Governance as Coordinated Design in Complex Nonprofits
The Reality We Rarely Say Out Loud Nonprofits are expected to solve society’s hardest problems. Their missions are expansive, urgent, and morally compelling. Staff carry this work every day—navigating complexity, constraint, and consequence in real time. The stakes are high, the margins are thin, and the work rarely pauses. Boards, by design, engage episodically. A few hours a month. Often through reports, approvals, and oversight rather than sustained engagement with implementation. This is not a criticism of boards. It is a structural reality. And yet, we routinely expect transformational outcomes from governance systems that were never redesigned for the scale, [...]
Board–staff tension usually isn’t about people. It’s about language.
In nonprofit boardrooms, I often hear some version of: “This is really a joint responsibility.” It sounds collaborative. It sounds generous. And in practice, it’s often where accountability quietly disappears. When roles stay vague: Boards drift into execution or micromanagement Staff absorb expanding expectations — often without authority Frustration builds on both sides of the table I see this most clearly around fundraising, where responsibility is frequently shared in theory and misplaced in practice. This article explores how language like “joint responsibility” shapes governance — and why clearer role framing protects staff, strengthens boards, and improves decision-making. Strong governance isn’t [...]
Before You Start a Nonprofit, Ask These Questions
Every time I speak to a university class, a student inevitably pulls me aside and says,“I want to start a nonprofit. What advice do you have?” They expect encouragement. What they usually get is something more complicated — and, I hope, more useful. Starting a nonprofit is often framed as a natural response to seeing a problem in the world. You care. You’re motivated. You want to help. Those things matter. But they are not enough on their own to justify creating a new organization. Nonprofits are not just expressions of purpose. They are operating systems. They require governance, capital, [...]
