the Nonprofit Executive Director Title.
By Eugene Fram
The most viewed blog on my nonprofit governance site is an article I wrote in 2008, “What’s in a Name? Benefits of the President/CEO Title. This article has had a stream of national and international viewing, sometimes as many as 50 daily. (Note this is four years after original publication.)
Recently, I read a review of the article, suggesting I didn’t cover the benefits of the nonprofit Executive Director title, probably the more common title for the chief executive of nonprofits. Following is a brief listing when the title is useful. (more…)
Identify Nonprofit Staff Groups To Help Drive Organizational Change
By Eugene Fram
Nonprofit executive directors tend to think of the staff professionals as individual contributors. These individuals are persons who mainly work on their own and not as team players – for instance, counselors, health care professionals, curators and university faculty. However, many executive directors fail to recognize that these individual contributors can be grouped according to identifiable types, with differing work value outlooks. Each group needs to be managed differently to drive change in today’s fast moving social, political and technological environments. (more…)
What Nonprofit & Trustee Directors Have a Right to Know.
By Eugene Fram
A recent blog was published, “raising some (directors’) questions that go beyond the rules…” (See below) Developed by an international for-profit & nonprofit board expert, they are primarily targeted toward for-profit boards. Following are my suggestions how these questions could apply to nonprofit and trustee boards. In addition, field examples show what happened when they had to be raised in crises situations.
Does bad news rise in your organization?
“You may be the last to know.” For example, the board of a human services organization knew that the professional staff was not happy with a new ED, but the board needed to give him a chance to solve the problem. Directors didn’t know that the staff had been meeting with a union organizer for nine months.
An labor election resulted, with the professionals agreeing to work under a trade union contract. (more…)
Custom Designing A New Nonprofit’s Chief Executive Orientation
By: Eugene Fram
Under a customized format, the nonprofit board tailors a program that helps the new executive develop a solid base in the organization and understand its unique climate and culture. Properly structured, this orientation takes about a year to complete. (more…)
How To Develop A Trusting Nonprofit Governance Model
By: Eugene Fram
A nonprofit governance model that provides a significant amount of trust between board and staff can lead to an entirely new working environment. It calls for a working relationship based on respect for all involved, especially respect for management personnel by the board. (more…)
Choosing the Right CEO: A Nonprofit Perspective
By Eugene Fram
According to one well-known analyst, Ram Charon, there are five essential elements for-profit boards fail to consider in selecting CEO’s. Following are my interpretations of how these relate to nonprofit boards: (more…)
Is Your Nonprofit Chief Executive An Effective Fund Raiser?
By Eugene Fram
In the past, many nonprofit chief executives, whether they be executive directors or president/CEOs, did not have fund raising responsibilities. They were considered mission specialists by their boards. These specialists did not have enough higher-level community contacts or were not aggressive enough to seek development assets. (more…)
Is Your Nonprofit a “Slim & Smart” High Performance Nonprofit?
By Eugene Fram
The “slim and smart” nonprofit approach does not involve specific steps but instead calls for management to develop an overall transitional framework and climate for the organization.[i] It does, however, require planning with sufficient lead-time. (more…)
Nonprofit Management 