Why I Wrote the SfS Book
Lot's of books have been written for nonprofits. People often wonder why I thought the world needed yet another one, and one focused narrowly on nonprofit corporate secretaries of the smallest organizations?
Most NPOs are small. Of the 1.6-million nonprofits in the U.S., a little over half are charitable organizations. Of these, two-thirds ... about 550,000 exempt organizations ... have gross receipts less than $25,000. These organizations cannot afford a paid professional staff. From their board of directors on down, they’re all-volunteer operations.
Officers and directors of small nonprofits are often nominated and elected simply because nobody else wants the job. Their most significant qualification is that they don’t have the mettle (or the heart) to say, "No". While volunteers are sometimes able to bring needed expertise to the organization, more often than not, the millions who are willing to give of their time come only with belief in the mission and a willingness to help. That’s admirable, of course. But it’s a handicap that keeps most of these NPOs amateurish, small, and much less effective than they’d like to be.
The corporate secretary is usually the hardest working and least appreciated member of an executive board. The Secretary does whatever it takes to make everyone else look good. Not sure you’re up to that? If you’re earnest about helping your organization build a professional-looking image and manage itself effectively, this handbook will help make up for the training and experience you aren’t able to bring to your new job. In fact, you’ll probably be the best Secretary your board has ever had!
In the process of writing the book, I developed lots of examples, templates and other useful things that I originally intended to provide with the book on a companion CD. Then I realized that a supporting web site would be a much better idea. In addition to making the downloads easily available and always up to date, I could offer even more. Among other things, the SfS website has a forum where those interested can ask questions, share ideas, or just network. Best of all, all those resources would be available to everyone, anywhere in the world. I welcome you to take advantage of that, book-buyer or not, and hope you'll find something useful there.
Solutions for Secretaries Web Site
Most NPOs are small. Of the 1.6-million nonprofits in the U.S., a little over half are charitable organizations. Of these, two-thirds ... about 550,000 exempt organizations ... have gross receipts less than $25,000. These organizations cannot afford a paid professional staff. From their board of directors on down, they’re all-volunteer operations.
Officers and directors of small nonprofits are often nominated and elected simply because nobody else wants the job. Their most significant qualification is that they don’t have the mettle (or the heart) to say, "No". While volunteers are sometimes able to bring needed expertise to the organization, more often than not, the millions who are willing to give of their time come only with belief in the mission and a willingness to help. That’s admirable, of course. But it’s a handicap that keeps most of these NPOs amateurish, small, and much less effective than they’d like to be.
The corporate secretary is usually the hardest working and least appreciated member of an executive board. The Secretary does whatever it takes to make everyone else look good. Not sure you’re up to that? If you’re earnest about helping your organization build a professional-looking image and manage itself effectively, this handbook will help make up for the training and experience you aren’t able to bring to your new job. In fact, you’ll probably be the best Secretary your board has ever had!
In the process of writing the book, I developed lots of examples, templates and other useful things that I originally intended to provide with the book on a companion CD. Then I realized that a supporting web site would be a much better idea. In addition to making the downloads easily available and always up to date, I could offer even more. Among other things, the SfS website has a forum where those interested can ask questions, share ideas, or just network. Best of all, all those resources would be available to everyone, anywhere in the world. I welcome you to take advantage of that, book-buyer or not, and hope you'll find something useful there.
Solutions for Secretaries Web Site
posted by Gene Warner at
12:32 PM
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