Recommended Reads

Build a great nonprofit
 

Whether you’re aiming to protect the environment, support the arts, or help people in need, understanding how to set up a solid nonprofit organization is a great foundation for being as effective as you can be.

With practical advice, legal information, tips, and step-by-step instructions, this essential guide will help you get your nonprofit up and running—and keep it going. It explains how to:

• develop a strategic plan and budget

• recruit and manage board members, volunteers, and staff

• market your organization to your target audience

• raise money, including traditional methods and crowdfunding

• build a website, use social media strategically, and avoid copyright troubles

• adopt policies that are legally sound

• with downloadable forms

• and much more.

Whether you’re dreaming of starting a nonprofit or are already running one, Starting and Building a Nonprofit will help your organization succeed. The fully updated tenth edition contains new material on defining and tracking goals when developing a digital strategy. It also includes information on additional fundraising tools to get financial support, such as using premium content platforms like Patreon and Substack. 

We are entering a new era--an era of impact. The largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history will soon be under way, bringing with it the potential for huge increases in philanthropic funding. Engine of Impact shows how nonprofits can apply the principles of strategic leadership to attract greater financial support and leverage that funding to maximum effect.

As Good to Great author Jim Collins writes in his foreword, this book offers "a detailed roadmap of disciplined thought and action for turning a good nonprofit into one that can achieve great impact at scale."

William F. Meehan III and Kim Starkey Jonker identify seven essential components of strategic leadership that set high-achieving organizations apart from the rest of the nonprofit sector. Together, these components form an "engine of impact"--a system that organizations must build, tune, and fuel if they hope to make a real difference in the world.

Drawing on decades of teaching, advising, grantmaking, and research, Meehan and Jonker provide an actionable guide that executives, staff, board members, and donors can use to jumpstart their own performance and to achieve extraordinary results for their organization. Along with setting forth best practices using real-world examples, the authors outline common management challenges faced by nonprofits, showing how these challenges differ from those faced by for-profit businesses in important and often-overlooked ways.

By offering crucial insights on the fundamentals of nonprofit management, this book will help leaders equip their organizations to fire on all cylinders and unleash the full potential of the nonprofit sector. Visit www.engineofimpact.org for additional information.

A pragmatic framework for nonprofit digital transformation that embraces the human-centered nature of your organization

The Smart Nonprofit turns the page on an era of frantic busyness and scarcity mindsets to one in which nonprofit organizations have the time to think and plan — and even dream. The Smart Nonprofit offers a roadmap for the once-in-a-generation opportunity to remake work and accelerate positive social change. It comes from understanding how to use smart tech strategically, ethically and well.

Smart tech does rote tasks like filling out expense reports and identifying prospective donors. However, it is also beginning to do very human things like screening applicants for jobs and social services, while paying forward historic biases. Beth Kanter and Allison Fine elegantly outline the ways smart nonprofits must stay human-centered and root out embedded bias in order to success at the compassionate and creative work that only humans can and should do.

Transform your nonprofit’s ability to innovate for the future

In Innovation for Social Change, distinguished author Leah Kral delivers a practical manual for nonprofits and charitable organizations seeking to innovate their way toward new and exciting possibilities. In the book, you’ll explore hands-on design thinking strategies and techniques you can use as a disciplined process for exploring what’s possible in your organization. You’ll learn how to identify hidden needs, deal with the knock-on effects of your ideas, and focus your efforts where they can have the most impact.

You’ll also discover how to transform your ideas into action, building small experiments and learning from them before scaling them up organization-wide, and how to create an ecosystem for everyday innovation. Finally, the author explains what we can learn from social entrepreneurs as they boldly challenge the status quo.

The book also includes:

• Six basic and mutually reinforcing principles that will help you become more innovative today
• Instructive and engaging case studies from nonprofits with a variety of missions, visions, and political backgrounds
• Strategies for applying straightforward principles from economics to supercharge nonprofit innovation

A can’t-miss roadmap to creative innovation, Innovation for Social Change will earn a place in the libraries of nonprofit board members, managers, fundraisers, and other professionals in the charitable space.

The essential tax reference book for every nonprofit

Nonprofits enjoy privileges not available to other organizations. But these privileges come with obligations: Nonprofits must comply with special IRS rules and regulations to maintain their tax-exempt status.

Practical, comprehensive, and easy to understand, Every Nonprofit’s Tax Guide explains ongoing and annual IRS compliance requirements for nonprofits, including:

• a detailed explanation of Form 990
• requirements for filing Form 990-EZ electronically
• conflicts of interest and compensation rules
• charitable giving rules
• unrelated taxable business income rules
• lobbying and political activity restrictions, and
• nonprofit bookkeeping.

Whether you are just starting your nonprofit or are well established, you’ll find all the information you need to avoid the most common issues nonprofits run into with the IRS.

With Downloadable Forms Find policy documents and forms, including a sample conflict of interest policy, rebuttable presumption checklist, and expense report form inside the book.

Bridge the Knowledge Gap

Do you have what it takes to build agile, successful teams? Pursue mergers that transform? Are you solving the right problems for efficiency and growth? Do you want to leverage your mission for large-scale social change? Does your Board have a shared vision for innovation?

Discover the critical lessons of success with 11 Secrets of Nonprofit Excellence in this step-by-step executive guide:

• Build effective, enthusiastic teams
• Deploy tech to boost revenues and quality
• Launch profitable micro businesses
• Negotiate game-changing legislative outcomes
• Design and implement dynamic strategic plans

11 Secrets offers practical stories, disciplines, data, and humor in an empowering blueprint for achieving excellence in any organization. The book addresses the resource gap for navigating non-profit growth and innovative tech solutions. Deftly weaving vignettes from the author's successful careers in international publishing and nonprofits, 11 Secrets introduces real-life encounters with notables such as Muhammad Ali to unlock valuable secrets of quality, excellence, and mission advancement. 11 Secrets lends itself to powerful coaching and winning outcomes for start-ups, non-profits, Boards and leaders, cross sector.

FINALIST 2008 Book of the Year Awards, Career Category, ForeWord Magazine A must read for anyone hoping to launch a nonprofit career! Nonprofits need talented, creative people with all types of skills and experiences. The Nonprofit Career Guide will help you find the best opportunity for you and your interests. This hands-on guide is filled with practical advice from real people working at all levels of diverse nonprofits. In detailed profiles, you'll find out what their work is like, the career paths they followed, and what they look for when hiring new staff. Besides getting a sense of the scope and range of work opportunities, you'll find the most up-to-date information on how to: Prepare for a nonprofit career; Conduct targeted job searches and network effectively; Handle interviews with aplomb; Write persuasive cover letters and stellar resumes; Negotiate a competitive compensation package. With The Nonprofit Career Guide, you'll get the competitive edge you need to land a great first job and build a rewarding career in the nonprofit sector. Published by Fieldstone Alliance in collaboration with American Humanics.

The Networked Nonprofit Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change

This groundbreaking book shows nonprofits a new way of operating in our increasingly connected world: a networked approach enabled by social technologies, where connections are leveraged to increase impact in effective ways that drive change for the betterment of our society and planet.

"The Networked Nonprofit is a must-read for any nonprofit organization seeking innovative, creative techniques to improve their mission and better serve their communities."
—Diana Aviv, president and CEO, Independent Sector

"The Internet means never having to ask permission before trying something new. In The Networked Nonprofit, Kanter and Fine show nonprofits how to harness this flexibility to pursue their missions in partnership with two billion connected citizens."
—Clay Shirky, author, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

"The Networked Nonprofit uniquely describes the historical context and the current challenges that compel nonprofit leaders to work in networked ways and offers easy steps to help users exploit the potential of social media and 'working wikily."'
—Stephanie McAuliffe, director, organizational effectiveness, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

"A must-read for nonprofit leaders who want to change their organizations from the inside out by embracing the power of social networks."
—Charlene Li, founding partner, Altimeter Group; author, Open Leadership; and coauthor, Groundswell

"This is a perfect handbook for anyone who wants to leapfrog their current limitations of understanding and find real-world applications of technology to extend their mission."
—Michele Nunn, CEO, Points of Light Institute, and cofounder, HandsOn Network

"Kanter and Fine provide the 'Google Maps' for nonprofits to harness social media to kick butt and change the world."
—Guy Kawasaki, cofounder, Alltop.com, and former chief evangelist, Apple Inc.

"URGENT! Read this book. Take notes. Take action. If you work for a nonprofit, you don't have to do every single thing these seasoned authors have to share, but you certainly have to know what you're missing."
—Seth Godin

Register at www.josseybass.com/emailfor more information on our publications, authors, and to receive special offers.

Are you looking for practical guidance and next steps to help you achieve your nonprofit mission? Big hearts and bold vision aren’t enough: Nonprofit leaders need an easy-to-implement, practical, and proven method to do more good by operating at the highest levels of organizational excellence. In Next Level Nonprofit, Dr. Chris Lambert expertly guides nonprofit leaders, founders, and managers through the proven steps to build team unity, communicate a compelling vision, establish the right strategy, and grow through disciplined execution. He shares not only theoretical but also experiential wisdom gained in the trenches as he founded and now leads an award-winning Detroit-based nonprofit. Both his time-tested methods and his upbeat posture instill confidence that you, too, can build a dream team and increase lasting impact. From comprehensive assessments that help you identify areas of strength and opportunities for growth to practical tools you can implement starting today, this book helps you forge a path to where you want to be, empowering you to create the nonprofit you envision–and the nonprofit our world needs.

This concise guide covers the important angles of your grant application, whether for a health research project or personal training programme, and will help you be among the successful applicants.

The author, a reviewer for grant funding organisations and internationally respected research scientist, gives you the benefit of his experience from both sides of the process in this easy-to-use, readable guide. The book takes you through the grant application process, explaining how to:

• Present the justification for the proposed project
• Describe the study design clearly
• Estimate the financial costs
• Understand a typical review process, and how this can influence the contents of the grant application

The author provides practical advice on a range of project types (observational studies, clinical trials, laboratory experiments, and systematic reviews) to increase the chance that your application will be successful. There are also tips on what to avoid throughout the application.

With generic information about application requirements, How to Write a Grant Application is ideal for healthcare professionals seeking a health services or scientific grant.

Write award-winning grant proposals that build organizational capacity!

For nonprofit and for-profit firms alike, grants can be a singular generator of growth and impact. But many leaders are intimidated and confused by the sometimes-complex grant application process. The truth, however, is that anyone can learn to write and send a powerful grant letter with the right help.

In Grant Writing For Dummies, Dr. Beverly Browning draws on over four decades of experience writing grant applications and training grant writers to deliver a comprehensive and easy-to-follow roadmap to drafting and submitting grant applications that get funded. You’ll learn to craft the strongest application possible, find the best sources of funding from online databases, and present a realistic project budget plan.

You’ll also find:

• Example types of funding requests that demonstrate how to apply the concepts discussed in the book
• New and updated material walking you through the entire grant-writing process, from beginning to end
• Writing techniques that capture the imaginations of grant reviewers who decide which applicants walk away empty-handed and which ones receive cash

Whether you’re looking to fund your nonprofit, grow your business, or develop your research venture, you’ll find the guidance you need in Grant Writing For Dummies.

A comprehensive guide on creating, growing, and leveraging a board of directors written for CEOs, board members, and people seeking board roles.

The first time many founders see the inside of a board room is when they step in to lead their board. But how do boards work? How should they be structured, managed, and leveraged so that startups can grow, avoid pitfalls, and get the best out of their boards? Authors Brad Feld, Mahendra Ramsinghani, and Matt Blumberg have collectively served on hundreds of startup and scaleup boards over the past 30 years, attended thousands of board meetings, encountered multiple personalities and situations, and seen the good, bad, and ugly of boards.

In Startup Boards: A Field Guide to Building and Leading an Effective Board of Directors, the authors provide seasoned advice and guidance to CEOs, board members, investors, and anyone aspiring to serve on a board. This comprehensive book covers a wide range of topics with relevant tips, tactics, and best practices, including:

• Board fundamentals such as the board's purpose, legal characteristics, and roles and functions of board members;
• Creating a board including size, composition, roles of VCs and independent directors, what to look for in a director, and how to recruit directors;
• Compensating, onboarding, removing directors, and suggestions on building a diverse board;
• Preparing for and running board meetings;
• The board's role in transactions including selling a company, buying a company, going public, and going out of business;
• Advice for independent and aspiring directors.

Startup Boards draws on the authors' experience and includes stories from board members, startup founders, executives, and investors. Any CEO, board member, investor, or executive interested in creating an active, involved, and engaged board should read this book—and keep it handy for reference.

The nonprofit workplace has a culture of its own, shaped largely by the organization's mission and the staff attracted to the mission, which can include large numbers of volunteers. And with many of today's nonprofits operating on a slim budget, chances are you're fulfilling more than one role in the organization and can use some focused guidance!

Geared to this unique culture, The Nonprofit's Guide to Human Resources provides legal and "good practice" information for anyone in charge of HR at small to medium sized organizations. Whatever your title and experience level, you'll learn how to identify, face and resolve daily legal issues related to:
 

• hiring, including screening, testing, background checks and interviewing
• salaries and benefits, including FMLA and comp time
• firings, layoffs and time reductions
• determining suitable volunteer positions and recruiting and training for them
• employee communications and other administrative tasks
• managing a multi-racial, multicultural and multi-generational workforce
• handling an organization in crisis
  
  The Nonprofit's Guide to Human Resources offers the sound legal information found in Nolo's other books for employers while addressing specific nonprofit issues you're likely to encounter, such as the board of directors' role in HR, and managing volunteers.
  
  Throughout the book you'll find helpful tips and lessons learned (the hard way!) from expert advisers in various areas of HR management, from hiring to unions.

Whether your nonprofit has just gotten tax-exempt status or has been operating for years, its success or failure depends on its ability to raise donations from individuals, companies, and institutions. The question you’re facing is, “How do we bring in the cash?”

Here, you’ll find plain-English answers. Featuring advice and stories from over 50 experienced fundraisers, foundation staffers, journalists and more, this book explains how to:

• make a fundraising plan
• work with individual donors
• keep givers giving
• plan special events
• solicit grants from foundations and corporations
• get media coverage
• use the Web and social media for fundraising
• start a side business to raise funds
• and much more

Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits also provides creative grassroots strategies and dozens of real-life success stories. Best of all, it cuts out the jargon and “consultant speak” that’s all too common in nonprofit books.

The 5th edition is completely updated with new stories and samples, the latest IRS rules and regulations, and social networking and crowdfunding guidance.