Category Archive for : ‘Nonprofit’

(Updated from June 2018 Blog)

This Father’s Day I’m choosing to remember, learn, and even benefit from the relationship between my dad and I…the good, the bad, and even the ugly.

I have wonderful memories and lessons learned from Harold Henry Becker, now sainted for eight years. Dad was the most honest man I’ve ever met, faithful and supportive of my mother for over 59 years, a hard worker, intensely loyal to friends, generous with his time and money, possessed a simple and deep faith in God, and he was present at

I recently had the privilege of presenting at a conference in Phoenix with my long-time friend, Dr. Don Christian, President of Concordia University Texas, about ways to strength your board of directors. Don is one of the most successful nonprofit leaders I know, and he has achieved much of his board success through a combination of deep relationship building and solid policy-based governance.

Much of my consulting success comes from helping boards develop a series of best practices that, when applied, can only strengthen the board…towards better collective leadership and

After blogging regularly for 2½ years I took an eight month break from writing. It wasn’t that I wasn’t working or caring about the father son relationship or leadership. It’s that I was feeling depleted. Depleted from the “white noise” caused by isolation due to COVID, intense political and racial ugliness, and trying to make sense (and grieving) the lack of empathy and love for our fellow neighbors.

I don’t have it figured out by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that writing helps me process my thoughts and

I recently was asked to do a one-hour workshop for the Siebert Foundation in Milwaukee for their many nonprofit and ministry partners across southeast Wisconsin. If you’re a nonprofit leader or board member here is a comprehensive overview (is that an oxymoron) of the key elements to build the effectiveness of your board.

Feel free to contact me if you have any follow up questions regarding this important content.

#nonprofitleadership #strongboards #boarddevelopment #leadership #leadershipeffectiveness #leadersedge

Last week I had the privilege of leading a webinar for numerous nonprofit board members, CEO’s and other executives. The Christopher Family Foundation of Hinsdale Illinois offered this webinar (and periodically offers others) to their grantee network in mostly the Chicagoland region.

The webinar covers five key topics: 1) 6 G’s of Successful Boards 2) Improving board culture 3) Recruiting the “right” people 4) Implementing best practices 5) When the pendulum swings back.

Just click “Read More” in the blue box to go to the video of the webinar.

I was interviewed recently by Jay Frost, one of the leading development experts in the United States. Jay hosts an educational series for nonprofits called “Unbound” provided by DonorSearch.net.

I was invited to do a webinar for nonprofit leaders recently and then Jay extended the offer to interview me on their Masterminds Series about my thoughts on leadership in general and the pandemic. Go here for the interview. Just click and you can listen on your phone or computer.

“DonorSearch provides accurate and actionable information that identifies your best prospective major gift

Unbound Webinar Series – Hosted by Jay Frost on www.donorsearch.net Tuesday, May 12, 2020 – 1:00 p.m. CT

The Executive Director – What is the board doing, particularly the board chair, to support and be engaged with Executive Director during these challenging times? Donor Relations – What is the board doing to ensure that donors and stakeholders are well informed and cared for?Best Practices – What best practices should be maintained and jettisoned during this time? Long Term View – Short Term Decisions – What is the board doing to

This is definitely NOT April Fool’s Day advice in this document. If you’re concerned about if or how your nonprofit should approach its donors during the pandemic…this attachment has 20 links to excellent resources regarding this vital topic (i.e. – direct mail, major donors, campaigns, communication, etc,) Thanks to my client ALDE.ORG for providing this doc for its membership. Just click here to find the hotlinks to these resources…

This blog has some helpful information, and ends with one vitally important leadership lesson. For those who believe that everything that President Trump says is true, when he said finally said late this week that “the Conronavirus is serious”…believe him! Be it two months late, he finally responded to the Coronavirus pandemic appropriately.

Here’s what I believe to be helpful information. Earlier this week I heard Trump say these things in a press conference:

“Coronavirus is like the flu.” It is NOT like the flu. When the NBA, NHL, all of college sports,

In the bestseller, Leadership and Self-Deception the story is told of an upper level manager, “Tom”, who has an inability to see his own problem – self-deception. Self-deception caused a number of significant problems both for Tom and those he worked and lived with. Let’s take a look at this scenario:

Tom always saw others as the source of his problems.Tom had an overblown sense of his importance, always saw himself as the most committed, the most dedicated, and the smartest guy in the room.Tom actually, unknowingly, provoked others to resist