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Mike's Book Reviews

  • Book Review: The Business of Nonprofit-ing
  • Making a Lasting Difference
    I've been struggling to finish "Making a Lasting Difference" by Graeme Reekie since first I received this book about 6 months ago from Wren and Greyhound.  The press is British but I thought the subject would be universal for nonprofits.  Alas and sadly, this is a slow, tedious read filled with platitudes and almost helpful considerations nonprofit managers might want to consider when thinking about how to financially sustain their organizations. I have generally posited that a nonprofit has 4 "pillars" that comprise its DNA: program, management and operations, governance and sustainability.  M. Graeme offers five: involvement ((having community support); Income generation; Innovation ("how to nourish and encourage incremental innovation); Improvement (systems and structures); and impact measurement.  So he and I don't operate from the same lens but his is certainly one perspective. Making a Lasting Difference is constructed in four parts, 20 chapters and 211 pages.  The possibly most innovative content is in Part 2, Chapter 2 where paradoxes, principles and practices of sustainability are presented.  The paradoxes:     a. Change - only by changing can organizations be sustainability, sustainability does not mean sustained, and, the lesson is that an org. must learn, adapt     and  evolve purposefully.  Here the author poses that an org has to have its act together to achieve sustainability     b. Octopus - organizations need to reach out in new directions to grow but growing in too many directions pulls them out of shape; diversified income does     not mean reduced risk; and, an org must focus on core organisational purpose and structure. Here the author says that mission drift will not make you     sustainable.     c. Yes/No the things that an organisation needs to survive can also kill it. Saying yes to everything is fatal; sustainability is about more than just money.      Capacity and quality matter. Understand when, how and what to say no to.  I would offer this is the "stay in your lane" paradox.     d. Efficiency - Efficiency preserves resources but can impair development.  Organisations cannot evolve, adapt or respond without spare capacity.  And     orgs should balance strategy and scrutiny.  They should invest in capacity building. To all of this I just want to say: uh, ok and thanks for the amazing insight.  No, not really!  I would not invest in this book.  You can better spend your time reading the Federal Register looking for grant opportunities (good luck given the current environment) or going through the Foundation Center directory or building an endowment from rich people who loved you (yes, this really is the key to sustainability).  Making a lasting difference may be a good idea when thinking about long-term impact from what your nonprofit does - reading this book will not.
  • The Board Member Orientation
    Michael E. Batts
  • Nonprofit Finance: A Practical Guide
    Sheila Shanker
  • Functional & Funded
    Harvey Chess - grant proposal writing
  • Roberta's Rules of Order
    Alice Collier Cochran - Meeting Management
  • Boards That Deliver
    Ram Charan - corporate governance
  • Nonprofit Board Crisis: Nonprofit Book Review: The Mission Myth
    Deirdre Maloney
  • Tiny Essentials of an Effective Volunteer Board
    Ken Burnett
  • The Non Nonprofit
    Steven Rothschild
  • Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity
    Mario Marino
  • Everyone Leads
    Paul Schmitz
  • Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead
    David Meerman Scott, Brian Halligan and Bill Walton
  • Perspectives on Social Media Marketing
    Stephanie Agresta, B. Bonin Bough and Jay Miletsky
  • Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business
    Nancy Lublin
  • SHIFT: How to Reinvent Your Business...
    Peter Arnell
  • Working in the Shadows
    Gabriel Thompson

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January 03, 2012

Nonprofit Book Review: Leap of Reason

Over the past 10 years in particular, one focus looming large in the nonprofit sector has been on accountability.  I believe that terms like "managing to outcomes" and "being results focused" are becoming a standard part of the nonprofit lexicon, moving beyond the large nonprofits and into the middle and possibly even smaller nonprofits as well as from paid staff to volunteers and, thankfully, boards.

While the language is being embraced, the actual work of managing to outcomes and being results focused may be traveling on a slower path, particularly when nonprofits are in survival mode.  Survival of course is not a goal in itself but it oftentimes pushes mission to the background.

Welcome Mr. Mario Marino, a patron of the nonprofit sector who has been doing his part to strengthen the sector through his Venture Philanthropy Partners.  Mr. Marino has pulled together the lessons of his experience, the work of Venture Philanthropy Partners and the experience of "friends" to write and distribute (for free -- as a VPP service), Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity.

I must say though, both in content and format, that Leap of Reason does take me back to Al Gore's way shorter book, Reinventing Government (1993) which was really a report on how to develop an effective government.  Similarities include the basic definitions (what should be common language by now but for some reason....) and the compendium of readings (very helpful).

Anyway, Leap of Reasons offers sound thoughts about what constitutes outcomes (a far more liberal perspective than others preach) and provides processes for managing to outcomes. Leap of Reason could legitimately serve as a text book in the training of those who would be or are execs. It also should be considered a tool for helping execs prepare their Board Chairs for leading. 

Leap of Reasons reminds us that despite the amount of resources at our disposal, mission/outcomes are all that matter, and basically, this is enough.   Single or multiple copies are available by going on-line to www.leapofreason.org.

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