NPO Conversation Wednesday March 4, 2015

We invite leaders of Boston-area nonprofit organizations join us each quarter for a brown-bag lunch discussion about issues, ideas, and concerns in the nonprofit and philanthropic community. The meetings are a time for us to “talk shop” and move beyond the usual conversation between foundations and nonprofit organizations.

After reading about this quarter’s topic, please let us know if you would like to register.

TOPIC: Leading through Transitions

Boston is awash in transition: new governor, first year mayor, incoming school superintendent, outgoing MBTA manager, shuttered homeless shelter, depleted snow-removal budget. Nonprofits and businesses will likely adjust accordingly, but not without facing the challenges of uncertainty and change.

In setting goals and strategy, nonprofit leaders and their boards often consider how they will respond to potential changes in the environment in which the organization operates and to changes in its leadership. We are interested in your experience in planning for and managing transitions prompted  by change in these two key areas.

Come ready to tell us about how your nonprofit continues to make progress towards its goals while repositioning its assets and adjusting to contextual or organizational changes. We’d like to hear about what has worked, what hasn’t and how funders can help.

These are some of our questions:

• What does your organization do to prepare for both inevitable transitions and unexpected change? Have you and your board engaged in scenario and contingency planning?
• Is your leadership succession plan in place?
• What opportunities – expected or unexpected – have you found in changes of leadership, context or programs? If you are new to an organization, what opportunities have you found in the transition?
• What are the opportunity costs that funders sometimes forget?

Please bring your experiences, ideas and a brown bag lunch to GMA’s 9th floor, 77 Summer Street on Wednesday, March 4th from 12n to 1:30pm. We’ll provide refreshments and dessert.

How to Register for this NPO Conversation

Attendance is limited to seven organizations with one representative per organization, preferably the executive director or director of a major program. The lunches are held in GMA’s ninth floor conference room at our 77 Summer Street offices.

Advance registration is necessary. Please contact Judy Sneath via jsneath@gmafoundations.com or tel. 617.391.3084 by February 27.

Additional Note: Scenario and contingency planning is on the list of The Top 25 Nonprofit Management Tools identified by nonprofit leaders and the Bridgespan Group as reported in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, October 5, 2014.  http://philanthropy.com/article/The-Top-25-Nonprofit/149177/