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Procrastination… my name is board member
Without telling anyone I decided to take the summer off from the blog. Unfortunately, I took the summer off from being a board member too. I didn't tell anyone about this either. It was not my intention to stop being a decent board member, it just happened. I got...
Has Social Media and Social Causes Together Achieved a “Citizen Kane” Moment?
This post is off-the-beaten path of what I usually write about, but I have been curious about this for sometime. Many consider Orson Welles' Citizen Kane to be the greatest American movie ever made. Premiering in 1941, it follows the first movie, The Horse in Motion,...
Flip Your Mission: Framing a Compelling Message
This installment of the Sixty-Second Strategy challenges board and staff to frame a compelling message by transforming how they talk about their organization.
Rewrite Your Next Board Meeting
At the first board meeting I ever attended, the only person who spoke was my boss, the executive director. Driving back to the office, she asked me what I thought of the meeting. I told her the board was not very engaged. She agreed and said, “I just don’t know how to...
Board Members Are Not Our Development Directors
In the May 1st online edition of the Chronicle of Philanthropy a headline stated: “Charities Give Boards Little Training in Fund Raising, Study Finds.” I would argue that most board members do not want training in fund raising. They didn’t join our organizations...
Has Your Nonprofit Board Been Neutered?
Here's a simple way to find out. In a middle of a board meeting, look at the people around the table and ask yourself: Does the quality of this discussion match the quality of people? Granted, "quality" is fairly subjective. Yet, it is pretty easy to tell if you have...
Defining Your Organization’s Value
This installment of the Sixty-Second Strategy covers a quick exercise to help organizations define the value they create and deliver to the communities they serve. For more information, go to the related post entitled Owning Your Place in the Community. Also,...
Owning Your Place in the Community
[The following is an excerpt from a keynote I gave to the Southern Minnesota Nonprofit Summit.] Fifteen years ago this week was when I arrived in Minnesota to become the Executive Director of The Playwrights’ Center. My wife and I were newly married. We drove 900...
Simplicity in Your Message: From MINNESOTA ORGANIZATION ON ADOLESCENT PARENTING, PREVENTION & PARENTING… to Teen Wise Minnesota
MOAPPP (Minnesota Organizational on Adolescent Parenting, Preventing, and Parenting) engaged Creation In Common to help them develop a new name. Though the acronym became known among close stakeholders, few were able to identify the value the organization created (and...
Kick Start Your Story!
Your organization's stories are key to helping you convey the unique value you create for the people you serve. The following 60-Second Strategy video provide five simple questions to help you and your team craft a compelling narrative about your work.
Nonprofit Branding in the Age of Social Media
An article in the December issue of Twin Cities Business Monthly captures a wonderful case study on the branding work Creation In Common did for CaringBridge. CaringBridge is a nonprofit providing free websites that connect people experiencing a significant health...
Rethinking the Volunteer: Three What Ifs
My home town (Minneapolis/Saint Paul) is the top city in United States for volunteering in 2009 according to an article in yesterday's Star Tribune. Over 900,000 area residents volunteered an average of 44 hours for schools, churches, and nonprofit organizations....