Nonprofit Leader Transition

Nonprofit organizations and public agencies may request technical assistance when an executive director or agency director leaves the organization. The technical assistance will be in the form of a mentor or coach for the new administrator.

Boards may apply for up to $1,500 for a consultant to support the new adminstrator during the transition.

Nonprofit Excellence Organizational Process

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation is offering three steps in the Nonprofit Excellence Organizational Process.  Your organization may request one step, or all three.  For more information about any of the three steps or for scheduling, please contact Jane McKelvy . 

Let NMF Be Your GPS:  Learn the Pathway to a More Efficient Organization

This 1 ½ hour workshop for Executive Directors and Governing Boards provides an opportunity for board discovery and growth.  This learning will unite board members with various levels of experience to function as a unit and use the experience and knowledge of all for the benefit of your organization. The workshop will help executive directors and governing boards understand the basic responsibilities of a nonprofit, the role of the board, board functions and the resources offered by NMF to assist their organization plan their journey.

Those participating in the workshop will:  learn the basic elements of a nonprofit; understand the difference between an organization’s vision and mission; identify the types of individuals that may best serve as board members; learn the basics of evaluation, benchmarks and celebration; identify potential “road blocks” and identify how the resources offered by NMF may assist the organization meet its mission and vision.

Introduction of Capacity Development and Organizational Excellence Assessment

During this meeting with an organization’s governing board, the concepts of capacity development and organizational assessment will be presented and discussed. As organizations grow, age and provide programs and services that are critical to the health and welfare of their community, revisiting their basic operations will help them identify their current status and opportunities for more efficient opportunities continued growth.

The most fundamental definition of capacity development is "actions that improve nonprofit effectiveness" (from Investing in Capacity Building by Barbara Blumenthal, published by The Foundation Center). Some other discussions about capacity building refer to the concept as actions that enhance a nonprofit's ability to work towards its mission.  We will discuss this with your board and identify how capacity development and the organizational excellence assessment are closely linked to help your organization identify opportunities for continued growth and development.

Organizational Excellence Assessment

This two day on-site assessment gives important information to decision makers about key functions of their nonprofit organization.  The process is designed as a dashboard…giving information to executive and governing board in a quick-read way.  The process is designed to define where you are, where you want to be and how can you get there quickly, efficiently and effectively.

The site visit may include: executive director interview, board chair interview, governing board focus group, key staff focus group or individual interviews and a workplace survey.  Documents will be requested for review by the consultant(s) conducting the assessment and will include financial statements, governing board bylaws, list of board members and their affiliations, employee handbook, employee and governing board job descriptions and the organization’s evaluation process.  When possible, these documents will be requested in electronic format. Other documents may be requested onsite and if applicable.

A dashboard report will be generated by the consultants and presented to the Executive Director and the Governing Board.  Once the report has been accepted by the board, capacity development grants of up to $3,000 may be accessed through NMF.  A grant match does apply, of which 50% can be in-kind.

The Governing Board of the organization must request this assessment.  Their commitment to the process must be demonstrated in a motion as recorded in their board minutes.  An agreement between the organization and NMF must also be signed.  A small fee for the process will be charged.  For organizations with 1-3 employees the fee is $250, 4-10 employees the fee is $500, 11-20 employees the fee is $750 and 20+ employees the fee is $1,000.