Does Your Nonprofit Board Have Enough Conflict?
By Eugene Fram
I recently encountered a human services board director who said he would like to see more conflict take place during board meetings. He was not suggesting civil disobedience, but he felt that the discussion level was modest, and there was too much deference to each other and especially to the board chair. (more…)
Bridging Effectiveness Gaps in Nonprofit Organizations*
By: Eugene Fram
Like for-profit boards, nonprofit, “Effective board oversight demands information that is as current and relevant as possible. There are, however, natural gaps between what management communicates and what the board needs to know. “ The purpose of this blog is to highlight major gap areas, cited in the NACD report listed below, and to show their relations to nonprofit governance. (more…)
Nonprofit Organization Mergers: What to Do.
By Eugene Fram
A Fast Company article by Alice Korngold about nonprofit mergers lists seven steps for a successful nonprofit merger. * Korngold used these steps to describe nonprofit merger activity with which she had been involved.
In October 1998, Family Service America (FSA) merged with the National Associations of Homes and Services to Children (NAHSC) to form the Alliance for Children & Families. I chaired the FSA investigating committee in the merger process and later served as co-chair of the Alliance board during a two-year transition period. This article adds another experience example to the model described by Alice Korngold. (more…)
Positive reviews continue to arrive for my recently updated & expanded nonprofit governance book. Click on this link for a story about the book.
Policy vs. Paper Clips See the latest reviews below.
Must Read for Nonprofit Boards, December 9, 2012
By: Casey Wheeler
This review is from: POLICY vs. PAPER CLIPS – THIRD EDITION: How Using the Corporate Model Makes a Nonprofit Board More Efficient & Effective (Paperback)
This book was an informative and entertaining read. The author uses the techniques of a series of emails between two individuals to explain how using the corporate model for nonprofit boards is beneficial to the organization. The exchange of emails takes the reader through the process from needs assessment to implementation.
What I enjoyed most about the book is that it was written so that the concepts are easily understood through the question and answers presented in each set of emails. In addition, the concept has been successfully implemented in a number of nonprofits around the country that are mentioned in the introductory section of the book and examples in the emails exchanges.
At the end of the book an additional series of questions and answers with suggestions on how to successfully implement the corporate model. An added benefit is that a Leader’s Guide is available for use to facilitate a discussion of the corporate model process.
I must admit that nonprofits that are totally volunteer operated or with a limited staff may find the overall process unachievable, but there are many useful ideas within the email exchanges from which small organizations can benefit.
I strongly recommend this book to any nonprofit CEOs or Board Members who feel that too much time is spent on operational issues and not enough spent on planning and policy.
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Fram Nails It! November 16,2012
By Philip G. Bookman (Los Gatos, CA)
This review is from: POLICY vs. PAPER CLIPS – THIRD EDITION: How Using the Corporate Model Makes a Nonprofit Board More Efficient & Effective (Paperback)
When I joined the not-for-profit board that I now have the honor of chairing, I struggled with how to apply my business experience to a non-profit. I was often heard saying, in frustration, “We should be discussing policy and strategy, not counting paper clips!” Then I came across this book with a title that I obviously could not resist, and found that Fram has formalized what I was struggling to figure out. And his approach works.
As with any model, you need to pick and choose which parts of it your organization needs to adopt, and in what order. But he sure gets you to think about the important things the board needs to address. This is a must read for any non-profit board leader who wants to make the organization more effective in meeting community needs.
A Little Book that Yields Big Results, November 18,2012
By: A. Hopf (Geneseo, New York United States)
This review is from: POLICY vs. PAPER CLIPS – THIRD EDITION: How Using the Corporate Model Makes a Nonprofit Board More Efficient & Effective (Paperback)
Our Board applied the principles in Policy Vs. Paper Clips after the first edition came out many years ago. We were fortunate to have the author himself consult with us. I can unequivocally state that the Corporate model spelled out in this book works and is responsible for the incredible growth and success my not for profit has experienced over the last 15 years. More importantly the Board members love it because they are engaged at a strategic level that allows them to use their brains and contribute in a meaningful way. Every not for profit CEO and Board member should read this book regardless of size or scope of the organization. Its how Boards need to work in the 21st century.
What To Do About Weak Nonprofit Board Practices
By Eugene Fram
Peter Rinn, Breakthrough Solutions Group, recently published a list of weak nonprofit board practice. * Following are some of the items listed and my estimation of what can be done about them, based on my experiences as a nonprofit board director, board chair and consultant. (more…)
Nonprofits: To Which Group Do You Belong – The 5% Having Successful Strategies or the 70% Who Do Not?
By: Eugene Fram
According to a recent Deloitte report, two Harvard Professors issued a recent study* that highlighted the above statistics, also showing the remaining 25% having “middling success.”
I recently attended a presentation by Cynthia Montgomery, also a Harvard strategy professor. Following are some major strategy guidelines she presented, with examples mainly relating to the business community, and how I see them applying to nonprofit and trustee boards. (more…)
Following is part of a blog that I strongly suggest that you, your colleagues and friends associated with nonprofit or trustee organizations read carefully. As you read it, pleas keep the following in mind:
For more insights in how to avoid such situations, review these items on my blog site. Other items also may be of interest http://bit.ly/yfRZpz .
Nonprofit Directors & Trustees: Are You Aware of the IRS 990 Form?
Attn: Crisis Planners – A Leadership Plan For a Nonprofit Organization in Trouble
What To Do About Weak Nonprofit Board Practices
Your Dysfunctional Nonprofit Board – What to Do
Nonprofit Management/Governance – Avoiding Fraud – Internal Controls
For the full blog see: http://www.mercadien.com/index.html
by Sherise D. Ritter, CPA, CGFM, PSA
A recent tax court case held that a volunteer chairman of the Board of Trustees is personally liable for a nonprofit organization’s unpaid payroll taxes. This is a scary development (more…)
Sylvia Helper of Launching Lives commented to one of my recent blogs tilted : “What’s in a Name? Benefits of the Nonprofit President/CEO Title”
“While this irritates and offends many nonprofit senior staff, the truth is that ALL nonprofits are actually businesses. And–they need to.be run like a business.”
Sylvia: I strongly agree with your statement. Too many board and staff members in the nonprofit environment ……
Do not realize that a nonprofit can focus even more effectively on “caring” missions, visions and values while operating under a business model.
Mistakenly conclude that using business titles (such as CEO) appears more prestigious than is merited. This mistaken attitude persists in organizations with well over 15 employees and budgets well over $1 million!
Associate business boards with financial disasters such as Enron and Tyco, while failing to perceive the business board model’s benefits, such as having only a few standing board committees.
Fail to appreciate that today’s nonprofit managers must have the tools of professional executives to lead their organizations towards accomplishment.
Choose to continue to implement the 20th century governance practices in which staff members, often without the requisite managerial expertise, are promoted to chief executive positions. A few succeed by growing into the job but most continue on to do little more than “mind the store.” Truly, this can result in a significant waste of board and staff resources.
After many years of participating in nonprofit activities as a volunteer director, consultant and author, I recognized how the adaptation of a business model will positively impact the governance of a nonprofit. This prompted me to write “Policy vs. Paper Clips” which, based on sales of the first two editions, has influenced thousands of nonprofits to convert their governing structure to the model described in the book. The third updated and expanded edition was published in 2011 http://amzn.to/eu7nQl .
My blog site http://bit.ly/yfRZpz now contains over 100 blogs on nonprofit governance.
In summary, many nonprofit boards, managers and staff figuratively stand ten feet tall for what they accomplish. They deserve to have the better aspects of business boards and business venues to do their jobs.
The Nonprofit CEO Exceeds His/Hers Authority – What Happens Then?
By: Eugene Fram
It happens! When it does, it’s the board’s job to inform the CEO that he or she has taken on too much authority. As a board chair of a human service nonprofit, I encountered such a situation. The CEO signed a long-term lease contract on his own that should first have been approved by the board. The financial obligations involved weren’t significant. <!–more–> When the CEO recognized his error, I then asked for formal board ratification. None of us does out jobs perfectly. But a CEO has to recognize the board’s ultimate authority for long-term contracts and similar issues, even when the financial obligations are insignificant.
I don’t believe you need as much Board-CEO trust in the for-profit world as in the nonprofit world. In the former, the “bottom Line” can give directors a reasonably clear (not exact) indication of how the CEO is performing. In the nonprofit world, there is no organizational solid bottom line, except the one that says income must match expenses. Also of importance, there are many qualitative outcomes, such as community impact, that are not part of the financial statements and must be considered in the evaluation.
Board directors must trust in the ability of the CEO they have selected to do the job, and clearly make the person accountable. Since there is no complete long-term performance bottom line for many nonprofit organizations, and the costs of obtaining sold qualitative performance metrics is so high, most nonprofits have to rely on imperfect metrics to obtain a semblance of comprehensive long-term performance. *
For a nonprofit organization, it is necessary to hire a president/CEO or executive in whom the board can place a high degree of trust. But along with the trust, the board must ROBUSTLY annually evaluate the CEO and the organization’s performance.
Nonprofit Management 