COVID Forces Hard Decisions

Categories: Board Member Roles · Fundraising · Good Board Practices · LeadershipTags: Leave a comment

I spoke with the CEO and several board members of an organization that focuses on immigrants and refugees. We talked about the impact of COVID, protests, and the election on their organization and the people they serve – and how the board was involved in the tough decisions they have had to make. Work with Your Board to Develop Contingency Plans CEO: We went into the pandemic thinking we would be tapping our board to do more. There were lots of questions of the impact it would have on the economy, on foundations, on philanthropy. Our board has a governance… Read more

A Year of Pandemic, Protest, and Propaganda — What Now?

Categories: Advocacy · Board Diversity · Board Member Roles · Board, Board Chair, ED/CEO Roles · Executive Session · Fundraising · Good Board Practices · Leadership · Nonprofit FundingLeave a comment

We made it to 2021 — happy to get beyond 2020 – the year of pandemic, protests, and propaganda. There is a light at the end of the tunnel as COVID vaccines are approved and distributed. We will have a new president who believes in science and real facts. Our journeys toward racial equity are accelerating. What now? Seize the opportunity. Now is the time to make changes – some long overdue, some bold. Center Equity The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others plus the subsequent protests have – hopefully – catalyzed our country to… Read more

The Journey to a More Diverse Board

Categories: Board Diversity · Board Member Roles · Good Board Practices · Leadership2 Comments

I shared this story about creating a more diverse board about 18 months ago. Before COVID, which disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. Before the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, which sparked protests and drew the world’s attention to longstanding systemic health and social inequities in our society. Most nonprofit organizations have understood these inequities. Many have centered racial justice in their missions for a long time. But now all understand the urgency to remove barriers. They also understand that making change starts at the top. Recently, several people have asked me about how to… Read more

Now Is the Time to Take Brave Stands

Categories: Advocacy · Board Member Roles · Good Board Practices · LeadershipLeave a comment

Today’s post is an inspiring story about an organization that came to see advocacy as part of the solution for its population. The staff person who shared the story outlines how the organization and the board evolved to embrace advocacy and describes a brave moment when they realized they had to put their population before personal issues. This staffer makes an impassioned call in these unprecedented times to bring advocacy up a notch and to take risks to support your population – even if you might fail. This post is the fifth in a series about advocacy. In my last… Read more

10 Ways to Be an Effective Advocate

Categories: Advocacy · Board Member Roles · LeadershipTags: Leave a comment

This post is the fourth in a series about board members advocating on behalf of the organizations they support and the people those organizations serve. I reached out to three elected officials and asked them what works best for them. Everyone I spoke to is from the Seattle area (where I live), but none are my own elected officials. Instead I have served on nonprofit boards with each of them. In my last post, Judy Reckelhoff, Chief of Staff for BoardSource, describes why BoardSource has elevated advocacy. In the previous post, I shared an Advocacy Check List compiled from interviews… Read more