Blog

As the financial crisis hits yet the number of non-profit organizations continues to increase in many countries, questions of whether and how certain organizations should continue to exist have become front and center. When is a merger the most effective and/or ethical solution? When should an organization shut its doors? When is a third contractual option such as alliances or partnerships (as opposed to institutional restructuring) most effective? As discussed below, these questions are relevant to all organizations as a matter of on-going oversight, even the most successful. (more…)

A recent Financial Times piece (Alan Beattie and James Boxell, July 5, 2011 “Lagarde faces tough ethics regime at IMF”) describes how the new International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Christine Lagarde will be “subject to the same heightened ethics rules as all IMF staff and will also undergo internal training” as a term of her employment. According to this interesting article this requirement appeared in a published letter sent to Ms. Lagarde from the IMF’s Executive Board. I should start this blog by saying that while I have always found Ms. Lagarde to be a highly respected public figure, I...

This blog offers practical recommendations on the hot topic of the use of ratios to assess non-profit organizations. Part II of this blog will address current research on the relevance (or irrelevance!) of ratios. The non-profit sector, including rating and certification agencies, has become increasingly focused on two key ratios: (i) the cost of fund-raising (i.e., the amount spent to raise funds, sometimes expressed as cents per dollar raised spent on fund-raising) and (ii) the relative amount of revenue allocated to administrative costs and program costs. (more…)

Note for corporate challenges: This blog and number of other blogs on 20/20 foresight and other topics are applicable to both corporations and non-profit organizations. The examples that follow relate to non-profit organizations, but I am happy to  work with corporate boards. A number of blog entries will reflect an overriding theme in my approach to non-profit organizations that I call 20/20 foresight. 20/20 foresight focuses on keeping accountability and decision-making more generally forward thinking and voluntarily at the forefront of best practice (above and beyond legal requirements).[1]  The key question in decision-making for both the Board and management team...