Managing The Nonprofit Organization

The nonprofit board and its governance are critical to an organization’s success. Brown (2007) stresses the need for governing boards to be informed, effective, and engaged, especially because the current environment (i.e. increasing competition for resources, etc.) demands high-quality board performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine existing literature as it relates to nonprofit board governance and performance. This analysis includes an examination of nonprofit boards’ roles, responsibilities, and functions along with a review of best practices. In addition, board roles and best practices, and their correlation to board performance is emphasized. Finally, a discussion of the practical implications of the literature as it relates to DavidsonWorks’ board ties the literature to real-world application.

ReferencesRobert D. H. & Associates (2005). THE JOSSEY-BASS HANDBOOK OF NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Working in nonprofit is gratifying and at the same time challenging. As an administrator for a major nonprofit organization, I have witness first-hand the effects of staff retention and excessive turnover and its effects on the quality of service provided to clients and the increase in the cost of recruitment. However, recent data support how nonprofits continue to experience growth, while the private sector remains stagnant. Per the nonprofit quarterly the steady growth of nonprofit was estimated at 14.4 million people in 2013. In 2003, nonprofit organizations paid an estimated $425 billion in wages. Ten years later, in 2013, total nonprofit wages had risen to $634 billion. This increase in paid wages represents a growth of 49.2 percent (Nonprofit

The diversity of nonprofit organizations, services provided and the problems faced shows that nonprofits require leadership with an in-depth understanding of the multifaceted nonprofit landscape. Understanding the culture of nonprofit work is also crucial and much easier to understand once you have been through a nonprofit management program. My career interests lead me towards an avocation of a deeper knowledge of strategic management/planning, legal structure and standards, increase my skills in quantitative analysis of policy, financial governance and developing fundraising strategies. These areas allow for macro management within the nonprofit

Most nonprofit agencies follow the same management structure. The structure normally consists of a vertical hierarchal structure with the chief executive manager at the helm, and divisional leaders rounding out the strategic leadership team. Since 9/11, then government shutdowns, multiple wars, natural disasters, and the government sequester, the challenge to most nonprofits is to compete for every available charitable dollar. Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of nonprofits must not only be skillful in maximizing the outcomes with fewer dollars, but also politically savvy in vying for monies for federal, state, local, foundation, and private funding sources.

The nonprofit sector in America is a reflection some of the foundational values that brought our nation into existence. Fundamentals, such as the idea that people can govern themselves and the belief that people should have the opportunity to make a difference by joining a like-minded group, have made America and its nonprofit sector what it is today. The American "civil society" is one that has been produced through generations of experiments with government policy, nonprofit organizations, private partnerships, and individuals who have asserted ideas and values. The future of the nonprofit sector will continue to be experimental in many ways. However, the increase of professional studies in nonprofit management and the greater

When Zoot Velasco looks at American nonprofits, he sees a sector that is struggling, in spite of limitless potential for innovation and impact. Noting that 22.3% of the country’s GDP is in the nonprofit sector, yet only 20% of such organizations have a budget exceeding $1 million, Velasco hopes to lead a transformation in the industry.

The two points made in the lecture, The Effective Non-Profit Team are points two and 4. In point two, Drucker argues that the purpose of leadership is to help the church become more like Christ. The temptation is to incorporate a business mindset into the church. The purpose of the church is to magnify God (1 Corinthians 12:13), the evangelization of the world (Acts 1:8), and to build up Christians in the faith (Ephesians 4:11-16). Drucker reminds church leaders that the church is not a business.

My course objectives for the second part of the class are still as follows: 1)

As a junior in high school, I had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. with a nonprofit organization, the Foods Resource Bank. We visited congressional offices and nonprofits in the area, building relationships over critical issues regarding the importance of food sustainability. These few days completely changed my perspective and showed me the power of my own voice. I now see the needs of the world, and how I can affect them, in a different light. In ten years, I intend to find a group of people with which I can take that light to dark places and bring people who are underwater to the shore.

In a nonprofit organization, managers are concerned with “generating some social impact” (Daft, 2013). Stakeholders for nonprofit organizations include the community, taxpayers, the government, private donors, employees, and volunteers. Each one of these stakeholders poses a challenge for managers. For instance, in a nonprofit organization, there is a “continual struggle to pursue vital social missions in the face of

After many years of management in the profit sector of business I set my sights on the not for profit arena. With all the determination, commitment and leadership that I thought I had acquired throughout the years I ventured forth with high levels of confidence that ended abruptly when I began this course. I was thrown off track and almost derailed by the possibility that managing a not for profit organization could be any different than managing a multimillion dollar retail establishment. As the reading and assignments continued I faltered and fell into a state of doubt regarding my ability to master the management of such a complex entity with aspects that were so foreign to the thought process that had been instilled into soul of my

A non-profit organization cannot be effectively managed if it is not effectively planned. One of the challenges facing non-profit organizations has been long range, strategic planning. Long range, strategic planning in the non-profit sector is essential to the success of an organization. Long range, strategic planning encompasses broad policy and direction setting, internal and external assessments, attention to key stakeholders, the identification of key issues, development of strategies to deal with each issue, decision making, action and the continuous monitoring of results. (Herman, The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, 154) While it is important to deal with the short term planning and activities of non-profits, managers or directors must consider the future of their organizations. Successful planning should be comprehensive, integrating all areas of responsibility of an organization.

Marketing gets no respect in the nonprofit world. Program people tend to hold the most senior positions in nonprofits and accordingly

It seems appropriate that more studies be done specifically with the nonprofit organization leader in mind. Will a new basis of leadership be discovered? Are nonprofit leaders required to function differently from other sector leaders? It may be too early to expect this literature to