Foraker president Dennis McMillian's latest Letter from the President discusses the need for board diversity and how to get there.

He elaborates on these ideas:

1. Use the tools we advocate in training for good board recruitment and retention.

2. Recruit true believers.

3.Tokenism is not a strategy.

4. Don’t rush to recruit.

"I found that almost every organization was encouraged to recruit a more diverse board," says McMillian. "Looking at my own board back then, I realized that it also lacked diversity. It especially lacked involvement of Alaska Natives. In other words, board diversity has been a big issue in this state for a while, and unfortunately almost 20 years later, we seem to have made little progress."

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Dennis McMillian's opinion piece appeared in the Daily News-Miner on May 3rd. He discusses the risks of taking--and relying on--stimulus funds for any Alaska nonprofit. Below is an excerpt of when not to take funding when funding:

 • Requires the organization to start a new program that has not been planned.

• Overextends the capacity of the organization.

• Causes the organization to stray from its mission.

• Provides a short-term band-aid for an organization with systemic funding problems.

McMillian goes on to say that if an organization does not have systems in place to transparently manage and report on the use of stimulus funds — ensuring that taxpayer money is wisely invested — it also should not apply.

Read the entire opinion piece.

As the economy continues to sputter, many charities expect that grants they had been getting from United Ways, corporate donors, and foundations will decline or disappear altogether in coming months.

But instead of complaining or wringing their hands about it, fund raisers should take a different tack, says Carol Weisman, a St. Louis consultant who advises charity boards on fund raising.

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