Effect Collective

05/11/2026

There's something powerful about watching a board slow down long enough to actually think together.

This weekend I had the pleasure of facilitating a board retreat with the team at Egan Maritime Institute on Nantucket. We worked through strategic priorities, what it means to be an ambassador for an organization's mission, and how to tell their unique story in a way that sticks.

The best retreats don't just move through an agenda. They make space for the conversations people have been meaning to have.

Grateful for the trust, and for a group that showed up ready to do real work. (The harbor view didn't hurt either.)

04/21/2026

The Most Powerful Board Committee Might Not Be the One You Think

Most boards have a Finance Committee. It reviews budgets, monitors cash flow, and sometimes has a subcommittee that oversees investments. That work is essential and many people think it is the most powerful committee of the board.

But the committee with the greatest long-term impact may be the Nominating Committee.

Why? Because the Nominating Committee helps determine who will be sitting around the table making decisions about the future.

Board composition affects everything: culture, risk tolerance, strategic direction, donor connections, CEO oversight, and whether the board is willing to ask the hard questions when it matters most.

When you get board composition right, good governance becomes much more achievable. When you get it wrong, no policy, committee structure, or retreat is going to solve the problem.

Too often, though, the Nominating Committee is treated like a backup function. A small group that springs into action before the annual meeting to fill empty seats. There is no skills matrix, no pipeline, and no real selection criteria beyond, “They care about the organization and would probably say yes.” That is not a strong nominating process. That is a last-minute scramble.

The strongest Nominating Committees work throughout the year. They identify gaps. They build relationships. They think about the board the organization will need three years from now, not just who is available today. They recruit for both mission alignment and needed expertise. They understand that every board seat is a strategic choice.

If your Nominating Committee only meets in the spring, it may be time to rethink its role. Because who serves on your board is one of the most important governance decisions your organization makes. Treat it that way.

Is your Nominating Committee truly shaping the future of the board, or just filling seats?

04/08/2026

Bylaws untouched for a decade.
Committees that exist on paper only.
Policies nobody's looked at since President Obama.

Sound familiar?
Our April newsletter is about the one thing that gets this unstuck.

💫 The Effect: Who Owns It?

04/07/2026

The issue usually isn’t bad board members. It’s unclear expectations.

If no one has defined what “engaged” actually means, people default to what feels safe: attend meetings, vote on the budget, call it a day.

The fix isn’t a new committee. It’s a direct conversation about what this organization actually needs from its board — and whether the current board signed up for that.

Most organizations haven’t had that conversation.

That’s the work.

04/06/2026

03/31/2026

At the heart of Passover is a story every generation is asked to retell. Not just to remember, but to find themselves in it.

Passover reminds us that freedom is not a given. It has to be chosen, protected, and passed on.

We're grateful for the leaders and communities who carry that responsibility seriously, in their organizations and in the world. Wishing all who celebrate a joyful, meaningful Passover.
Chag Sameach.

03/29/2026

On Sundays, we retreat! Happy to be with my Boca executive committe friends as part of my Florida Part 3 tour.

03/26/2026

We are living through a moment of breathtaking ethical breaches with conflicts of interest in government treated as business as usual, tech billionaires leveraging public access for private gain, corporations quietly abandoning commitments the moment the political winds shifted.

And yet nonprofits remain the most trusted sector in America. According to Independent Sector's 2025 study, 57% of Americans report high trust in nonprofits, more than they trust government, media, or corporations.

Nonprofits are filling a trust vacuum that every other institution has created. That is a remarkable position. And a precarious one.

The irony is this: the very erosion of ethics everywhere else is what is elevating the sector. But that also means the bar for nonprofit conduct has never been higher, and the consequences of falling short have never been steeper.

Donors, volunteers, and the communities you serve are watching with far more scrutiny than they used to. Not because they distrust you, but because they have been burned by everyone else.

So ask yourself the hard questions;

Does your board conflict of interest policy actually get enforced?

Is your financial transparency as strong as it could be?

Would your practices withstand front-page scrutiny?

You do not get to claim ethical leadership just because others have failed. You have to earn it every year, through governance and operational choices that match the values on your website.

The world is watching. Lead accordingly.

03/23/2026

We had a fun morning talking about Managing the Overload and Managing the Middle Squeeze at the PEP-RJ conference.

03/14/2026

Women inherit twice. Is your nonprofit ready?

A new CNBC report puts some striking numbers on what many of us in the nonprofit world already sense is coming. Between now and 2048, $54 trillion will transfer to widowed spouses and 95% of that will go to women.

But here's the part that doesn't get enough attention: for many women, especially in older generations, this is actually the second time they'll come into significant wealth. The first time was when their own parents passed. The second is when their spouse does.

That's two moments of philanthropic decision-making. Two inflection points when values get examined, priorities get reset, and giving patterns get established or changed. Two opportunities for your organization to be the place she turns. Or isn't.

Your donor relationships may be built on the wrong foundation. If your major gift cultivation has been primarily with the husband, you may not have a relationship with the person who will soon control the assets. That's a structural problem, not a personal one, and it's fixable.

Planned giving conversations need to include both spouses. A bequest intention made jointly may be revisited after a spouse dies. Women who inherit wealth often reassess philanthropic priorities. If you haven't built trust with her independently, don't assume continuity.

Women donors give differently and respond to engagement built around that. Research consistently shows that women want to understand impact, feel connected to mission, and give in community with others. This isn't a niche insight anymore; it's the basis for a fundraising strategy.

Consider:
🔹 Women's philanthropy circles or giving societies that center peer connection and shared values
🔹 Impact-forward communications that show what changed because of a gift, not just how much was raised
🔹 Events and convenings designed for women donors specifically, not as an add-on, but as a primary engagement vehicle
🔹 Donor education programming that builds financial confidence and philanthropic identity together

The window to act is now, not after the transfer happens. By the time the wealth moves, the relationships that will determine where it goes are already forming. Nonprofits that wait until a donor becomes a widow to start the relationship will almost certainly lose her. Two inheritances mean two chances to get it right or wrong.

Women's philanthropy programs aren't just a fundraising tactic. They're a long-term loyalty strategy that spans decades and, potentially, generations.

Boards and executive teams: this is worth a dedicated conversation about your donor portfolio, your pipeline, and how you're intentionally building relationships with the women in your donors' lives and with women donors in their own right.

03/11/2026

Nothing like a deep-dive workshop with mid-stage organizations to help them evolve their boards on a 52 degree and sunny day in Boston!