Governance Q&A: To dream big or to be realistic?

My executive director read some motivational books and now wants us to have a Can-Do attitude where anything is possible. I would dearly love to say yes to everyone, but our shelter has limited space and people do get turned...

Governance models, board types or best practices?

What type of board do you want ‘yours’ to be? A nonprofit organization recently asked me to help them figure out “what type of board they wanted to be”. This reminded me of discussions with a colleague who suggests that...

Introduction to the project lifecycle

Introduction Many of our previous discussions have looked at the various components of project management and what a project manager does on a daily basis. These have been tip-oriented to help you manage the project and your sanity as you...

Human Resources Q&A: Bonding remote teams through leadership and communciation

We're a mid-sized organization with 80 staff, mostly frontline workers who are out of the office most of the time. There seem to be two camps developing: those in the main office who see each other every day, and those...

Governance Q&A: Balancing a community’s needs with your organization’s ability to deliver

My community has many needs. Sometimes as executive director I hear about new grant programs that would serve my community well, but the type of service is well outside what my organization does. I cannot just tweak. Should I go...

Evaluating your not-for-profit organization

Not-for-profit organizations are increasingly investing time and resources in planning: strategic planning, risk management planning, crisis management planning and more. Equally important is the task of evaluating the work and progress of the organization, especially as it relates to delivering...

Charities and the appeals process

This article continues our series on a charity’s dispute with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In our last article we dealt with the first formal stage of a dispute, the audit process, culminating when the charity receives a notice of...

First aid for projects

Introduction Everyone has worked on a project at one time or another that has been 'challenged'. These are the projects that keep us working well beyond sunset or that keep us up at night. The best case scenario is that...

Board assessment? Why bother?

Call to order! The chair has called order for the regular monthly meeting of your nonprofit board. You’re asked to speak to an item that you placed on the agenda - board assessment - a matter that’s been on your...

View from the top: The realities of being an executive director

The voluntary sector is chock full of talented, tireless, selfless people all trying to better their communities and the country as a whole. Generally speaking, there exists in the sector a generosity of spirit and an understanding of the inherent...