How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization: From Writing and Managing Grants to Fundraising, Board Development, and Strategic Planning [Paperback]

Michael A. Sand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2005

Agency professionals at every level will find themselves referring to How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization anytime they have a problem and need helpful, practical and to-the-point advice from an acknowledged leader in the field. Each of the nine chapters includes numerous practical recommendations: * Board members will learn how to run effective meetings and get and keep the best people on their team. * Busy staff members will learn how to maximize opportunities to obtain grant funds while minimizing the time spent. * Grant writers will learn how to prepare better proposals and how to manage the funds once they get them. * Agencies will learn how to establish an outstanding volunteer program and how to form community coalitions that work. * And everyone will learn effective strategies to help improve supervisory, personnel, and general management skills. Is it easy to manage an excellent nonprofit organization? The answer to that questions is easily, "no". Agency professionals at every level will find themselves referring to How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization anytime they have a problem and need helpful, practical and to-the-point advice from an acknowledged leader in the field.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MICHAEL A. SAND heads Sand Associates, a management-consulting firm based in Harrisburg, PA. For more than 25 years, he has led practical workshops for representatives of nonprofit groups. He also provides assistance in board development, strategic planning, grant writing, and fundraising. In addition, he has formed a Grant Writing and Grant Management Group to assist nonprofits in researching, writing, and managing grant funds. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Career Press (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564148041
• ISBN-13: 978-1564148049
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael A. Sand, Esq., the author of How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization, has more than 40 years' experience as a staff member, board member and consultant to nonprofit groups that need to raise funds. Mike heads Sand Associates, a consulting firm that provides comprehensive services to nonprofit organizations across the country. He lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed, August 5, 2007

By 

Imara219 (Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization: From Writing and Managing Grants to Fundraising, Board Development, and Strategic Planning (Paperback)

After reading all of the reviews here on Amazon I jumped at buying this book. I thought it would be the only source I needed, for now. However, as soon as I started reading it I was completely lost and I felt like my non-profit idea was a lost cause. This book appears to best represent large non-profits, or organizations that are already est.

The leading chp. discussed boards, not even helpful hints on building a board, just information on how to strengthen your board and how to give them clear duties. Huh, this was totally disconcerting for me b/c I don't even have a board! By chp 3 the author finally discussed something that I could use, except I was so befuddled at this point that I didn't want to continue. Why talk about the importance of planning or developing a plan in chp 3, shouldn't this come sooner? Why not break down what non-profits are to some ppl and how they have changed in the first few chps.? Why instead talk about boards and how to call meetings in the first chp.? None of this was particularly helpful for someone like me.

I think this is a great overview for ppl already have an organization but want to improve it. For people starting like me or starting small I recommend "How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization." Now that book so far has been indispensable.

Update:
I'm sorry if there was some confusion with my review. Basically, I still believe that this book is a great resource for larger, well established organizations, but for people like me, starting a much smaller non-profit from the ground up it was only a slight overview that wasn't entirely helpful. I instead would recommend "Managing a Nonprofit Organization in the 21st Century" by Thomas Wolf, ISBN 978-0-684-84990-4. I apologize for the confusion I caused by listing the wrong title in my previous review. I felt as if Thomas Wolf's book was more comprehensible for starting and maintaining a non-profit.

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Nonprofit Corporation Is Still a Corporation, January 16, 2006

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization: From Writing and Managing Grants to Fundraising, Board Development, and Strategic Planning (Paperback)

Author Michael A. Sand, a consultant to nonprofit organizations for more than 25 years, has condensed his experience and knowledge of not-for-profit agencies into an information-packed book. He thoroughly covers the ABCs of managing a community service agency - from forming and operating a governing board to writing better grant proposals to hiring and supervising a productive staff. This handy reference is straightforward and easy to follow. It tackles many of the problems nonprofit organizations face everyday. Each chapter is accessibly divided into an outline format with headlines and bullet points, making the information easy to find and digest. The author includes sound, basic management material that might apply to most small businesses, as well as nonprofits, but unfortunately does not include case studies, anecdotes or real life examples to support his suggested strategies. Still, if we ever offered a start-up or refresher course called Nonprofit Agency Management 101, this book would be required reading.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read but not too helpful, July 2, 2008

By 

R. Maung - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Manage an Effective Nonprofit Organization: From Writing and Managing Grants to Fundraising, Board Development, and Strategic Planning (Paperback)

It's very easy to read, and rather comprehensive in the sense that it covers everything regarding management of the non profit. But it's not as helpful as I will like as it doesn't really go into details and the how to's and the examples and such. I would've liked more of that.