It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Greenlights.

My three-year-old has gotten into Superheroes lately. Or as he prefers to call them, Superfriends. Superman, Batman, Robin, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Hotman, Flash; he likes them all.
Hotman? Yup, Hotman. Ben has created a new superhero. He was playing the other day and asked if my husband was Hotman. That started some interesting conversations, as you [...]

Hey, horse, here’s some water. Drink!

In order to be a nonprofit consultant, you have to be quick with metaphors and truisms. Whether you’re meeting with a client, facilitating a staff retreat, or presenting to a board, it’s handy to use a metaphor, quote, or familiar saying to make a point or better convey information for easy consumption. I’ve used the [...]

Hey, that’s a GOOD one.

I’m a big fan of GOOD. Figuratively and literally–I’m a “fan” on their Facebook page. It has good information, good writing, and good graphics. All of which keep my attention.
On Facebook today, they posted a link to “The GOOD 100,” which they describe as “100 (or so) ways to get inspired.” I dutifully clicked [...]

Nonprofit Super Glue

I’m currently working on a project that involves interviewing every staff member at a pretty large nonprofit. I’m always amazed at how much people tell me about things, but the thing that amazes me more is that no matter how much people have to complain about, they almost always remain dedicated to their work and [...]

Agenda setting

Here on the consulting team, we develop a lot of agendas. Board retreats, staff retreats, planning retreats, Transition Committee meetings. And as much as you might like to, you can’t just cut-and-paste one agenda into another. Sure, you can steal an activity or process, but it really is important to customize each one.
I was just [...]

Summer Reading

Apparently a lot of us (or at least Mary Alice and I) seem to think that summer is a time for reading. My family takes a big vacation each summer, and I’m always looking for good beach reads, which require something that doesn’t take itself too seriously but isn’t trashy. I’m a big fan of [...]

“A crisis is a terrible time to waste.”

At today’s Nonprofit Town Hall Meeting, panelist Beth Atherton (Executive Director of Caritas) referenced the statement “A crisis is a terrible time to waste.” A quick Google-search or two later, I can tell you that the saying is attributed to Paul Romer, a Stanford economist.
There were lots of great observations, ideas, and advice at our [...]

Dear John

We are currently hiring for a new position: Greenlights Consulting Fellow. When the application deadline hit last week, we had almost 100 applicants. And almost all of them made a good case for why they were the right fit for the job–and why the job was the right fit for them.
Frustration set in as we [...]

An Organizational Check-Up

As I am coming to terms with coming down with some sinus unpleasantness just as I am recovering from a stomach bug, health and wellness are on my mind. Particularly, how I would like both of those quite a bit.
Whether you feel like your organization is in tip-top shape or experiencing a bout of sickness, [...]

A lemon twist on an old idea

Nonprofits seem to be continually searching for new ideas for events. I recently learned of an event that is based on one of the oldest and most delicious ideas out there though: a lemonade stand.
The Entrepreneurs Foundation and a group of partners are part of the nationwide Lemonade Day movement that teaches young people about [...]