In my previous post on the Mission Connected Blog, I examined the first two of three basic phases in a nonprofit organizations’ human resources maturity and their implications for the design and effectiveness of key human resources processes. My new post, “Human Resources Maturity and the Three P’s, Part 2“, examines the third and final phase and outlines some questions that nonprofit managers and human resources professionals should ask about their own organization.
For an update to this story, please see
Great News for Harlem School of the Arts!
New York City’s Harlem School of the Arts, a nonprofit institution which for nearly half a century has offered children and young adults training in dance, music, theater, and the visual arts, locked its doors on April 1st. A decision on whether or not the closing will be permanent is expected next week. The story has attracted considerable attention from the media, including multiple stories in the New York Times and the New York Daily News and on WPIX. It has also triggered emotional reactions from the community, including former and current students and parents. A Facebook group started by supporters of the school has grown to over 1,300 members in two weeks.
Nonprofit effectiveness is not necessarily measurable in financial terms. Much of the media coverage and public reaction has highlighted strong feelings and opinions on the part of the community as well as current and former administrators and board members. There does seem to be a general consensus among the media, public, some employees, and even some former board members that the school’s downfall resulted from an extended period of fiscal mismanagement. Parents in particular have been very vocal about their lack of confidence in the abilities of the current board, and while the board is seeking at least $500,000 to reopen for the remainder of the academic year, parents and other members of the Facebook group are suggesting that donations not be made to the school until such time as the board is replaced.
While one New York Times story highlighted a number of specific financial issues, including questions about the school’s failure to meet the benchmarks of a $1.5 million grant to strengthen its financial, marketing, and fundraising efforts, the use of a $1 million mortgage taken on the school’s building in 2007, and nearly $500,000 in payroll tax arrears, it failed to provide what I could perceive as a complete and objective look at the problems that had befallen the institution. To satisfy my own curiosity, I decided to take a look at the most recent form 990s as well as the media reports and other publicly available information. In this post, I want to share some of what I found to be some of the most notable data and patterns from those findings, as well as some questions that my findings raised for me and that might also be on the minds of those interested in the school, including students, parents, donors, and funders.
Continue reading ‘By the Numbers: Harlem School of the Arts’
My new post on the Mission Connected Blog, “Human Resources Maturity and the Three P’s, Part 1“, takes a look at the first two of three basic phases in nonprofit organizations’ human resources maturity, each of which has implications for the design and effectiveness of key human resources processes. Later this week, part 2 will examine the third and final phase, and outline some questions that nonprofit managers and human resources professionals should ask about their own organization.
In this video, nonprofit executives and board members are reminded of the risks associated with not having a formal executive compensation policy and provided with guidance as to how to strengthen their organization’s governance of executive compensation.
View the video version of this post.
A recent survey found that 73% of nonprofit organizations have a formal policy to review executive compensation. As a human resources and management consultant to nonprofits, what I found striking about this statistic is that it means 27% of organizations do not have a formal policy.
Continue reading ‘Are Your Executive Compensation Bases Covered?’
In my previous post on the Mission Connected Blog, I made a case for the use of salary ranges by nonprofit organizations as a tool for ensuring equity and competitiveness in pay practices, linking pay to performance, communicating current and future opportunities to employees, and managing compensation costs. My new post, “Salary Ranges, Part 2: Anatomy of a Salary Range”, examines the construction of salary ranges and some of the considerations involved with their implementation and management.
My new post on the Mission Connected Blog,“Salary Ranges, Part 1: Why Ranges?”, makes a case for the use of salary ranges by nonprofit organizations as a tool for ensuring equity and competitiveness in pay practices, linking pay to performance, communicating current and future opportunities to employees, and managing compensation costs. In Part 2, we’ll examine the construction of salary ranges and some of the considerations involved with their implementation and management.
In a post a couple of weeks ago, I attempted to shed some light on the then-breaking “scandal” regarding the compensation of Roxanne Spillett, President of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. I was glad that my post, which was intended by as an analytic and non-judgmental look at the numbers behind the controversy, was received that way by most (including Dan Pallotta, an outspoken advocate for higher nonprofit pay levels). Hopefully, the conversation will take an even more informed turn once the additional information requested from BGCA by Senator Grassley et al. is received and becomes public. (The Senators requested that the additional information be provided by Monday, March 29th. To this point, there have been no reports with regard to the receipt or content of that information.)
While we wait, I wanted to respond to a very good question that I received regarding my original post. This involves an important clarification to the comparisons I provided, but also points to just how muddy the waters around nonprofit executive compensation analyses can be.
Continue reading ‘The Fine Print: BGCA Executive Pay Update’
I am very pleased to announce that I will be among the speakers at the 2010 Nonprofit Human Resources Conference!
The conference, which is produced by Nonprofit HR Solutions and sponsored by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, will be held October 3-5 in Washington, DC.
My session, “Pay for Today (and Tomorrow): Compensation in the Nonprofit Sector”, will take place on Monday, October 4th, from 3:45pm to 5:00pm. The session will:
Visit this link to learn more about the conference and make plans for attending. I hope to see you there!
My new post on the Mission Connected Blog,“The Buck Stops Where?”, takes a look at the appropriate positioning of compensation decision-making in nonprofit organizations.
Done by People is the professional blog of Joe Brown, Principal and Founder of Slope Resources, LLC.
Slope Resources provides a range of human resources and organization management consulting services to nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes. More....
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