Beth Chase Blog

I am a huge believer in organizational annual directional statements for two rather simple reasons. First, the annual directional statement provides clear instructions as to what the board expects of the Executive Director. Second, I’ve found that most effective nonprofit organizations consistently use annual directional statements.  What is an annual directional statement? An annual directional statement […]

I recently read about a study where 46 college students at the University of Texas, Austin, were asked to write about life events for 15 minutes for four consecutive days. Some were told to do expressive writing and others to write about trivial matters. In the six months following, the students who wrote about their […]

I love “never give up” stories. Here is one that a friend sent me today about Sylvester Stallone and I decided that I just had to pass it on to you. Enjoy… – Begin – Sylvester Stallone grew up in and out of foster homes. As a young adult, he had to sell his dog […]

Barry Diller – owner of Ask.com Carl Lindner – founder of United Dairy Farmers Dave Thomas – founder of Wendy’s David Geffen – co-founder of DreamWorks David Green – founder of Hobby Lobby Henry Ford – founder of Ford Motor Company John D. Rockefeller Sr., – founder of Standard Oil John Paul DeJoria – co-founder […]

Recently, I was asked to attend a church business meeting. The senior pastor had resigned in response to a call to teach at a seminary in Africa. Everyone loved this pastor and while they were sad to see him go, they respected his act of obedience to God’s leading. The denomination’s regional superintendent held this […]

The most powerful fundraising action you can do this December is for the board, staff, and executive director to make personal phone calls to your donors thanking them for supporting your organization and wishing them a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. These are short, to-the-point messages. You can say something like this: “Hello Mrs. […]

While Executive Directors are responsible for what happens in their organization, just because the leader has power, does not mean that they should use it – especially if they want to build a culture of trust, respect, and transparency. Sometimes, an action can be an obvious misuse of power. Other times, it’s more difficult. Here […]