Doing Good Well: What Does (and Does Not) Make Sense in the Nonprofit World, Willie Cheng, Wiley, 2008.
For people first coming into contact with the nonprofit world, especially those accustomed to the ways of the business sector, nonprofit organizations can seem strange, with unfamiliar customs and methods.
Willie Cheng is such a person. A former partner in Accenture, a global management consulting company, he has spent his retirement working with and for nonprofit organizations, on boards and as a volunteer. Cheng was formerly chairman of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Center, and began applying what he had learned as a management consultant to nonprofit work. He is now chairman of the Lien Centre for Social Innovation and Caritas Singapore.
Cheng has immersed himself in the history and theories of philanthropy and nonprofit management. His book is packed with statistics, anecdotes, charts, and references to all the great thinkers in these areas. He also brings a global perspective to nonprofit work that is particularly useful for American readers. He has a special interest in social entrepreneurship and philanthropy in Asia.
Cheng brings fresh ideas and perspectives to our nonprofit work. For instance, rather than charities becoming institutions that go on growing forever, Cheng says their goal should be to go extinct. Cheng is able to bring us up short and then help us envision new paradigms. At the same time, Cheng's style is low-key, conversational, and never preachy.
Whether you are a nonprofit staffer, board member, donor, or social entrepreneur, you should read this book. Its chapters hit all the contemporary issues of nonprofit and philanthropic work, and explore the deeply philosophical question of how to do good in a fractious and yet strangely interlinked world, where human desperation and need are as intense as ever.
Page 2 - I interviewed Mr. Cheng on a number of hot button issues.
