Monthly Archives: November 2011

November 28, 2011, 8:37 am

Putting Organizations Through the Smell Test

I’m sure we all have a favorite holiday smell. Often it’s from a favorite food with a rich aroma. But we’ve all had a time when we thought the smell signaled something wrong even before we’d sat down to eat.

After working with nonprofits for many years, I’ve realized that you can tell when something’s not right through a quick smell test. I sniff the air for signs that things need to change the first time I enter the CEO’s office.

There are some variations on the smell test. Here are some I use:

Smell the coffee. Is the organization alert in a caffeinated way to changes in the environment it operates in? Is it aware of the adaptations it might need in the slow economy? Does it embrace social media and other emerging technologies in how to operate with supporters? If the organization doesn’t smell of coffee, it may be sleepwalking to a slow demise.

Smell the rotten…

November 18, 2011, 12:50 pm

Big Consultants Increasingly Turn to Nonprofit Clients

By Penelope Cagney

As nonprofits have grown in size, complexity, and number, many of the nation’s big management-consulting companies have stepped up their efforts to serve charities and foundations.

Most of the help these companies used to offer came in pro bono assistance. But now they are going beyond that to offer aid for a fee, sometimes through a nonprofit arm and often at a lower cost than they would charge businesses.

Among the companies that have started or expanded specialized nonprofit services in the past dozen years:

Booz Allen started a unit in 2007 to serve nonprofits that is just like any of the other specialty practices within the company.

Monitor Group created the Monitor Institute in 2007 to serve nonprofits. [Editor's note: This corrects an inaccuracy that previously stated the institute was classified as a B corporation.]

Accenture started ADP Accenture Development…