Category Archives: Technical Assistance
Board Leadership: Finding the Levers in Your System
June 7, 2016We recently concluded the 2015-16 Board Leadership Series with a workshop titled “Turning Learning Into Action.” Near the end, I posed a question: “Can you effectively influence something that matters to you by focusing on changing something else?” The answer … Continue reading
Pro Bono Partnership Pundit: Treating Gender Diverse Individuals with Dignity and Respect Is Easy
May 17, 2016In two weeks, Pride Month will commence. It was created to commemorate the June 1969 Stonewall Riots, which is considered a defining moment in commencement of the movement to protect the civil rights of people who are gender affirmed, … Continue reading
Technical Assistance: Getting Your Budget Past ‘One Day (or Year) at a Time’
May 3, 2016For a nonprofit organization, the annual budgeting process is typically the primary vehicle for financial planning. Organizational leaders and stakeholders come to that process with a sense of plans and goals for the year, and (ideally) come to collective decisions … Continue reading
Pro Bono Partnership Pundit: Look Hard for ‘Soft’ Skills on Your Board
April 19, 2016“What should we look for in recruiting good board members?” Our clients often ask us this question and, while there is no simple answer, there are some important considerations. This post focuses on “soft skills,” which can impact how well … Continue reading
Technical Assistance: Three Common Operating Reserve Myths
April 5, 2016How LUNA Could be the Key to Long-Term Sustainability A recent study of the financial health of New York City nonprofits uncovered some disturbing trends: 10 percent are insolvent and 40 percent exist with virtually zero cash reserves. For nonprofit … Continue reading
Pro Bono Partnership Pundit: Why Proactive Employment Law Advice Is Similar to a Fram Oil Filter
March 15, 2016You may recall the highly successful marketing campaign involving Fram oil filters. In a series of advertisements, an auto mechanic would advise drivers, “The choice is yours. You can pay me now, or pay me later,” suggesting that spending … Continue reading
Technical Assistance: Are You Ready for Adaptive Planning?
March 1, 2016You can’t go anywhere in the nonprofit sector these days without hearing people talk about how quickly the world around us is changing — and it’s true that the economy, philanthropic priorities, politics, and technology are all shifting right now. … Continue reading
Pro Bono Partnership: Why Does My Organization Need a Lawyer?
February 16, 2016A note to readers: At Dodge, we know that nonprofit organizations often have legal questions and need support. For that reason, we have funded Pro Bono Partnership for 15 years. Over that time, we’ve witnessed the many ways their work supports … Continue reading
Where Does an 800-pound Gorilla Walk?
February 2, 2016Anywhere It Wants To. Quick, before you do anything else: watch this 90-second video and follow the instructions (Don’t scroll down!): OK…so, did you see a gorilla? It turns out that half of the people who watch that video don’t … Continue reading
Board Leadership: Our Mission is our Promise
January 6, 2016Once each semester, I assign students in La Salle’s Masters in Nonprofit Leadership program, as well as the MBA students in my Nonprofit Management class, the task of evaluating the “goodness” of the mission statements of three nonprofits of their … Continue reading
Public Image Works: On Cupcakes and Community
December 28, 2015Two things to know about me: I love cupcakes, and I enjoy celebrating birthdays, other people’s and my own. This year, I wanted to mark my birthday with a fun way to connect with my community in a fun way. … Continue reading
Board Leadership: Bullseye!
November 4, 2015What does October conjure up for you? Fall foliage and apple cider? Baseball playoffs and Halloween costumes? Much as I appreciate those things, I primarily associate October with a favorite annual event: the kick-off of the Dodge Board Leadership Training … Continue reading
Learning How Public Image Works
October 29, 2015I’ve been to a lot of trainings in my life, even since I “retired” from teaching in a classroom. The sad fact is that most of them were bad, enough that I remember the good ones to this day. The … Continue reading
Why Is Dodge’s Technical Assistance Worth Your Time?
September 15, 2015Nonprofits typically know when they need capacity building work, be it board development, marketing support, fundraising or strategic planning. However, they often launch into major planning efforts without the needed resources and readiness to properly develop or implement the changes they … Continue reading
Board Leadership: 12 Steps to Recruiting Effective Board Members
June 24, 2015Finding effective board members is not for the faint of heart. It is hard work. Most boards have made it harder by having done it so poorly in the past that there are few left on the board unscathed and … Continue reading