By Guest Blogger: Kimberly Bares President, PLACE Consulting “I've always wanted to be somebody, but I see now I should have been more specific.” -- Lily Tomlin It’s that time of the year when organizations reflect on the past year’s successes and misses and begin the process of preparing for 2017. Based on my experience in leading strategic planning with dozens of nonprofits, the best of them use their strategic plan to guide that evaluation. What do you do, though, when your organization doesn’t see the value in the process or thinks it’s a waste of time or money? I’ve...
It was 2004 when a local nonprofit org (NPO) came to me and asked, “Can you review our project for us?” They had been working with a professional event planner, expecting that the agency would make their annual event more successful than ever before – but in reality, the gross profit had tripled while the net profit had been somehow cut in half. Big Buzz Idea Group was borne out of that project review. I found it difficult to believe that the NPO wasn’t getting all that it was expecting, and it seemed clear that they had been taken advantage...
It was October 1, 1999, when I began my first full-time position in the nonprofit world. I showed up excitedly at 9 am ready to dig in and get started. The president of the organization met me at the office, said the organization was looking forward to working with me, handed me the key to the office and walked out the door. Now what? As a staff of one, I was responsible for what would become 24 annual events, 12 newsletters and 8 committees. I remember looking around the office and trying to figure out where to begin. There was...
