September 28, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Don’t Forget the Pizza and Other Rules for Managing a Nonprofit: Using Business Management Tools to Improve the Effectiveness of Nonprofit Agencies
by Linda M. Zukowski
By adapting business-management ideas, nonprofit organizations can shore up weaknesses and operate more effectively, says Linda M. Zukowski, president of the nonprofit consulting firm EarthWrites. She provides 10 suggestions, borrowed from the corporate world, that deal with areas in which she has found nonprofit groups often struggle.
Ms. Zukowski, who spent more than a decade working at corporations, suggests that leaders organize staff meetings to discuss each business concept, and includes several discussion questions and a checklist of new approaches that should result from the meeting.
Her suggestion “don’t forget the pizza” is designed to make sure organizations show their appreciation for hard-working volunteers, even if it’s simply buying a snack after a long day. After a discussion of this idea, at a staff meeting, the organization might make sure “a process is in place to recognize the contribution of volunteers” and “a petty-cash fund is available to purchase refreshments for volunteers.”
Another chapter, “Build It and the Funders Will Come — Or Not,” disabuses those considering creating a nonprofit organization of misconceptions that management or fund raising is easy. “Agencies founded on such false expectations rarely survive the rigors of the nonprofit world,” Ms. Zukowski writes.
Other chapters explore customer service, donor appreciation, ethics, grant-proposal writing, marketing, professional behavior, and time management, and an appendix of online resources is included.
Publisher: EarthWrites Consulting, 14007 Palawan Way, Suite 310, Marina Del Rey, Calif. 90292; (310) 578-5424; http://www.earthwrites.com; 112 pages; $14.95; ISBN 0-9961314-3-6.
