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Understanding the nonprofit life cycle and matching the right skillsets at each stage helps leaders build stronger boards, improve governance, and support long-term success. While some competencies (like good communication) are valuable at every stage, others become especially important depending on where your organization is in its development. Startup Stage: Building the Foundation In the early startup phase, board and leadership skills should focus on launching programs an

What life cycle stage is my nonprofit in? It is important to know where your organization is in its life cycle so that you are using the skills most needed at that point to create a healthy and stable environment. While there are many versions of the life cycle model, most list the stages as: Start Up Growth Maturity Crisis/Restructuring Decline/Close Your organization may have aspects of multiple stages simultaneously. The stages are not linear, an organization can go throug

Our board has great ideas but the discussions don’t go anywhere. What should we do? A few things could be happening here. Board members who care about the mission and the organization don’t always know the best way to direct their efforts. An annual work plan for the board and a strategic plan helps focus the efforts of the board, but doesn’t translate into actions. Involve the whole board in action planning, and assign actions to the board as well as committees. Remember tha

How can we encourage continuous learning of our non-profit board members after the orientation? There are multiple ways to allow a board to further develop their skills. Media Review Assign some media to the board to review between meetings, and have a discussion as a group on how the board can incorporate this learning into the board activities. This could be a book, a journal article, a podcast, or a YouTube video on a topic of your choice. Have each board member make recom