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Great comment. It's not uncommon for people coming from the world of private for-profit businesses to run into brick walls of their own making when they try to

Great comment. It's not uncommon for people coming from the world of private for-profit businesses to run into brick walls of their own making when they try to work with non-profit causes. The world of charitable non-profit organizations is fundamentally different. The incentives are fundamentally different and, arguable, at odds with entrepreneurial profit-oriented incentives. Much of what you said arises from the same principle: be humble. Entrepreneurs are not, broadly stated, selected for their humility. My approach would be to stop trying to do things and start asking questions and listening more. Sometimes the answers won't be palatable, but that doesn't mean they're wrong. Look into the ideas around Servant Leadership.

indymike 3y ago
> The incentives are fundamentally different and, arguable, at odds with entrepreneurial profit-oriented incentives. From personal experience, the differences seem simple on paper, but lead to much different social and political culture: * The board has the power. This is inverse of most companies, where the founders or CEO/President have a tight grip on the board. I've been on NFP boards where our first vote at every meeting was "Shall the executive director be retained." I've worked at a NFP where the board was carefully managed by the Executive Director to ensure he maintained his position, and still had to deal with a level of political subterfuge to keep his job that I've never seen in business, large, small, public or private. Eventually, he lost the board. * The goal is not to make profits. The goal is simple: 1) survive and 2) gain support to achieve something worthwhile. Survive is the same as private sector, but gaining support is very different than selling. Outside of winning grants which is much more like the private sector RFP/Proposal process, getting support is just different. Appeals to ego (i.e. your legacy, public optics) to get big donors, what feels like selling your soul for corporate support (corporate donors often come with an ask beyond the mission of your NFP), or horse trading for government support. * Products and services are doable, but difficult because it's easier to throw a couple of boondoggles (destination conferences), local awards dinners and publish a newsletter that build something actually useful. There's value in the conferences, awards and newsletters, but it isn't hard ROI. > listening more ... Servant Leadership This is extremely good advice.

indymike 3y ago

> The incentives are fundamentally different and, arguable, at odds with entrepreneurial profit-oriented incentives. From personal experience, the differences seem simple on paper, but lead to much different social and political culture: * The board has the power. This is inverse of most companies, where the founders or CEO/President have a tight grip on the board. I've been on NFP boards where our first vote at every meeting was "Shall the executive director be retained." I've worked at a NFP where the board was carefully managed by the Executive Director to ensure he maintained his position, and still had to deal with a level of political subterfuge to keep his job that I've never seen in business, large, small, public or private. Eventually, he lost the board. * The goal is not to make profits. The goal is simple: 1) survive and 2) gain support to achieve something worthwhile. Survive is the same as private sector, but gaining support is very different than selling. Outside of winning grants which is much more like the private sector RFP/Proposal process, getting support is just different. Appeals to ego (i.e. your legacy, public optics) to get big donors, what feels like selling your soul for corporate support (corporate donors often come with an ask beyond the mission of your NFP), or horse trading for government support. * Products and services are doable, but difficult because it's easier to throw a couple of boondoggles (destination conferences), local awards dinners and publish a newsletter that build something actually useful. There's value in the conferences, awards and newsletters, but it isn't hard ROI. > listening more ... Servant Leadership This is extremely good advice.