I am a busy working mom, wife and student. My current personal mission is to raise good human beings and successfully launch them into adulthood. My relationship with my children is paramount in my life right now and requires a high degree of focus, attention and trust. However, my life would be in great imbalance if while focusing on my children, I didn’t work to foster good relationships with my husband, my parents, my family, my friends, my co-workers, my fellow students, my children’s teachers and coaches, etc. These people are stakeholders in my life and the lives of my kids. My children’s lives are better, richer and more meaningful because of stakeholder involvement. There is a well-known proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” It does indeed.

Nonprofits work in the same way. Nonprofits exist to meet the needs of the people and/or the community they serve. Nonprofits are mission-driven and constituent-focused. However, nonprofits cannot do it alone and should not neglect important stakeholder relationships with employees, volunteers, the Board of Directors and donors. Nurturing these stakeholder relationships in pursuit of mission will increase performance and strongly enhance impact.

The foundation of all successful relationships is built on trust. This is true in nonprofit relationships as well. People want to work/volunteer for and give money to organizations that they believe in and trust. I have…

A 2015 Stanford study on boards of directors in nonprofit organizations found that “over two thirds (69 percent) of nonprofit directors say their organization has faced one or more serious governance related problems in the past 10 years.” In fact, according to management consultant Peter Drucker, “Boards of nonprofit organizations malfunction as often as they function effectively.”

So how does an organization improve effectiveness and increase board performance? Earlier research focused more on improvements of procedural documents, structures, policies and bylaws. As one author put it, “earlier works examined how the governance game was organized; we concentrated on how it was actually played.” Most current recommendations can be boiled down to the three P’s of board performance: People, Process and Planning. 

People

Author and consultant Jim Collins calls this the who, then the what: Getting the right people on the bus first, and then figuring out what they are going to do. The right people can mean those with competencies that can help advance the mission of your organization, but it can also mean people who will actively…

Many organizations in the nonprofit sector rely on the help of volunteers. Whether this is in office work, stocking inventory or helping to prepare for an event, the volunteers are a highly valuable asset. Skilled volunteers are a special type of volunteer. These volunteers are individuals who volunteer in the capacity of their everyday work or with skills that they are specifically trained in. The difference between a skilled volunteer and a non-skilled volunteer is that skilled volunteers have education, training or abilities that a volunteer from the general population would not have. Often times the skilled volunteer also has skill sets and trainings that most paid staff within the nonprofit do not have. For this reason, skilled volunteers are highly valuable - and as such managing them effectively is essential. 

 Aaron Hurst, founder of the Taproot Foundation, notes that skilled volunteers are essential to helping nonprofits become self-sustaining and they help the nonprofit put forth the biggest impact in the communities they serve. Hurst also explains that nonprofits from a wide variety of backgrounds are looking for skilled volunteers to help their organizations stay active and to grow from good to great in the community. The skilled volunteers provide opportunities for the organization to acquire help and labor that they would not normally be able to afford…

Public Allies Arizona’s 13th class will graduate on June 28, the completion of a 10-month AmeriCorps program that places emerging young leaders at local nonprofits for full-time paid apprenticeships. (Find out how you can get involved as an Ally or a Partner Organization.) In this post, meet Class 13 Ally Samira Amin, who was placed at Mesa Arts Center Foundation.

“A leader must lead, but also be ready to follow. They must be aggressive, but not overbearing. A leader must be calm, but not robotic. They must be confident, but never cocky. A leader must be brave, but not foolhardy. They must have a competitive spirt, but be a gracious loser.” –Jocko Willink

Why did you want to join Public Allies?

 I was seeking an opportunity to gain experience in community development. What made me want to join Public Allies was learning the skills to develop and grow as a leader, which I knew would benefit me personally and professionally. After receiving my bachelor's degree, I knew I needed guidance to figure out what direction I could head in with the skills I have.

What is your favorite part about being an Ally?

How supportive…

Apple, Google and Starbucks all are famous brands in the for-profit sector. Goodwill, AmeriCorps and Girl Scouts are good examples in the nonprofit sector. These are big ones, with big brands. But what about most nonprofits, without national recognition? There are more than one million nonprofits in the U.S. Why is building a strong brand important for them? 

There are some remarkable authors, like Peter Frumkin, who consider that a nonprofit brand is the principal asset of the organization. An effective brand can be a positive influence on an organization’s assets (human and financial). It can impact their capacities to achieve goals, their social impact and their missions. 

A strong brand is important because it facilitates opportunities, resources and results. These nourish the brand to attract more funding, helping the organization become stronger and more successful. Professors Nathalie Kylander and Christopher Stone state that a strong brand is critical to attracting donors and key stakeholders.  

Additionally, having effective branding benefits nonprofits in other ways, such as credibility, authority, recognition and consistency. It helps nonprofits maintain a good reputation with stakeholders. Matthew Schwartz, the founder and executive…