Joan Garry - Joan Garry's Guide to Nonprofit Leadership

Little did I know then what an imposter I was. Well, maybe that is overstating a bit, but I had no idea how much more there was to know, how many more leaders there were to meet and hear from and, as a result, how much more advice there was to share with you that could be helpful.

In this second edition, I add two major stories and a big dose of hope (in a world that is more than just a little hungry for it).

Story #1: In 2015, I came to understand just how many “small” nonprofits there were. As the popularity of my blog and podcast grew (now reaching folks from 150 countries around the world), I became something of a Dear Abby. And this Abby became totally overwhelmed with dozens of emails weekly from folks with challenges galore. While they often seemed insurmountable to the writer, I felt like I could help — I had advice for them, resources, and I could give them the pat on the back they desperately needed. But I couldn't keep up. And as a pleaser personality, leaving these folks hanging was not OK by me.

Some research quickly unearthed the reason for the flood of emails. Nearly 70% of all nonprofits have budgets under $500,000. And how much do you think these groups budget for professional development? You guessed it. Zero.

Armed with all those emails and a digital marketing partner, I launched The Nonprofit Leadership Lab just two months after the publication of the first edition of this book. The Nonprofit Leadership Lab provides content and community for board and staff leaders of small nonprofits and is the best online resource of its kind. Since its launch we have supported over 5,000 leaders — both board and staff. I feel a great sense of pride that we have been able to help so many folks develop new skills, transform their boards, write kick‐ass grant proposals, and feel a sense of community with thousands in the U.S. and around the world.

But it is what these leaders have taught me that is the main reason I wanted to write this second edition. Two‐thirds of the sector stares at cash flow and yet is chock‐full of passionate and remarkable founders for whom building and growing an organization is simply not the best and highest use of their magic powers. Hundreds of thousands of nonprofits build their boards the best way they know how, and board members are painfully unclear on the significant leading role they play in their organizations’ success.

Angela Duckworth's book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Scribner), is a first‐rate look into the tough stuff people are made of — the role perseverance plays in who we can become. When I spend an hour engaging with our members, that is always the first word that comes to mind, Grit , and it compels me to be even more of an advocate and champion for these leaders.

And so a deep dive into small nonprofits: how to be an effective one and what all nonprofits have to learn from the grit and determination of the small nonprofit are additional areas of focus in this edition.

Story #2: Actually, it’s many stories. Stories that upset me, stories that anger me, and stories that call me to action to use my platform to work to make things different. These stories are all about the power and responsibilities of boards to fully lead and partner with their organizations to move them from messy to thriving. Our sector does a downright poor job recruiting board members, educating them about what the job really is, and holding them accountable.

In a monthly column for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, I spoke the truth about boards’ abuse of power — that this may just be responsible for more great staff leader attrition than any other factor. The engagement in that piece was off the charts on every one of my social media platforms. Some folks even sent me videos because someone had asked that I see and hear them.

Since I wrote the first edition of this book, boards’ abuse of power is a recurring theme I hear from members of my Leadership Lab and from the dozens of my coaching and strategy clients. This issue was prominent for me in 2016 and led me to write Chapter 3, which reframes nonprofit leadership as copilots flying a twin‐engine jet. Today, I feel a greater sense of urgency as these stories continue to come my way. A lack of understanding of board service is the one thing that most often thwarts the success of a nonprofit organization’s efforts to do the good work that is so badly needed. And this is as true of nonprofits with multi‐million‐dollar budgets as it is of the hundreds of thousands of those organizations who struggle to hit $500,000 in revenue. I hope that my new chapter about why boards matter will be a catalyst in a broad and actionable conversation about how to make real and lasting change in this area.

Those two stories represent my “why” about this second edition. Shall we talk about the “why now”?

Since the first edition of this book was published in 2017, we have seen the development of a mindset that is about drawing lines in the sand and building walls (literally and figuratively). We have become a society that is focused on what divides us rather than what unites us. The situation is ugly. People on both sides of the aisle are angry. It seems hopeless.

This divisive society will not magically disappear anytime soon. Hardly. And I guarantee you that every American citizen will be fired up — ready to stand up for what they believe in. Folks who have spent their lives on the sidelines or in the stands will be propelled from their seats.

By you. All you have to do is invite them.

And it isn't just because they feel compelled to do something. It's also because they want to be on the side of hope and possibility. And so they will look to those who are leading.

And they will see you.

And they will want to play for your team: your team that advocates and educates; your team that works to protect our planet and the living creatures who are our neighbors; your team that brings beauty through music and the arts or reminds us of our history and the shoulders we stand on.

I am driven to help you to be the best leader you can be: to fuel your ability to lead well, manage well, and have the greatest possible impact; and to encourage you to take time from repairing our world to take good care of yourself.

I am writing now amid the most terrifying health crisis of our time, the COVID‐19 pandemic. I am watching nonprofits struggle so badly, and at the same time, I am watching them do the most heroic things. Eric Cooper, the President and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, saw what he never imagined possible. In one week in April 2020, ten thousand cars lined up waiting for food. Many of the drivers never imagined they would ever need the services that Eric's heroic team provided. Listening as Eric Cooper became emotional on the evening news reminded me that there is such humanity in our sector, such deep empathy, and this has been, for me, one of the real the treasures to see in the darkness. I have no crystal ball, but as all of us navigate our way through this crisis, one that reveals so clearly the racial, gender, ability, and class divides in our country, I am certain that nonprofit leaders will continue to need our support and continue to lead us in the direction of a truly civil society.

Eric Cooper's story is one of many; you will meet a host of new characters in this new edition. In the past three years, I have worked with thousands of leaders whose stories affirm much of what I shared the first time around. Many of these leaders enriched my understanding of the superpowers and the kryptonite of the nonprofit leader. You will meet these characters and hear their stories throughout the book, and I hope that the stories and the lessons within them will be as much of a gift to you as they have been to me.