| Articles |
Martial arts lessons for nonprofit managersIn this article published by CausePlanet, Melissa Mendes Campos discusses how Chinese martial arts concepts and skills may be used by nonprofit leaders in order to continue to fight the good fight - and prevail. Big changes start with small steps
SAGE/Task Force LGBT Aging Leadership Initiative: A Case Study in CollaborationThis case study explores the increasingly fluid lines between competition and collaboration in the nonprofit sector.
Good facilitation, great resultsPublished by CausePlanet, this article explores the benefits of skilled facilitation and what it can offer your organization.
What the New Abnormal Means for Grantmakers:“get out in front and lead”In this guest blog post published by the Ohio Grantmakers Forum, David discusses the leadership roll private philanthropy can play in addressing The New Abnormal.
Strategic Restructuring for California Community Clinics:Self-Assessment WorkbookPublished by the California HealthCare Foundation, this self-assessment tool is designed to help clinics determine their readiness to undertake a strategic restructuring process and choose among the various options.
Financial due diligence:What grantmakers look for and what you should know about it
Merging Ahead: Case Studies in Clinic ConsolidationPublished by the California HealthCare Foundation, this issue brief describes the benefits and challenges of community clinic mergers. Based on extensive interviews with clinic executives, board members, and other experts in the field. Why Nonprofits Should Explore Shared Administrative Services
Partnerships in the Domestic Violence Field
The Myth of Time Management
Due Diligence Advice for Grantmakers
Language Matters
Merging Wisely This Stanford Social Innovation Review article by President, David La Piana, discusses the increasing pressure faced by nonprofits to merge. Yet mergers are not always the right path for nonprofits in financial distress. David describes why funders should consider a wide variety of partnership options. Download the PDF.  Strategic Restructuring for Community Clinics: Options and Examples By Heather Gowdy, Diane Wong, and Melissa Mendes Campos Published by the California HealthCare Foundation, this issue brief explores various types of partnerships now being used by California's Community Health Centers and regional consortia, including administrative consolidation and merger. It also examines what opportunities strategic restructuring might offer clinics seeking to strengthen their positions now and remain viable in the years to come. Download a PDF of the companion presentation. New companion resource: download the on-demand webinar (.wmv file) from February 4, 2010. Using Real-Time Strategic Planning to evaluate partnerships Are you considering a new strategic plan or contemplating partnering with another organization? Robert Harrington describes how you can use the La Piana Consulting methodology, Real-Time Strategic Planning, to evaluate whether a merger or collaboration is right for your organization. His article describes the basics of RTSP in the context of nonprofit collaboration. Surviving and Thriving in Tough Times: a Framework for Nonprofits Facing Economic Stress Written by Scott Schaffer, Jo DeBolt, and Heather Gowdy, this article details a framework for responding to financial challenges in a systematic way. The methodology helps nonprofit leaders identify and adopt high-impact changes to an organization's business model. Download the PDF. Does your organization have a high impact board? Seven questions to ask Published by CausePlanet, this article describes characteristics of a high impact board and seven questions you can ask in order to evaluate whether your organize benefits from a high impact board. Mergers: A Cautionary Note By Jo DeBolt Published by CausePlanet, this article describes how nonprofit leaders can thoughtfully navigate the buzz about nonprofit mergers in response to today's economic climate. Don't Neglect Investing Your Message Luis Vergara, Senior Associate and Director of Marketing, cautions readers not to undervalue your organization’s marketing and communications plan, particularly if your organization is facing a budget crisis. Whether your organization is just launching an email newsletter or considering a Twitter account, his article includes helpful tips for crafting a comprehensive communications plan. Five Myths About Nonprofit Partnerships By Jo DeBolt This article describes interesting trends in data gleamed from The Collaboration Prize, an initiative created by by The Lodestar Foundation. The Collaboration Prize selection process was managed by La Piana Consulting and spotlights collaborations among two or more nonprofit organizations. Get back to basics with first principle of strategy development Part of La Piana Consulting's ongoing CausePlanet series for nonprofit leaders, this article describes the building blocks to strategy development. Developing a lifelong, sustainable approach to leadership development This article, published by CausePlanet, describes seven key themes to help nonprofit leaders succeed. Reality-Based Decision-Making: How Capacity Builders Add Value in Tough Times This article provides advice for capacity builders who are helping nonprofit organizations navigate today's challenging economy. David La Piana presented the article's concept of Reality-Based Decision-Making at the 2009 Alliance for Nonprofit Management annual conference. Reality-Based Decision-Making is a common sense approach capacity builders can use to guide difficult conversations with nonprofit clients in financial crisis. Build your leadership capacity with development programs and learning communities This article, published by CausePlanet, discusses the core curriculum of leadership development programs and learning communities. Nonprofit Downsizing: The Unhappy Event By Bill Coy This article, published by Fieldstone Alliance, is written for the nonprofit leader contemplating the prospect of layoffs. It describes some of the critical issues and concerns you will face. Characteristics of an investment-worthy nonprofit This article, published by CausePlanet, discusses ways nonprofits can revisit their business models to ensure their sustainability including organizational differentiation, efficiency, and charisma. Goals give meaning to our doing Another installment of the CausePlanet nonprofit leadership series, this article discusses how smart goal setting and tracking of progress is essential for leveraging your organization’s ability to inspire. What are your Competitive Advantages? By David La Piana and Michaela Hayes Part of the Sustainable Nonprofit Series, this article discusses how to assess your competitors and identify your advantages in comparison with those competitors. Arts and culture mergers: Trends, challenges and benefits This article published by CausePlanet, discusses strategic restructuring trends in the arts and culture sub-sector. Philanthropy News Digest: Newsmakers Interview with David La Piana With David La Piana This interview published in the Philanthropy News Digest, discusses competition and collaboration in the nonprofit sector, the relationship between competition and nonprofit mission, the funder-grantee dynamic, and the ethical implications of a truly competitive strategy. Putting It All Together: Refining Your Competitive Strategy By David La Piana and Michaela Hayes Final installment of the Sustainable Nonprofit Series, this article discusses how to refine your competitive strategy by identifying and strengthening your competitive advantages vis-à-vis other organizations, allowing you to bring value to your customers, clients, and communities. Are You an Effective Competitor? By David La Piana and Michaela Hayes This is the first article in a three-part series by David La Piana and Michaela Hayes, authors of Play to Win: The Nonprofit Guide to Competitive Strategy, discuss the reality and practical nature of competition in the sector, and define the four types of resources for which nonprofits compete: customers (i.e., those who are directly served by a nonprofit); funding; human resources (staff, board members, and other volunteers); and publicity or media attention. Build on your organization's strengths when developing strategy Part of La Piana Consulting's ongoing CausePlanet series for nonprofit leaders, this article describes the importance of explicit decision-making criteria for developing and honing organizaitonal strategies. What are your Comparative Advantages? By David La Piana and Michaela Hayes Part of the Sustainable Nonprofit Series, this article discusses the three types of competitors that nonprofits face: direct, substitutable, and indirect, how to assess your competitors, and identify your advantages in comparison with those competitors. Administrative Collaborations, Consolidations, and MSOs By Bill Coy and Vance Yoshida This article about strategic restructuring describes three types of nonprofit administrative partnerships and the steps leaders can take to determine which type of administrative collaboration is the right decision for their organization. Developing Nonprofit Leaders Using a Learning Community Model By Liza Culick This article describes the role learning communities play in the professional development for nonprofit executive directors and how supporting executive directors is critical to organizational capacity building. |
