Conference Roundup: Learning From the Corporate World

Nonprofit organizations are better at managing boards of directors, as well.

“These are boards where people pay their own way. We do it better,” Aschermann said, explaining that before he left BGCA, he and his staff added a clause to its board members’ duties requiring them to make the organization their preferred charity during their terms.

“We got the best people possible and had them do more,” he said. “Many of these people sit on many boards. [We told them] ‘You’ve got to make us first in your nonprofit world.’”

He added that board terms should be limited to one, since turnover can refresh a board and an organization.

One important trait of successful nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies alike is that they take what they learn and use it.

“Figure out what works,” Aschermann said, “and do more of it.”