Nonprofit Spark Renee Mcgivern

Non-profit mission statements often are so lofty no one understands them nor can boards fully identify with them. They sound like a great idea but mission statements often are disconnected from what the board is supposed to do. It’s no wonder that board governance gets confusing; members aren’t sure why they’re there. What if you […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Making your board dramatically more effective- 06/11/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

My guest this week is the executive director of a non-profit association that started with only 70 nonprofit members in 2004 and has already expanded to serving more than 600. He knows from first-hand experience what it takes to build a non-profit and, in fact, advises them on how to succeed. On the show, we […] The post Nonprofit Spark – How newer nonprofits succeed – 06/04/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

A recent article in Nonprofit Quarterly caught my eye. It asked if non-profit special events are an addiction, a kind of illness. I tracked down the source of the question and it was a workshop being offered in Indiana entitled, Avoiding the Highly Contagious Special Events bug. My guest on this week’s show co-authored an […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Avoiding the highly contagious special events bug – 05/28/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The unsung hero of nonprofit boards is the nominating committee. I don’t know why, but its work is undervalued by many, many non-profits. The finance committee is a big deal. The fundraising or event committee is a big deal. And then there’s the lowly nominating committee, which is pulled together for a few months with […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Nominating committee: The unsung hero of non-profit sustainability – 05/21/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The economy is limping along and so is income for a large number of nonprofits, many whom were just making it before the recession. When you’ve cut as deep as you can, and foregone salary increases for several years, what should you do? That’s right. Give more time and attention to your individual donors and […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Thriving in this economy: Fundraising tips from Kim Klein 051412 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week’s show focuses on writing non-profit grant proposals but it comes from the funders point of view. You can find all kinds of information on the web or in your library about how to write a grant proposal, but actually very little about how it feels to be the one who has to read […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Writing a grant proposal: The funder’s point of view – 05/07/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week’s episode is a “show and tell show,” which means that my guest and I want you to look at sample dashboards as we talk about them. Please download the worksheet with Sample dashboards here before you listen to the show. A dashboard gives nonprofit leaders an at-a-glance view of what’s happening in the […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Using dashboards for nonprofit evaluation – 04/30/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week’s show is a replay of a great episode about non-profit management that aired the week of December 12, 2012. Specifically, we discuss delegating and letting someone go. What are the elements of effective delegation? How do you balance handing over a project and making sure it stays on track? What should you do […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Delegating and letting someone go – 04/23/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

It’s National Volunteer Week in Canada and so I speak this week with the leader of an organization that has transformed the way it thinks about and manages volunteers. The show isn’t just about volunteers, though. You’ll hear how about an honest-to-goodness transformation in how this agency serves its members, and how the board and […] The post Nonprofit Spark – A nonprofit reinvents itself: LiveWorkPlay takes on social change – 04/16/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

April is National Volunteers Month so I want to revisit the topic of volunteer management. Earlier this year, I had Susan Ellis of Energize, Inc, on the show, and she made an excellent Case for strategic volunteerism in nonprofits. That interview aired the week of January 23, 2012. Now here’s a new twist: Have you […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Nonprofit Best Practices in Volunteer Communication – 04/09/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

This week, we get an eagle’s-eye view of the nonprofit sector from Bob Ottenhoff, CEO of Guidestar, an online service where you can find detailed information about your favorite nonprofits. We discuss what’s happening in the non-profit sector, what his concerns are for it, and what opportunities he sees for nonprofits, particularly in light of […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Embracing change in the non-profit sector – 04/02/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Many nonprofits run on a tight budget and will love to hear that there’s an organization of very bright undergraduate students who are eager to provide pro bono consultation to local non-profits. Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations has a growing number of chapters on college and university campuses. SCNO members apply their personal skills and […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Technical assistance from Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations – 03/26/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Every month, I see at least one story in an American newspaper about an employee of a nonprofit who has stolen money from the organization. Theft happens across a spectrum of large and small, national and local, efficient and inefficient nonprofits. In every story, the leaders say they were completely shocked that a person they […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Nonprofit crisis management best practices: Dealing with fraud – 03/19/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Most leaders of active non-profits produce a monthly balance sheet and income statement. However, many don’t produce a cash flow projection which tells executives and board members if they’ll have enough cash in the bank to cover the bills every month. On this week’s show, my guest and I discuss why managing cash flow and […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Primer on managing your non-profit’s cash flow – 03/12/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The non-profit sector excels at meeting community needs and is becoming masterful with non-profit best management practices. But are these enough? To solve the problems of our day, my guest this week asserts that the job of nonprofits is not to provide services but to develop leaders. he even redefines the concept of leadership: that […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Everyone Leads: Building Leadership from the Community Up – 03/05/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

On this week’s show, Christine Durand of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and I focus again on her website redesign project. Christine is the communications and marketing director for that organization. Non profit leaders may be wondering why I’d do a show about websites when those projects often have little to do with my target […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Non-profit website redesign, part 2 – 02/27/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

There’s nothing that makes newer non-profit leaders more nervous than asking for money, especially from individuals. Their hearts clench. Their eyes glaze over. Their bodies freeze like deer looking into headlights. I’m not sure what all that’s about but perhaps you’ll feel better when I tell you that the experience is universal and automatic. You’re […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Elements of a non-profit fund development plan – 02/20/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Almost every day, we read about passionate people who want to solve a big problem and they do so in myriad ways. We hear about social entrepreneurs, social enterprises, and for-profits and non-profits, all working toward social change. Clearly, we are long past the days when non-profits are the only do-gooders in the world. In […] The post Nonprofit Spark – What’s happening with the business of doing good? Social enterprise models – 02/13/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The Traveling Guitar Foundation is a rising nonprofit star. It was founded in the New York tri-state area less than three years ago by Damon Marks, a guitarist and songwriter. Damon has performed and recorded with notable musicians including Bret Michaels, Beyonce, Melanie Fiona, and Marco Mendoza and was a touring guitarist on Alicia Keys’ […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Traveling Guitar Foundation’s start-up success story, and a presentation contest for non-profits – 02/06/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

One of the most daunting projects every non-profit has to face at some point is a website redesign. It is time consuming, has great potential for complications and cost overruns, and requires both big picture thinking and attention to the smallest details. The redesign requires lengthy conversations and lots of work by many people, all […] The post Nonprofit Spark – Non-profit website redesign, part 1 – 01/30/12 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.