DOÑA KEATING
Management Consultant, Leadership
Strategist, Speaker & Author
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Nonprofit Hell Blog

I initially created this blog to promote my new book, but it has naturally evolved to discussion about leadership and how to inspire high-performing and effective nonprofit boards.

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Top 5 Governance Challenges and Solutions

2/12/2018

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Successful board governance is critical to achieving the goals of an organization.
The board serves as the steward of the organization’s mission, with trustees serving as the stakeholders’ representatives. Ultimately, this broad set of responsibilities can lead to challenges. A commitment to using the best practices around good governance can improve board leadership, benefiting the organization’s stakeholders.

Download BoardEffect’s new whitepaper to learn the top five governance challenges facing today’s nonprofit boards and how to solve them. From growing the diversity of your board to addressing non-performers, this guide will provide you with tips for improving your board of directors' performance.

Visit this link, then fill out the form to get your FREE copy today!


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Don't be afraid to confront challenges

5/15/2016

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(from Leadership Freak)
7 Ways to Look the Beast in the Eye

Optimism is foolish when it makes light of challenges. A little overconfidence inspires courage, but swagger goes wrong when it makes light of hairy beasts. Go ahead and overestimate your strengths a little, but don’t bolster courage by making light of challenges.

Leaders can be honest about what's at stake, writes Dan Rockwell. Recognize and acknowledge the problems your team faces, then find ways to move forward regardless. "Worry more about the next play and less about winning," Rockwell writes.

Read entire article
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Leading With Intent 2015: BoardSource

1/29/2015

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Today, BoardSource launched Leading with Intent: A National Index of Nonprofit Board Practices, which is a comprehensive scan of current nonprofit board practices, policies, and performance. While there is lots of good news to share, the bottom line is that nonprofit leaders give nonprofit boards a "B minus" grade in overall performance. Leading with Intent explores why that is, and - more importantly - what we can do about it.

Here are a few of Leading with Intent's key findings, and some advice about how we can get beyond B-minus:

Getting the people right is fundamental: Leading with Intent finds that if a board isn't thoughtfully composed as it relates to skill sets, leadership styles, and diversity of thought and background, it is less likely to excel in other areas of board performance. But unfortunately:

Only 1 in 5 chief executives strongly agree that they have the right board members.
58% of chief executives say it is difficult to find people to serve on the board - up from 44% in 2012.
Board diversity has improved slightly, but a full 25% of boards remain exclusively White.

What boards can do:

Make strategic board recruitment a priority. Make sure that your recruiting efforts are connected to your overall strategic vision and plan, and that you're thinking through the skills, backgrounds, and networks you need to have as a part of your board's composition. For step-by-step guidance on strategic board recruitment, check out BoardSource's Board Recruitment Center.
Structure yourself for success. If your board doesn't already have a governance committee responsible for leading and managing board recruitment and performance, consider creating one.

Boards need to get outside of their comfort zones: Leading with Intent finds that boards do well at functions related to compliance and oversight, but face challenges with their strategic and external work. In an operating environment that is characterized by constant change, this is a wake-up call: Boards need to get outside of their comfort zones and provide stronger external leadership - especially in fundraising and advocacy - that enables their organizations to adapt and adjust to change.

What boards can do:

Set strong expectations. When talking to current and potential board members, be clear about the important external role that board members need to play in supporting your mission. Make sure that each individual board member is comfortable reaching out to his or her networks and spheres of influence, whether it's about policy decisions that impact your mission, charitable support that you need to fuel your work, or community partnerships that you could build to magnify your impact. For more on the important role that board members can play in advocating for their missions, visit standforyourmission.org.

Celebrate success. One of the secrets to engaging board members in activities that they may be nervous about is to thoughtfully celebrate successes whenever they take place. It reinforces how important those activities are, and creates pride of ownership and positive peer pressure within your board's culture.

Investments in board development are worth the effort: Building and strengthening a board takes ongoing, intentional effort. Leading with Intent explores the pain points that many boards are experiencing, and highlights the important role that board self-assessment can play in improving board performance.

What boards can do:

Get serious about board development
. Challenge your governance committee to craft a holistic board development program for your board, with thoughtful goals around recruitment, orientation and education, regular assessment, and board succession planning. BoardSource's year-round board development for organizational members provides a great foundation for this work, including an annual assessment tool.

Share your commitment to strong board performance. Organizations that take board leadership and governance seriously are stronger and more sustainable, and that's something that donors and the public care about. Take a moment to share your board's commitment to essential board leadership practices by updating the "People & Governance" section of your GuideStar Exchange Profile.

If we want nonprofit organizations positioned to deliver the kind of impact and results that our world needs, then B- boards aren't going to cut it. We need to focus our energies and resources to support boards that are working diligently to strengthen their performance, and we need to challenge those that are not to set a higher bar for themselves and their missions.

We need our boards to strive to be A+ boards. That's what our missions need, it's what they deserve, and it's what is within our reach if we commit to making it happen.
--
Visit Leading With Intent for downloadable reports, briefs and topic papers, tables and charts, and BoardSource recommended governance practices.
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Understanding Board vs. Board Member

7/28/2014

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Not understanding the distinction between the full board and individual board members is not only a BoardSource pet peeve, but that of many in (or at the service of) the nonprofit world. This Nonprofit Quarterly article by Simone Joyaux does a great job of explaining why.

One example used, that of fundraising, was of particular interest given a recent experience with a client whose board member felt this was optional, or at least dependent upon how well they understood the entity (and could thus advocate) on its behalf. The kicker is they made themselves frequently unavailable towards that goal, resulting in a circular argument and justification for not fundraising. 

There is nothing wrong with joining a board to shore up one's resume or 'give back', but true cred as a community stakeholder comes from a commitment to leadership and planting those seeds.

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The Matrix Map: A Powerful Tool for Mission-Focused Nonprofits

4/10/2014

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The Matrix Map is a visual tool that plots all of the organization's activities-not just its programs-into a single, compelling image. By illustrating the organization's business model-through a picture of all activities and the financial and mission impact of each one-it supports genuinely strategic

Click for full article at Nonprofit Quarterly, and suggestions about how to
make a matrix map of your organisation.


This article is adapted from sections in Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability by Jeanne Bell, Jan Masaoka, and Steve Zimmerman. It was originally posted on blueavocado.org in two parts.

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TED 2013 - Dan Pallotta: The Way We Think About Charity Is Dead Wrong

1/15/2014

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I'd seen this a few months back, but it landed in my inbox again recently. Worth the 18 or so minutes of viewing.

Dan Pallotta is an activist and fundraiser who spoke at TED 2013 about the double standard in our relationship with charities and nonprofits. His take is focus on rewarding nonprofits for what they achieve and not how little they spend. Even if accomplishments come with big expenses, change the way we think about organisations that are changing the world.

What do you think?
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All Chiefs, No Indians

12/30/2013

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I’m not a fan of this politically incorrect title, though it is illustrative of the need to create a well-balanced board with not only leadership but understanding. As we’ve acknowledged, nonprofits attract board members who want to make a difference.

It’s a good thing to have members with passion for your mission, but a side effect of highly motivated leaders is strong ideas with egos to match. Not necessarily bad, but if a member disregards board orientation efforts and materials and declares they have the solution, the challenge is in keeping everyone on task instead of retreading. The prudent leader will take the time to understand the entity’s history, why something was done or tabled, and other information or data which can illuminate next steps.

It is also tempting to become sequestered in an ivory tower. In smaller agencies where staff is minimal or nonexistent, this means little or no work might get done.

To overcome this obstacle, you need the three Ws in your board members: wisdom, wealth, and work. It is the rare person who brings multiple qualities in one neat package, but it’s essential to have all three in varying mixes. Visionaries might get to create the agenda, but vision without action is a daydream. Workers can get the job done, but action without vision is a nightmare. Wealth is an extension of work, in that financial resources help the organisation accomplish goals which would be otherwise impossible or extremely cumbersome.

Set clear expectations which welcome vision, but not to the exclusion of action. Effectively use those who are task-oriented but not capable of rising fully to the level of strategic leaders.

--
From "How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Nonprofit Hell"

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BoardSource's Leadership Forum 2013

11/21/2013

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The BoardSource Certified Governance Trainer (BCGT) programme is an exclusive, professional development course that prepares a group of expert trainers. Selectees have to complete a rigorous application and certification process in order to be chosen. There are typically less than 30 nonprofit experts nationally invited to participate, and I was selected for one in Los Angeles earlier this month.

After completing training, I returned home to learn I s
uccessfully passed the programme and was formally invited to become a BCGT. I am the first and only designee to deliver BoardSource's signature nonprofit governance trainings in the Pacific Northwest region and Alaska. The approved curriculum includes the following areas: roles and responsibilities of nonprofit boards, board-staff partnership, board structure, board's role in fundraising, the board-building cycle, and board performance assessment.

Though I have used and referred clients to BoardSource® materials for decades, I am pleased my training will further enable me to continue offering highly recognised and proven techniques and best practises to advance the nonprofit ecosystem.

The icing in this experience was the strong and enjoyable bonds made with the 23 other candidates, but also attending Board Leadership Forum 2013 (BLF|13) with nearly 800 global leaders. There is something to be said for the energy of rooms packed with seasoned professionals who share a common goal and purpose: to improve 'the impact of nonprofit boards and the unique role they play in advancing the public good'. The energy remained high between nonprofit board members, chief executives, staff, funders, corporate social responsibility leaders, researchers, and consultants committed to building effective nonprofit boards, and, in turn, strengthening nonprofit organisations and the communities they serve.

It was also at once amusing, intriguing, and frustrating to acknowledge that despite an overwhelming availability of workshops, books, webinars, consultants, whitepapers, classes, training, coaches, and conferences...many of us (and our clients) continue to struggle with the same issues. Why indeed?

Whereas it was previously said one had to repeat a message at least ten times to get through, in today's high tech world it is exponentially more challenging to penetrate the fire hose of information and distractions. In order to have true impact, data has to be relevant, actionable, and concise. There are certainly many
nonprofits that have successfully achieved their mission and increased effect, and I look forward to providing meaningful and sustainable contributions for my current and future clients.

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Now Available on Kindle!

9/10/2013

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"How To Avoid The Pitfalls Of Nonprofit Hell" is live in the Kindle Store and available for readers to purchase here. Stop on by and grab yourself an e-copy!


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All Hammers and No Saws

6/11/2013

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Usually, when diversity is introduced as a necessary component of well-functioning boards, the reference is to token racial placements or public appeals to selected demographics the organisation serves. The value of reaching a significant or relevant contingent shouldn’t be ignored, but  presuming such a candidate will automatically address this need based on surface appearances or presumed similarities can backfire.

More important are board members who bring a wide range of valuable expertise to the board. Law, finance/accounting, business, entrepreneurial, process or organisational management, communications, fundraising, and compliance are just some examples of the critical skillsets which bring effective representation to nonprofit boards.

It is an unfortunate circumstance that we don’t always get to be choosy regarding who shows up for board service, especially in smaller organisations. Here it is best to extract the cream from the crop of applicants.

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