In 2009, in response to the challenging landscape in which nonprofits found themselves following the financial crisis, BoardSource introduced the concept of "Transformative Governance." I wrote a long article for Board Member, BoardSource’s member periodical, in which I explained that if boards are...

I attended the White House Forum on Nonprofit Leadership last week. It was gratifying to join 200 nonprofit leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities of better preparing, training, and sustaining the next wave of nonprofit leaders.

After a welcome and framing remarks by Jonathan...

The Future is now History.

The 2011 BoardSource Leadership Forum, “Governing Toward the Future,” is now in the past. I, along with more than 600 of the most interesting and knowledgeable nonprofit leaders from across the country, enjoyed two full days of discussion, debate, deliberation, and...

As I write this, the East Coast is recovering from the effects of Hurricane Irene, a storm that didn’t quite live up to her advance billing, but that wreaked billions of dollars in damages and claimed at least 49 lives. The biggest earthquake in 50 years just shuddered through the region, causing...

Every year since 1998, The Nonprofit Timeshas put out a list of the “Power and Influence Top 50”—movers and shakers in the nonprofit world who are changing the way the world views our sector.

I read an interesting article the other day on Bridgespan’s Web site. It was an interview about nonprofit board service with Phyllis Yale, a Harvard-trained consultant at Bain and Co., the “incubator” of Bridgespan. Phyllis serves on the board of Bridgespan Group, a national nonprofit, as well as...

Every five years the Meyer Foundation and CompassPoint sponsor a study of nonprofit executive leadership called “Daring to Lead.” Focused on job satisfaction, executive transitions, financial sustainability, and board relations, the 2011 results can be found here. As a nonprofit chief executive...

Today’s nonprofit board tale is from the state of Maryland, home of the Preakness, Chesapeake Bay, and, apparently, at least one very assertive potential philanthropist.

Let me explain. According to its Web site, Equality Maryland works to secure and protect the rights of LGBT Marylanders by...

In my last two posts, I have asked that (sadly) perennial question, "Where was the board?" In each of those organizations I wrote about -- the Central Asia Institute and the Fiesta Bowl -- the board appeared to be on the lam from any serious oversight or even, it appears, much interest, relative to...

So much has been said and written already about the 60 Minutes segment on Greg Mortensen, author of Three Cups of Tea and builder of schools in Afghanistan under the auspices of the Central Asia Institute,(CAI) a Bozeman, Montana, nonprofit that Mortensen leads. Reporter Steve Kroft has been...