June 28, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
Improving the Economy, Efficiency, and Effectiveness of Not-for-Profits: Conducting Operational Reviews
by Rob Reider
Conducting reviews of charity operations can improve the way charities do business, writes Rob Reider, president and founder of Reider Associates, in Santa Fe, N.M.
Such reviews examine the major functions of a nonprofit organization and provide information to assess a charity’s performance, identify areas for improvement, and develop specific recommendations for future action. Nonprofit managers sometimes balk at the idea of operational reviews, Mr. Reider says, but a successful one “should result in at least three to four times its cost in annual savings,” because it will increase the quality and level of services.
The book makes the case for operational reviews and explains what tools and techniques are needed to conduct one in a nonprofit environment. Mr. Reider discusses how to review each of a nonprofit organization’s various functions, such as fund raising, human resources, management, planning, and technology.
In addition, the book contains case studies of operational reviews by an arts group, a college business office, a community-service organization, a museum, and a social-service group. Chapters have sample forms, tools, and checklists, which also may be obtained from http://www.wiley.com/reider, using a password provided in the book.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1 Wiley Drive, Somerset, N.J. 08875; (800) 225-5945; fax (800) 597-3299; http://www.wiley.com; 288 pages; $44.95; I.S.B.N. 0-471-39573-0.
