Every year, nonprofit boards pack their bags for off-site retreats, hotel conference rooms, retreat centers, borrowed board rooms across town. Some return energized and aligned. Others come back wondering what they just spent two days and several thousand donor dollars on.

So, are nonprofit board retreats actually worth it? The honest answer: it depends entirely on how you run them.

We’d like to suggest that the traits of friendship should act as a guide for conduct for nonprofit organizations. In some ways, many nonprofit organizations adopt these (or similar) traits, which find form in their Core Organizational Values that often include inclusivity, collaboration, transparency, and integrity. These values are as important at the organizational level as the traits of friendship are on a personal level.

Not "do more with less" - the tired rallying cry that's become shorthand for asking already-stretched people to give even more of themselves. We're talking about something more honest, more humane, and frankly, more effective: doing less with less.

To set the strategic direction, it is imperative that board members understand the community needs that the organization is trying to address. This cannot be done in isolation. To do so would be contrary to the duty of care.

Structural biases still create inequities within the sector that negatively impact women, especially women of color, and we will explore these inequities throughout the blog, but we’ll begin by celebrating the work of a leader in Colorado’s nonprofit sector, Debra Locke.

People coming together demonstrating community.

Two men writing on a clear whiteboard

As the year draws to a close, nonprofit leaders often find themselves walking a tightrope. Economic uncertainty, political division, and shrinking public trust make it difficult to plan confidently, even for the next quarter, let alone the next five years.