Moving Ahead with Board Orientation?In this time when we are all struggling with so many issues related to the pandemic, some of the more “regular” issues (tasks that we typically address annually as part of the regular flow of business) also surface as unexpected challenges.  We know that for many nonprofits, the spring is the time when important onboarding takes place for incoming board members.  Can this occur in the midst of the pandemic with stay-at-home orders and no in-person meetings? […]

In the midst of the current coronavirus pandemic, many nonprofits are faced with tough choices related to raising the necessary resources to meet their missions and support the great needs of the communities they serve. The Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector provides guidance for how organizations should act when planning resource development and states, “An organization’s resource development program should be maintained on a foundation of[…]

Nonprofit leaders around the country are working hard to continue to meet their important community missions in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. With this in mind, we’ve been engaged in analysis around which aspects of the Standards for Excellence program could play a role in helping prepare a nonprofit for the turbulent and uncertain times that we are all facing. We’ve heard from nonprofit leaders that they are grateful that the Standards for Excellence program helped them to develop policies,[…]

This has been an exceedingly stressful time for people, a time of uncertainty and mixed messages and having to adapt to a new style of operations. For some, this pandemic has meant that operations have ceased; but, for many, your programs continue.Your nonprofit's revenue may be significantly lower for the next few months now that physical interaction is a safety hazard, and stay-at-home orders are in effect in many states. Nonprofit fundraisers and programming cannot proceed as anticipated, and[…]

"Many of these nonprofits operate on a tight budget and don’t have a significant cushion in reserve. Many rely on fundraising events to provide funds for their services and those events have been canceled. Many nonprofits have employees who are at the bottom of the pay scale and cannot afford to be laid off. The fundraising capacity of these nonprofits is currently paralyzed. Ethical giving in a pandemic looks different than in normal times."Joan Harrington, the director of Social Sector Ethics[…]

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has published interim guidance for businesses and employers to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by managing risks of potential exposure. One measure the CDC is recommending is social distancing (remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance from others when possible). However, nonprofit boards must continue to govern, and meetings may be even more critical for direct service providers during these difficult times.  The[…]

 Like so many of you, I’ve recently made the change from working in my somewhat cluttered but beloved office to working remotely all the time. I have been a regular remote worker for one day a week (or one day every other week) for a number of years. This once-a-week opportunity to slip into my home office so that I could savor the peace and quiet, getting important “thinking and writing projects”  checked off the ever-present “to do” list, feels a lot different from my current full-time work[…]

 Over the past few weeks, coverage of COVID-19 (coronavirus) has dominated the news cycle. While the world has responded with swift mobilization, it is difficult to plan for the effect an outbreak could have on your community. Thankfully, infectious disease experts in Maryland and around the globe have developed advice on how to prepare for an outbreak, both personally and in the workplace. World Health Organization Free Learning Resource: an interactive, web-based, knowledge-transfer platform[…]

This is part of a special series, brought to you by the Standards for Excellence Institute, to provide nonprofit leaders with a brief nonprofit governance and management tip weekly over the course of 2020. We hope these short tips will be helpful to you and the nonprofits you serve. If you have suggestions for future topics, please forward these to acmadsen@standardsforexcellence.org.While your website is certainly a good start for introducing yourself to the public, if you are seeking to engage[…]

This is part of a special series, brought to you by the Standards for Excellence Institute, to provide nonprofit leaders with a brief nonprofit governance and management tip weekly over the course of 2020. We hope these short tips will be helpful to you and the nonprofits you serve. If you have suggestions for future topics, please forward these to acmadsen@standardsforexcellence.org.I recently read an article “Nonprofits Decline Gifts With Too Many Strings or Misaligned Values, Survey Finds” […]