Triple Award Winner! 2005 Finalist - Best Business Book, Benjamin Franklin Awards.

2005 Finalist - Best Business Book, Independent Publisher Book Awards.

2005 Finalist - Book of the Year, ForeWard Magazine. How to keep your organization's mission forefront and do more good for more people.

In an environment of increasing competition and eroding trust, nonprofits are under pressure to up their ability to deliver on their mission. Stewardship is a paradigm-shifting way to view your role, your board, your staff, your funders, and yourself. Understanding that the nonprofit is rooted in its ownership by the community helps break the boundaries of turf and fragmentation that prevent sustainable impacts. Author Peter Brinckerhoff, internationally known expert at helping not-for-profits get more mission for their money, explains why stewardship is the smart thing to do and how you can use it to transform your organization. You'll discover...The eight characteristics of a mission-based steward (from the ability to balance competing priorities to the quest for life long learning); The various stewardship roles that exist in your not-for-profit, and why each is essential in a well-functioning organization; Three surprising truths about your not-for-profit (it's a business; you earn every dollar you take in; making a profit is a good thing); The nine characteristics of a successful not-for-profit (from a viable mission to tight controls); Fifteen warning signs of trouble in your organization (from no financial information to poor use of technology); An easy-to-use Stewardship Decision Tree to apply in a variety of situations (available as a download); Stewardship-rich ways to view your finances, your budgeting, and your financial reporting; A refreshing new perspective on the relationship between funders and not-for-profits; Crisis management tools that really work; A stewardship self-assessment to use now as a starting point, and later as a reference point to measure your progress. Comprehensive, passionate, and practical. Dozens of real-world examples make this book relevant. Specific applications of stewardship concepts make it hands-on and immediately useful. First-person stories from the author's considerable experience make it authoritative and reassuring. End-of-chapter discussion questions reprise key points and reinforce important ideas. Nonprofit Stewardship is recommended for leaders of all types of not-for-profit organizations serving individuals, the local community, the state, the nation, or the world. Also recommended for donors, grantmakers, government agencies, and others who fund your work.