The Nonprofit Consultant

OCTOBER 23, 2007

For a nonprofit board of directors to succeed, the number one key ingredient is: Involvement. Boards fail (and, in turn, organizations fail) when board members become disengaged from either the mission of the organization or their role in the governance of the organization. An engaged board does more than simply show up for scheduled meetings and vote to approve minutes and budgets.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 3, 2007

No - I am not making this up. This entry appeared on Craig's list last week in the greater NYC Metropolitan area. The best part is the response. Honestly - if I could figure out who this guy is I'd want to recruit him. He'd make a GREAT consultant! Subject: What am I doing wrong? Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl.

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Chad Barr

OCTOBER 31, 2007

One of the successful concepts of Internet marketing is called Viral Marketing. This concept helps spread an idea very quickly among its recipients. One example of the success of this concept is with singer Marie Digby. She video recorded several famous songs and uploaded them onto YouTube. When visitors searched for the song by the original artist they also found her videos, which quickly brought her fame and the signing to produce a new album.

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Chad Barr

OCTOBER 30, 2007

I just returned from Rhode Island, where I attended “The Strategist” workshop, which was conducted by Alan Weiss, Ph.D. It was simply outstanding. Here are some of my takeaways: Strategy is the what, tactics is the how. Planning kills strategy. Strategy is top down, planning is bottom up. Strategy starts with the end desire. Paint a picture of the future.

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The Nonprofit Consultant

OCTOBER 27, 2007

Once upon a time, a local government agency wanted to give grants in a particular issue area, so they put out an RFP and called all the area nonprofits to a special meeting. The nonprofits came to the mandatory 3-1/2 hour meeting and received over 60 pages of instructions on how to complete the seven page proposal package (two pages of actual writing plus lots of forms).

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The Nonprofit Consultant

OCTOBER 24, 2007

I am a member of the Nonprofit Blog Exchange - a group of nonprofit bloggers who try to promote each other's work as resources for the nonprofit community online. As part of that exchange, we occasionally post reviews of each other's web sites. Today I'd like to introduce you to the Mission Paradox Blog of Adam Thurman. Mr. Thurman is a consultant, writer, speaker, professor, and a self-described nonprofit "provocateur" so you know you will always find something interesting and different on his

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 22, 2007

Sent by an alert Bain consultant: (this actually happened) "You know you are in the right industry when. your boss sends an e-mail apologizing for not giving you ENOUGH work".

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The Nonprofit Consultant

OCTOBER 22, 2007

George Williams at Planned Legacy has asked me to spread the word about a little contest going on at their web site. They're looking for the best Donor Recognition Ideas, and are asking what has worked well for your organizations in the areas of: Donor Recognition & Donor Relations Stewardship Capital Campaign Promotion The Art of Saying Thank You Donor Wall Planning & Special Events The contest closing date is December 10, 2007, and the drawing for the iPod will be on December 12, 2007.

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Chad Barr

OCTOBER 16, 2007

It was 1968, I was 12 years old growing up in Israel. After waiting for over a year, the phone my parents ordered for our home, finally arrived. There was great excitement in our home, and we even built a small credenza to proudly display our new arrival. What made it even more exciting was the fact that we were one of the first families on our block to have our phone installed.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 17, 2007

Yesterday I’m at my first engagement kickoff in a room with a firm partner, VPs and Managers. They all have MBAs from Wharton and Georgetown. I have a mini-MBA diploma photocopied from the back of my 10 Day MBA book. (a.k.a. I have no idea what’s going on). At one point, I was confused about the difference between a centralized and a decentralized organization.

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Chad Barr

OCTOBER 15, 2007

The Wall Street Journal had a brief remembrance for the editor of Forbes magazine, James W. Michaels, 1921 – 2007. After he took over the magazine, circulation more than doubled. He was contrarian in life as in editing. He rarely socialized with publishing professionals. He distrusted electric typewriter and loved word processing and the Internet which allowed him to easily send his editing from his home while claiming that he could shorten any story by 15%.

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Chad Barr

OCTOBER 15, 2007

I am delighted to announce the development, implementation and the launch of the new blog for Aviv Shahar , owner of Amber Network. Aviv is a fascinating thought leader who helps executives improve effectiveness, strategic thinking, collaboration and innovation. Click here to visit his new blog and explore his thoughts for times of change. (Click image to enlarge).

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 15, 2007

The following email was sent out to a consulting firm’s entire listserv with a Red Exclamation Point denoting its High Priority. (Not joking.) Addressed to the firm/unknown mug thief: “You were clever enough to leave my mug out in the kitchen unbeknownst to me and then retrieve it back to the hideout just before I learned of its whereabouts. You win.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 12, 2007

I definitely am. This took me wayyy too long. THE TRICK IS TO FIND THE MAN IN THE COFFEE BEANS: It's bizarre - after you find the guy - it's so obvious. Once you find him - it's embarrassing, and you think, why didn't I see him immediately? Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right half of your brain is better developed than most people.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 11, 2007

I’m officially insane. Not that there was really any doubt before, but here’s a story that basically tells you what a maniac I am. Or…as I like to think of it…more how die-hard, dedicated and just generally cool this crazy consultant is. So cool, in fact, that I get to end sentences with “is.” Yesterday, at approximately 3pm, I was put under anesthesia.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 9, 2007

Sent to us by an alert consultant in Washington DC: The new term is: "ORGANIC GROWTH" Does anyone know what the heck this actually means? People are apparently using it left and right. Makes me think of some sort of parasitic tumor, or maybe a weed.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 5, 2007

The following conversation took place at 2:23pm this afternoon. Setting (in the interest of providing a visual): I am sitting at my desk in cube I share with another consultant. Two computers are in front of me - my laptop and my client desktop. Why? Because I'm "not allowed to access the firm's network on the client desktop, but I AM allowed to access it on a laptop if I bring the laptop from home.

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This White Paper targets opportunities for Management to develop proficiency in the Decision Framing and Analyses element of input to Decision, & Risk Analyses for Major Project Funding Decisions.

Methodologies

The Nonprofit Consultant

OCTOBER 4, 2007

My friend, Tom, over at the True Talk Blog, has an interesting post called "Asymmetry is the New Black." The concept of asymmetry explains how small, start-up companies or organizations can effectively compete and steal marketshare from larger, established ones. Tom sees asymmetry in action in everything from YouTube to the blogging movement to the Iraqi insurgency.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 2, 2007

Today's Person: Jorinda Sullivan REASON: She Lost her Job Because She Wore too Much Perfume LOST JOB 'OVER MY PERFUME' October 1, 2007 -- She wore too much Red Door, so they showed her the door. That's the claim of a Brooklyn woman who says she was fired as a customer-service rep because she wore too much perfume. Jorinda Sullivan, 24, of Canarsie is suing her former employer, Mindpearl, a customer-service center in Melville, L.I., for $1 million in Brooklyn federal court, claiming that co-worke

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 1, 2007

Since it has been nearly a week since the cockroach-tapping bathroom incident, my confidence in using the client site bathroom has increased. I should know better. This is the same logic that we use right after we get a speeding ticket. We've just had our hand slapped, so we drive 10 miles an hour on the freeway for approximately three days, until somehow we feel we've "Done our due diligence," and we can now go back to our normal, illegal, speeding ways.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 5, 2007

Today's People: The Engaged Reason: For Not Thinking Before Getting Engaged. Let's hope they don't hyphenate their name(s).

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 17, 2007

Sent by an alert Consultant in Chicago: courtesy of The Onion.

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 16, 2007

Sent by an alert consultant in London:

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 23, 2007

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The Crazy Lives of Consultants

OCTOBER 18, 2007

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