Like all of us, I am struggling. Not gonna lie. I’ve come face to face with a label I’d been ignoring. My wife and I are older Americans with some underlying health conditions. We are following all the rules and feel lucky that not only do we love each other but we like each other a lot too. No one else I’d rather be quarantined with. But this is stressful.

Everyone contends with pervasive anxiety in different ways. It’s pretty clear what my coping mechanism is. It’s the hardwiring that led me to become a nonprofit executive director. I obsess with helping. And that obsession is now on overdrive.

In a world so very hungry for leadership I have five pieces of advice from me to all of you leaders and helpers out there.

Hoping all who can stay at home will do so while we are trying to contain the pandemic. You may notice from the quality of my audio that I was home when I recorded this.

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Is your nonprofit clear about how to effectively communicate and build engagement? Is your organizational voice clear and compelling across the board? And what exactly is a “nonprofit communications engine”?

The answers to these questions and more is the topic of today’s podcast.

In writing her new book, today’s guest, Sarah Durham, CEO and founder of Big Duck Communications, asked herself whether there was a scalable model that Executive Directors can use to manage communications that help to build an “army of the engaged” regardless of what kind of organization they are running.

Big Duck’s mission is to help organizations use communications in a strategic way with a clear voice and smart branding. And we’re lucky to have Sarah come onto the podcast to instruct us on how to do just that.

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About Sarah Durham

Sarah launched Big Duck in 1994, Big Duck is a marketing company designed for non-profits. In 2019, she acquired Advomatic, a company that helps nonprofit and advocacy driven companies to improve their online technologies. Clients include the ACLU, Universities and Governmental organizations. In 2020, Sarah released her second book, The Nonprofit Communications Engine. Serves as Chair of National Brain Tumor Society’s Board of Directors.

Sarah Durham is a nonprofit communications nerd. Sarah Durham is an adjunct professor at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Sarah Also contributes expertise to The Chronicles of Philanthropy Website. In 2006, Durham was named a “top fundraiser under 40” by Fundraising Success Magazine. Sarah is driven by social justice and believes that it is important to fight for what is right and fighting against inequality.

Big Duck recently completed a complete rebrand for Shriver Center on Poverty Law, focusing on creating a more inclusive and interactive appearance.

In This Podcast

• What are nonprofits most unclear about?
• How does communications tie into branding work?
• What thwarts nonprofits from investing enough in communications?
• Do you need a big budget for communications?
• The three outcomes that lead to effective communication
• How to achieve sustainable momentum
• How to identify and prioritize your audience
• The value of setting priorities

Continue Reading

I teach that there are three “big rocks” for nonprofit leaders to prioritize… 3 areas of focus that – more than anything else – make or break a nonprofit.

The first of those rocks is all about leadership development. How important it is to invest in yourself as a leader.

That’s all well and good, Joan. But what kind of leadership development? Well, the most valuable kind of leadership development happens in a group. And that’s what this episode is all about.

Darlene Nipper, CEO of Rockwood Leadership Institute, joins me in this episode to discuss how working within a diverse cohort not only breeds creativity but improves the ability of a leader to create better and more productive work environments, and to focus on purpose, vision, performance, and partnership.

And guess what? Being in a cohort may help cure your imposter syndrome too.

Nonprofit leadership doesn’t have to be lonely. Not one bit.

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About Darlene Nipper

With over 25 years of leadership and advocacy experience, Darlene joined Rockwood in 2012 as a member of the training team. She previously served as deputy executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, executive director of the BET Foundation, chief operating officer at NAMI and founder of its Multicultural and International Policy Center, and director of LGBT affairs in the Executive Office of the Mayor of D.C. Darlene, a native Washingtonian, is also an ordained interfaith minister, practices mindfulness meditation, deep presence, and living joy.

In This Podcast

• How Rockwood creates cohorts that are most effective at developing leadership skills
• The value of cross sector experience
• Leadership development as an asset that can be sold to funders
• Understanding how to connect with other people
• Focusing on the leadership rather than on the procedural
• Getting rid of imposter syndrome
• The transition from corporate to nonprofit America
• Moving at the speed of trust
• Shift from individual to collective to make dreams come true and change happen
• Leadership development ROI
• Thinking like a collaborator
• The importance of clarity of purpose, vision, and team alignment

Continue Reading

One of my articles in the Chronicle of Philanthropy elicited a tremendous amount of reader response. How to contend with abuse of power.

It occurred to me that if you are a nonprofit or volunteer who is dealing with a funder or you are a small nonprofit with no human resource department, the situation becomes even worse.

While I felt like I could identify the myriad of ways in which these issues manifest I thought it best to seek out advice from two experts on how to address and avoid abuse of power.

Sarah Beaulieu writes and speaks frequently about sexual violence, including a 2016 TEDxBeaconStreet talk. Kim Jones is an employment trial attorney who also trains on a variety of employment issues.

Learn how you can act from a place of power when you are at your most vulnerable, where you can get help, and what can you do to turn your situation around.

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About Sarah Beaulieu

Sarah Beaulieu is the author of Breaking the Silence Habit: A Practical Guide to Uncomfortable Conversations in the #MeToo Workplace. She trains workplaces and managers on skills-based sexual harassment prevention and response. Her expertise has been featured in multiple news outlets, including Fox News, Harvard Business Review, the Associated Press, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, NPR, AskMen, and the Boston Business Journal. In 2018, Sarah co-founded An Uncomfortable Conversation, a nonprofit YouTube channel that helps people engage in meaningful conversations about sexual violence through short videos. A proud graduate of Brown University, Sarah lives with her family in Boston, Massachusetts.
Website: www.sarahbeaulieu.me

About Kim Jones

Kim Jones is an employment trial lawyer representing companies, not-for-profits, and higher education institutions, in federal and state courts, and before AAA and labor arbitration panels. In addition to providing day-to-day counsel on human resources issues, she trains management and non- management employees nationwide on a variety of employment issues, including prohibited harassment, effective supervision, and managing the absent employee.

Kim is currently serving as the firm’s Managing Partner.

Kim is very active in the community serving on several boards and committees including The Central Exchange Board (2004-2010), Co-Chair Engagement of Win/Win, Friends of Art (2010- 2011), Heartland Labor & Employment Institute Steering Committee and Seminar Chair (2009), Human Rights Campaign Kansas City Steering Committee (2005-2008), the University of Kansas School of Law Board of Governors, Mid-America Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Business Council Steering Committee and the Women’s Employment Network Board.

In this podcast

• When the issue is interpersonal rather than legal
• How passion for your mission can affect your judgement
• How does power associated with money, race or gender play out in incidences of harassment or bullying?
• Who has control over these behaviors?
• Can employers force policy on volunteers? How explicit are your onboarding practices?
• Does approaching board recruitment from a place of scarcity affect the abuse of power scenario?
• How to build the skills to have difficult conversations
• Emphasizing the importance of your organization’s policy on harassment
• Who has liability anyway?
• Accessing community resources
• What if the board chair IS the problem?
• Shifting the power dynamics
• Creating inclusive environments that foster breaking silence

Continue Reading

Managing change is hard. But change is inevitable

And while change can lead to growth, sometimes leaders fail to manage the tensions that growth brings, and this can cripple an organization’s impact.

My guest today, Michael DePass, an expert on managing change, teaches that thinking in an either/or way about a problem that has multiple sides/variables/perspectives limits our effectiveness. That kind of thinking won’t help us solve complex problems, can lead to “stuck” thinking and stalemate, arguing and conflict, and compounds misunderstandings (potentially leading to irreconcilable differences).

Michael, who leads the K-12 education sector efforts at the Center for Creative Leadership, discusses with me polarity thinking and managing change. He contends that finding the multiple sides of an issue, focusing on and instead of adopting an either/or mentality can make all the difference.

But what does that mean in practice? I was dying to find out.

Change brings discomfort. The question becomes how to manage change in a way that builds relationships that truly create more capacity and avoids undermining growth.

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About Michael DePass

Michael has spent fifteen years working in the education and nonprofit sectors in roles including starting new schools, being a site-based school leader, and overseeing a network of schools. In these roles he has lead a school turnaround, lead the design of new principal and teacher evaluation processes, evaluated principals, lead principal and teacher recruiting, overseen curriculum development, site acquisition and development, managed authorizer and board relationships, and developed strategic plans.

Michael’s work in nonprofit organizations includes being a founding leader of a faith-based community development organization, being on the research staff and leading youth programming for a Ford foundation funded Africa-focused advocacy and policy intuitive, and being in a senior leadership role of an international development firm.

In addition to these roles, Michael has been an advisor for the education division of a Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods company, served as an expert witness on school economics, and co-lead professional development for high performing principals in a pioneering school district in the educational reform movement. Michael has also worked for the strategy-consulting firm McKinsey and Company, where he specialized in large-scale transformations serving firms including state utilities, aluminum manufacturing, and global textile and packaging firms.

As part of the Center’s Societal Advancement Group, Michael leads the Center’s work with clients in the K-12 Education sector. Michael also serves as a faculty member designing and delivering transformational leadership development experiences. As a former school leader and school network leader, Michael has particular expertise in designing and delivering leadership programs for educational leaders. Michael brings twenty years of experience leading change, designing and delivering professional development, and coaching and mentoring leaders.

In this podcast

• Consequences of moving too fast
• Warning signs that you are not managing change/tensions around change
• What’s at the heart of the tensions around managing change?
• What is Polarity Thinking?
• How does our own passions and personal preferences inform our current focus?
• How does feeling voiceless affect managing change?
• Maintaining the core components of a culture as you engage differently
• How does growth and diversity affect the core culture of an organization?
• Is avoiding tension ever a good practice?

Continue Reading

When your Executive Director is actually the “Interim Executive Director,” it means something went wrong… right?

What caused this dilemma and what are the consequences? A failed leadership search? Organizational vulnerability? A big fat red flag for potential donors?

Not long ago I spoke with a board chair about lessons learned from a failed search. What my guest today calls “the accidental interim.” I asked him what the biggest lesson was. “Oh that’s easy,” he said.

“I would have hired an interim CEO.”

Really? Well I certainly have a few questions!

This idea wasn’t a “thing” a while ago. But now we have professional interims. But doesn’t this bring up a whole bunch of issues? How do you establish credibility and trust with staff and board? Do you have any authority? Doesn’t it just prolong that “pause” or ‘wait and see’ button that donors hit during a transition?

I figure if I had these questions, you would too.

And so I went and found us an expert. A professional interim E.D.

Today’s guest, Margo Amgott who provides transitional support and project management to mission-oriented non-profit organizations, joins us to answer some big questions about being a professional interim executive director.

Listen for advice given to boards in transition who are trying to make a decision on whether or not an interim ED is the right choice for their organization.

Learn what should be expected of an interim, how long should they be in place, and whether it’s a one size fits all approach.

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About Margo Amgott

Margo Amgott provides transitional support and project management to mission-oriented non-profit organizations through her consulting company, Amgott Interim LLC. She has served in leadership roles in state and local government, higher education and leading nonprofits. Amgott holds a master’s degree from NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and a BA from Barnard College. She currently serves as interim executive director for Studio in a School, overseeing visual arts instruction by teaching artists to more than 30,000 students each year in publicly-funded schools in New York City. Previously, she served as Interim CEO at Hearing Health Foundation, the largest non-profit funder of hearing and balance research in the U.S. and a leader in driving new innovations and treatments for people with hearing loss. She served as interim executive director at Jewish Community Project Downtown, interim associate provost at Hunter College and executive director of the NYU Child Study Center. Earlier in her career, Ms. Amgott directed the City’s Early Intervention Program for children with developmental delays and disabilities at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and spent more than 15 years at Columbia University overseeing programs providing student health and campus wellness.

In this podcast

• The difference between an acting ED and an Interim ED
• Is the schedule and learning curve for an Interim ED the same as a regular ED?
• Are interims fixers or assessors?
• How long is it appropriate to be an interim?
• How to market an interim to stakeholders. What works and what doesn’t?
• Is this only an internal job or can it be external?
• How to build trust with staff
• What should the interim involvement be, if any, in the full time search?
• Do interim EDs make asks? How is revenue impacted?Continue Reading

In 1990, Paul Rice, decided to save the world. For a year he worked in Nicaragua helping farmers build agricultural capacity. And he found something startling and profoundly upsetting.

Millions of dollars of charitable contributions – well intended of course – were being squandered because the farmers were not developing their own capacity to solve their problems.

So Paul did what visionaries do best. They connect dots. They get innovative.

Paul heard about “fair traders” in London who would pay a lot more to farmers who organized and sold direct.

The local guy would pay you 10 cents per pound for your coffee. So Paul organized 20 small farmers and shipped 2,000 pounds of coffee to fair traders who paid $1.20/pound.

Instead of $200, the take was $2,400. Can you imagine? They’d never seen so much money. Life changing.

For Paul, bringing these two farmers together started more than a nonprofit. It started a movement that he brought to the United States in 1998.

Since its founding, Fair Trade USA and its partners have generated almost $610 million in additional income for farmers and workers in more than 70 countries worldwide. And as world-changing as that has been… for as many farmers Paul has helped bring out of poverty, he wanted more. He wanted this movement to be a force for broader social and environmental change. And so the story continues.

What kind of person does it take to build a movement? What are the strategies that take something seemingly small and turn it into a global game changer? How do you build relationships and partnerships knowing that leading a movement is like conducting an orchestra?

In this episode, I got to find out from Paul himself. And it’s truly fascinating.

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About Paul Rice

Paul Rice is Founder and CEO of Fair Trade USA, the internationally-acclaimed social enterprise and leading certifier of Fair Trade products in North America. He launched the award-winning nonprofit organization in 1998 after spending 11 years organizing farmers in the highlands of Nicaragua. There, he founded and led the country’s first Fair Trade coffee export cooperative, which introduced him to the transformative power of market-based approaches to sustainable development. Paul then returned to the United States to obtain his MBA from Berkeley Haas with the dream of bringing Fair Trade to consumers, businesses, and farmers and workers worldwide.

Paul’s rich, first-hand experience over the last 30 years in the areas of sustainable agriculture, grassroots economic development, global supply chain transparency and consumer activation is unique in the certification world. He is now a leading advocate of “impact sourcing” as a core strategy for both poverty alleviation and sustainable business.

Paul has been honored for his pioneering work by Ashoka, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Fast Company Magazine’s Social Capitalist of the Year award (four-time winner), Ethisphere’s 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics, Entrepreneur magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year (2012 Finalist), the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and Ethical Corporation’s Responsible Business Leader of the Year (2019). The Texas-native holds an Economics and Political Science degree from Yale University and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, where he is now an Executive Fellow. Paul has spoken at the World Economic Forum, Clinton Global Initiative, Skoll World Forum, TEDx and numerous universities and conferences around the world.

In this podcast

• How can capitalism evolve?
• How to harness markets, companies and consumers to the task of social and environmental good
• How to remove fear from the equation
• Is corporate greed always a problem?
• What are the biggest challenges in alleviating poverty?
• Forming partnerships with corporate America, good or bad?
• What are the skills and attributes needed to execute an enormous vision?
• Partnering in a common quest requires dreamers and doersContinue Reading

In 1997, when I was hired to lead GLAAD, I understood that I had joined a movement. I also understood that all movements are like relay races. You grab the baton from those who came before you and you hold on tight until it is time for you to pass it.

I grabbed the baton from those who came before me and ran like hell. standing on the shoulders of others who carried the baton long before I had decided to join the race.

My guest today is one of those people.

I’m thrilled to give voice to a passionate change agent; Frances Kunreuther co-directs the Building Movement Project, which works to strengthen U.S. nonprofits as sites of civic engagement and social change.

Frances truly knows what it takes to build a movement. What has to happen inside an organization that wishes to align its social justice values with how it operates in order to reflect the communities they serve, offering them both voice and power. The tools and resources that would be most valuable. The kinds of studies that could be done to give visibility and credence to the challenges faced by the sector that have the potential to thwart social change.

We discuss Race to Lead, a survey from her organization designed to help diagnose and take measures to address the brick wall that people of color often face in organizations.

Frances discusses the value of listening to people (surveys, interviews, case studies), working across organizational boundaries, generations and race in order to exercise the muscles needed for the collective power to create change.

Leadership succession, strategies, resources, distributed leadership and so much more in this episode of Nonprofits are Messy!

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About Frances Kunreuther

Frances Kunreuther co-directs the Building Movement Project, which works to strengthen U.S. nonprofits as sites of civic engagement and social change. She is co-author of two books, From the Ground Up: Grassroots Organizations Making Social Change (Cornell, 2006) and Working Across Generations: Defining the Future of Nonprofit Leadership (Jossey Bass, 2009). Frances was a senior fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University for five years and is currently affiliated with the Research Center for Leadership and Action at NYU, where she also teaches. In the 1990s, Frances headed the Hetrick-Martin Institute for LGBTQ youth and was awarded an Annie E. Casey Foundation Fellowship for this and her previous work with homeless youth and families, undocumented immigrants, crime victims, battered women, and substance users. She writes and presents frequently on issues related to nonprofits, leadership and social change.

In this podcast

• The origin of the building movement project
• Strategies for movement building
• Getting visibility for research studies
• How did the Building Movement Project come to be?
• RACE TO LEAD Study from 2016
• Trends with generational differences in the sector
• What tools and resources would be most valuable?
• Is training leaders the answer?
• How to address racialized barriers
• When all the best HR policies don’t match how you feel
• Services and social change
• Hiring and ED – how long should you keep looking
  Continue Reading

The founder of your organization is leaving and you’re coming in as the new leader. How do you successfully follow a founder?

Should founders stay involved? Can it ever work? What backwork needs to be done to agree on and properly navigate the journey of change.

What role does a Board/CEO leadership agenda play? And how does the resulting partnership affect the success of the new leader?

Board search committees need a smart approach as they unpack the skillsets, attributes and values that need to be embodied in the new leadership team. Perhaps the search is not for founder 2.0 but it is important to identify what the organization cannot afford to lose when the founder leaves.

Here in part 2 of our series on founder syndrome and transition planning, Rachael Gibson, change management consultant for nonprofit organizations and philanthropic institutions who specializes in founder transitions answers a host of questions to help your transition go smoothly. This podcast does a great job of teasing out the potential pitfalls and help strengthen your organization at a truly pivotal time.

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About Rachael Gibson

Rachael serves as a practice leader and senior consultant for executive search, leadership transition planning and organizational strategy engagements. Rachael is a skilled change management consultant for nonprofit organizations and philanthropic institutions. Rachael has a particular expertise in working with organizations led by founders and long-tenured executives.

In prior roles, Rachael managed grant making programs and spearheaded numerous capacity building initiatives, including ones aimed at deepening the leadership development opportunities for nonprofit leaders, strengthening the back office systems for nonprofit organizations and evaluating the effectiveness of advocacy efforts. Rachael also developed a national coaching program for leaders of color and led multiple capacity building and evaluation projects for various government agencies. She has facilitated numerous collective action initiatives and led large program evaluation projects for grant making entities aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of their programs.

In addition to her management consulting expertise, Rachael has facilitated diversity and leadership development trainings, served on various nonprofit boards and task forces, and presented workshops at local and national conferences. She served on the board of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. Rachael is also an Adjunct Professor at the Chicago School for Professional Psychology where she teaches Masters level students interested in the field of consulting and organizational development She received a Master’s Degree in Community and Urban Planning from the University of Maryland, College Park.

In this podcast

• Landmines and opportunities of following a founder
• Selecting the best candidate out of a mediocre lot: is it ever acceptable?
• When hunger for change creates pressure to make changes to quickly
• What kind of role does emotional intelligence play and how does it compare to academic knowledge?
• The importance of the relationship between the CEO and board chair
• Board CEO leadership agenda
• Why you need a diverse pool of candidates
• Plan ahead! This is not a surprise. So much counts on a smooth transition.Continue Reading

An inability to share leadership. The tendency to hold information. Not knowing when to leave can all be telltale signs of founder syndrome.

How do you know when it’s time to go and who to call for help in guiding the thought process that ensues?

Rachael Gibson is a skilled change management consultant for nonprofit organizations and philanthropic institutions who specializes in founder transitions.

In part one of this fascinating two-part series, Rachael and I discuss the remarkable nature of founders, what exactly is founder syndrome, and how do you get a founder to leave.

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About Rachael Gibson

Rachael serves as a practice leader and senior consultant for executive search, leadership transition planning and organizational strategy engagements. Rachael is a skilled change management consultant for nonprofit organizations and philanthropic institutions. Rachael has a particular expertise in working with organizations led by founders and long-tenured executives.

In prior roles, Rachael managed grant making programs and spearheaded numerous capacity building initiatives, including ones aimed at deepening the leadership development opportunities for nonprofit leaders, strengthening the back office systems for nonprofit organizations and evaluating the effectiveness of advocacy efforts. Rachael also developed a national coaching program for leaders of color and led multiple capacity building and evaluation projects for various government agencies. She has facilitated numerous collective action initiatives and led large program evaluation projects for grant making entities aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of their programs.

In addition to her management consulting expertise, Rachael has facilitated diversity and leadership development trainings, served on various nonprofit boards and task forces, and presented workshops at local and national conferences. She served on the board of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. Rachael is also an Adjunct Professor at the Chicago School for Professional Psychology where she teaches Masters level students interested in the field of consulting and organizational development She received a Master’s Degree in Community and Urban Planning from the University of Maryland, College Park.

In this podcast

• Transitioning from the personal perspective to the needs of the organization
• How long should I stay? Have I stayed too long?
• “What is this founder’s syndrome thing? AND DO I HAVE IT?”
• When is it time to hire a leadership coach?
• The bad choices made by boards
• Should the outgoing ED/founder be involved in the search process?
• Is there value in internal successions?Continue Reading