Summer 2015 – Digital Issue

Nimble Nonprofits: The Land of the Frugal Visionary

Features

• Welcome
  
  
• It’s Never about the Donuts
  This article talks about the importance of collectively facing up to the big questions in your budget ruminations. by Allison Moen Wagstrom
  
  
• The Price of Nonprofit Debt
  Is the nonprofit sector overextended with debt? This article looks at the data and the best practices behind nonprofits borrowing and repaying within their means. by Woods Bowman

Special Section

• Creative Frugality (and Its Limits)
  
  
• A Penny Saved: Creative Ways to Thrive
  An annual competition identifies nonprofits that have found that sweet spot combining cost cutting with real expansion of reach and impact. by Beth Bird INSERT: Resource Wise: How Some Nonprofits Perform above Their Budget Grade: This interactive pullout will help you to find opportunities within your own organization to cut costs while continuing to advance your mission. by Jon Pratt and Ruth McCambridge
  
  
• Valuable Free Real Estate Available at GuideStar: Ignore at Your Own Risk
  Too many donors use GuideStar as a reference point for nonprofits to ignore the opportunities there to tell their stories. Take the time to make your profile sing! by Lindsay J. K. Nichols, Gabe Cohen, and Ruth McCambridge
  
  
• Directors and Officers Liability Insurance: Why It’s Worth the Cost
  Does a nonprofit really need to purchase directors and officers liability insurance? The short answer is “yes.” by Pamela E. Davis
  
  
• On Using What You Have to Resist Buying What You Do Not Need: An IT Fable from the Front Lines
  This short story from the front lines exhibits how consultation and the use of your own network can help clarify your IT needs. by the editors
  
  
• The Real Cost of Bank Trustees
  This investigative report delves into the largely unexplored world of bank trustees and their potentially self serving, lucrative roles on nonprofit foundations. by Rick Cohen

Departments

• Nonprofit Governance and the Power of Things
  Who—or what—really governs your nonprofit? by Fredrik O. Andersson and Avery Edenfield
  
  
• The Surprising Alchemy of Passion and Science
  As this article from the front lines describes it, our work is not all about the data; but the data can be servant to purpose when mixed with other ingredients. by Lissette Rodriguez
  
  
• Places to Intervene in a System
  This article by the late scientist and environmental and social change activist Donella Meadows is here by popular demand. It is, for good reason, one of the most passed around and reprinted pieces on leveraging a system for change ever written, and should be required reading. by Donella H. Meadows