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What’s Next?

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By Sharon Danosky

It’s a question I have been pondering lately. I like this question because it looks forward.  At the same time it is a rather loaded question, because the flurry of activity we have seen at Danosky & Associates over the summer months is quite extraordinary.  From a consulting perspective – here is what we are seeing on the horizon:

Strategic Planning

There are a lot of requests and interest in developing strategic plans.  I believe our sector is taking a close look at what is needed in the near and longer-term and how to best prepare.  I also am finding that organizations are deeply introspective during the process.   They are no longer asking how their organization can ‘position’ itself; the conversation has shifted.  Instead, it is much more about how can we address the inequities, the gaps in service; how can we scale up or even pull back and go deeper into resolving inequities and lack of service.  And even how can we collaborate?

Strategic Assessments

These are very much aligned with the planning process, but instead of developing a plan, organizations are looking for assessments to find the direction they want their organizations to go.  This often includes strong community-based work, from data analysis to community surveys and bringing insights from people with lived experiences to the table.  And some of those traditional “tables” are being torn down so a more open and fluid discussion can be had.

Boards and Governance Re-Imagined

Since Anne Wallested’s article in SSRI on purpose-driven boards, I have been thinking a lot about how boards operate and how they are making themselves more aware of the issues facing the nonprofit sector.  I believe if there is going to be systemic change, it will come from our sector.  But not all nonprofits or their boards are aligned.  Systems work takes time and commitment.  It requires a strong connection to the communities that a nonprofit serves and understanding the power dynamics and inequities that exist between the community and many boards.  This is difficult work – but many boards are beginning this work.  This work is on a spectrum that is miles long and varies significantly in depth.  The real opportunity is that the work is beginning.  The challenge is to ensure it continues.

Funding

Always where the rubber meets the road.  There is a lot of call for building more sustainable fundraising plans, and a real commitment to building relationships with donors and creating partnerships that can foster meaningful change.  Perhaps nowhere is this more present than in the number of campaigns being considered.  And they are not just for buildings, but for investment in systems change, building infrastructure, building capacity, building collaborations and building new futures.

I have to make a confession here – I no idea what’s next – who does?  But whatever it is I see a new fearlessness on the part of many to go boldly forward and own the future.  We have learned how resilient we are and there are many people who have the desire to create more equitable future, where every person can participate, contribute meaningfully and belong.

Creating and Nurturing Diverse Boards

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This webinar was created in tandem with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

Listen to this incredible board of panelists share their insights into the importance of recognizing the necessity of diversity and representation in nonprofit leadership, and what you and your organization can do to foster a shift in the right direction.

245 Years and Still Waiting

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By Sharon Danosky

In a letter dated March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams writes to her husband, John Adams: “I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.

Nearly 250 years later, equity is still not yet within reach…

  • Women CEO’s at nonprofits earn 75% of what men do, according to Candid’s “2020 Nonprofit Compensation Report,” which is based on informational tax returns from more than 100,000 organizations
  • Women only account for 60% of the leadership in small nonprofits
  • Women of color face even greater pay gaps and more obstacles to career advancement

COVID-19 has exacerbated the inequities. Since the start of the pandemic, nearly 1 million nonprofit jobs have been lost and because nearly 75% of nonprofit employees are women, they have shouldered most of the losses. Women also had to leave their jobs when schools and childcare shut down.

The inequity in pay shudders throughout every aspect of a woman’s life. From the quality of life she can offer herself and her children, to retirement, to wealth accumulation for her heirs, even to our basic sense of self-worth. 

These discrepancies are perpetuated throughout our sector, and most especially at the board level, where there are fewer women on nonprofit boards and the ramifications of these discrepancies fail to be heard.       

Having been in this field a few decades now, I find it more than infuriating. We need to recognize the value in each other. We who have been in the field need to mentor new talent and stress their worth and value. We need to hold our male colleagues accountable. And we need to continually fight for every woman we hire – and pay her equitably from the start of her career. And board members need to think about the hiring practices of nonprofits that allow woman to be paid less money and not receive adequate health care benefits – assuming they will be on their husband’s health plan.

I hope, as we emerge from this pandemic, we commit to creating a world that is equitable for all and we challenge the norms that have become our country’s habit and history – for way more than 250 years.

Our Mission

We provide nonprofits the guidance, support and tools necessary to build a better world.

Our Vision

Every nonprofit will have the capacity to fulfill their missions and make the world a better place. 

Who We Are

Danosky & Associates is an action-oriented, results driven consulting firm that builds nonprofit capacity, applied through an equity lens with innovative strategies for an ever-emerging future. 

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