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Featured Posts

Nonprofit Leaders Deserve So Much More

Nonprofit Leaders Deserve So Much More

May 6, 2020 By Nell Edgington

Perhaps one of the worst things about this pandemic is that in practicing social distancing for days on end we begin to believe that we are alone. Zoom calls, emails and conversations with the same few people you are quarantining with can only get you so far. The silence, the physical distance from staff, board, […]

Social Velocity Tools Are Back, and Now Free to Download!

Social Velocity Tools Are Back, and Now Free to Download!

January 22, 2020 By Nell Edgington

I have been a little absent from the blog in the past couple of months, but I have a good reason. I’ve been working on something I’m pretty excited about. I am in the process of writing a book about how we create more effective, sustainable social change. Rather than depressed by the chaos seemingly […]

Breaking the Nonprofit Financial Glass Ceiling

Breaking the Nonprofit Financial Glass Ceiling

November 14, 2018 By Nell Edgington

I received some great responses about my last post, “Why Don’t We Make Big Bets on Nonprofits?” One of the recurring questions in those responses was “How do we change nonprofits and the nonprofit sector to be able to absorb bigger investments?” The fact is that a financial glass ceiling exists for nonprofits — a […]

Let’s Stop Undervaluing Our Nonprofit Leaders

Let’s Stop Undervaluing Our Nonprofit Leaders

September 12, 2018 By Nell Edgington

There is a fairly ubiquitous notion about the nonprofit sector. We as a society often believe (either consciously or subconsciously) that nonprofit leaders and their work are less valuable. Nonprofit leaders have been told for so long that they must scrape by without the amount of funding, people, or attention that they truly require. But […]

The Right Questions to Ask A Potential Board Member

The Right Questions to Ask A Potential Board Member

August 24, 2017 By Nell Edgington

Recently, fundraising maven Kay Sprinkel Grace wrote a post on the GuideStar blog outlining four questions to ask potential board members when interviewing them for board positions. While I heartily agree with her that nonprofit leaders should institute and follow a rigorous due diligence process in recruiting new board members (rather than just shoving anyone […]

Guest Post: The Rebirth of Nonprofit Advocacy

Guest Post: The Rebirth of Nonprofit Advocacy

March 5, 2017 By Nell Edgington

Note: With a current political climate which is arguably more challenging for many nonprofit social change efforts, I believe (along with many others) that now is the time for nonprofits to move more actively into advocacy. But many nonprofit leaders don’t know how to get started. So I asked the expert on all things nonprofit […]

Is Your Nonprofit Stuck In A Rut?

Is Your Nonprofit Stuck In A Rut?

February 9, 2017 By Nell Edgington

The other day I was talking with a nonprofit leader and was suddenly struck by how much his story echoed so many of the stories I hear from nonprofit leaders. See if your nonprofit fits some or all aspects of the scenario he faces: His board is passionate about the mission and wants to be helpful, but they don’t really contribute […]

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You Can Turn Any Challenge into Opportunity

May 5, 2022 By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment

Did you know that when you choose to focus on the positive aspects of a difficult situation you can transform it?  Like when you are trying to re-engage an errant board member. You could choose to focus on their many absences, how frustrating they can sometimes be, the countless missed opportunities they’ve created.  Or, you […]

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Why Nonprofits Need to Stop Making a Backup Plan

May 21, 2019 By Nell Edgington 2 Comments

Recently I was leading the final board meeting of a strategic planning process for one of my clients, and something interesting happened. A board member, who was very much stuck in a scarcity mindset, threatened to derail the very exciting, bigger direction we had charted. The new strategic plan we were presenting to the board […]

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5 Traits of a Nonprofit Ready to Take Off

March 5, 2019 By Nell Edgington 2 Comments

In consulting with a nonprofit my role is to guide the organization to the next level. Perhaps they want to dramatically grow their impact or influence, or they want to develop a truly sustainable financial model, or they want to become a national player. Whatever their aim, my role is to help them figure out […]

How Effective Is Your Nonprofit Leader?

April 13, 2017 By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment

In an ideal world, one of the things a nonprofit board of directors does is annually evaluate the performance of the executive director. But let’s be honest, how often does that actually happen? I once had an executive director so desperate for feedback about her job performance from a board who refused to evaluate her that she hired me to […]

Goodbye to a Mentor and a Friend

March 30, 2017 By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment

I have a heavy heart today. I found out yesterday that my first boss, long-time mentor, and most influential teacher of all things nonprofit management died over the weekend. Mary Jubitz was the CEO of SMART (Start Making a Reader Today), a statewide early literacy nonprofit in Portland, Oregon. I met Mary when, as a […]

Nonprofit Leaders Have More Power Than They Think

February 16, 2017 By Nell Edgington 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on a controversial topic, “How to Remove a Troublesome Board Member.” As I wrote in the post, Of the many taboos in the nonprofit sector, the taboo against asking bad board members to resign is one of the most destructive. Instead of encouraging ineffective or meddling board […]

How to Remove a Troublesome Nonprofit Board Member

January 26, 2017 By Nell Edgington 2 Comments

One thing that most nonprofit leaders have in common is that they often have at least one (or more than one) challenging board member. You know — the one who doesn’t show up for board meetings, or doesn’t do what she says she’ll do, or never makes a contribution, or derails meetings with his own agenda. […]

10 Most Popular Posts of 2016

December 15, 2016 By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment

As the year draws to a close, it’s time for all of us to take some time off to relax, be with friends and family, and most importantly rest up for the year ahead. 2016 was rough, folks. So now it is critical that you take some time off to reconnect with your core. But before […]

How Open to Change Is Your Nonprofit, Really?

August 23, 2016 By Nell Edgington 1 Comment

Because I talk about change in the nonprofit sector a lot, I sometimes get inquiries from nonprofit leaders who think they want change at their organization, but actually don’t. A nonprofit leader might be excited by the idea of dramatically improved fundraising results, or a board who is engaged and invested in the work, or funders who want to step […]

10 Great Social Innovation Reads: May 2016

June 9, 2016 By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment

May offered some interesting insights into the world of social change. From a plea by nonprofit infrastructure groups for more funding, to some criticisms of philanthropy’s unwillingness to invest in rural economies or provide a realistic runway to nonprofits, to digital’s impact on journalism, to the evolving sharing economy, to a call for more nonprofit […]

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