Board Orientation vs. Training vs. Development
When you ask Board members if they’ve been trained, it’s not uncommon that they’ll answer,…
Carter McNamara
Carter McNamara’s posts
Reactive Versus Planful Nonprofits
I’ve worked with nonprofit organizations for a very long time. I’ve noticed two distinctly different…
Organization Development
Use Grand Vision and Strategic Vision in Strategic Planning
A vision, during strategic planning, is depiction of the organization and its customers at some…
Business Planning
Use Grand Visions and Strategic Visions for Change
It’s common in change-management projects to have a vision for change. It’s very useful to…
Consulting & Freelancing
Whose Capacity Should We Be Building Anyway?
In another sterling example of checking brains at the nonprofit boardroom door, I recently learned…
Organization Development
Here’s Why Advisory Boards Are Often Useless
An Advisory Board (or Advisory Council or Advisory Committee) is a collection of people formed…
Business Laws & Ethics
What’s the Real Purpose of Word-Smithing Mission Statements?
It’s common that a client will want to start strategic planning by “updating the mission…
Business Planning
Mindful Proclamations: Learning from Failed Movements
Mindful Proclamations: Studying Failed Movements Last week, I got a call from a consultant who…
Consulting & Freelancing
Outcome-Based CEO Pay in Building Nonprofit Capacity
Last week, I did a workshop among nonprofit CEO Executive Directors. Some of them expressed…
Organization Development
Is a “Working Board” an Immature Board?
(The following post applies as much to for-profit Boards as nonprofit Boards — many for-profit…
Business Laws & Ethics
What’s a “Mature” Organization?
I conducted a workshop two weeks ago in which a participant mentioned that some of…
Consulting & Freelancing
When Good Words Go Bad
“Capacity building” is a term from the Grantonese language usually referring to an organization’s systemic…
Organization Development
How to Start Strategic Planning: Do a Plan for a Plan – Part 5
In Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this topic, we reviewed the first 12…
Business Planning
What is a “Nonprofit” Topic?
About fifteen years ago, I noticed that “nonprofit topics” almost always meant topics specific to…
Organization Development
Should You Try Get “Big Names” and “Big Pockets” on Boards?
What About “Big Names”? Many Board members believe that adding a very prominent person to…
Business Laws & Ethics
Consulting Foundations: Working Goals and Assumptions
Peter Block, in his book, Flawless Consulting, suggests that certain goals and assumptions always be…