None of us starts out knowing how to do anything “nonprofit.” It takes practice, dedication and a desire to learn. Once a month, we post our top three resources in a given area of nonprofit practice. These may be an article, a research study, an infographic or almost anything else but they are designed to get you thinking about the areas of the sector you might not be aware of and we think of it as self-guided professional development. Enjoy and if you’d like to talk with one of our technical assistance staff members, please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@federatedcharities.org to schedule a conversation.
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May 2026
The Balancing Act is a good description of the relationship between the roles of staff and board in your organizations and, depending on the situation, can sometimes lead to a fuzzy line. At an annual retreat a couple of years ago, our board developed a diagram that we have continued to use in our own board member orientations but Boardsource also recently highlighted the same information in their newsletter…you get both!
Fiscal Sponsorship 101 You’re not eligible for many grants and donations unless you are a 501c3 nonprofit corporation but when you partner with a sponsoring organization, you might be. Did you know that one of the programs at Federated Charities is Model C fiscal sponsorship? Watch this short video to start to understand how a structured partnership can help you bring your big idea to life and then reach out to info@federatedcharities.org if you’d like to learn more!
Good Governance We get asked the question a lot of how staff interact with their boards at meetings and we’ve talked with founders and longtime EDs about how they show up on their board. Our answer is based on the reality of who knows what and goes back to that diagram we shared a few sentences ago about roles. You don’t have to believe us though, Nonprofit Quarterly does some of the best thinking about our structures out there and this article highlights the critical advisory (but non-voting) role that a senior staff (paid or unpaid) leader plays with their board.
As always, if you need additional assistance from us, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d love to help.
