Executive Issues

A year after Federation and Employment Guidance Services (FEGS), a $250 million health and human services behemoth in New York City, went bankrupt, the city's human-services sector is struggling to serve an estimated 2.5 million people, a report from the Human Services Council found. The report, "New York Nonprofits in the Aftermath of FEGS: A…

Scams, particularly one involving the stolen identity of a British architect, continue to target nonprofits across the country with "donations" via fraudulent checks and requests for portions to be returned before nonprofits realize the checks are fake. We previously reported on the scam affecting nonprofits in Richmond, Va., and Seattle. Now, reports are surfacing in North Carolina and Georgia....

Separating mission work from fundraising work is a deeply rooted practice in nonprofit. I challenge that. I challenge the idea that there is any scenario where a complete separation is necessary or more productive than collaboration. Here is a good illustration of what could be....

Fundraising is hard, and it's only getting harder. That's according to the latest "Nonprofit Pulse," a survey from accounting firm Marks Paneth. Of the 114 CEOs, executive directors and other high-ranking officers at major nonprofits surveyed, 47 percent said that donor demand for better impact reporting (or social return on investment) has made it "challenging" or "extremely challenging" to raise funds...

Fundraising is difficult, no matter how you slice it. Your fundraising team is hard at work, finding prospects, writing letters and grants, “following up” countless times—you know the story. So why hamstring yourself further by ignoring state charitable solicitation requirements? You could be losing crucial gifts and credibility with donors without even knowing it...

He was driving around for almost half an hour. He was lost. He had no idea where he was. Even his GPS was no help. There was no way he was going to get to his destination. There was no source of information he could tap into. Does this scenario sound familiar? Have you ever been with someone who was lost who keeps driving around saying things like, “Seriously, I think it’s right up this street,” or, “We’re pretty close,” but he or she will not stop and ask someone for directions?...

Goodwill Industries of Toronto, Eastern, Central and Northern Ontario (TECNO) has had a tough 2016 so far. The nonprofit abruptly closed all of its locations Jan. 17, lost its affiliation with Goodwill Industries International (GII) Feb. 5 and filed for bankruptcy Feb. 8....

A scam targeting nonprofits in Virginia that we reported last week appears to have spread across the country. Authorities in Seattle called the scam “an old con,” but indicated they believe nonprofits are being targeted in Washington and Oregon....

Eric is the development officer for a youth-related charity in the Southeast. Eric, his executive-director boss and I had a very productive 30-minute phone call a couple of weeks ago. Eric wants to be perfect. So does his boss. Wouldn’t we all?

If you are a leader in any way, shape or form, mushrooms can roll uphill on you. It doesn’t matter whether you are leading your event income department, your 10-year-old in doing homework, your Boy Scout troop or your company—if you lead, the mushroom can roll uphill on you. The worst of it is—if the mushroom is rolling uphill on you, it is because you let it, even unwittingly asked for it.