We’ve all heard that familiar quote about continuing to do something the exact same way you’ve done it in the past yet expecting a different result. It’s like a dog chasing its tail. Is your nonprofit constantly chasing elusive solutions?

Eight-Minute Read

Unfortunately, most of the 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S. live a hard life and struggle just to keep their doors open. Often, staff suffer from low pay, high stress, and burnout; technology is underutilized; and board members and other volunteers are disengaged, misaligned,...

Last year, BoardSource’s board formalized an organizational commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity. That commitment was the result of more than a year of focused work with our board, and was informed by growing evidence over many years that boards are struggling to live into what they say...

Anne Wallestad and Aaron Dorfman, president & CEO of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), shared their thoughts on lessons learned from the recent turn of events at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in a blog post featured on the NCRP website. We summarize “Reflections...

Two-minute Read

Consider this scenario: You are a relatively new board member.  At the last meeting, a long-time board member suggests it is time for a new strategic plan. 

I worked on my family’s dairy farm through high school and college, but the twice-a-day milking routine never came easy for me. Summers were stifling hot; winter mornings at 3 a.m. were often below freezing.

BoardSource and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. recently co-published a new book titled Global Best Practices for CSO, NGO, and Other Nonprofit Boards: Lessons from Around the World. The editor of the book, Penelope Cagney, shares some of the insights she gained while creating the book here.

This blog post is the fourth in a series written by foundation leaders in response to a research report published by BoardSource titled Foundation Board Leadership: A Closer Look at Foundation Board Responses to Leading with Intent 2017. This report is an effort to better understand the particular...

An exciting, grand historical evolution of American society is taking place: For-profit and nonprofit domains are converging. Many of the entrepreneurial and organizational practices and frameworks found most frequently in the business world are finding increased adoption in the social sector, just...

When I first started as president and CEO of San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory (SDYS), I found the board members were divided between two strongly held points of view. One group believed in the primacy of musical excellence and the other focused on broadening access to music education. We...