Author: jonathanpoisner
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How Not to Run a Board Meeting
I recently observed two of my pet peeves about board meetings in the same meeting. 1. Orally report on past activities, when there was plenty of time to put the…
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Don’t let your elevator speech fall flat
This morning I led a conference call teaching organizations about how to create an effective elevator pitch. It was an interesting exercise, since I’d danced around having an elevator speech…
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How do corporations differ from individuals
No, this isn’t a blog about Citizens United and the inanity of the Supreme Court giving corporations the right to make unlimited contributions in elections. As I work with clients…
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Why volunteers before how volunteers
It’s an age-old question in virtually any social impact organization – how we do get volunteers? In my experience, if you start by answering that question, you’re getting off on…
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Raising money through strategic planning
Strategic planning can require significant resources — both time and money. Fortunately, going through the process can also be a means of raising additional resources. In my mind, there are…
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Should you hire for skill or spirit?
I’m not sure I’d use the term “spirit,” but I definitely think too many nonprofits hire based solely on who has the experience/skill and not enough attention is paid to…
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On the perils of chasing money
I recently had a conversation with an organizational Executive Director who was having their group round up its grassroots supporters to generate online votes to have the group selected to…
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Talking in values language
I recently was speaking to a board of a conservation organization and said that they were working to protect “environmental values.” And that we should lead with our values, not…
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How Organizations Learn
Just read a fascinating article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on how organizations learn. It definitely has tremendous applicability to any effort to help an organization establish systems or…
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Why I do what I do
I’m about 20 months into my work as a consultant. As my day-to-day has become busier (thanks to my wonderful, fabulous clients!) I’ve started to think harder about what I’m…