Nonprofit Literature Blog

Getting Ready for Your Next Board Meeting

If you are preparing for your next board meeting and are looking for a book to help you get started, our librarians can point out a new book in our collection, Nonprofit Meetings, Minutes & Records by Attorney Anthony Mancuso (Nolo 2008). The volume includes step-by-step instructions and contains sample meeting preparation forms, minutes, and consent forms.

Interested in previewing this book before visiting our library?

Browse selected pages from Nonprofit Meetings, Minutes & Records with Google Book Search.

Recent "Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Here are highlights from Philanthropy News Digest's Off the Shelf book reviews by Foundation Center staff. Start off with a Funding for Arts Month book review:

Patronizing the Arts. Marjorie Garber (Princeton University Press, 2008)
"In Patronizing the Arts, Marjorie Garber, chair of Harvard University's Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, lays bare the fundamental conundrum of Americans and their relationship to art: we are at once patrons and patronizing. Whether through government, foundations, universities or private charitable giving, Americans annually spend billions of dollars in support of the arts but give short shrift to the art creation process and frequently denigrate those who dare to think of "artist" as an actual job..." More...

As we face challenging economic times, learn about a book that may help your nonprofit stay out of trouble:

Zone of Insolvency: How Nonprofits Avoid Hidden Liabilities and Build Financial Strength. Ron Mattocks (John Wiley & Sons, 2008)
"If you're a current nonprofit board member and there's a horror section in your nonprofit library, you'll want to add Ron Mattocks' Zone of Insolvency to it. That's because Mattocks makes a convincing case that as many as a third of the nation's tax-exempt organizations are operating in a "zone of insolvency" — a financial state somewhere between solvency and total insolvency — and that it's just a matter of time before another nonprofit financial scandal emerges..." More...

For a full list of archived Off the Shelf reviews, click here.

Managing Performing Arts Organizations

As mentioned earlier, the Foundation Center is offering a number of new resources as part of Funding for Arts Month. For example, when browsing the new books section at our library/learning centers, look for Performing Arts Management: A Handbook of Professional Practices (2008). Tobie S. Stein and Jessica Bathurst’s have written a comprehensive textbook based on input from more than 150 arts management professionals.

To help your organization secure funding sources, the authors have included a sample development plan, corporate foundation proposal, and even a tele-fundraising script. Managers who are trying to understand the structure of arts groups can examine the various organizational charts provided in the book.

Published by Allworth Press, the volume also discusses nonprofit incorporation, financial management, marketing, and other operational issues.

Related Information:

-Search the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature for additional arts-related books and articles in the Foundation Center library collections.

-If you are searching for online resources, explore the new Focus on Arts Funding section of our web site that contains interactive charts, foundation-sponsored reports, RPFs, and special events.

Managing Nonprofits Under Financial Stress

As we read about the current economic downturn and its impact on the sector, organizations need to develop strategies to help them adapt to increasingly challenging conditions. There are a number of resources at the Foundation Center library/learning center that can help you explore this topic.

For example, our librarians can help you find a copy of Dennis Young’s Wise Decision-Making in Uncertain Times (Foundation Center, 2006), which contains a chapter on managing financial stress.

In this chapter, professor Frederick Lane points out that while external pressures can be a major cause of fiscal stress, organizations should also recognize that internal factors (such as over-expansion or staff turnover) can also play a role.

Lane provides several steps that can be taken before and during a crisis, “With layoffs likely, morale is a serious issue. Even under these conditions, work hard to retain the best staff.” In addition, he suggests that organizations should, “Adapt to the new normalcy as quickly as possible, and encourage creative thinking about the tasks that have to be done.”

To find other resources in the library on this topic, search the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature.

October Announcements

We begin the month of October with two organizational announcements:

-The Foundation Center welcomes Bradford K. Smith as our new president, effective October 1. Most recently president of the Oak Foundation in Geneva, Smith brings decades of experience in the nonprofit sector in the U.S. and around the world. View Bradford K. Smith's bio

-October is Funding for Arts Month at the Foundation Center. We have planned a number of exciting events at our library/learning centers. During your visit, be sure to ask our staff to show you our arts-related books and reports we have in our collections. For a preview of what is available in our libraries and online, browse our topical resource list, Funding and Managing Arts Organizations.