Philanthropy Matters | IULSFP | GENE TEMPEL NAMED

Gene Tempel, founding dean of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, has been named one of the 50 most influential leaders in the nonprofit sector by The NonProfit Times, a leading nonprofit sector publication.

In recognizing Tempel’s leadership, the publication said, “Tempel heads the nation’s first school of philanthropy and there wouldn’t be one without his decades of dedication to the concept of learning about giving. Even though he’s slated to retire soon, he’ll still be around the sector pushing for new ideas powered by research and accumulated knowledge." 

Tempel has been selected for The NonProfit Times “Power and Influence Top 50” list 13 times since it debuted in 1998. In 2013, the publication named him its inaugural “Influencer of the Year,” selecting him for the honor from among the nonprofit leaders nationwide who comprised the 2013 “Power and Influence Top 50.”

The 50 honorees for 2014 have been invited to a September gala in Washington, D.C. The list is compiled by The NonProfit Times’ staff and people from the philanthropic sector.

“It is tremendous that the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy is being acknowledged among these remarkable sector leaders and organizations who are shaping the important roles philanthropy and nonprofits play in building civil society,” Tempel said. “This honor acknowledges the school’s leadership in the vanguard of philanthropy education, research and training and the outstanding contributions of our board of visitors, faculty, students, staff, donors and volunteers, as well as Indiana University. It is because of their efforts and support that we are able to improve philanthropy to improve the world.”

“We thank The NonProfit Times for spotlighting the importance of increasing understanding of philanthropy and of preparing the next generation of knowledgeable, innovative professionals who will continue to strengthen civil society and invent new ways of meeting society’s needs,” Tempel added.

As founding dean of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Tempel leads the world’s first school devoted to the study and teaching of philanthropy. He played an integral role in establishing the school’s precursor, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and served as its executive director from 1997 through 2008, developing it into a leading national resource.

Committed to strengthening the philanthropic sector, Tempel was the first elected president of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council, a national association of academic centers and programs that focus on the study of nonprofit organizations, voluntarism and philanthropy. He is a past chair of the national Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Ethics Committee and a member of Independent Sector’s Expert Advisory Panel that helped create national guidelines for nonprofit governance and ethical behavior. He is president emeritus of the Indiana University Foundation.

About Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

About the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

The Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy is dedicated to improving philanthropy to improve the world by training and empowering students and professionals to be innovators and leaders who create positive and lasting change. The School offers a comprehensive approach to philanthropy—voluntary action for the public good—through its academic, research and international programs and through The Fund Raising School, Lake Institute on Faith & Giving and the Women’s Philanthropy Institute. Learn more at www.philanthropy.iupui.edu.

See more at: http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/news/article/tempel-named-one-of-us-nonprofit-sectors-50-most-influential-leaders#sthash.SafHt1De.dpuf

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 15, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Governance | Boards

There are many models of corporate governance. There is no one- size-fits-all. Some of the ways people have described boards and their roles are below.

Each board requires a shared view of its roles and responsibilities and the way it will work.

Key questions are: 

What is our preferred model of governance?
How do we want our board to work?
How will we know we are doing a good job?

Some boards adopt a particular model. Some adopt a particular model and then make variations to it. Other boards are more eclectic.

The following quotations highlight key ideas in different models.

Tripartite System - A conventional model of governance

"In many nonprofits, the responsibilities for running the organisation evolve into a three-part, interactive system - a tripartite system - comprised of a board of directors, an executive, and staff. If this system is to function effectively, its parts need to share a sense of mission. A board’s central function is to keep the organisation’s mission in focus, and its primary responsibility is to ensure that the other parts of the system are working toward accomplishing that mission." (p4)

From Diane J. Duca Nonprofit Boards Roles Responsibilities and Performance quoting Cornforth and Edwards in Good Governance: Developing Effective Board-Management Relations in Public and Voluntary Organisations.

Ways of seeing boards
There are different ways of seeing boards. Three are outlined in David Fishel The book of the Board Effective Governance for Non-profit Organisations.

The agency or stewardship model

“The agency view presumes that managers tend to act in their own self-interest rather than in the interest of the ‘owners’ of an enterprise. In this world, the board members see their main function as being to control the behaviour of mangers. They primarily have a stewardship role - making sure that the resources of the organisation are safeguarded." (p11)

The political model

"The political or democratic perspective of the board assumes that board members are their to represent to interests of one or more stakeholders in the organisation and to express or resolve differences between those interest groups." (p12)

The managerial model

"In the managerial view, the board is regarded as the apex of a management hierarchy. Ideas and practice from management are considered appropriate to governance also - so board members should be chosen on the basis of their expertise and contacts, in order to add value to the organisation’s decision making processes." (p12)

Dimensions of the board’s role - Robinson

"A board operates in three dimensions in the life of a nonprofit organisation. It is a legal body and has responsibilities that relate to its legal duties. It is also a functional body; there is work to be done and the board is often in the best position to do it. Finally the board is a symbolic body; a role that is critical to the board’s effectiveness but is often unappreciated....  (pp29-30)

"The Legal Dimension - There is no escaping the fact that the board is the legally responsible body within a nonprofit organisation. (p30)

"The functional dimension - In addition to being a legal body, the board is also an important resource for getting the job done. In a start-up organisation the board may find itself the chief cook and bottle washer....  In a mature organisation with a large and professional staff the board will spend its time differently. (p35)

"The Symbolic dimension - The board is a leadership body....  Who serves on a board conveys an important message to clients, constituents, members, donors, and the community at large." (p37)

Maureen K Robinson. Nonprofit Boards that work. The end of one-size-fits-all Governance.

The cyclical board model

"Boards of directors tend to behave in a certain way depending on their stage of development, as well as the state of the organization. Sometimes they behave like managers and at other times they act more like leaders. Unlike the governance-theory model and the tripartite system model, which offer principles of board governance, the cyclical board model describes categories of board behaviour. "(p7)

Some examples for different stages are:

"Founding stage - There is no distinction between policy and management; the board acts as staff and runs the organisation... (p8)
"Corporate Stage - the board behaves like a corporate board; policy making and planning emphasised; recruit prestigious members" (p-9)

From Diane J. Duca Nonprofit Boards Roles Responsibilities and Performance quoting Miriam M Wood Is Governing Board Behaviour Cyclical “Nonprofit Management and Leadership 3, 2 1992 

Governance - theory model - Carver  

A good model of governance will enable the board to:

• Cradle the vision
• Explicitly address fundamental values
• Force an external focus
• Enable an outcome-driven organising system
• Separate large issues from small ones
• Force forward thinking
• Enable pro-activity
• Facilitate diversity and unity in board composition and opinion
• Describe relationships to relevant constituencies
• Define a common basis for discipline within the board (i.e. sticking to the job)
• Delineate the boards role in common topics (ensuring the board’s specific contribution to any topic is clear).
• Determine what information is needed
• Balance over-control and under-control (i.e. neither be rubber-stamper or meddler)
• Use board time efficiently.

In the Carver Model the board is responsible for:

1. Linkage to ownership: The board acts in trusteeship for "ownership" i.e., members.
2. Explicit governing policies: The values and perspectives of the whole organization are encompassed by the board's explicit enunciation and proper categorization of broad policies.
3. Assurance of executive performance: Although the board is not responsible for the staff's performance, it must ensure that staff members meet the criteria it has set. In this way, its accountability for that performance is fulfilled.

The categories of policy the board will have are:

1. Ends: The organizational "swap" with the world. What human needs are to be met, for whom (outside the operating organisation), and at what cost or relative worth.
2. Executive limitations: Those principles of prudence and ethics that limit the choice of staff means (practices, activities, circumstances, methods).
3. Board-Executive relationship: The manner in which power is passed to the executive machinery and in which the use of that power is assessed.

Based on John Carver Boards the Make a Difference. A new Design for leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organisations.

http://www.mapl.com.au/governance/governance3.htm


Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 15, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

NPQ Newswire | Heroes, Heroines, and Others in Nonprofit Community Development

Written by Rick Cohen

Those of us who cut our teeth in the community development movement, working for community action agencies in the War on Poverty or working for community development corporations—including those that were created or boosted through the Special Impact Program of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and Title VII of the Community Services Act of 1974—know a fundamental truth about nonprofit community development corporations. For all of the arm’s length advocacy on behalf of poor people done by professional policy advocates who never seem to come within yards of the people they purport to represent, Community Development Corporations and the CDC movement in general have been assiduous advocates with and on behalf of poor people in inner cities and in rural communities.

The work of the best CDCs is reflective of the theory of “non-reformist reform.” CDCs get things done, but in the course of doing so, they achieve more than outputs of housing and services. They create a different dynamic of community development in poor neighborhoods. In this dynamic residents see that they can get things done for themselves at the same time as they more generally advocate for vital resources and supports from local, state, and federal governmental authorities for all communities.

Not all CDCs are there on the simultaneous achievement of concrete improvements in poor people’s lives and advocacy for systemic changes in public policy toward the inner city and rural poor. But some truly epitomize the best of the field by pushing for social change while implementing creative on-the-ground programming. This is what makes community development a distinctive segment of the nonprofit sector, functioning,at the intersection of advocacy and progress.

[To read the entire article, visit the website]

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/24665-heroes-heroines-and-others-in-nonprofit-community-development.html

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 14, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Always remember

A simple, fundamental truth that might benefit many of us to remember,  Giving should NEVER be conceived as an entitlement because an organization serves the community; giving is ALWAYS a carefully considered, thoughtful choice.

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 12, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Leadership/Management | Ubuntu

As any seasoned nonprofit professional knows, it has become increasingly important for each nonprofit professional, regardless of title, to keep abreast of current information, trends and resources available for the nonprofit sector.  Unfortunately, in the past, far too many so-called leaders and/or managers relied on their experience, 'rested' on their laurels, and did not keep pace with changes.  Their ignorance negatively impacted their organizations, leadership, management and staff, as well as donors, not to mention the overall community, some of whose members may have relied on programs and/or services once provided but are no longer available -- primarily due to budget constraints.

Nobody can afford to sit back on their laurels and engage in the magical thinking that everything will work out.  Assuming overall leadership responsibilities means doing all that is necessary to ensure organizational effectiveness, efficiency and overall sustainability.  This may seem a daunting, overwhelming task to many; nonprofit leadership and management is most assuredly not a career path for the faint of heart.  Although no task would fall within the category of 'rocket science,' nonetheless the amount of information necessary to establish a solid foundation on which to build a knowledge base is demanding and far too important to ignore and/or relegate to 'someone else' and 'forget' the ongoing responsibilities assumed.

Accordingly, it's critical that a good leader is always discerning about the daily actions of his or her team, has invested him/herself to learn organizational dynamics that serve the board, nonprofit management and staff, AND the community.  Fortunately, with the advent of the internet and cyberspace access, it is easier than ever before to locate information and resources that will fortify any knowledge base.  Additionally, the increasing number of professional consultants makes it easier to strengthen and enrich this process.

I intend to share valuable resources that have helped me in my nonprofit career, but remind you that there is much more available to you.  It takes a modest amount of computer savvy and creativity to forge a rewarding path that will lead you in a clear direction; however, you, and you alone, must assess your commitment of  time and energy to make the most of all the information and resources that will enhance your learning process.  Once you decide what it is that you need, I strongly suggest that you take the time to develop a personal strategic plan for this process.

In the meantime . . . I'm often reminded of the strength and empowerment I have gained from embracing the African ideology of Ubuntu.

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 11, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

National Council of Nonprofits | Resoures

 Resources

Welcome to the Resources section of the National Council of Nonprofits’ website where we feature a collection of resources for nonprofit leaders, including a list of resources by topic.

How to Start a Nonprofit

    Nonprofit Audit Guide

    Resources by Topic

        Administration and Management

            Annual filings

            Maintaining tax-exempt status

            Sustainable and sound management practices

            Financial management

            Strategic and business planning

            Managing employees: employment topics

            Leadership and succession planning

            Evaluation of outcomes/ outcomes measurement

            Mergers, collaborations and partnerships

        Affordable Care Act

        Boards and Governance

        Communications and marketing

        Ethics and Accountability

        Evaluation and Measurement

        Fundraising

        Leadership

        Risk Management and Insurance

        Technology

        Volunteers

    Principles and Practices and Standards for Excellence®

    Research, Reports, and Data

    Nonprofit Advocacy Matters Archive

    Nonprofit Knowledge Matters Archive

    Bookstore

    Vendor Listing

See more at: http://www.councilofnonprofits.org/resources#sthash.LePiwl2D.dpuf

http://www.councilofnonprofits.org/resources

All of the above resources can be accessed as links by visiting the website.

National Council of Nonprofits
1200 New York Avenue NW Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 962-0322
Fax: (202) 962-0321

See more at: http://www.councilofnonprofits.org/who-we-are#sthash.qzmCVltu.dpuf

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 11, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence

IN 1994 THE MINNESOTA COUNCIL OF NONPROFITS (MCN) became the first state association of nonprofits to develop a set of accountability principles and management practices. This revised edition completely updates those original standards while remaining true to MCN’s longstanding goal of open access to our comprehensive policies for strong public accountability.

The Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence are based on the fundamental values of quality, responsibility and accountability. The 11 accountability principles distinguish the nonprofit sector from government and the business sector. The 192 management practices provide specific guidelines for individual organizations to evaluate and improve their operations, governance, human resources, advocacy, financial management and fundraising.

 Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
2314 University Ave. West #20
St. Paul, MN 55114

Phone: 651-642-1904
Fax: 651-642-1517
Greater MN: 1-800-289-1904 info@minnesotanonprofits.org

Updated History

THE MINNESOTA COUNCIL OF NONPROFITS BEGAN THIS DOCUMENT on nonprofit accountability at its 1993 Annual Conference. We continued to develop it through community meetings, workshops and discussions throughout the state. Under the leadership of Dr. James P. Shannon and James V. Toscano, MCN joined with two organizations—the Charities Review Council of Minnesota and MAP for Nonprofits—to convene discussions on nonprofit standards and to develop principles of sound nonprofit management and accountability. The first draft of the Principles and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence was circulated to nonprofit and philanthropic leaders throughout Minnesota and the United States in 1994 and was approved by MCN’s board of directors in 1998.

In 2005, MCN conducted a major revision of the Principles and Practices, led by James V. Toscano. In 2013, MCN gathered a new group of nonprofit leaders through the Principles and Practices Advisory Committee to review necessary changes. James V. Toscano returned as a co-chair of the committee joined by Rinal Ray and Armando Camacho, with Laura Johansson as facilitator.

[Continued; for full availability of downloads and additional, invaluable information and resources, please visit the MCN website.]

http://www.minnesotanonprofits.org/nonprofit-resources/principles-and-practices/principles-and-practices-for-nonprofit-excellence-2014/principles-and-practices-for-nonprofit-excellence

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 10, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Distinguishing a Board’s Steering and Rowing Work by William Ryan

As described in the book Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards, to govern comprehensively, boards work in three modes: fiduciary, strategic, and generative. To use a metaphor in which an organization is a boat, boards can make two distinct types of contributions: steering and rowing.
When steering, the board collectively:

• Sets the direction of the organization;
• Determines which values and logic will guide it; and
• Ensures the organization’s resources are used prudently to advance its work.

When rowing, board members individually or collectively expand the organization’s resources by, among other things:

• Offering pro bono professional services or expertise to management;
•  Volunteering as front-line service providers;
• Advocating for or championing the organization and its mission in the community; and
• Helping to raise funds to sustain the organization’s work.

It can be useful to distinguish steering and rowing by using a substitution test. Rowing work is substitutable. The board does not need to contribute to the organization’s resources, financial or otherwise, as long as it is satisfied they are adequate. For example, a foundation whose board does no fundraising because of its large endowment is not necessarily ungoverned. Given the assets of the organization, the board is simply not called on to do such work.

In contrast, steering work is not substitutable. An organization whose board is not steering may be led by its executives, and may be influenced by other stakeholders, but it is not legitimately governed unless its board deliberates and makes intentional choices regarding the organization’s values, strategies, and performance. (When it comes to oversight of management, boards are non-substitutable not just on legitimacy grounds but also as a matter of practicality: by definition, management cannot oversee itself.)

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/governancevoice/19496-distinguishing-a-boards-steering-and-rowing-work.html

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 9, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Nonprofit Quarterly | A “Classic Case” Merger: What Tends to Make Them Work

Written by Jeanne Allen and Ruth McCambridge

Two sheltering organizations in the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area are merging on July 1st, and the situation is a real textbook case of the situational factors that underlie many such moves.

Our House, which opened in 1988, “is a full-day, year-round, nationally accredited early childhood education center.” Genesis Shelter was founded in 1994 with the mission of helping homeless families with babies younger than 6 months old. The group provides counseling and child care services for 48 children daily in addition to support services for homeless families.

So the missions are to some extent aligned. But the “fit” of other factors is strikingly accurate to the literature on the topic.

• Genesis was struggling financially and Our House was financially stronger.
• Genesis’s executive was willing to leave, and Our House’s to stay.
• Our House had just completed a strategic plan where all involved acknowledged that the organization was at a point where it wanted to expand for mission reasons.
• The effort had the support of the local community foundation.
• Perhaps most important, the two boards were willing to work long and hard to make the whole thing happen.

In the excellent “Creating Fertile Soil for the Merger Option,” Judith Alnes of MAP points to the critical importance of motivation in a successful merger in that in the end, the winners are meant to be the community. Here is what MAP’s research found about merger motivations: 

• 93 percent of participating organizations said they pursued merger to increase service delivery.
• 93 percent reported that they wished to secure through merger the long-term financial viability of one of the merging partners.
• 75 percent said their reasons included the salvaging of services that might otherwise be lost.
• Relatively few reported that a primary reason for merger was to stave off imminent financial crisis (37 percent).
• 56 percent sought to expand services to new markets and 29 percent sought to expand the types of services they could offer to consumers.
• Only seventeen of the forty-one participating organizations reported that merger was motivated in part to expand their donor bases. Eight were looking for greater staff expertise and five for additional physical space.

According to the shared Community Impact statement displayed on both websites, the merger will result in increased number of early education slots, increased access to mental health services, and a continuum of service delivery. The same article talks in depth about MAP’s findings on the topic of success factors.

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/management/24441-a-classic-case-merger-what-tends-to-make-them-work.html

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 9, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Philamplify | Stakeholder Engagement: Still a Philanthropic Learning Curve

Last week, Nonprofit Quarterly‘s Anne Eigeman told a cautionary tale of stakeholder backlash (first reported by Wally Harbert in Third Sector). In “The Risk for Nonprofits in Excluding Stakeholders in Key Decision-Making,” she highlights the story of a hospice agency in the UK that decided to close its residential facility for the elderly in favor of home-based services, only to be told by the residents and their families that they didn’t want to move. The uproar resulted in both the chief executive and chairperson resigning.

Despite tales like this one – and extensive literature on the value of engaging stakeholders when deciding strategy, policy and practice – it appears that nonprofits and foundations still have a long way to go. In her report for Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), “Do Nothing About Me Without Me,” J. Courtney Bourns observes:

“The lack of genuine stakeholder engagement by grantmakers leads to frayed relationships with grantees and communities. During nonprofit focus groups convened for GEO’s Change Agent Project, participants repeatedly noted that the “power differential” between foundations and grantees leads to counterproductive relationships and sometimes can stand in the way of grantee success.”

[Continued, for full article, visit the website]

http://philamplify.org/2014/08/05/stakeholder-engagement-still-a-philanthropic-learning-curve/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stakeholder-engagement-still-a-philanthropic-learning-curve 

The Risk for Nonprofits in Excluding Stakeholders in Key Decision-Making

Anne Eigeman

A current business trend emphasizes the benefits of thinking quickly in times of decision, and in an era when budgets are often shrinking rather than expanding, it is not surprising that there is a strong market for these theories. In a recent post about the UK’s Pilgrims Hospice, the former president of the Association of Directors of Social Services and UK Director of Help the Aged, Wally Harbert, provides some context for the changes over the past fifty years with housing trends for elderly people and the impact that they have had.

As Harbert writes, “Judgments that involve a trade off between the certainty of what now exists and doubts about the validity of what might take its place” are complex both “intellectually and emotionally”—and particularly so for individuals and families dealing with end-of-life issues.

In Harbert’s words, the recent events at Pilgrims Hospice amount to a story that “is simply told.” Essentially, the organization’s former executive director, Steve Auty, “persuaded his trustees that their premises in Canterbury were no longer fit for purpose and should be closed with the savings used to develop more appropriate services, mainly in the homes of patients.” According to Harbert, “public uproar” soon followed and then led to the organization’s board reversing its decision about the facility and Auty and the organization’s board chair both resigning. Evidence of the “uproar” Harbert describes can be found on the Save Pilgrims Hospice Canterbury Facebook page, which as of July 14 had nearly 14,000 “likes,” along with a post explaining that that a final decision from the board was still forthcoming and that, in the meantime, the group was raising funds.

[Continued, for full article, visit the website]

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/24524-the-risk-for-nonprofits-in-excluding-stakeholders-in-key-decision-making.html

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 9, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Mal Warwick | To end poverty, help poor people earn more money

* * *
The most obvious, direct, and effective way to combat poverty is to help poor people earn more money.

Poverty is complex. There’s no universally accepted definition — far from it. Depending on who you talk to, you may find that one or more of a great many factors must be taken into account to gain an understanding of poverty, much less to define it: lack of access to adequate food, shelter, education; lack of political power; lack of access to information; and so forth.

* * *
Paul Polak and Mal Warwick’s award-winning book, The Business Solution to Poverty, highlights 20 “takeaways” that encapsulate much of the book’s essence.

http://businesssolutiontopoverty.com/to-end-poverty-help-poor-people-earn-more-money/

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 9, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

What's Next for the Future of Work?

John Irons Aug 05, 2014
A version of this post, co-authored by Rob Garris, also appeared in the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Around the world, ambitious, creative thinkers and doers are expanding the livelihood opportunities for populations that had been marginalised from the economic opportunities around them. Mobile technologies are giving smallholder farmers and fishermen real-time access to critical market information. New forms of self-organisation are empowering more stable livelihoods through cooperative insurance, as well as credit and savings programs for millions of informal workers. These self-employed workers are the heart of many local markets in the cities of the developing world.

"Not only is technology changing the types of jobs around the globe, but it is also changing how people connect to jobs and to work."

Not only is technology changing the types of jobs around the globe, but it is also changing how people connect to jobs and to work. For example, mobile technology is spurring demand for mobile app developers; 3D printing is shaking up manufacturing and the maker movement; and broadband connectivity is making digital work possible in remote locations. But while technology-induced job churn is nothing new, the current wave is creating new kinds of markets for work and new ways to connect. Uber, TaskRabbit, and ODesk are facilitating new kinds of work relationships, and platforms such as Airbnb, Spinlister and Zipcar, are facilitating the sharing economy.

http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/whats-next-future-work?utm_source=Social%20Media&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=RF%20Blog

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 7, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Non-profit Boards and fiscal responsibility

Take responsibility—together. The buck stops with the board, most specifically the committee that oversees financial and auditing matters. How could such a committee have allowed such a risky investment to be made?

http://philanthropy.com/article/After-a-Nonprofit-Financial/147981/

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 7, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Illusion of reality

America’s news media are failing to focus a critical eye on philanthropy, especially on wealthy donors. A decade ago, major newspapers like the Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times regularly uncovered the inappropriate activities of foundations and large wealthy donors. But today journalists have become, for the most part, relatively uncritical, almost supine, cheerleaders of American philanthropy.

A painful reminder of this lack of skepticism came a few weeks ago when CBS’s "60 Minutes" repeated a piece it had aired last year about the Giving Pledge, the effort by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett to persuade fellow billionaires to donate at least half of their fortunes during their lifetimes.
[continued]

 http://philanthropy.com/article/America-s-Press-Needs-to/148183/

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 7, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

In remembrance | Warren Bennis lives on

Becoming a leader 

is synonymous with becoming yourself. 

It is precisely that simple, 

and it is also that difficult.

Warren Bennis

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/warren_bennis.html

Warren Bennis, known for his work in the field of leadership, died last week. He left behind a large body of stimulating writing and practice in his chosen field. To me he was a restless person with a large sense of humor.

Although I didn’t know him well, my most memorable moment with him came at a 70th birthday party hosted by HBS Professor Jay Lorsch and his wife for Fritz Roethlisberger in 1968 in their modest digs that one could rent in those days from Harvard University. While several of us were talking with Fritz, Warren, who had borrowed a large pair of scissors, walked up and cut off Fritz’s tie, citing an old custom of some kind. Fritz, always gracious, laughed it off and made it a centerpiece of fun during the rest of the party while Warren basked in the notoriety of his deed.

Bennis wrote prolifically and well. Much of the writing dealt with shortcomings he found in the behavior of leaders practicing in the last half of the twentieth century. Especially in his book On Becoming a Leader, he was critical of the short-sighted, me-oriented nature of too many leaders of that time. He later became more optimistic about the future of leadership behaviors as he continued to set and maintain high standards for the practice. He also put into practice what he preached, advising many well-known leaders in both business and government and serving as president of a large university for a time. In his later years, Bennis served as the editor of an influential series of books, many of which dealt with organizational culture, a matter of interest to him throughout his career.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2014/08/06/what-is-warren-benniss-legacy/

 

RIP, Mr. Bennis.  Although we grieve your death, you and your legacy will live on in our hearts and minds.

Stephanie Doty
Discouraging NP Dysfunction
August 6, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/