28+ Reasons Start-Up Nonprofits Fail

Why do so many start-up and long-term nonprofits fail?  Most start-up for-profit businesses fail, over 50%. It is no different for nonprofits. In my opinion here are 28+ reasons why a nonprofit will fail. Do you see other reasons why nonprofit groups fail and close their doors? Please add them here for others to learn what it takes to avoid failure and to enhance success. 

1.       It is started or run by a single person

2.       Leadership fails to have an appropriate, adequate and diverse board for overall governance, policy planning and development;

3.       Leadership fails to provide appropriate insurance, ethical and conflict of interest policies 

4.       Leadership fails to assess the market for need or duplication

5.       Leadership fails to develop long-term, meaningful relationships with those who share their passion for the mission, also known as “friendraising”

6.       Leadership does not want or fails to work with others

7.       There is inadequate resource planning and development

8.       Leadership fails to develop a written business plan and plan for succession

9.       Leadership underestimates what it takes financially to start and to operate a nonprofit and to maintain and sustain it; inadequate budgets  

10.   Leadership fails to translate and to evaluate what they are doing into meaningful activities and measurable goals, objectives and outcomes

11.   Leadership fails to assess and keep records of what they do that works and what does not work

12.   The organization lacks transparency in its mission, vision, values and finances

13.   Leadership fails to assess and address risk in its management, goals, objectives, outcomes and activities

14.   Leadership fails to keep and to assess business records and meaningful data

15.   There are inadequate fiscal controls

16.   Leadership fails to keep adequate and full fiscal records

17.   Leadership fails to pay attention to detail in what they are doing

18.   Leadership fails to prepare necessary written best practices, policies, procedures, forms and recordkeeping standards

19.   Leadership does not stay true to facing the need and does not alter programs when needed, inflexible and stubborn leadership

20.   Leadership pursues funding for goals, objectives and activities outside its mission

21.   Leadership fails to be advocates for the need they are addressing

22.   Leadership has inadequate skills to manage a nonprofit and its activities

23.   Leadership fails to provide reports in a timely manner to the board, to funders, to the public, to local, state and federal regulators

24.   Leadership fails to assess and use social media for the mission of the organization 

25.   Leadership fails to stay current on local, state and federal regulations and laws governing nonprofit organizations

26.   Leadership does not provide reports and data as required under contract compliance

27.   Leadership underestimates the amount of mental, physical and spiritual energy needed to start, maintain and sustain a nonprofit, they become exhausted and cannot face “no” when it comes to money or support, they fail to follow through on promises or requirements

28.   Leadership overestimates their own abilities, energy, skills and belief in the mission and they expect others will want to help without telling a clear, honest and meaningful story about the mission; they become exhausted, puzzled or resentful that others do not follow them

I do not consider those nonprofit organizations that succeed in fulfilling their missions and then close their doors or that merge with other groups as failures.


But these 28 reasons do not tell the full story. There are lessons to be learned from experience such as these below. 


Funders want to buy certain results and want to know what results a nonprofit organization offers and what results they can achieve. A nonprofit may offer certain results but can they demonstrate they can achieve them?


In the United States nonprofit world most funding comes from individuals. In 2011 73% of the $290.89 billion in charitable donations came from individuals. 35% of that went to religious organizations. 14% was given to education. Households give 1.9% of their disposable income compared to 0.9% giving by corporations including corporate foundations of pre-tax profits in 2010.


Nonprofits range from sports teams, hospitals, universities, Smithsonian Institute, American Cancer Society to volunteer fire stations, community recreation programs, neighborhood HIV/AIDS programs and so on. There are over 1.4 million tax exempt organizations in U.S.  The American Red Cross is one of the largest and spent more than $3 billion in 2010. Houses of worship, churches, synagogues, mosques and similar groups, do not have to file with the state or the IRS for nonprofit tax exempt status but some do.


Nonprofits reporting annual expenses of $10 million or more accounted for 85% of total spending on charities in 2009. Nonprofits that receive tax deductible donations have many sources of revenue. In 2009 the largest source of revenue, about 76%, was from fees for goods and services, tuition, admission, Medicare, third party contracts, etc. The rest come from government grants, and donations from individuals, corporations and foundations. Health care received 60% of the revenue and had 41% of the assets in 2009 compared to education, public and social benefit and arts, culture and the humanities.


The Independent Sector reports there were over 115,000 private grantmaking foundations in 2010 with total revenue of $43.8 billion and total assets of $582.5 billion listed by the IRS. There were also in excess of 5,000 private operating foundation which rarely give grants..Corporations that provide gifts and grants but not through their foundations are not required to be recognized by the IRS.

http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/PubApps/profile1.php  


The Nonprofit Finance Fund’s Report for 2012 had nonprofit tax exempt organizations respond to its questions about finances and service. Basically most have seen a reduction in income and an increase need for service.


“In this year’s survey, more than 4,500 respondents at nonprofits across the country shared the details of how they are adapting their organizations and finances to economic conditions.  The survey, which was supported for the second year in a row by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, reveals that while 2011 was a year of significant organizational and programmatic changes, many nonprofits are still facing fundamental challenges that threaten the stability of the sector and the well-being of the people they serve.


Here are the facts: 

·         85% of nonprofits experienced an increase in the demand for services in 2011.

·         This is on top of years of increased demand: previous NFF surveys found that 77% of nonprofits experienced an increase in demand in 2010; 71% experienced an increase in 2009; and 73% experienced an increase in 2008.

·         88% expect an increase in demand for services in 2012.

·         57% have 3 months or less cash-on-hand.

·         87% said their financial outlook won’t get any better in 2012.

But this is just a fraction of what the data show. This year, for the first time we’re enabling you to explore the data yourself. Our NFF Survey Analyzer at survey.nonprofitfinancefund.org allows you to investigate questions that cut across sub-sectors, budget size, and geography. We invite you to share what you discover via e-mail and social media.”

http://nonprofitfinancefund.org/state-of-the-sector-surveys  


Resource development includes but is not limited to dues, grants, fee for service, third party contracts for service, fundraising (aka friendraising), volunteers, equipment gifts, in-kind donations, dinners, golf tournaments, marathons (bike-athons and other –athons), capital and building campaigns, pledges, gifts and annual giving, bequests, endowments, selling products (as with museums for instance), partnering with others on projects or for funding, and more.


Nonprofit organizations are incorporated in states and receive tax exemption from the IRS and possibly from the state for state taxes. The cost for that at a minimum is close to $1.000 for each organization. State laws usually govern how the group is incorporated although the state incorporation papers also have to meet IRS requirements. The IRS has been tightening the process for initial recognition as tax exempt and also for remaining tax exempt. The IRS is making nonprofits more accountable, transparent and more business-like.


Many nonprofits are losing their tax exempt status for failure to file annual reports with IRS for 3 consecutive years, 275,000 in June 2011. http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=239696,00.html  


Money and other resources are becoming harder to find and receive. Demand for services has increased. There is a time when the demand far exceeds the ability to serve and nonprofits have to close or merge. Programs such as civil legal services for the poor, the arts, mental health, animal care, community-based groups, and others have felt the financial crunch the past 5 years. They have had to renegotiate grant contracts and reimbursement contracts. They have closed offices, downsized staff or prioritized services.  Some have started for-profit companies to try to help in the revenue earning. They have merged with similar programs or closed their doors.


Programs that have developed partnerships or collaborations, those that have developed an entrepreneurship concept and larger environmental groups are favored by funders. Funders are looking for demonstrable impact from their contributions.

Problems for nonprofits predate the recession. Except for the largest nonprofits many had little more than three months carry-over funding to handle a reduction or loss of donations, a grant or other income. Reduction or loss of funding in 2008-2009 had many scrambling to seek new funding and facing layoffs and closing of offices. I wrote extensively on this at my blog during that time.


Theft and embezzlement in nonprofits may be greater than in government or Wall Street. Gary Snyder, a writer from Detroit, e-mails a monthly factual scandal sheet and has a blog, Nonprofit Imperative, about fraud and embezzlement in nonprofits and government, He is not writing about 5 and 10 cent crimes but crimes involving $100,000s and $1,000,000s. These scandals have made a negative impact on peoples’ trust and on their giving. See http://nonprofitimperative.blogspot.com/2012/04/trustno-controlsfraud.html?spref=tw


In some instances local and regional organizations are suffering in securing donations because of the development of web sites assessing the work of nonprofits. There are three well known sites where anyone can access information about tax exempt organizations. The data available includes the IRS Form 990 filed annually by nonprofits with an annual income of $25,000.00 or more. The IRS features the information at www.irs.gov.


The second site is GuideStar. GuideStar does include all tax exempt organizations. It is struggling to become a place where donors can get up-to-date information and some evaluation of the work performed or not performed by charities. You can access information about nonprofits here –

http://www2.guidestar.org/rxa/news/news-releases/2012/1-26-12-new-nonprofit-reports.aspx?hq_e=el&hq_m=1517278&hq_l=7&hq_v=e08850


The third site is that of Charity Navigator. It does not include all tax exempt organizations. It includes less than 1% of them in fact. In my view this web site has a negative impact for fundraising on those groups not listed. A donor seeking information from CN will be disappointed not finding local or regional groups. That can dissuade a donor giving to those groups. I wrote about the danger of CN several years ago. I am aware of a number of nonprofits that have tried to be included in CN’s listing but were turned down because they did not meet CN’s prerequisites.CN advertises itself as the world’s largest evaluator of charities but it is not. It fails in many ways but is given credence by the news media and the few charities it lists. http://www.charitynavigator.org/


Mergers and partnering on programs and grant applications have played an important role in saving organizations


The role of social media in telling the story, securing, maintaining and interpreting data is vital for the life of nonprofits.


Keys to money: relationships x 3 or more (spheres of influence), and location x 3 or more (they are in the right place, they are the right people to do the work, they have the right tools to do the job) and character of the leaders, matching needs and ability to meet the needs to money and to givers' interest.


Nonprofits that rely heavily on contracts or grants may not have a reasonable reimbursement rate to cover the service and growing excessive reporting requirements. In a number of states where nonprofits have government contracts, reimbursement is running 6-12 months late seriously jeopardizing the health of nonprofit organizations, their cash flow, staff retention and ability to get the job done..


An important element in maintaining and sustaining a nonprofit organization is paying for staff. Most nonprofits with income of $25,000 and $10 million are not paying competitive salaries for line staff. There may be some instances that the CEO is being paid well over $150,000 a year. But the worker bees including the financial people are not paid appropriately in my view. This can result in employees with lower skills or forced turnover because of poor salaries and benefits. Most community-and faith-based health providers, for instance, do not pay their employees the same level as their government or for-profit counterparts. That makes recruiting and retention of top quality employees difficult.  The sector has to face the fact that nonprofit employees are very dedicated and are underpaid. They do not receive a fair reimbursement for travel. But both the nonprofit organization and their employees are caught in a fiscal trap. Claims of exorbitant executive salaries suggests that others are also over paid. It is a false premise but one that affects donations.    


Two recent stories of famous nonprofits either rocked by scandal or by mismanagement show the danger zones in which nonprofits exist.


Greg Mortenson and the charity he founded, Central Asian Institute, to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, have been featured in books including Three Cups of Tea. The stories have been a large inspiration to many. The TV show 60 Minutes has demonstrated that stories may have fabricated.  False accounts in his books, excessive financial benefits, bad financial management, poor recordkeeping and failure of board oversight have given the charity a bad name. Mortenson has been ordered to repay a million dollars by the Attorney General of Montana for allegations of double dipping and other financial mismanagement. The charity’s board is going through a substantial change in leadership.


This story is similar to the Enron scandal which on its own has affected nonprofits requiring greater transparency. The William Aramony and the United Way scandal that resulted in Aramony going to prison in 1995 was fraught with fraud left the sector with difficulties of trust. Fame and the famous are always potential targets, such as Lance Armstrong and his Foundation with allegations of doping. University campuses have been rocked by lying, cheating, child molestation, and infidelity at Ohio State, Penn State, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, all nonprofits or government entities, resulting in firing head coaches and even university presidents. .


The failure of the venerable Hull House in Chicago which was started by Jane Addams in 1889 shocked many. It was the model for social work and community centers including the one I created in Camden NJ in 1963. A report from The Chronicle of Philanthropy suggests the problems already existed when the recession hit with a debt over $2.3 million in 2007. 300 employees were laid off on January 27, 2012. There seems to be more than just failure of the board which had fiscal managers, top attorneys and other professionals available for guidance. They did not challenge the executive director and top management staff who said that nonprofits always live on the fiscal edge – and that is accurate. Most nonprofits, below $10 million annual income, live on the edge. But this time the edge was too close to live on. 

http://philanthropy.com/blogs/against-the-grain/hull-house-collapse-is-a-wake-up-call-for-boards-and-executives/28045?sid=pt&utm_source=pt&utm_medium=en  


On May 3, 2012 The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that Public/Private Ventures (P/PV announced that it will cease operations at the end of July because of financial issues. P/PV was founded in 1978 and grew to be an influential research and evaluation organization in the nonprofit tax exempt arena. The Chronicle points to two landmark areas for P/PV research, first, Big Brothers, Big Sisters mentoring program and second P/PV’s work on job training for re-entering prisoners to society.  P/PV acknowledges they have had trouble since the downturn of the economy in securing grants to cover operating expenses and to withstand competition. They laid off 21 staffers and revised their pricing plan to reflect true cost but that was not enough to withstand the pressures. It is ironic that as funders seek more evidence-based funding and greater evaluation that the future of one excellent nonprofit organization providing those has resulted in closing for lack of financial support.   

http://philanthropy.com/article/Pioneering-Evaluation-Group/131774/?sid=pt&utm_source=pt&utm_medium=en 

The P/PV board apparently did its job through the difficult assessment. P/PV President Nadya K. Shmavonian reports at their web site –

“P/PV has worked hard for more than a year to chart a new, sustainable path forward. We enjoyed generous core support from several private funders and made difficult staff cuts. But we have recently concluded that changing trends in evaluation, as well as resource constraints among both public and private funders, will not allow us to remain competitive as a small, mission-focused agency. That has led to the decision to cease operations.”

http://www.ppv.org/ppv/index.asp  

Congress is asking for more accountability for 501 (c) (3) organizations yet individual congress people and others in the election arena start up tax exempt organizations to help get them elected. The case of Citizens United allows for invisible money to run our elections without accountability or transparency. I do not oppose more accountability or transparency for tax exempt groups but I do seek equality of others that are giving nonprofits a false bad image. There are major differences between a 501 (c) (3) and a 501 (c) (4), (5) and (6) when it comes to lobbying and political campaigns. When (4), (5) and (6) organizations produce a scandal it is handled by the media as a nonprofit tax exempt organization without detailing that they are not the same as a (3).

Starting and operating a nonprofit tax exempt organization is a leap of faith. It has to be done smartly, however, not foolishly.  The states and the IRS allow a great deal of latitude to start and operate with some but not many restrictions. There could be more. Just because someone has a good idea does not mean that person can carry out that good idea nor does it prove it is a good idea without data and facts to back it up.

For more about what I mean by the leap of faith and the origin of a nonprofit please see –

The voice says, who will go for us, who will speak for us, who will care for us, who will show us?

http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/voice-says-who-will-go-for-us-who-will.html  

That is my assessment of what is happening to the thirds sector, the nonprofit world. I have the utmost regard for those who work in that sector and I miss working there every day.

Do you see other reasons why nonprofit groups fail and close their doors? Please add them here for others to learn what it takes to avoid failure and to enhance success. 

RESOURCES   

Starting a Nonprofit Organization - Why?

http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/starting-nonprofit-organization-why.html  

There is not universal agreement about the need for a business plan for nonprofit organizations. I am one of those who believe it can be an enormous benefit both in process and results. 

The Nonprofit Business Plan - Program Precedes Money. Planning Precedes Program

http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/nonprofit-business-plan-program.html

Reasons Not to Incorporate a Nonprofit Organization

 http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/reasons-not-to-incorporate-nonprofit.html  

I wrote the following article several years ago at the height of the money scare for nonprofits, that still has not eased, The title may be misleading now, but I would just change the year and leave about everything else the same with the emphasis on UNLESS. 

2010 New Year’s Resolution – No New Nonprofits Unless…

http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/2010-new-years-resolution-no-new.html

One Phase of Nonprofit Organizational Readiness for Grant Funding: Recordkeeping 

http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/one-phase-of-nonprofit-organizational.html 

24 Factors In Developing an Exit Strategy for Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organization (A Business Plan in Reverse)

http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/24-factors-in-developing-exit-strategy.html

Beware The Nonprofit Watchdog – Charity Navigator

Here is why small and mid-size nonprofits and donors should be wary of the watchdog Charity Navigator. I am no fan of Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator is a tax exempt nonprofit organization. It holds itself out as the number one charity evaluator. Charity Navigator (CN) says of itself that they are “America's premier independent charity evaluator, (that) works to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of over 5,400 of America's largest charities.” They measure NPOs basically on previous Form 990s, a troubled, unclear and mistake prone IRS annual report. Not even CPAs agree what goes into certain financial parts of the 990 – what are administrative expenses, what are program expenses, what are fundraising expenses? Where are the issues of effectiveness, evaluation, outcomes, impact, results, change, morality, integrity and ethics in Charity Navigator's ratings? The new family of 990s may help but they are still new and will not address all the issues. Here are the problems with Charity Navigator.

Yes, there is a need for oversight and evaluation of nonprofits

There is a need for oversight of the third sector. Nonprofit organizations need to be accountable, transparent - their feet held to the fire as to what they say they are going to do. States’ Attorneys General, the Internal Revenue Service, independent groups and certain individual funding sources such as government funding and foundations are insufficient at this time to do that job.

• But who should be doing this evaluation for the giving public?
• What are the measurement standards?
• Who should be reviewed?
• How can the public trust their support will be used for the announced purposes?
• How often should they be reviewed?
• How can nonprofits appeal the findings?
• How are international organizations to be reviewed?
• How should advocacy groups be monitored?

These are important issues and there are no easy answers. Charity Navigator does not address them.

We need to assure the public that nonprofit tax exempt organizations are acting on measurable goals and objectives, that we are looking at effectiveness, outcomes, results, impact and change. Is that what Charity Navigator and others are doing? No way!

The movement to establish standards for high-performing nonprofits

On April 2009 GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator met to discuss new approaches to identifying high-performing nonprofits:

The Press Release about the meeting states:

The Alliance for Effective Social Investing, a network of nonprofit leaders, which includes the CEOs of GuideStar, Charity Navigator, BBB Wise Giving Alliance and Network For Good met in Washington, D.C. and agreed to work together to drive more funds to high-performing nonprofits.

Organized by Social Solutions, the Alliance for Effective Social Investing is an international effort to identify promising new metrics of organizations’ social impact and promote the development of a more robust environment for effective social investing - replacing financial measures as the sole barometer of an organization’s performance.

The Alliance, representing over 25 leading U.S. and European social sector organizations, is committed to supporting each other and working together to strengthen the evolving social capital market.

(Snip)

At the recent gathering (the Alliance’s second meeting) the group received updates from the Urban Institute, GuideStar and Charity Navigator about how each was moving to improve their websites and rating methodologies as well as develop new tools to support a more impactful nonprofit sector.

(Snip)

http://www.alleffective.org/news/Alliance_Press_Release_041409.pdf

Do the ratings at Charity Navigator help or hinder fundraising?

There is no mention of transparency about who become members of the CN closed membership. I wonder if the U.S. members of the Alliance have spoken loudly and forcibly that CN is hurting small and mid-size nonprofits by not including everyone required to file one of the 990 forms – or no one. There is no level playing field. There is no voice for the small and mid-size nonprofits in this group. Donors are also given a limited assortment of charities they could support.

At some point the factors for transparency and accountability of the Recovery Act (AARA) will impinge upon funded nonprofit contractors and sub-contractors.

No matter what the Alliance is attempting to do, Charity Navigator is the name of the game of ratings. See the article from CN about the media attraction listed in RESOURCES, below.

The ratings by CN are shown by numbers of stars from four stars as best and zero stars as worst.

Charity Navigator (CN) stands as the most popular, most cited, most perceived credible monitor of the nonprofit world by the nation’s press and media. For instance CNN and CN have an arrangement that CNN will use CN’s rated groups in a disaster or catastrophe, many times bypassing four star nonprofit groups on the ground in the affected community. CN should itself be held to a higher standard. In my view it does not pass muster and is dangerous to the public’s perception of the nonprofit world.

But all is not well in the CN world. Six days before Christmas 2008 the Wall Street Journal featured this article, Charity Rankings Giveth Less Than Meets the Eye - The Ratings of Nonprofits Are Often Uncharitable, Sometimes Failing to Credit Crucial Factors Such as Success Wall Street Journal by Carl Bialik. It says in part:

Call it a false sense of humanity.

It may make you feel better to know that your charitable donations are going to organizations that have been highly rated by any number of online charity rankings. But these sites fail to quantify the most-important and most elusive charity measurement: success in achieving its mission.

Like stocks, charities typically are rated by their financial numbers or by qualitative characteristics such as corporate governance -- or both. Unlike stocks, charities have no single measure akin to business profit to determine successful performance. There is a widespread search for such a number, but the challenges may be too daunting. Meanwhile, some of the measures that are used may inspire bad actors to try to game the system.

"In the nonprofit world, it is a billion times more complex," Michael Soper, a consultant to nonprofit groups based in Midway, Utah, said. "They're not here to produce a profit; they're here to provide a service."

And donors giving a relatively modest amount may not want to invest the necessary time to evaluate charities thoroughly. Their quickest recourse is to search Charity Navigator, one of the most popular sites that assigns ratings from zero to four stars to more than 5,000 nonprofit organizations that file a certain tax form with the Internal Revenue Service (some religious groups are exempt). Charities are evaluated in several financial categories, and compared to their peers. Food banks, for example, typically spend 1.9% of their expenses on administrative costs, far below the median for all charities of 9.6%. So a food bank that spends 8% on administrative expenses gets just five out of 10 possible points for that category.

"Our assumption is that the average person in our society doesn't have the time or expertise to wade through these kinds of financial statements," said Ken Berger, president and chief executive of Charity Navigator. "We're providing an analysis."

The ratings do more than measure charities; they can change them, not always for the better. Mr. Soper, the nonprofit consultant, said that some charities, focused too much on rankings, adapt to climb them, much like universities play to college rankings' criteria. Only "what gets measured gets done," said Mr. Soper.

Some critics of Charity Navigator said it can create backwards priorities, encouraging them to withhold funds instead of dispersing them. The ratings, for instance, encourage charities to keep assets in reserve that total as much as their annual budget -- and more for certain types of charities with big ongoing expenses such as museums and schools.

The National Wildlife Federation gets two stars from Charity Navigator, in part because it has on hand assets equal to about two-thirds of one year's expenses. Cynthia Lewin, senior vice president and general counsel, said that having more cash on hand would be a "breach of fiduciary duty."

(Snip – full article linked in RESOURCES)

The Washington Business Journal in January 2009 ran an article entitled In Focus: Nonprofits Making sure that the dollars do some good

U.S. charities took in $230 billion from individual donors in 2007. Now nonprofit experts are looking for ways to see if that money has any impact.

Donating to a local charity can be an incredibly rewarding experience. If the organization is smart about fundraising, it shares stories of success: Their newsletter shows photos of children smiling and laughing. The annual report reveals that a large portion of donated funds goes directly to people in need. At the awards luncheon, volunteers and recipients share heartwarming stories of changed lives, crises averted and hopes restored. Tears are shed.
Individual donors gave around $230 billion to U.S. charities in 2007, about twice the gross domestic product of India. But do they know their donations are being used to maximize social outcomes? Do they even know if they are helping recipients in any lasting way?

(Snip)

Administrative costs and fundraising prowess are key measures in one of the most popular charity-rating tools, CharityNavigator.org.

Charity Navigator, based in Mahwah, N.J., employs a star-rating system like those for restaurants or hotels. It also publishes a bevy of Top 10 lists, like “10 Slam Dunk Charities” and “10 of the Best Charities Everybody’s Heard Of.”

An estimated $10 billion in annual donations are affected by the research that donors do on the site, said Ken Berger, the chief executive officer of Charity Navigator.

He acknowledged the site is probably better at weeding out grossly wasteful organizations than it is at separating the effective from the not-so-effective.

“There arguably could be organizations that have good financials, but their outcomes are not so good,” Berger said.

An explainer on the site says the ratings should not be the only factor when making donations, but the stars overwhelm that message, Berger said. “I think what happens is some people go to the site, they type in the name, they look at the stars, they leave.”

That dynamic incenses [Steve] Butz, a former youth instructor at the Living Classrooms Foundation, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that just opened a D.C. campus. [Butz is president of Baltimore-based Social Solutions Inc., which makes software that enables human services workers to track and analyze program data.]

By rewarding nonprofits for lowering their administrative costs, “you’re valuing whoever can look the most harried and frenzied,” he said. “That’s the person the sector holds up as the gold standard.”

(Snip – full article linked in RESOURCES)

Well over 1 million nonprofit tax exempt organizations are hindered in fundraising by Charity Navigator and its self-styled assistance.

How Charity Navigator leaves you out of its rating system

There are over 1.4 million tax exempt organizations in the U.S. CN measures and lists 5,400 with 1,691 of them receiving 4 stars, barely making a dent in the charitable choices available for potential donors to consider. They limit charitable choice. They do not make the charity marketplace fair, competitive, open and transparent. It is a club with membership requirements.

Charity Navigator was developed to assist donors, not nonprofit organizations.

There are limitations and barriers to be included in the CN club:

• Sources of Revenue: They require public support to be more than $500,000 in the most recent fiscal year.
• Because their goal is to help individual givers, they evaluate only those charities that depend on support from individual givers.
• Length of Operations: They require 4 years of Forms 990 to complete an evaluation. Elsewhere they say they need five years of 990s.
• They eliminate charities that receive almost all of their funding from government grants, or from the fees they charge for their programs and services. Additionally, they exclude charities that report $0 in fundraising expenses, as they are interested only in charities that actively solicit donations from the general public.
• If a particular region of the country is underrepresented in one of those lists, they add to that particular list a reasonable number of the largest available charities from the underrepresented region. They then combine these separate lists into a new master list of charities.
• Very few small and mid-size NPOs will ever be listed. They will be nonexistent to the giving public who use CN to assess charitable giving
• A nonprofit that expends funds on significant evaluation of its programs and participants will be penalized for higher administrative costs
• An international nonprofit that provides security at its offices will have an inflated administrative cost and be downgraded.

They also look at –

• Donor Privacy Policy - In order to meet their criteria, the charity must have a donor privacy policy in writing, guaranteeing that they will not sell or trade their donors' personal or contact information with anyone else, nor will they send mailings on behalf of other organizations. Furthermore, the policy must be prominently displayed on the charity's website or in its marketing and solicitation materials. They review each privacy policy annually when they update a charity's financial evaluation.
• Finally they review also look at CEO Pay, Income Statement, and Mission (if known)
  From their FAQ section:

Why doesn't Charity Navigator evaluate program effectiveness?

At this time, evaluating the effectiveness of a charity's programs is out of our scope. We hope over time to expand the information we provide donors, and that includes developing a methodology for measuring an organization's output. For now we're still seeking a methodology that would allow us to apply a uniform standard to all charities and thus allow us to continue to provide donors unbiased, trustworthy ratings.

They see the IRS Form 990 as a “uniform standard”, an “unbiased, trustworthy” an original source for ratings. I shudder every time I read that. They are not looking at outcomes, impact and results. They and others may never be able to look that deeply to assist the donating public.

The issues of effectiveness - evaluation, outcomes, impact, results and change.

There are more aspects than evaluation, outcomes, impact, results and change. There are also issues of morality, integrity and ethics within each nonprofit organization. The difficulty of reaching a consensus about evaluations will be hard pressed to assess morality, integrity and ethics. Nevertheless they have been part of what has ruined too many nonprofits. The board and other staff failed to uphold standards of morality, integrity and ethics.

Nonprofits that place a high value on vital training on staff, board and constituents for one or more years may be penalized if those expenses are part of administration.

Charity Navigator competes with nonprofits - you - for funding. They are similar to those NPOs that advertise that for $x a child will be fed for one month. This is how CN phrases their plea in fundraising:

It costs Charity Navigator $1,000 to add a new charity to our database, and $100 per year to update each charity on our site.

Projects to Support
Sponsor an updated charity evaluation: $100Your contribution will enable our analysts to update a charity's financial rating and profile using the most recent data available. If you choose this project, please designate your gift as "updated evaluation" and let us know which charity you would like us to update. If current data is not immediately available, we will update the rating as soon as we receive the new information from the IRS.

Sponsor a new charity evaluation: $1,000With this contribution, our analysts will first determine whether or not the charity meets our criteria, then enter up to five IRS Forms 990 and research the charity's profile information. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about this funding opportunity.

Support a year's worth of data: $3,600Help Charity Navigator continue to directly acquire from the IRS every Form 990 filed in America just one month after the document is filed. These purchases are critical in our quest to supply America's charitable givers with evaluations based on timely financial data. With your permission, we would be pleased to recognize your support on our website. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about this funding opportunity.

Sponsor a block of charities: $8,500 Are you interested in seeing more evaluations of charities in your area, or in a specific charitable cause? Our analysts will review and select up to 10 new charities in your chosen area, determine if they meet our criteria, and prepare evaluations for our website. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about this funding opportunity.

Sponsor a study: $10,000Our in-depth studies, such as the Metro Market and CEO Compensation Studies, require that our analysts update thousands of charities and conduct additional analysis of their fiscal performance. Your contribution will help defray the costs of updating the ratings, compiling the findings and preparing these reports. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about this funding opportunity.

As you search for charities on the CN web site your search is interrupted by a solicitation for funds (emphasis in the original):.

Please contribute to Charity Navigator today. Your donation does so much good for so many--read on to find out how!

Dear Friend of Charity Navigator,

What do all of these GREAT CHARITIES doing GREAT WORK have in common?

These 9 [listed in the ad] are among an exceptional group of 1,691 charities receiving Charity Navigator’s coveted 4-star rating.

Charity Navigator rates itself as a four-star nonprofit worthy of contribution.

Conclusion

The third sector needs to be able to demonstrate to the giving public effectiveness, evaluation, outcomes, impact, results, change, morality, integrity and ethics which carry the worth of a nonprofit organization

CN has no way to measure the accomplishments or lack thereof in any charity. They have no clue what is happening as the result of the work of charities. They cannot demonstarte the change in peoples' and communities' lives affected by nonprofit groups.

They show a small wedge of light about very few charities and then claim they are the beacon on the mountain shedding light for all donors to know where wisely to give. The workhorse small and mid-size nonprofits on the Side Streets of America are not members of the CN club and are not listed on the CNN use of CN information.

CN does not and cannot show effectiveness, evaluation, outcomes, impact, results, change and morality, integrity and ethics which carry the worth of a nonprofit organization, not fiscal information.

CN does not show us their own annual 990 and other fiscal information about themselves and yet they are asking for donations. CN, because of its own serious limitations, does not help charities receive the deserved help they need. CN is a barrier to charitable giving. Our evaluations have helped millions of donors pursue effective philanthropy and influenced billions of dollars in charitable donations. But only to their club membership.

The organizations recognized by CN as worthy of four stars, the highest rating, help in the complicity against small and mid-sized nonprofits by emblazing its four star salute from CN as if it truly means something, that it is credible. The NPOs that receive the four star salute and list it at their web site have fallen into the trap of supporting CN in its meager selection of charities worth contributions. Some of those NPOs know it is a misleading rating and they short change their sister and brother groups that do not even get into CN’s website yet they put the rating up for all to see. They may be four stars but they are also being phony.

In a speech at the (Valuing Impact) conference, CN CEO Ken Berger said that sometimes he cannot sleep for worrying that Charity Navigator’s ratings (of up to 4 stars) “may do more harm than good”.

http://www.philanthrocapitalism.net/wp/2009/05/analyze-this/

Do you think?

Charity Navigator has to be called out about its weaknesses and fallibility. If the voices of the small and mid size nonprofits are not heard nationally and in local communities, nothing will change - for you. Do not be surprised if Ken Berger shows up in your area and lists the worst charities for the news media in the area. If you are one of them, what happens next?

What are your thoughts about Charity Navigator and evaluations of nonprofits for donors? What do you think can help the situation?

RESOURCES

Charity Navigator, http://www.charitynavigator.org/

Charity Navigator's New Course, Chronicle of Philanthropy, July 13, 2009.
http://philanthropy.com/giveandtake/article/1123/charity-navigators-new-course

Charity Ratings Based on Administration Costs can do More Harm Than Good by Saundra Schimmelofennig, May 20, 2009

http://informationincontext.typepad.com/good_intentions_are_not_e/2009/05/emphasis-placed-on-the-percent-charities-spend-on-administration-can-actually-lead-to-increased-wast.html

Charity Rankings Giveth Less Than Meets the Eye - The Ratings of Nonprofits Are Often Uncharitable, Sometimes Failing to Credit Crucial Factors Such as Success, Wall Street Journal by Carl Bialik, The Numbers Guy, December 19, 2008

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122963299671419401.html

Nonprofit Leaders Meet to Discuss Driving More Funds to High-Performing Organizations, from Alliance for Effective Social Investing

http://www.alleffective.org/index.html

The Fallacy Of Financial Ratios: Why Outcome Evaluation Is The Better Gauge Of Grant Worthiness by Tony Poderis

http://www.raise-funds.com/100402forum.html

See the June 1, 2009 blog about outcomes by Ken Berger, the President of CN: Announcing an Open Forum on Outcomes

http://www.kenscommentary.org/2009/06/announcing-open-forum-on-outcomes.html

Ethics and Nonprofits, Stanford Social Innovation Review by Deborah L. Rhode & Amanda K. Packel, Summer 2009

http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/ethics_and_nonprofits/

Making sure that the dollars do some good, Washington Business Journal - by Jonathan O'Connell Staff Reporter, January 30, 2009

http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/02/02/focus1.html

Rating the Raters, National Council of Nonprofit Associations and the National Human Services Assembly 2005

http://www.nydic.org/nassembly/documents/Rating_the_Raters_Final_3%20.pdf

The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) is a nationally prominent charity watchdog service whose purpose is to help donors make informed giving decisions, American Institute of Philanthropy http://www.charitywatch.org/

For Charities and Donors, Better Business Bureau for Charities and Donors http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/

Standards and Best Practices, Evangelical Council For Financial Accountability http://www.ecfa.org/Content/ECFABestPractices.aspx

Wise Giving to Charities, Compiled by Daniel Borochoff President, American Institute of Philanthropy http://www.heartsandminds.org/articles/wisegive.htm

Evaluating Charities: How do I choose?

http://www.libraryspot.com/features/evaluatecharities.htm

The Basics: How to tell a good charity from a bad one by Liz Pulliam Weston CNN/MSNBC

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/consumeractionguide/P58021.asp

To What End? The Importance of Outcomes and Performance by Mario Morino, Venture Philanthropy Partners, April 2008

http://www.vppartners.org/learning/enews/archive/2008/apr08.html

Analyze This from blog philanthrocapitalism by Matthew Bishop & Michael Green

http://www.philanthrocapitalism.net/wp/2009/05/analyze-this/

Social Value Assessment Tool For Nonprofit Organizations in the Public Sector For Use by an External Evaluator by David Hunter and Steve Butz, June 20 2009

http://www.alleffective.org/docs/Nonprofit-Social-Value-Assessment-Questions-Version7.pdf

CN is not the only group attempting to measure the work of nonprofits. Here is a partial list of others attempting to rate quality from the blog Philanthropy 2173:

http://philanthropy.blogspot.com/2008/11/information-markets-in-philanthropy.html

Charity Navigator is the most visible nonprofit rater and is a media darling as detailed below from their web site:

“Last year alone, more than four million donors used the site that TIME Magazine called "One of America's 50 Coolest Websites for 2006." Additionally, the site is a two-time Forbes award winner for "Best of the Web," was selected by Reader's Digest as one of the "100 Best Things about America," and was chosen by PC World as "One of America's Top Websites." In 2007, BusinessWeek inducted Charity Navigator into its "Philanthropy Hall of Fame" for "revolutionizing the process of giving." Charity Navigator was singled out in 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Kiplinger's Financial Magazine as "One of the Best Services to Make Life Easier" and Esquire Magazine recently told its readers that using our service was one of "41 Ways to Save the World."

Charity Navigator's leaders have provided expert analysis and commentary on the charitable sector for The Factor with Bill O'Reilly, most CNN programs, and each of the network morning shows--NBC's The Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, and CBS's The Early Show. We have also appeared on FOX News, CNBC, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Nightline, and Comedy Central's The Daily Show, among others, and served as contributors to National Public Radio programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered. We have been profiled in Fast Company magazine, Contribute, CFO Magazine, and The Washington Post, and quoted in nearly every major American newspaper or weekly magazine. We have published editorials and articles on charity accountability, the role of government regulation in the charitable sector, fund-raising ethics, and non-profit leadership in such newspapers as The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and The Los Angeles Times.

In order to expand our reach and better meet the needs of our users, Charity Navigator has worked hard to establish strategic partnerships with industry leaders in other sectors. We partner with CNN to identify and highlight charities for the global network's Impact initiative, with the World Economic Forum to review and approve prospective global leaders, with Foundation Source to supply philanthropists with quantitative research data to use in making charitable investments, and with Network For Good to offer the convenience of online giving.”

Now that is scary stuff.

Concern for Leaders of Small and Mid-size NPOs in This Economy

How are leaders of small and mid-size nonprofits handling themselves, their people and fiscal problems? What are you facing as a small to mid-size nonprofit leader in this economy? Many executive directors and other leaders of small and mid-size nonprofit organizations are not finding much personal support for their work and needs resulting from America’s economic problems. I read many articles and see training events about how to increase funding in a bad economy. I read material about how to lay off staff and handle the human resources of the organization. There is material about finding new leaders for the future of nonprofits and baby boomers transferring into the third sector. But what do we see about how you are handling yourself? The life of a leader or executive director is a lonely job in the best of times. It does not improve in times of trouble. Here you will find a list and brief discussion of concerns you may be facing and some hints on handling them.

I am certainly not an expert or the last word in these matters, but the dialogue should be on the front page for you – and it is not there. This is my offering to you. Many of us care about what you are facing. Many of us, including me, have faced this one or more times in our NPO lives.

I believe the bottom line mission for most nonprofits is to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable. This is about comforting you, if you are among the disturbed.

There are three parts:

• Issues
• Hints to cope with the issues
• Resources

See if any of these issues are real for you. See if the hints give you a start to handle the issues of leadership in bad times. Please feel free to add your thoughts on both the problems and the hints to confront them.

ISSUES

As the pressure of work increases for leadership and staff at small to mid-size nonprofit organizations it can exacerbate the personal problems we have always had. It can seem like an expanding downward spiral of unresolved, unsolvable issues, both old and new which can occur.

We carry our own life-baggage wherever we go. That baggage will surface more deeply when things go wrong. We have a tendency to repeat our errors. Now can be time to work on one of those pieces of luggage.

Stress at the workplace is something we all face from time to time. This is a deeper level of stress. What can be done to minimize it and its effects?

You may be finding it difficult to develop priorities in programming, funding, management, administration, filling in for former employees and personal time. There may be too much in your work plan. Cut it down to a size based on importance. Take a sheet of paper. Have one column for the most important and why and another column on least important and why.

Concentrate on the doable and the needed, not the hoped for.

So where did you find leadership training for these bad times: there is lack of training and skill development for problem-solving and reduction in funding and loss of employees. Few of us have experienced a downward spiral of funding, and loss of employees, closing of offices and reducing the numbers of customers who can be served. There has been no training offered to prepare you for this. That should not stop you. You will have to make hard decisions about money and people. You did not start the fire and you cannot put it out. You can bring your flames under control – in fact you have to.

Are staff members tense and not acting civilly with each other, with you and with customers?

Are you facing growing morale problems from staff about layoffs, salary and benefits, their fears and not enough office supplies and equipment? Expect that to happen. The employees who remain will feel guilty about having a job and others were let go. They will miss many of those who have left. They will hate picking up others’ files and working with the new customers. They will have difficulty prioritizing and decision making. Open communication wide. Look for a process that will give staff the opportunity to talk and to be heard. Your job may be simply to LISTEN. You may not be able to fix this one. In one instance they may find a breath of relief because at least someone weak has left.

Do you find you are not sleeping well, not eating well and have been losing weight?

Do you find you are not sleeping well, are eating too much junk food and gaining weight?

Have you increased the consumption of alcohol to calm you down? Or doubled the number of cigarettes you smoke?

Do you find yourself periodically avoiding staff by working at night and on the weekend? Is there a fear of facing them and complaints or guilt? You have to face your own sense of guilt. You did not cause the funding to decline. The hardest problem for a leader is not the act of making a bad decision in rough times. It is the failure to make a decision, even if it is difficult or bad. None of the decisions will be good but they will be necessary. Get back to the office on the regular clock.

The more you avoid staff the more you will lose touch. Share the facts and the implications of what is occurring to the organization and seek help to find answers.

Are you trying to figure out how to overcome the reduction in grants/fundraising? Are you spinning your wheels just looking for money and getting nowhere? Are you looking at Federal Recovery funding that may not really fit your mission? You may not be able to find new grants.

It may be that you are so used to fixing problems that here is one you cannot fix. You may simply have to make the organization functional. Seeking grants is the most difficult part of a resource development plan. The board and you may have to face factors that cannot be easily solved. You may have to consider merger, shared services, co-locating, new associations or bankruptcy.

Do you believe that out there is a foundation that will fund your program? Let me be direct. There is not. The only exceptions are if someone close to your organization has a deep relationship with that foundation and can be persuasive or through a local or community foundation. Other than that, right, now none will fund you. But do not stop applying to the very few foundations that have a direct fit with your mission, goals, objectives and grant requirements. You can try to build relationships now for the future.

Is the organization having a difficult cash flow problem because the state or other funders are late sending payment for services?

Are you trying to keep the board involved? Are you attempting to prevent board members from leaving because of the problems facing the organization?

You find yourself uncertain of the future of funding and new transparency and accountability requirements. How can you change the administration of the organization to meet those new factors?

You have thought of seeking personal professional help but you fear using the organization’s employee assistance program or seeking that help. Are you concerned about showing personal weakness?

Do you have a fear of seeking counseling at the local level where you are known and you have no contacts elsewhere?

Are you experiencing an increased sense of dread, fault, depression, anxiety, anger and personal failure? How are they affecting you and those around you?

Do you find yourself working harder and long hours with little accomplished?

Do you have a growing poor sense of self-worth and self-esteem and an increased personal uncertainty about your abilities?

Do you find or have a sense that staff is having or showing less confidence in you and your leadership?

Are you finding it very difficult getting up in the morning and looking forward to going to work?

You love your job, but this new world is eroding that love. You feel this is not what you signed up for.

Are you finding it very difficult talking to family and friends about what is going on at work and your reactions to it?

HINTS TO COPING, OVERCOMING

Face the fact it is normal to be abnormal in a crisis. The times are insane but that does not mean you have to be. There is so much you cannot control or change. So spend some valuable time deciding on what you can control and change.

Go back to your core being. What brought you to this nonprofit world and this job? What were the attractive parts? What did you anticipate you would work on to improve the organization, its service and product and yourself? What did you want to work on to improve the organization and yourself? How did you want to grow on the job? Can you still do these things? How can you make them happen? It is a time for some self-reflection about why you are here. It is difficult but it is still the job you want. Let your core being – your soul - help you face today’s realities. Check in with you and look for what you are failing to see.

Exercise. Find a routine that fits you. (This is easy for me to say since I am the founder, owner and sole resident of the PSLS, the Principality of the Sedentary Life Style. However, in the past century when I did work exercise was an irregular part of my life.)

Look at your sense of trust in yourself and others. Have you allowed doubt in your abilities and the abilities of others creep in? Why? What happened? Begin working on your self-trust. You do have the abilities and the sense of mission, vision, values and passion to keep the organization performing. Trust that sense.

Make one small change in your schedule, your life. Always shower in the morning (or evening) at the same time. Take a lunch break away from the office at least three days a week. Make a commitment to have dinner with your family every night. Develop one new routine that allows you to think about that change and commitment.

What could you have controlled that would have changed or prevented things? Is there anything you really could have done? If not, then do not take on that guilt and sense of fault. It is not yours. Let it go. You do have to handle the results and adjust but not with guilt and fault. Guilt and fault finding will not solve a darn thing.

Go back to organizational basics. What are the mission, vision and values of the organization? Are you still on mission? How are you with your personal mission? Are you still on pace? Go back to the mission and see if there has been a drift and see what you can do about it. Are the board and staff still focused on the same mission? Plan the future on that mission.

Learning to cope with stress – we have all faced stress before and we handle it in different ways and rather well mostly. You can do that here also. Is it developing a routine you can depend on that relieves the stress? Is there someone you can talk to about the stressors? Perhaps only to listen to you, not to solve or fix them for you

Listen. Listen more intently, eye to eye, not eye to Twitter. Listen without interrupting. Listen at home and at the office. Take a tickle lock. Listen to others.

Review how decisions are made in the organization. Review the strategies being used. Can they be tweaked to be better under the current problems?

Maintain civility within staff and within the board. Show your leadership in the way you all talk to each other.

I am not a fan of the statement “Do more with less”. The current crisis is about doing more with even more less. That is unrealistic. You, the board and staff have to look at what you have been doing and determine what the best process is to reduce the work to a meaningful and reasonable level. With less resources and more demand for services, you cannot meet it. The fact of the matter is you have never had enough resources to serve everyone in need. So you made choices about who received service. That decision has to be made again in keeping with grant requirements and talent and availability of staff.

What are you doing to adapt to change? We have constant change in our lives. There is a corporate culture of change in every nonprofit that we do not face and do not encourage as a status for staff. Now is an opportunity to look at change and how it can be positive, not always negative, and can be part of the culture. People do not like to be changed but they can accept reasonable changes.

This is not the time for leadership-is-correct thinking. It may take improvisation through a group development plan and activities.

Should there be an open review of the goals and objectives and activities of the organization with staff and the board? What should or could be changed to relieve stress and become workable? You do not have to fix everything. You do have to make the work functional and reasonable, however.

This is a real opportunity for developing a business plan for the organization for the next 3-5 years. What would you and the board do differently if most of the funding were restored? How will the organization face its future for its customers? Planning can help. This is a real opportunity to consider restructuring the organization. Including customers in that planning is a necessity. Your planning may help you see what the future can look like and it may lead you to make honestly some hard decisions such as bankruptcy, merger, co-location, carry on or other options.

Facing adversity – leaders like to talk about how they like taking on challenges and adversity. You are a leader. Here is a real opportunity to show your leadership in new ways. Go back to your leadership styles, your abilities, and your weaknesses and mend them to this new dynamic in your life and the life of the organization.

Communicate, don’t isolate – do not withhold information from the board and staff. It may need some sense of timing, but board and staff need to know what is really going on. You will also want to work on overcoming the tendencies for rumors.

Be receptive to others’ ideas.

Consider talking with a few other NPO leaders in your community about what they are facing and how they are coping. There may be a way to start a group healing process with a pro bono counselor as facilitator.

Prepare a succession plan with the board. It does not matter if you are thinking about leaving. It does matter that you help provide a positive look at the future for the board in the leadership of the organization.

Perhaps it is time for you to move along. You have done all you can. You will work to leave the organization in the best possible light to find new leadership.

Perhaps it is time for the organization to fold its tent and close down. There are state and IRS legal processes to follow in that event. Work with the board and an attorney to do this properly.

If needed seek out personal professional help. This is not an admission of fault or guilt or neurosis. It is an admission that perhaps you need additional reinforcement to handle your life and the job, to look at alternatives within yourself. Most leaders fear this decision that others will find out. If your organization has an employee assistance plan, you may find that too open. You may be saying to yourself this is a small community and everyone will find out. I say, baloney, They are excuses. Talk to your personal medical provider about options. How long has it been since you had a full physical examination? Seek assistance from a job counselor, psychologist and/or psychiatrist or spiritual advisor. Once you take that first step you will wonder why you feared it. You may find that talking about your issues, adopting breathing exercises and/or medication help you stay focused and clear headed.

There are many of us concerned about how you are doing. It is my hope that you find at least one thing here that will help you. Please be open with me. If I am missing the target for you please add your thoughts.

Thank you for what you are doing.

RESOURCES

STRESS...At Work (May 19, 2009)
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-101/

Recession Is Bad for Health - Americans Are Taking Grave Chances With Their Health Because of Recession and Money Fears (May 21, 2009)
http://www.webmd.com/news/20090521/recession-bad-health

Managing Job Stress - What to Do About Job Stress (Last Updated: July 10, 2008)
http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/tc/managing-job-stress-what-to-do-about-job-stress

Work, Stress and Mental Health (June 09, 2008)
http://blogs.webmd.com/anxiety-and-stress-management/2008/06/work-stress-and-mental-health.html

How to Reduce and Manage Job and Workplace Stress - Coping with work stress in today’s uncertain climate (Last modified: November 2008.)
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/work_stress_management.htm

Finding Leaders for America's Nonprofits from Bridgestar (April 20, 2009)
http://resources.bridgestar.org/Documents/FindingLeaders.pdf

How to Cope When Coworkers Lose Their Jobs - Layoff Survivors Experience Feelings of Guilt, Sadness, Loss, and Fear by Susan M. Heathfield, About.com
http://humanresources.about.com/od/layoffsdownsizing/a/survivors_cope.htm

Leadership Guide by Brian Fraser (March 2009)
http://www.transitionguides.com/newsltr/Full%20Articles/LG_March%202009%20Resiliency%20Corner%20-%20Brian%20Fraser.pdf

Six Ways to Manage Leadership Stress by John R. Ryan (January 9, 2009)
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jan2009/ca2009019_489882.htm

Facts about Terminating or Merging Your Exempt Organization (IRS May 2009) http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/p4779.pdf

State Nonprofit Incorporation Forms and Information (Including those for mergers and termination)
http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=167760,00.html

The Mission Statement - The Spiritual Rudder
http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/mission-statement-spiritual-rudder.html

In Praise of Small and Mid-size Nonprofits - On the Side Streets of America
http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/in-praise-of-small-and-mid-size.html

The voice says, who will go for us, who will speak for us, who will care for us, who will show us?
http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/voice-says-who-will-go-for-us-who-will.html

24 Factors In Developing an Exit Strategy for Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organization (A Business Plan in Reverse)
http://dongriesmannsnonprofitblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/24-factors-in-developing-exit-strategy.html

The eighth international conference on occupational stress and health. “Work, Stress, and Health 2009: Global Concerns and Approaches” will be held at the Caribe Hilton Hotel, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 5-8, 2009, with Preconference Workshops on November 5. This conference is convened by the American Psychological Association, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Society for Occupational Health Psychology.

The Work, Stress, and Health conference series is designed to address the constantly changing nature of work and the implications of these changes for the health, safety, and well-being of workers. This year the conference will highlight work, stress, and health as a subject of global concern affecting developed and developing countries alike. Numerous topics of interest to labor, management, practitioners, and researchers are covered in the series, such as work and family issues, workplace violence, long hours of work, the aging workforce, and best practices for preventing stress and improving the health of workers and their organizations. Expert presentations, panel discussions, and informal get-togethers with leading scientists and practitioners will provide an exciting forum for learning about the latest developments on an impressive range of topics.

http://www.apa.org/pi/work/wsh.html

Please feel free to add to this RESOURCE list.