Most of the CharityChannel Press books, the "In The Trenches" series, are small, quick reads. You and Your Nonprofit: Practical Advice and Tips from the CharityChannel Professional Community departs from that tradition.
You and Your Nonprofit is fat but good at more than 500 pages. You won't read it in one sitting, but you will find yourself returning to it over and over to get your questions answered about nonprofit matters from the more than 40 experts, who authored short chapters ranging from governance to fundraising to branding.
Norman Olshansky and Linda Lysakowski, the editors, have assembled a who's who of nonprofit experts, including Robert Penna and Ken Berger on outcomes, Gayle Gifford on hiring a development director, Ted Hart on social media, and Amy Eisenstein on fundraising.
Besides all the great information, delivered in easily devoured bites, in this sure to be well-thumbed reference, I love the fact that you can follow up with any of the authors online. I did just that after I read Steven Bowman's "Founder Fever as Strategic Risk: How Do I Know When It Is Time to Step Up or Leave?"
That chapter caught my eye because Ive been watching the coverage of the Jerry Sandusky crisis at Second Mile/Penn State, which has involved a charity founder. I couldn't imagine what that board must be going through.
I asked Bowman, who is with Conscious-Governance.com, what advice he might have for a board that finds itself embroiled in such a crisis.
Bowman replied with this (and very promptly):
"The single most important thing the Board should do is reaffirm the vision and values of the organization, and use the vision of the organization to shape all its communications about the unfolding issue.
"The founder can often be seen 'as' the organization, so the Board needs to utilize its greatest asset to shape any perception about the unfolding circumstances ...the promise that 'the organization is [there] to make change in the world.' And this message needs to come from the leadership team, i.e., the senior staff and the Board.
"The communications are about this promise and vision, and not about any particular incident. Don't buy into the judgments of others, nor judge others, just re-state the vision and reaffirm the power for change that the organization is. Answer any questions with this in mind, particularly from media, and do not buy into the judgments that others will have of the founder or the organization."
Being able to follow up with the authors is part of what makes this book so useful. At the end of each essay is the webpage where you can go to ask the author your question. It does cost to belong to the CharityChannel community, but if you're not already a member, there is a 15-day free membership to get you started.
Providing such dialogue is also just what CharityChannel is all about...people helping people, sharing resources, and learning together. You and Your Nonprofit is not inexpensive (nice discount to members), but it will be a resource that you can return to many times over. I know I've been consulting my copy quite frequently.
Do you have any of the "In the Trenches" books? Let us know what you think of them in the comments.
Related:
- New Book Eases Fundraisers' Fears About Making that Ask
- Are Fundraisers Crazy?
- For Fundraising Success, Increase Your Asks
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy. Photo courtesy of CharityChannel Press.
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