Building Nonprofit Capacity

Praise for Building Nonprofit Capacity "A central question for leadership is to identify where, and when, to focus organizational energy, and that is where Brothers and Sherman's book comes in. Changing organizations is never easy, which is why managers need the right set of maps and tools--like this one." Jon Pratt, executive director, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits "Anyone running a nonprofit organization, no matter how large or small, would benefit from reading this book. It's chock-full of useful information about managing change." Eric Nee, managing editor, Stanford Social Innovation Review "Nonprofit leaders need tools to help them manage better, engage communities, collaborate, and have greater impact. Building Nonprofit Capacity is a great tool and a useful reference for organizations that are seeking to make a greater and more sustainable difference." Paul Schmitz, CEO, Public Allies "Brothers and Sherman expertly braid together complementary organizational lifecycle frameworks--and add their own wide-ranging expertise and experience--to bring practitioners and executives this comprehensive, relevant, and honest book about the organizational quest to become ever better." Jeanne Bell, CEO, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services "Whether you are building a start-up, bringing an organization to scale, managing an established group toward excellence, or shepherding a nonprofit at risk of decline, this book should be required reading for every nonprofit executive director." Richard R. Buery, Jr., president and CEO, The Children's Aid Society "There are a lot of nonprofit management books out there. What makes Brothers and Sherman's book different and so important and worthwhile is that they have combined a number of models, theories, and practices and shaped them into a few essential processes that can be used by organizations both large and small." Doug Bauer, executive director, The Clark Foundation

Acknowledgments ix
One Setting the Stage: Change as a Defining  Force in the Nonprofit Sector 1
Lifecycle: A Framework for Initiating, Anticipating, Managing, and Understanding Change 3
Our Perspective 10
What's in This Book? 11
Two Back to Basics: "What Is Core" 13
Defining the "Core" in Core Program 13
The Established Organization in Core Program: Characteristics and Telltale Signs 15
To Put a Stake in the Ground, You Need a Good Mission 16
An Organizational Vision as Your Guide to Success 17
Values Matter 19
Be Sure Your Strategy Is . . . Strategic 25
Founder's Syndrome . . . Not Just for Founders Anymore 28
Taking It to the Next Level: The Importance of Trust 31
Three Infrastructure/Adolescence 45
Planning for Organizational Growth 48
The Role of the Board 55
Organizational Culture 63
Four Maturity/Impact Expansion (MIE) 73
Importance of Resource Development in the MIE Phase 76
Making the Case 78
Building Board Accountability in the MIE Phase 82
Organizational Assessment: The CSE Tool 87
Impact Expansion and the Question of Scale 94
Five Decline 103
Overview of Decline and the Lifecycle 104
High-Arc and Low-Arc: How Organizations in the Decline Phase Are Affected 105
The Arc During Crisis 117
Six Turnaround and Closing 127
Historical Look at Lifecycle Thought: Closing 128
The Downward Apex Point 129
Organizational Turnaround 130
Closing an Organization 140
The Mind-Set of Closing Organizations 141
Seven Conclusion 159
Reflections on This Book 160
Where Do We Go from Here? 163
Appendix 165
Notes 177
The Authors 181
Index 183