Center for Nonprofit Management - Leadership and Governance

Executive Leadership and Board Governance

Frequently Asked Questions about Nonprofit Boards

An Excerpt from the Center's Nonprofit Answer Book: An Executive Director's Guide to Frequently Asked Questions printed in 1998. Our goal is to provide nonprofit managers and directors with a useful reference for spotting potential problems and enable further research.

All Aboard: Become a Board Member

by Alison Buttenheim, Los Angeles Business Journal

Even the most successful entrepreneurs and executives often desire a level of civic involvement that their jobs do not provide. There are many ways to meet this need: coaching a Little League team, cooking meals at a church soup kitchen, or mentoring a high school student. For those who have enjoyed building a company or managing a team, however, serving on the board of directors of a nonprofit agency is a particularly satisfying way to get involved.

Board Training: Are You Making the Right Choices?

By Mike Hoff, Former Nonprofit Services Education & Consulting Director, Center for Nonprofit Management

Are you thinking about doing board training? Having a board retreat? Yes! But why are you thinking about holding this training or retreat now? What conditions exist in the organization, or specifically within the board, that make you think training is necessary or potentially helpful?

Organizational Self-Assessment:
Putting Your Finger on What Needs to Improve

By Mike Hoff, Former Director, Consulting Services, Center for Nonprofit Management

Every nonprofit organization goes through periods of difficulty. Sometimes it’s just growing pains, sometimes it’s not knowing how to do something, sometimes it’s the challenge of insufficient resources, and sometimes it’s trying to do something new or make a significant change. The reasons for organizational difficulties are multitude. And because so many things can go wrong, or so many challenges can occur, it is highly beneficial for organizations to have the ability to accurately diagnose the source(s) of their difficulties in order to quickly correct course and optimize the use of often scarce resources.

Importance of the Nonprofit Sector

by Peter Manzo, Former Executive Director, Center for Nonprofit Management

This article originally appeared in The Los Angeles Business Journal, Vol. 20, No. 46, November 16-22, 1998

How is it that the most sophisticated fund managers and investors, the most sought after economists and analysts, know almost nothing about a sector of the economy that contributes 8% of GDP, employs 10% of the workforce, generates approximately $700 billion in annual revenues?

This sector, of course, is the charitable sector.

Competing for the Public Good

by Peter Manzo, Former Executive Director, Center for Nonprofit Management for the Los Angeles Business Journal

The words "charity" and "competition" are rarely heard in the same sentence. Yet competitive forces similar to those compelling changes in the private sector also are dominant factors for nonprofit organizations. Indeed, the need to respond to competitive forces is the preeminent challenge facing nonprofit organizations and philanthropists in the years to come.

Investing in Performance: Paul Light Keynote Speech

The Center for Nonprofit Management hosted Citibank Board Leadership Forum on March 17, 2004. Paul Light's keynote speech discussed the importance of capacity building and the text of his speech is included. "Capacity building well done in the nonprofit sector I believe is a critical answer to the extraordinary uncertainty we face and also to the tremendous political pressure under which most nonprofits are operating." Paul Light was the director of Governmental Studies at Brookings from 1999 to 2004. From 2005 to 2010, he was a nonresident senior fellow. Light is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service at New York University's Robert Wagner School of Public Service.

FAQ: Lobbying and Advocacy

Frequently Asked Questions about Lobbying and Advocacy for Nonprofits

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