 Spring is in full bloom all around us
The aroma of plum thickets is magically sweet out in the
country. That's one great thing about having a horrible
winter....it makes us appreciate a glorious spring even
more. |
We are all in this together
What's the secret to increased Board engagement? How about starting with some honest communication about the challenges your organization faces? We're not just talking about funding challenges, because after awhile those begin to wear thin. How about program challenges, visibility challenges, impact evaluation challenges, partnership challenges, volunteer challenges, policy challenges...We're talking challenges in your organization's mission-driven activities that justify all that fundraising talk. Until your Board understands their organization's critical challenges, they can't determine how their unique talents and connections could be used to meet them. And isn't that the greatest advantage of a Board...access to a diverse pool of skills, ideas, and experiences?
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You are what you give away
We are not big fans of advertising specialties (that stuff given away at exhibit booths), but done right (mission-driven) they can be fabulous. We'd like to encourage our readers to share their stories of the best and the worst ideas for "branding on a trinket." Click here to share yours. Here's one entry for the worst: Swiss Army knives emblazoned with a job training logo and distributed to high risk teens before a long bus ride to the training facility on the other side of the state. (We understand the unfortunate giveaways were "reclaimed" by the organization before the bus reached its destination...with, thankfully, no hospital visits along the way.) |
Using performance scorecards
A great way to follow-up strategic planning (once work plans are fully developed and implementation has begun) is to create a simple performance scorecard for one of your organization's focus areas. Scorecards are a great way to: 1) keep your leadership focused on what really matters: RESULTS! 2) stimulate honest and thoughtful discussion that helps to build strong teams, and 3) take the "bored" out of Board meetings. To request a sample scorecard, click here. |
