Joan Garrys Guide to Nonprofit Leadership: Because Nonprofits Are Messy

PRAISE FOR JOAN GARRY′S GUIDE TO NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP

"When Joan Garry says messy, she really means messy! This book pulls no punches! It′s a tell–all expose of the 501c–3 underbelly, a guide from the inside for anyone involved, or thinking of becoming involved, with a non–profit organization. What′s a bigger surprise though, is the wit and heart and passion on every page, and the spirit of kindness that comes from someone truly passing on wisdom."
ALAN CUMMING, Celebrity

"I have had the pleasure of working with the incomparable Joan Garry on NBC′s GIVE, a show that highlights small non–for–profits doing big work. Joan Garry′s Guide to Nonprofit Leadership, like Joan herself, uses irreverence and approachability to shake things up in the non–for–profit world. There is no voice in the world of philanthropy today, I would rather listen to than Joan."
JENNA BUSH HAGER, NBC′s Today/GIVE

"Joan′s unique and engaging perspective is honed from years of working with non–profits, and that expertise comes through loud and clear in her new book. Her insights on how to harness the passion of thousands of committed leaders, staff, volunteers, and board members should be required reading for anyone tasked with or considering a leadership role in a non–profit today."
JIM CLARK, President of the Boys and Girls Club of America

"Joan Garry is the Dear Abby of the nonprofit sector, dispensing practical and brilliant advice to nonprofits with her trademark humor. Her book is a must–read for every nonprofit executive (and their board members) who want to harness their super powers to change the world and become a high performing organization."
BETH KANTER, Trainer and Author, The Happy Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact Without Burnout

Acknowledgments

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 The Superpowers of Nonprofit Leadership

A Quiz

You re Not On Top Of Anything

STAFF

OK, So What Do I Do With All This?

OK, So What Was This Quiz Really About?

The Five Key Superpowers

The REAL power of Leadership

CHAPTER 2 You′ve Got to Get Me At Hello

OK, So Go on Tell Me About Your Organization

In The Lobby The Mission Statement

In the Elevator The Pitch

Step Off The Elevator and Work The Room

Doin What Does Not Come Naturally

Two More Examples. For Emphasis

Practice, Kid, Practice

CHAPTER 3 Co–pilots In A Twin Engine Plane

Shared leadership with an invested thought partner with leadership skills can cut the kind of challenges listed above off at the pass

The Ideal Board Chair Profile

Recruiting The Ideal Board Chair

The Five–Star Board Chair Check List

The Telltale Signs of Wrong

Playing The Hand You Are Dealt

Get It Right From The Start

The Partnership In Action: The Devil Is In The Details

Hold The Board Accountable

Because they committed to, that s why!!!!!

Put It All Together And What Have You Got?

CHAPTER 4 The Key is Not in the Answers. It s in the Questions

The Power of Deleting A Word

The Power of Inquiry

All In This Together, OK?

Let s Start At the Very Beginning

A Mission Sniff Test

What Success Looks Like

A Plan For Those with Big Dreams, Big Challenges, and Small (no) Budget

10 Final Words of Advice You ll Want to Keep Them Handy

CHAPTER 5 You Can Do This

Fundraising is about an invitation to join you in the remarkable work you do. It s about building relationships that last

I Just Can t

#1 Reason Boards Do Not Ask for Individual Gifts: They find it terrifying.

#2 Reason Boards Do Not Ask for Individual Gifts: They are afraid their friends will be mad at them for asking

Yes, You Will Screw It Up

Asking For the Right Kind of Money Case Study: Girl Scouts and Those Damned Thin Mints

How Can The Board Take The Lead on Fundraising

Building A Culture of Fundraising in Your Organization

Saving The Most Important Lesson For Last

CHAPTER 6 Managing The Paid and The Unpaid

or

I Came to Change The World, Not Conduct Evaluations

Managing In 3–D

Having a Voice: Decision Making

Having a Voice: Ownership

The Missing Piece #4:

Clearly Defined Roles and Goals

And What About The No–Paids?

The Type A Elephants in the Middle of the Board Room

or The Clash of The Type As

Group, Team or Family

Retreats Are Non–Negotiable

My Retreat Recipe

Keeping the Keepers On The Bus

How Does The Board Supervise and Evaluate The Executive Director?

Two Things Everyone In Your Organization Wants

CHAPTER 7 When It Hits the Fan

How Are We Defining Crisis?

The Hard Conversation: When the Light at the End of the Tunnel Is an Oncoming Train

Building a Crisis Management Plan

OK, So Now You Are All Set For When It Hits The Fan, Right?

Is A Crisis Preventable?

What Crisis Management Should Look Like

Maybe The Most Common Nonprofit Crisis: Financial Crisis and Layoffs

CHAPTER 8 Hello, I Must Be Going

or

Navigating Leadership Transitions

So Are These Folks Good At Their Jobs?

Board Leadership Gone Awry

Board Chair on Steroids

The Weakest Link

Staff Leaders Who Aren t Leading

The Five–Alarm Blaze

Toast

The Founder (the one who sticks around too long)

The Five–Star Staff Leader Calls It Quits

The On Deck Circle

CHAPTER 9 You Are the Champions

Bibliography

Index

JOAN GARRY began her career as part of the management team that launched MTV. After a successful eight–year tenure, she became an executive at Showtime Networks. In 1997, Garry left corporate America and was named the executive director of GLAAD, one of the largest organizations working for LGBT equality.

Since leaving GLAAD, Garry has worked as a consultant for hundreds of nonprofits, teaching them, with wisdom, joy, and humor, the keys to effective nonprofit leadership. She is a regular panelist on NBC′s nonprofit reality show Give. Garry is also the founder of The Nonprofit Leadership Lab; an instructor at the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches nonprofit media strategy; and a sought–after speaker on nonprofit leadership.

She blogs regularly at the popular website www.joangarry.com and hosts one of the top nonprofit podcasts on iTunes, Nonprofits Are Messy.

Garry lives in New Jersey with her wife of 34 years and their three grown children.