Non-profit Leadership Resources

Leadership styles can vary greatly depending on personal values, characteristics and preferences. At some point, non-profit leaders should evaluate their personal leadership style and reflect on how their style impacts their organization.

Our resources on leadership are designed to help senior and executive staff build stronger non-profits in myriad ways – from hiring and motivating staff to creating a culture of inquiry. While many articles provide practical advice for improving skills in areas like financial management and technology use, others explore the very essence of what it means to provide leadership in the non-profit sector.

Articles & Reports on Non-profit Leadership

Audio Podcasts on Non-profit Leadership

Columns & Blogs on Non-profit Leadership

Why “Time Management” Raises More Questions Than It Answers (Consultants Corner)
Solving the Mystery of Trust (Consultants Corner)
Organizational Drama: A Systems Look at Conflict (Consultants Corner)
Teams, the Economy and Stress (Consultants Corner)
A Global Perspective on the Nonprofit Sector (ED Forum)
In Support of Healthy Epidemics (ED Forum)
Staff: From Good to Great (ED Forum)
The Power of Questions (ED Forum)
Supporting Nonprofit Leaders Now and into the Future (ED Forum)

Links on Non-profit Leadership

Web Resources

CompassPoint. Daring to Lead 2006.
A study of executive leadership in the nonprofit sector, focusing on factors that influence both success and burn-out on the job
Leader to Leader Institute
A site devoted to leadership within the social sector; offers a quarterly journal, books, videos, and other resources
Nonprofit Good Practice Guide: Management and Leadership
Provides a glossary of relevant terminology with links to articles, websites, and other resources
Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace. Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women.
A participatory approach to leadership that focuses on communication and the empowerment of women; chapters provide a usable framework of workshop sessions that can be adapted according to the reader’s needs

Resources on Emerging Leaders

Independent Sector
A resource list of articles, reports and organizations that provide leadership development and training opportunities for emerging leaders
The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Up Next: Generation Change and the Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations.
Discusses the implications of the Baby Boomers’ transition out of the nonprofit sector and provides recommendations on how to acclimate the new generation of leaders into the field
The Forbes Funds. Look Here! Attracting and Developing the Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders. (2004).

Workshops

Interactive Institute for Social Change (IISC)
Provides workshops on facilitative leadership, coaching, community building for grassroots leaders, civic leadership and training for new managers

Publications

Bornstein, David. 2004. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Carlson, Mim and Margaret Donohue. 2003. The Executive Director’s Survival Guide: Thriving as a Nonprofit Leader. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Coughlin, Linda, Ellen Wingard, and Keith Hollihan, eds. 2005. Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
A compendium of excellent articles on leadership; a good book for all people, although there is a focus on women’s leadership
Heifetz, Ronald. 1998. Leadership without Easy Answers. Belknap Press.
Krile, James. 2006. Community Leadership Handbook: Framing Ideas, Building Relationships, and Mobilizing Resources. Saint Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance.
Light, Paul. 2004. Sustaining Nonprofit Performance: The Case for Capacity-Building and the Evidence to Support It. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Linnell, Deborah, Zora Radosevich, and Jonathan Spack. 2002. Executive Directors Guide: The Guide for Successful Nonprofit Management. Boston: Third Sector New England.