Thoughts from a departing, formerly reluctant, nonprofit CEO

People who know me know that when I have something to say, I write fast. When I don’t, I find writing to be painful– almost as painful as reading all of those “I’m stringing together words but actually have nothing significant to say, but want to prove to you that I attended (name your conference here…)” posts.

I have a lot to say right now and yet, it is hard to write because I am so full of emotion about it. Today is my last day on staff with Upaya Social Ventures ; July 31st was my last day as CEO, and I’m wrapping our leadership transition. I’m struggling to put a frame around the last nine years, leading this organization that means so much to me. I’ve learned a lot from this experience and want to share some of the most prominent points that are pinballing around in my brain right now. I’m sure this will be an ongoing process, but here are a few takes so far.

The Board Really Matters

Ironically, after getting an MBA focused on nonprofit management, I didn’t think I wanted to be an Executive Director (or my preferred title, CEO) of a nonprofit. Conventional wisdom was that EDs should spend about 25% of their time managing their boards. That seemed like a lot of unproductive time to me. Like many of my strongly-held beliefs, I was wrong about that. If you choose your board well, spending time with them is an ongoing opportunity to learn and grow. It is true that the CEO job can be very lonely, with many worries and topics you can’t bring up to your management team. Board members can be a safe sounding board and many of my favorite memories of the last nine years were bouncing ideas off of super smart and supportive board members. (I still think the nonprofit board structure is fatally flawed – but that’s a different series of posts that I’ll be working on in 2025)

Clarity of Intent Really Matters

A long, long time ago, I applied to business school with an essay about how nonprofit leaders need to be better managers than for-profit leaders because they didn’t have the benefit of a clearly-defined bottom line helping to inform decision making. I still believe that. The role of a nonprofit leader is to provide clarity so that everyone on the team knows what is expected of them–and how their part adds up to the ultimate goal. Working on complicated, multidimensional problems isn’t an excuse for not clearly defining your objectives in a way that has meaning for your team, your donors, and most importantly, those whose lives you are trying to improve. This is true if your budget is $2M or $200M. The next time you’re approached for a job or a donation to a nonprofit organization, ask them what they are trying to accomplish. The clarity of the answer should inform your decision. Here’s a piece I wrote on this topic a few years ago.

Fundraising is Getting Harder and It’s Worse Than You Think

The US has been a global leader in charitable giving for decades but the 21st century has shown a major reversal in individual giving. In 2000, more than two-thirds of Americans gave money to charity. Today, less than half of Americans give to nonprofits. Mega gifts from philanthropists like Mackenzie Scott have masked the effects somewhat, but total dollars are going down. The impact of the 2017 tax reform alone is estimated to have reduced giving by $16B per year.

It matters that fewer people are giving to nonprofits – and not just because it makes it harder for nonprofits to raise their budgets. Giving money to an organization is an act of faith. It is an investment in solving problems in your community. It is a commitment to something bigger than your own interests. The drop in broad-based giving to nonprofits is a sad reflection in the overall loss of faith in American institutions, and unfortunately, it’s mutually reinforcing. Nonprofit causes should be something which we can all rally around, whether you’re giving $50 or $50M. I am worried about the long-term implications for a society, the majority of whose citizens are no longer contributing to building something better.

Those are some thoughts as I exit this role and head onto… ? Not retirement. Probably not running another nonprofit. It’s obvious that there are issues that I feel I should sink my teeth into. I’m gravitating toward projects that help create economic opportunities for people who don’t feel that America rewards hard work equally. It’s more than resistance; it’s about building something we all want to protect. I’m giving myself 2025 to explore a few different paths: teaching, consulting, maybe a bit more writing and volunteering. I’d welcome your thoughts and onward to 2025! We all have some work to do.