Three vital roles backbone board members play in complex civic systems
Backbone organizations are unusual entities and that means they need unusual boards too. Board members of organizations responsible for performing backbone functions need to assume roles and responsibilities beyond those of a board member of a traditional nonprofit.
Five things we learned after working with consultants
Hiring a consultant can make sense for a number of reasons. Oftentimes, consultants bring specialized skill sets that you don’t have in house and don’t wish to develop. Sometimes they simply add capacity to get a job done when you have no bandwidth to spare. In other situations, they are the outsiders who can deliver […]
New year, new review?
There are few things in professional life that can take the oxygen out of a room quite like the prospect of year-end performance reviews and new year goal-setting. Why is that? Many of us are goal-oriented people, after all. Many of us fancy ourselves introspective and eager to learn from our experiences. And yet, the […]
Crafting effective communications to create social change
Strategic communications have the power to transform your organization and a compelling story told to the right audience is vital to fundraising and building awareness of your organization’s mission. What is your organization trying to make true that isn’t true now? Who has to do something they’re not doing now (or stop doing something) for […]
Lynn Budnick receives Glass Half Full award
GAR Foundation is honored to present Lynn Budnick with the 2018 Glass Half Full award for her steadfast and inspirational leadership of ACCESS, Inc. The annual Glass Half Full award was created to recognize Summit County community leaders for their inspiring and optimistic leadership of nonprofit organizations. Lynn Budnick is the executive director of ACCESS emergency […]
What your values add to your business
In business, the focus is often on strategy. The strategic plan. The business plan through which strategy is implemented. The work plan detailing implementation activities in a particular time period. These documents and the discipline required to produce them are important to be sure. They frame and direct efforts. They align teams and ensure that […]
Nonprofit marketing trends to watch this year
Whether you’re putting the final touches on your marketing plans or beginning to create one for the upcoming year, keep an eye on these trends and predictions for 2018: Influencer Marketing Consider partnering with an influential person in your niche to reach a whole new audience. An influencer can be a big-time donor, a […]
How our values will guide us in the new year
As 2017 draws to a close, we at GAR Foundation are pausing to reflect on what we have learned and accomplished in partnership with you this year. It has been an eventful one for us, marked by the launch of our new strategy that you, our valued stakeholders, helped to inform. We’ve talked a lot […]
Still waters run deep: why introverts in your business may be your most valuable overlooked asset
All of us who work on teams have surely faced the existential workplace question: Are you an introvert or an extrovert? We’ve taken the Myers-Briggs test. We’ve thought about how our personality type fits with those around us. As managers, we’ve hemmed and hawed about who is best suited for particular roles, given their personality […]
Glass Half Full Honoring David James
GAR Foundation is honored to present David James, Superintendent of Akron Public Schools with the 2017 Glass Half Full Award. The annual Glass Half Full award was created to recognize Summit County community leaders for their inspiring and optimistic leadership of nonprofit organizations. James is the 22nd chief executive of the Akron school system. Selected by […]