The Nonprofit Board Therapist: A Guide to Unlocking Your Organization's True Potential

Introduction

Over the past thirty years, I’ve had the unique opportunity to wear “many hats.”  I was the president and chief executive officer of a major nonprofit organization, the president of a successful healthcare foundation, and the chairman of the board of a private college preparatory school.  I served as chairman of a capital campaign and worked as a corporate executive of a publicly traded company that assisted nonprofit sector clients. Now I am an author and the president/founder of a company dedicated to helping the nonprofit sector in their pursuit of their goals – and of excellence.

Everyone faces enormous challenges within the nonprofit sector.  This is true whether your mission is related to education, healthcare, human services, environment or arts/culture.  All of you have great causes and purposeful missions that are being advanced through the efforts of dedicated professionals, board members and volunteers who believe in your organization.  Everyone has great hopes and dreams for his or her organization and is very proud to be associated with it!  However, many still struggle to reach the level of excellence their mission requires.  They struggle to fully engage their boards and key stakeholders and/or develop the resources needed to survive, let alone succeed or excel.

As a chief executive, you may ask, “How do I engage and motivate my board to be truly passionate about our mission and actively participate with confidence in our philanthropic initiatives?”  As a board member, you may seek to learn, “How do I contribute to engaging my community in fully supporting our mission?”  Or, as the board chair, you may want to know, “How do I recruit and develop board members who can assist me in achieving the dreams and goals of our nonprofit organization?”

In my first book, “A Guide to Achieving New Heights: The Four Pillars of Successful Nonprofit Leadership,” my goal was to provide an inspirational and educational book on “how to unlock” the leadership

potential of individuals (including chief executives, board members and those who aspire to leadership positions) in the nonprofit sector.  In this

 book, I want to share my experience wearing many hats - and working with many nonprofit groups - to develop an organizational culture that inherently thrives on creating success.

As you read this book, you will learn from my experiences, observations of many colleagues, and the success achieved by my clients on how to unlock your organization’s true potential.  Though I have observed the success of many organizations, I have also seen too many organizations that never achieve the level of success they desire because they fail to fully understand the importance of integrating all key organization components.  Those that fail to meet aggressive fundraising goals often wonder, despite their critical mission, why they did not raise “enough” money.  Too often, they failed to see that they never fully integrated their governance, leadership, visioning and philanthropy efforts.

In the United States, there are approximately 1.3 million nonprofit organizations serving a wide range of important missions: arts/cultural, education, environmental, healthcare, human services, and other important areas.  Many organizations have achieved national recognition and many thousands of nonprofits have demonstrated outstanding performance throughout their local communities.  Yet, despite the tremendous sweat and tears that people poured into their nonprofit organization, far too many have failed to achieve their goals or operate at their full potential.  In tough times, too many nonprofit organizations that pr