May 1, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Moving Beyond Founder’s Syndrome to Nonprofit Success, by Thomas A. McLaughlin and Addie Nelson Backlund, is a guide for board members. It attempts to help them deal with “the imbalance of power in a nonprofit organization in favor of the founding executive that occurs because of the unique advantages of assembling the board and staff of the organization.” The publication discusses the problems that may arise with a charity’s founder when “there is a gap between what the founder can offer and what the organization needs.” Often, the founders are visionaries who have a difficult time changing or adapting their strategies, expanding their organizations, giving up total control, and finally leaving the organizations they have started. This report investigates those problems and offers advice on what both board members and the founding executives need to do in each situation. Eight case studies are included to illustrate the potential problems and how to handle them.
Publisher: BoardSource, 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 900, Washington, D.C. 20036; (202) 452-6262 or (800) 883-6262; fax (202) 452-6299; mail@boardsource.org; http://www.boardsource.org; 56 pages; $24 for members, $32 for nonmembers; ISBN 1-58686-096-8.
