Staffing & Human Resources

It was a new vice president for development, and expectations were high. I was serving on a campaign steering committee and enjoying a day full of high energy. The new staff leader entered the room quietly, sat in a row of chairs against the wall and proceeded to either text or read emails until he was asked to speak...

Good instructional design and delivery engages people’s brains, eyes, ears and bodies. People pay attention more, they learn something, they retain it better, and there is a better chance of them applying what they learned. There are many creative ways to engage learners during a training—both face-to-face and online. Moving around is better than sitting…

We all have seen agendas that have time amounts allocated for each item, but are never followed. At a certain point, members get tired or uninterested in the meeting or spend too little time on the most important issues. How many of us take meeting agendas for granted? Since meetings are an important part of our business life, we need to better understand this topic...

Recently, I came across this comment on a Huffington Post article about nonprofit salaries: Here’s why I don’t donate to nonprofits. There is no legal cap to the salaries paid to executives. Really? Do y’all think I donated to feed the pig CEO, or the needy? See a poor person in the street, give them…

This has been a crazy week—I co-presented a webinar for NonProfit PRO and am heading to Washington, D.C., for the annual Bridge Conference (as a learner, not a presenter). Why? Because I am absolutely passionate about continuing education, both for myself and what I share with others when I can. And I want to energize you about continuing education, too, which is why I write about investing in you about once a year...

Genuine, wholehearted appreciation trumps money, benefits and an epic job title. Because at the heart of it is the idea that you enjoy coming into work every day. Sure, a job is a job, but a cheerfully positive outlook on the space where you spend the majority of your day-to-day shouldn’t feel like a novel concept...

The Department of Labor in May announced new overtime rules, effective Dec. 1, that will make millions more Americans eligible for overtime. Predictably, reaction has been mixed, but it wasn't clear exactly how the rules would affect the sector. Now, we have a better understanding. National Council of Nonprofits last week released the results of a national survey polling nonprofits with government grants and contracts on the overtime rule changes, and the results are, well, kinda grim...

Does your work in the nonprofit sector excite you? It should. Does it worry you? It should do that, too. NonprofitMarketingGuide.com’s “2016 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report” highlighted some of the big reasons why—from the positives, like embracing new opportunities and reaching more donors, to the negatives, like financial restrictions and unrealistic workloads...

Part of good succession planning for your nonprofit should include the following question: What should we do if a longtime CEO is planning to leave? An exit agreement may be a good answer for your organization. There generally are four reasons nonprofit boards explore an exit agreement. These reasons correspond to the type or focus of the agreement...

At some point, usually after dealing with a seemingly uninformed (dare I say "stupid"?) request from someone who is higher than you on the organizational chart, you probably have fanaticized about being in charge. Maybe your ultimate goal is to manage the complete fundraising program, or you may have your sights set on the "corner office."...