Nonprofit Organization Best Practices

Maybe you have read the Jim Collins book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't, to understand the qualities of superior corporations. You may have even looked at the follow-up title, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, to explore his views on effective nonprofits.

Readers have been eager to learn about addition research on great charities. Now Leslie R. Crutchfield, managing director of Ashoka, and Heather McLeod Grant, adviser to the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University, have released Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High Impact Nonprofits (published by Jossey-Bass).

The authors surveyed thousands of nonprofits and conducted interviews to examine the traits of great organizations. The book focuses on twelve case studies of the following organizations: America's Second Harvest, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, City Year, Environmental Defense, Exploratorium, Habitat for Humanity, Heritage Foundation, National Council of La Raza, Self-Help, Share Our Strength, Teach for America, and YouthBuild USA.

The research indicates that great nonprofits often have advocacy programs, take advantage of market forces, encourage their volunteers to promote their causes, use networks and collaborate, adapt to changing conditions, and share leadership.