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Diane Lebson’s For a Good Cause: A Practical Guide to Giving Joyfully
Kerri Strauss explores a United Way alum’s practical advice on how to professionalize nonprofits. April 2024 A helpful tool for anyone new to nonprofits and a terrific refresher for anyone who's been in the field, Diane Lebson’s For a Good Cause: A Practical Guide to Giving Joyfully is highly recommended to anyone who wants to make a greater impact! With relatable storytelling, inspiring leader profiles, and useful checklists, Lebson shares insightful advice on how to be a thoughtful leader in philanthropy. One need not struggle with the challenges of fundraising but embrace the opportunity and learn how to leverage their skills and build experience. I especially enjoyed the chapter on drawing boundaries to avoid burnout, as this is a common experience with nonprofit leaders. This book covers it all – from volunteers to donors to even starting your own nonprofit. Lebson’s practical advice on how to professionalize nonprofits shows us how to do it – and more importantly to do it joyfully! Diane is a first-generation American, the daughter of working-class, Polish immigrants who instilled in her a strong work ethic and desire to “do good.” After studying international relations in college, Diane stayed in Washington and began her nonprofit career on the national staff of United Way. Over the course of seventeen years, she managed United Way’s national literacy program, managed the national board of trustees, and built a women’s giving program that has to date raised over $2 billion and mobilized over 70,000 philanthropists. After leaving United Way, she went on to lead US fundraising operations for an international nongovernmental organization that served orphans and abandoned children, oversaw a leadership turnover at a large public library foundation, served as the Chief of Protocol at the US Embassy in Australia, and led the women’s giving program for the American Red Cross. In 2018, she and her husband cofounded Evergreen Philanthropic Solutions, a national consultancy that helps nonprofit organizations, individuals, corporations, and foundations achieve their philanthropic goals. Diane is a published author of For a Good Cause: A Practical Guide to Giving Joyfully and a frequent speaker at conferences. More information on Diane Lebson can be found at evergreenphilanthropy.com/book/, and her book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Indiebound. Brian Quail’s Ultimate Guide for New Nonprofit CEOs Dick Aft explores a United Way alum’s gift to new and experienced leaders. April, 2024 Typical of so many United Way alumni, Brian Quail has followed a path that led to heading nonprofit organizations engaged in direct service. United Way NEXT Board Chair Ed Rivera introduced me to his recent publication with these words, “Brian’s Ultimate Guide will be valuable to nonprofit leaders including board members, current CEOs, senior executive staff, nonprofit investors, and his target audience of prospective and new nonprofit CEOs.” With a recommendation like that, I couldn’t wait to get a copy and read it. Here’s what I found. In his newly published Ultimate Guide for New Nonprofit CEOs, Brian Quail shares lessons learned as a CEO, civic leader and person called to a career of serving others. Beyond calling on his experience as CEO, it reflects his desire to support all nonprofit CEOs whether new or experienced. “Five Frameworks” form the foundation on which Quail builds a guide to CEO success. 1. Ninety Days – the importance of face-to-face meetings in your first ninety days. 2. Your Team – working with direct reports, executive assistants, and board members. 3. The Financials – analyzing the numbers and financial history of the organization. 4. Donor Relationships – distinguishing between revenue sources and donor development. 5. The Who – the most important question to ask yourself every day. Interesting case studies and narratives based on personal experiences and research illuminate pathways to successful navigation of new experiences, challenges, and relationships. Theoretical? No. Practical and down to earth? Yes. Instead of immersing readers in theory, Quail shares the things he learned as a new nonprofit CEO several times and as a consultant who has helped nonprofit CEOs and boards of directors achieve exceptional results. For instance, he writes: “As a CEO, if you cannot express specific and clear examples of your nonprofit’s impact in plain English that nearly anyone in your community understands, then you’re not doing your job effectively. In the end, your legacy is not about buying an expensive and sophisticated software package whose advanced features you can speak at length about or the stunning new building that makes a bold statement to everyone who sees it. Rather, your duty is to show how these resources improve the lives of those your nonprofit serves ---community members who are the most vulnerable and in need of help.” Quail’s bibliography alone serves the reader a wealth of references for new CEOs and the volunteers who hire them. It lists a score of publications on subjects ranging from managing turnover to resolving conflict. Whether a gift to help a new CEO onboard him/herself, a board member in search of the best ways to support a new nonprofit CEO, or a guide to refreshing your personal leadership, The Ultimate Guide for New Nonprofit CEOs is a book likely to become dogeared before it becomes dusty. Past President & CEO of the Heart of Florida United Way, American Red Cross Louisville Area Chapter, and Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County, Brian Quail is CEO and Founder of Quail Consulting. Combined, his fundraising, leadership, analysis, and development efforts throughout his professional life have resulted in over one billion dollars in human-services funding. His book is available on Amazon or at www.BrianQuail.com |
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