Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals, Darian Rodriguez Heyman, Editor, Jossey-Bass, 2011
Lest you think that this book, at over 600 pages, is just a doorstop, let me assure you that you won't use it that way.
These 50 essays from 50 nonprofit experts, such as Michael Watson of the Girl Scouts of the USA; David Greco of the Nonprofit Finance Fund; Holly Ross of NTEN; Andrea McManus of the AFP; Katya Andresen of Network for Good; and Beth Kanter of Zoetica, cover the gamut of nonprofit topics from human resources to social media.
Furthermore, the essays embody the tried and true pillars of success associated with nonprofit work, while riding the edge of contemporary thought. They are not likely to go out of style any time soon.
Here's just a sampling of the chapter, "Social Enterprise 101," by Rick Aubry, Founder of New Foundry Ventures and faculty member at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford.
Aubry provides a great overview of the basic principles of starting and managing a social venture, including adding one to a nonprofit organization. But he then provides a handy list of dos and don'ts of social enterprise. Here is a summary of those points:
The Dos and Don'ts of Nonprofit Business
Do
- Build on your organization's strengths. What do you do well and what competitive advantage might you have in the marketplace?
- Develop a business plan, raise twice as much money as you need, and prepare for a long-term effort where it may take years to succeed.
- Don't turn to nonprofit managers to lead the new business, no matter how talented they are. Seek out experienced and passionate people from the industry you are entering.
- Give the leader of your business the resources, authority, and 'protection' he or she will need within your organization.
- Keep in mind that the earned income strategy that makes the most sense is the one that most directly connects and advances your mission.
- Develop a product or service that reflects well on the your overall brand and mission.
- Make sure you love the business you're getting into because you will be with it for many years.
Don't
- Start a business because a board member thinks it would be easy and lucrative.
- Assume that being a nonprofit will get you regular steady customers even if your product or service is not great.
- Kid yourself with a self-serving and misleading business projection. Anything can be made to look good on an Excel spreadsheet.
- Fail to 'stress test' your budget to find out what happens when you sell less or more than you expect.
- Expect your existing nonprofit/grant cash flow cycles to be the same as for your business. You'll need access to cash or lines of credit for the long periods between buying the raw materials and when you get paid for the finished goods.
- Underestimate the need to have strong organizational support from the board and staff in order to get through the inevitable hard times.
Whether you're a novice to nonprofit management or an old hand, there is a lot here for you. You won't read the book cover to cover, but you will find yourself dipping into it as the need arises, just as I've been doing. I suggest that you keep it near your work area, and use it as your first reference when puzzled by a new problem, or for those days when you're trying to pull your thoughts together for a presentation. It's just that good.
