An exciting, grand historical evolution of American society is taking place: For-profit and nonprofit domains are converging. Many of the entrepreneurial and organizational practices and frameworks found most frequently in the business world are finding increased adoption in the social sector, just as generating positive social benefit is becoming a more common bottom-line concern in the world of business. In this new era, all organizations, regardless of tax status, must do good and perform well.

Scaling anything — for-profit or nonprofit — is difficult. Nonprofit board members should seek rapid growth of capital — success, not survival. And that means looking past ineffective models around philanthropy, capital campaigns, fundraising events, and the like. Stay tuned on for more to come on specific strategies and solutions around this critical success factor.

Gotta-Have #1: Board members with proven entrepreneurial and growth expertise who demand and support high-performing executive teams
Gotta-Have #2: Strong planning and execution architecture
Gotta-Have #3: Strong Culture

It’s difficult to talk about how sector-based thinking is killing millions of vulnerable people and poisoning our ecosystem without being labeled Dougie Downer. But going back to the more powerful problem-solution-proof framework, let us understand that sector-specific thinking truly is a dangerous and destructive problem. We are, in fact, burning up the planet and using the proceeds to band-aid over the damage. Luckily, there is an exciting and powerful solution; one that is rising from the confluence of the sectors and the emergence of a “people, planet, profit” mindset; one that can encompass every organization, from corporate to agency to nonprofit.

Read the full article about 3 gotta-haves for boards seeking impact and scale by Donald Summers at BoardSource.