Resources
Manage Mission Risk with a Durable Theory of Change
By Rachel Sams Avoid “mission creep.” Avoid chasing contracts and grants that aren’t a fit for your nonprofit. Put structure around aspects of your nonprofit’s work and goals that can be “squishy.” Attendees at a webinar hosted by the Equitable Recovery Wallet late last year shared these phrases to describe what a theory of change … Continued
How to Handle the One Thing That’s Certain: Uncertainty
By Rachel Sams What are the big issues your nonprofit’s leaders worry about when they can’t sleep? Racial and social justice? Climate change? Inflation and economic uncertainty? All of the above? Does your nonprofit invest time to talk about these issues and potential ways to address them? Or do leaders move from one pressing day-to-day … Continued
Choose Essential: Define Your Singular Risk Priority
By Melanie Lockwood Herman This week I’ve been reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown. The book’s themes touch on a prickly subject for me: saying “no.” A very wise friend once told me that we often say yes out of fear that if we say no, we won’t get asked again. … Continued
Take 10: Resume and Thrive Strategies
By Melanie Lockwood Herman and Whitney Claire Thomey The effects of a global pandemic have caused many nonprofits to quickly scale back and shutter programs, send staff home, and redeploy resources to stop the spread of COVID-19. No organization was immune from the need to make fast, and in some cases, immediate decisions about what … Continued
Don’t be Dispassionate: How to Use Emotional Impulses to Make Better Decisions – Full Article
By Glenn Mott “Heuristic / you risked it.” —Hank Lazer Recently, I had an opportunity to read a special issue of the Harvard Business Review called “The Brain Science Behind Business”—a compilation of previously published articles about neuroscience. Reading these articles got me thinking about the role of heuristics in risk management. Heuristics refers to … Continued