Take a look at these two photos. Which one looks like the more engaging learning experience? Given a choice between the two, where would you rather be? Your answer may depend on how your brain works. Your brain isn’t one thing In the 1960’s, psychobiologist and Nobel Prize winner Roger W. Sperry proposed that the brain’s left … [Read more...]
Making and Managing Change: A Field Manual
The following is adapted, with my thanks, from the Institute for Conservation Leadership. Are you a consultant, facilitator, or trainer? Maybe you work as nonprofit staff, or you serve as a board member or volunteer. Perhaps you’re an activist, advocate, or community organizer. Regardless of your position, I’d like to offer … [Read more...]
Is Your Board a Cost Center – or a Profit Center?
What does it cost you to have a board of directors? Is the cost worth the effort? Provocative questions, right? Let’s start by acknowledging the basics. If you're a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in the U.S., you are legally required to have a board. There’s a thoughtful reason for this: the board is the legal owner of your … [Read more...]
PowerPoint For Good:
4 Tips For Trainers
Note: This guest post is from Laura Rhodes of Third Sector Consulting and author of the LetsTalkNonprofit.blog. Thanks, Laura! Ask nonprofit staff or board members why they attend conferences, and you’ll get a variety of responses. To be with like-minded people. To network with others in the field. And, invariably, to … [Read more...]
Give your board members what they need – you’ll get what you want
If you’re like me, you’ve probably taken a new job without having a complete picture of your responsibilities – in other words, without seeing a job description first. Undoubtedly you encountered workplace surprises, not all of them pleasant. Board service is a job, too. Like any job, it has specific requirements and … [Read more...]
What Do I Wear? The Trainer’s Guide to Getting Dressed
As part of our train-the-trainer program at Marlboro College, we offer shadowing opportunities for participants. They join a faculty member for a workshop or facilitated meeting, observe what happens, and then we talk about it. Before a recent gig, one of the students surprised me with a question – one that I don’t consider very often … [Read more...]
Five options for board orientation
Joining a board without a proper welcome and relevant education is like landing in a foreign country without a map or any knowledge of the local language and customs. You might find yourself at your first meeting, trying to decipher strange acronyms or wondering why everyone is giggling at jokes you don’t understand. Lacking a … [Read more...]
It’s all about implementation
How many times have you participated in a really productive learning experience – a class, workshop, or webinar – and thought to yourself, “This is terrific stuff. I’m going back to work and I’ll start using it immediately.” And then you didn’t. Why not? Let us count the ways: lack of buy-in from peers, unexpected deadlines, … [Read more...]
Fundraising Therapy, Part 1 – Getting Over the Fear of Fundraising
Are you afraid of fundraising? How about your board – when it’s time to raise money, do they run away? As a fundraising trainer and consultant, this is my biggest challenge: many people are frightened of fundraising. If you ignore or avoid this “fear factor” – especially during your year-end fundraising push – you’ll miss … [Read more...]
What You Can Learn by Training Trainers
When was the last time you spent a year planning something – and then launched it? If you felt that unique combination of excitement, anxiety, satisfaction, and relief, then you’ll understand what I was experiencing a week ago. Last Monday, we rolled out the brand-new Training, Facilitation, and Consulting Certificate Program – a … [Read more...]
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