Nonprofit Boards And Planning
Build a board that leads with purpose, accountability, and clarity. This collection of expert-led video sessions gives nonprofit leaders and board members the tools to strengthen governance, support executive leadership, and keep mission and management aligned.
Explore core responsibilities such as fiduciary and legal duties, financial oversight, policy-making, conflict of interest management, and executive evaluation. Learn how to recruit and retain the right board members, clarify roles, and create a culture of shared ownership and strategic discipline.
These lessons also dive into the essentials of planning—from long-term vision and performance metrics to real-world models for board–staff alignment and decision-making. Whether you’re structuring your first board or elevating the effectiveness of an established one, this content offers actionable frameworks to help your organization govern responsibly and lead with confidence.
This episode explores how nonprofit interim leadership can turn executive transition into a strategic reset instead of a rushed replacement. Joan Brown of Third Sector Company shares four leadership words—purposeful, methodical, profound, and transformational—that can help boards, executives, and managers strengthen the organization before the next permanent leader arrives.
When resources are limited, nonprofits often assume they need more funding. But what if scarcity is actually the catalyst for stronger partnerships? In this episode, Van Ton-Quinlivan, Founder and CEO of Futuro Health, shares how nonprofits, employers, educators, and community organizations can align around common goals to solve workforce challenges and create lasting social impact.
If you're searching for nonprofit partnership strategies that create measurable impact, this conversation delivers a powerful framework for building coalitions, aligning stakeholders, and solving complex workforce challenges.
Organizations can achieve more by working together rather than operating in isolation. As healthcare systems across the country face critical workforce shortages, Futuro Health has built a nationally recognized model that brings employers, educational institutions, and community organizations together to develop credentialed healthcare workers at scale.
Community wealth building for nonprofits takes center stage in this episode, as Lauren Turner Hines shares how the Andre Caillou Center is using art, history, ownership, and earned revenue to build lasting community power. This conversation shows nonprofit leaders how space, story, and strategy can become a bold operating model.
This episode targets nonprofit leaders searching for alternatives to traditional aid models and dependency-driven philanthropy. The conversation blends international development, nonprofit operations, sustainability, and social enterprise into a highly searchable leadership discussion.
Reimagining Western aid as catalytic investment rather than endless subsidy.
Building financially sustainable nonprofit ecosystems through enterprise.
The dangers of dependency-based philanthropy.
Ethical concerns around “poverty marketing” and child sponsorship models.
Locally led leadership versus externally imposed solutions.
Nonprofit “out vision” thinking: solving problems rather than perpetuating organizational existence.
Community ownership and dignity in development work.
Healthcare, education, and job creation as interconnected infrastructure.
This episode challenges one of the nonprofit sector’s biggest assumptions: that more funding automatically solves organizational problems. Instead, Blessed Designs Consulting founder and CEO Sharmon Lebby explains how rapid growth without infrastructure creates operational stress, burnout, confusion, and organizational instability.
This episode explores how CASA Heart of Missouri approached a $4.6 million-plus capital campaign by connecting organizational growth, donor trust, board leadership, and community need. Kelly Hill shares how a nonprofit of modest size used strategy, patience, outside guidance, and strong relationships to fund a bold facility vision.
Nonprofit leadership learning culture is no longer a “nice to have”—it is becoming a business necessity for organizations trying to stay functional, aligned, and mission-ready. This episode is about how nonprofit leaders can move beyond one-time training and build a learning culture that improves decision-making, team alignment, board performance, and organizational resilience.
Jeffrey R. Wilcox of Third Sector Company challenges nonprofit leaders to rethink training, leadership development, board education, and organizational learning.
This episode reveals how to eliminate nonprofit board apathy and create an aligned, accountable governing body that drives real organizational impact.
Nonprofits struggle less with mission and more with alignment and execution
The GOST framework (Goal, Objective, Strategy, Tactic) operationalizes strategy into daily action
Burnout is driven by lack of clarity and decision overload, not just workload
“Energy budget” is as critical as financial budget
Strategic planning must be continuous (daily/weekly), not annual
Donor strategy should shift from transactional to relational
GOST creates a decision filter, reducing distractions and “shiny object syndrome”
Nonprofits must treat succession planning as risk management to ensure leadership continuity, retain talent, and protect mission delivery.
Nonprofit succession planning strategy isn’t just a governance exercise—it’s a core risk management function that directly impacts mission delivery. Joan Brown (Third Sector Company) and Erick Seelbach break down how nonprofits can proactively prepare for leadership transitions without creating fear or disruption.
Too often, succession planning is treated as a reactive process—something triggered by a resignation or crisis. But as Joan explains, “A succession plan is a set of shared understandings and activities…that ensures we have the right people in the right places to deliver on our mission.” When embedded into organizational culture, succession planning becomes a stabilizing force—not a threatening one.
This important convo draws a clear distinction between succession planning and transition planning—two concepts frequently confused but critically different. Succession planning focuses on long-term leadership continuity across the organization, while transition planning addresses the tactical steps when a specific role changes hands.
A practical blueprint for nonprofit leaders to build strategy, avoid mission drift, and drive measurable impact through disciplined, business-minded operations.
This conversation highlights practical strategies nonprofit leaders can apply immediately:
Building a long-term strategic vision while adapting in real time
Using data and feedback loops to refine programs
Avoiding mission drift through disciplined decision-making
Structuring programs for measurable, scalable impact
Communicating outcomes differently to funders vs. community stakeholders
If your nonprofit’s strategic plan is sitting on a shelf instead of driving results, this conversation is your wake-up call. Dylan Bassett, Principal and Founder of Department 1 Solutions, challenges a deeply ingrained habit across the sector: setting ambitious goals without first understanding operational capacity.
Dylan makes it clear—most nonprofit plans fail not because of poor intentions, but because they are disconnected from the realities of staff bandwidth, systems, and workflows. As he explains, “A lot of nonprofit strategic plans are too big for the team that’s executing them.” That disconnect creates frustration, burnout, and ultimately stalled progress.
Instead of starting with lofty goals, Dylan urges organizations to flip the model. Begin by assessing what your team and technology can actually support today. Then identify the gap between current capacity and future ambitions. That gap becomes the real work—where systems, processes, and people must align.
A major takeaway? Many nonprofits already have the tools they need but are underutilizing them. Rather than rushing to purchase new platforms, leaders should first evaluate how existing systems can be better configured and adopted. This approach not only saves money but also strengthens internal efficiency.
Dylan also emphasizes turning strategy into a daily habit. By breaking large goals into smaller, measurable actions, organizations can maintain momentum, build team confidence, and create regular opportunities for progress. As he shares, “The success of success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.”
This is more than a planning conversation—it’s a call to rethink how your organization operates. Bring your team into the process. Align your tools with your workflows. And most importantly, create a roadmap that your staff can actually execute.
If your nonprofit is ready to move from planning to performance, this episode is your next step.
#TheNonprofitShow #NonprofitStrategy #OperationalExcellence
The Nonprofit Show launches its Global Edition with cohosts Julia C. Patrick and Matthew Murray (CEO, Expand PR / Expand Consultancy), taking listeners inside what it really looks like to start and operate a charity/NGO in the United Kingdom—and why global expansion is as much a business decision as it is a mission decision.
Matthew opens with the on-the-ground reality that “every culture has its own nuances… laws and rules,” and that expanding beyond your home country requires leaders to respect local norms, donor behaviors, and governance expectations. The conversation quickly turns practical: Do Brits give? Matthew says yes—substantially—while noting economic pressures have shifted donor patterns. He also explains a key difference for revenue strategy: the UK doesn’t mirror U.S.-style donor tax deductions, but it does offer Gift Aid, where government adds funding to eligible donations. As Matthew describes it, “25 pence for every pound donated,” meaning a £100 gift can become £125 for the charity—an important lever for fundraising planning, messaging, and cash forecasting.
On governance and transparency, the UK’s Charity Commission functions as a dedicated regulator for charities. Matthew emphasizes the public nature of filings and the reputational impact of being late or sloppy with reporting—because funders, partners, and major donors look. In the UK, board members are typically called trustees, are usually unpaid, and cannot be paid for the trustee role itself (though they may be compensated for a separate job). For organizations with global ambitions, Matthew shares a strategic advantage: non-UK residents can serve as trustees in Britain, which can simplify governance when launching a UK-based entity.
The global discussion also contrasts donor culture. Matthew suggests UK donors may give differently than U.S. donors—often less driven by “momentary adrenaline” and more oriented toward longer-term loyalty—reinforcing the value of relationship, credibility, and consistency. Julia adds a caution for international leaders: expansion fails fast when it arrives with a “we’ll fix you” mindset. The Global Edition’s promise is clear: practical global learning that helps nonprofit executives expand responsibly, protect integrity, and build durable support across borders.
#NonprofitBusiness #GlobalPhilanthropy #TheNonprofitShow
Boards get plenty of attention in the nonprofit sector, but this lively conversation zooms in on the role that can make or break governance performance: the board chair. Alisa Chatinsky, CEO of NonprofitSuccess.org, talks about what strong chair leadership really looks like—and why so many organizations treat the position like an honorific instead of a job with real operational and strategic responsibilities.
Alisa shares that after decades in nonprofit leadership and nearly 14 years consulting and serving in interim roles, she stepped into board service again and was immediately asked to chair. That experience sparked a practical question: How many chairs are actually set up to succeed? Her conclusion is simple and business-minded: “Because when a board chair is strong, the board is strong and the organization is strong.” She explains that boards often “recruit” chairs by minimizing expectations, which leads to sloppy meeting execution, confused roles, and underused talent.
The conversation becomes a working blueprint for better governance. Alisa outlines what effective chairs do: run meetings with purpose and time discipline, keep the board out of day-to-day management, build consensus, listen well, and handle conflict without letting it hijack the mission. She emphasizes governance infrastructure that supports decision-making: a governance calendar, clear expectations, job descriptions, consent agendas, dashboards, and space for generative discussions that move the organization forward.
A standout lesson is the connection between life cycle stage and board behavior. As organizations mature, the board’s work must mature too—and that can mean changing how meetings operate and what board members are willing (or able) to contribute. Alisa also advocates for board mentoring and orientation that includes real business essentials (budget, program allocations, financial results), so members can represent the organization confidently in the community. As she puts it, “We reinvest our profits in our mission.”
The episode closes with her “Five-Star Board Chair” master class concept, pairing training with coaching and a real board meeting evaluation—designed to build leadership capacity that improves governance, accountability, and long-term organizational strength.
#BoardGovernance #NonprofitLeadership #TheNonprofitShow
Sunsetting a nonprofit is one of the most difficult decisions a board and executive team can face. Erin McPartlin, Principal of Erin McPartlin Consulting, guides leaders through the strategic and compassionate realities of organizational closure.
Host Julia Patrick opens the conversation by acknowledging the emotional weight of the topic. Closing an organization can feel like failure. Yet Erin reframes the discussion: sometimes the healthiest business decision is an intentional ending. Whether an organization has achieved its mission, become operationally stagnant, or reached financial unsustainability, the question is not just when to close—but how to do so responsibly.
Erin outlines three common scenarios: mission accomplished, operational decline with weak infrastructure, and full financial unsustainability. In many cases, boards wait too long to confront the truth. “If you get to that point where you're now saying, we need to look at should we stay open or not, you're probably past the decision point,” she explains. That delay often stems from intermittent success—a returning donor, a new grant, a compelling impact story—that keeps leadership hoping for a turnaround.
From a governance standpoint, Erin emphasizes four pillars: people, communication, finance, and risk. Boards must fully engage, understand cash flow, assess liabilities, calculate burn rate, and evaluate runway. The most important question becomes, “What is the cost of our inaction?”
Rather than allowing an abrupt collapse—locked doors and shocked staff—Erin advocates for a structured 4–6 month minimum runway. This deliberate process allows nonprofits to respect employees, honor donor commitments, manage restricted funds, and protect community trust.
The episode closes on a powerful idea: the “elegant ending.” By planning intentionally, nonprofits can celebrate their impact, transfer knowledge, mentor peer organizations, and potentially redistribute remaining funds to aligned missions. “It’s preserving the public perception and preserving the positivity in the work that this organization did,” Erin shares.
Closing well is not defeat. It is stewardship.
#NonprofitManagement #BoardGovernance #TheNonprofitShow