A practical guide to effective decision-making frameworks and tools for nonprofits that ensure successful stewardship The basic tenets of decision making for nonprofits are similar, whether you're growing, shrinking, or trying to think your way out of a box. Smart Stewardship for Nonprofits provides the tools to make the best stewardship decisions in these varied, but common, situations. Coverage includes the keys to smart stewardship for your nonprofit, the smart stewardship decision tree, understanding capability and capacity, making innovation the norm, understanding the true cost of growth, going to scale, and smart stewardship in bad times. Features tools to make the best stewardship decisions in every kind of situation Written for executive directors of nonprofit organizations, nonprofit board members, CPAs, and other financial counsel for nonprofits, development directors Provides a website hosting a variety of online tools and materials Also by Peter Brinckerhoff: Mission-Based Marketing, Mission-Based Management, Social Entrepreneurship, and Faith-Based Management With innovative organizational change initiatives to foster new growth and effectiveness, Smart Stewardship for Nonprofits offers your nonprofit the critical guidance it needs to get there.

Best practices for nonprofits for long-term success in a rapidly changing world. Building Smart Nonprofits: A Roadmap for Mission Success is a handbook of best practices nonprofits can use to improve sustainability - a book of knowledge and know-how distilled from interviews with over 60 industry leaders who are in the nonprofit trenches every day—as executives, leaders, board members, funders, publishers, and service providers. David J. O’Brien and Matthew D. Craig provide real-life examples of nonprofits deploying best practices and emerging industry trends – such as the rise of socially conscious investing – to position their organizations for the long term. Topics include, among others, funding models, impact investing, compensation, strategic restructuring, leadership, full-cost grantmaking, program evaluation, storytelling, and financing. Readers learn how to best position their non-profit organization for a sustainable and long-term future.

In an environment of increasing competition and eroding trust, nonprofits are under pressure to up their ability to deliver on their mission. Stewardship is a paradigm-shifting way to view your role, your board, your staff, your funders, and yourself. Understanding that the nonprofit is rooted in its ownership by the community helps break the boundaries of turf and fragmentation that prevent sustainable impacts. Author Peter Brinckerhoff, internationally known expert at helping not-for-profits get more mission for their money, explains why stewardship is the smart thing to do and how you can use it to transform your organization. You'll discover: The eight characteristics of a mission-based steward; The various stewardship roles that exist in your not-for-profit, and why each is essential in a well-functioning organization; Three surprising truths about your not-for-profit; The nine characteristics of a successful not-for-profit; Fifteen warning signs of trouble in your organization; Stewardship-rich ways to view your finances, your budgeting, and your financial reporting; A refreshing new perspective on the relationship between funders and not-for-profits; Crisis management tools that really work; A stewardship self-assessment to use now as a starting point, and later as a reference point to measure your progress. Comprehensive, passionate, and practical. Dozens of real-world examples make this book relevant. End-of-chapter discussion questions reprise key points and reinforce important ideas. Nonprofit Stewardship is recommended for leaders of all types of not-for-profit organizations serving individuals, the local community, the state, the nation, or the world. Also recommended for donors, grantmakers, government agencies, and others who fund your work.

Corporate giving currently accounts for nearly 10 percent of all charitable donations nationwide, and most experts agree that the flow of corporate resources earmarked for nonprofit programs is on the rise. Yet, many fund raisers are held back from tapping this gold mine by the fear they don?t know how to "play the system" correctly. When it comes to soliciting corporate funds, even old hands at private fund raising find themselves stymied by the lack of clear-cut answers to such critical questions as: "How do I find out which companies give and how do I obtain information about them?" "Who are the funding decision makers, and how do I appeal to them and cultivate relationships with them?" "What hidden strings and pitfalls should I be aware of when soliciting corporate funds?" Successful Corporate Fund Raising provides in-depth answers to these and all your questions about finding and winning corporate funds. The distillation of Scott Sheldon?s more than two decades of experience as a corporate fund raiser, it provides a complete blueprint for developing and maintaining successful corporate fund-raising programs at nonprofits of all sizes. The book begins with an in-depth exploration of the world of contemporary corporate giving. It explains the key differences between private funding and the "strategic philanthropy" practiced by many corporations. It describes the various forms corporate giving most commonly takes, including cash, in-kind, and volunteerism. And it clearly spells out the motivations, perceptions, expectations, and conditions driving most corporate funding.The lion?s share of the book is devoted to schooling readers in effective low-cost strategies for locating, obtaining, and managing corporate resources. Organized around the five key components of a successful corporate funding initiative, it provides step-by-step guidance on how to research corporate funders, cultivate relationships with key personnel, solicit corporate resources, evaluate the efficacy of fund-raising initiatives, and manage funded programs. It also supplies a wealth of forms, questionnaires, sample letters and proposals, checklists, and other valuable tools that can easily be adapted for use in your organization. Successful Corporate Fund Raising is an indispensable working resource for all nonprofit fund raisers, development managers, agency executives, and board members. An expert?s guide to finding and winning corporate support for your nonprofit organization. This book shows fund raisers and executives at nonprofits of all sizes how to take advantage of the current corporate funding opportunities. K. Scott Sheldon provides a fresh, insider?s look at contemporary corporate giving, and he develops a complete blueprint for developing a corporate fund-raising program. Step-by-step, he walks you through the entire corporate fund-raising process and: Describes proven fund-raising strategies and techniques that can be integrated into virtually any nonprofit organization Alerts you to the common pitfalls to corporate solicitation and shows you how to avoid them Explores the impact of new technologies on corporate fund raising Details solid strategies for taking advantage of resources other than cash, including in-kind donations and volunteers Illustrates key points with fascinating and instructive real-world case studies Arms you with an array of forms, checklists, sample documents, questionnaires, and other valuable tools

Answers to the 12 most common and critical questions about corporate giving In this groundbreaking resource, Weeden shows how to strategically plan, manage and evaluate corporate contributions. Questions include: Why Should We Give?; How Much?; Who Decides?; Does a Company Need a Foundation?; How to Give Products or Services?; How Do We Know What Works? The book covers a wide range of topics including: The case for conditional corporate philanthropy; increasing stewardship to give more; assigning responsibility for signature programs; how CEOs leverage contributions programs for maximum benefit; effectively staffing corporate contributions programs; the pros and cons of corporate foundations; and more. Offers benchmarks for determining if a business has a meaningful philanthropic program that fosters constructive corporate citizenship Reveals how an effective philanthropic program and commitment can be incorporated in any organization Contains a comprehensive review of the information corporations need to make informed decisions about giving The author offers a prescription for linking businesses with causes and the nonprofits addressing critical issues in a way that will preserve or restore services and activities essential to our quality of life.

This book explains how an organization can measure and manage performance with the Balanced Scorecard methodology. It provides extensive background on performance management and the Balanced Scorecard, and focuses on guiding a team through the step-by-step development and ongoing implementation of a Balanced Scorecard system. Corporations, public sector agencies, and not for profit organizations have all reaped success from the Balanced Scorecard. This book supplies detailed implementation advice that is readily applied to any and all of these organization types. Additionally, it will benefit organizations at any stage of Balanced Scorecard development. Regardless of whether you are just contemplating a Balanced Scorecard, require assistance in linking their current Scorecard to management processes, or need a review of their past measurement efforts, Balanced Scorecard Step by Step provides detailed advice and proven solutions.