Nonprofits and Their Transactional Environment

By Fred Darbonne Nonprofit organizations generate different forms of capital than commercial enterprises, making it easy to underestimate their operating environment.  In commercial enterprises, the structure is clear: produce a product or a service that the customer needs, hopefully do this better than your competitors, and the customer exchanges money for what you offer.  Of course, there are layers of…

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The Fallacy of Buy-in

By Fred Darbonne Stakeholders can blindside leaders with resistance to their strategic plans. Perhaps the leadership team met on a retreat with a consultant who stimulated their thinking with provocative questions. Possibilities emerged which they had never considered, and they identified resources they had not seen as capital. As they collaborated, comradery strengthened their team and fostered trust. They anticipated…

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