We spend a lot of time in meetings. As seen by the thousands of articles written about meetings, we all know they can be better. Well, here is one more article because, let’s face it, meetings could be better. While all of the following ideas can be applied to all kinds of meetings, I am a true believer that it’s critical that board meetings, in particular, get as close to right as possible. Notice I don’t say perfect, since we are talking about a meeting of people and well, you get the point. There are so many components to a great meeting, however, we have to be motivated to change, which for most of us means we need to find the urgency to make a shift. Hopefully, urgency and crisis… Read more »

Do you wonder why some decisions seem better timed than others? Or why the expectations of some board members about their service do not fit with the discussions and activities the team needs today? Do you wish your board or staff would see why your line of questioning makes so much sense right NOW in your organization? When you are in a planning session do you struggle to find the balance between internal and external focus in your goals, or find that the board is holding you and your staff back from taking on new goals that would propel the mission forward? We hear about these tension-filled scenarios a lot, but unfortunately there is little science to give us the answers to eliminate the tension. More often, the gift instead… Read more »

You have likely noticed that there has been a lot to say recently about the fate and work of our nonprofit sector. In every community and at every level of government, decisions are being made that affect the work we do. While it has compelled Foraker’s board and our staff to use our voice more often to take a stand for the sector, we have also noticed a few things along the way that might inspire you and your organization to find or use your own voice more often. In this month’s article I want to highlight a few of those observations and, importantly, I want to hear from you about what you are noticing. I also want to share a tool with you that could be helpful as you… Read more »

To everything there is a season and, yes, there are budget seasons. We are in one now – for federal and state governments, and for your nonprofit. If you have a fiscal year that begins in July, you are very likely drafting a budget for the next year. (For those of you with a January or October fiscal year, your season has past, and you are well on your way to living your budget.) Budgets come in all sizes and all complexities. They can be simple and straightforward, as well as incredibly detailed and nuanced. They can be about millions of dollars or about thousands. All of our organizations benefit from this financial roadmap, and yet in Alaska we know from our recent survey work that too many organizations (19%)… Read more »

Creating a theme for our biennial leadership summits starts with listening to Alaska’s nonprofit boards and staff and inviting Foraker staff to share what they are hearing and feeling when they’re out in your communities. This year, our theme Stable, Resilient, Adaptive: Tools to Take Us Forward was born from this process. We see a landscape of two distinct characteristics: either boards and staff are hunkering down and digging in to grasp stability or they are looking beyond their traditional answers and attempting (and sometimes succeeding) in positioning their mission as resilient by changing the way the work gets done or worse, changing their core premise. To be sure, there is lots of gray in between, but the premise of this conference was that either extreme is not the answer… Read more »

What are you hearing? This is a consistent question I am getting. It is a good one because the question in itself tells us a lot about the state many of us are feeling – uncertainty, unpredictability. In 2009, we talked about a “new normal” in reference to the national economy after the downturn in the stock market. Our new normal today is measured more by what we don’t know. We are asking each other “what are you hearing?” I’m asking the same thing from other people. We crave certainty so that we can respond accordingly. Alas, we have a new normal. That said, one thing I am hearing, which I have been writing about frequently, as have others across the country, is the resurgence of civic engagement. By sheer numbers,… Read more »

Let’s try an experiment. Close your eyes and imagine an entire industry – say tourism. Now imagine the kinds of jobs being done. What did you see? Were the jobs being done only by for-profit businesses? Was government involved? How about nonprofits? My guess is that since you are reading a nonprofit newsletter you are likely inclined to see a fuller picture of the way we work in Alaska – one where nonprofits work next to government and for-profits to make our economy work. And yet, while you might know this, I have experienced on too many occasions that when talking about our economy the assumption is different. The line of thinking goes something like this: Growing Alaska’s businesses is good for the economy and, equally true, decreasing the number… Read more »

At Foraker, we have always been champions for the one-page strategic plan. We savor a clearly stated, motivational, and grounded document that offers a map and a compass. The map tells you about the future and the compass reminds you of your true North – your DNA – your core purpose and values. Time and again, we see the value of this tool in your toolbox. But not until recently had I considered the power of a single word as a planning guide. Recently I was meeting with my peer support team from my own Catalyst experience and as we were going around the circle talking about the upcoming year and our goals, one of my colleagues honed in on it for us. “One word,” she challenged. New energy surfaced…. Read more »

The phones are ringing, people are stopping by, and emails are piling up. It could be just another day at the office, but that’s not what I am hearing or seeing. Instead there is urgency. There is commitment. There is pent up energy that wants to do something – and they are turning to you. In this post-election landscape, there is energy. If we could bottle it and store it until we had more time, more capacity, or more understanding, that would be ideal – but ideal is rarely our nonprofit reality. I have said many times since this election that perhaps the only certainty in this new landscape is the focus we can bring to our work. Your missions did not change. Your values did not change. You knew… Read more »

“The best laid plans.” We generally say this when things go astray from our original intention. We say this with the assertion that we had a plan in the first place. We have all sorts of plans in our nonprofit world. We have big picture definitions of success like strategic plans and theory of change, and annual plans that address budgets and operational priorities. And we have plans that are both strategic and tactical like fund development or communication plans. Planning can get a bad reputation in our sector both from our own team and from those outside our organization with whom we partner. The root of those concerns generally falls into four categories: What exactly is a plan? What difference will the plan make? Who is responsible for creating… Read more »