Organizational untruths are pervasive and corrosive, explains Belton. Truth telling is an essential practice that helps people thrive in their organizations while leading to increased individual and collective energy.

Editors' Note: As the likes of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and AIG live or die in the financial markets based in part on the strength or weakness of their assets and their ability to absorb financial shocks, many NPQ readers across the country will no doubt be considering their own financial stability and the perilous cutbacks that keep nonprofit service providers on the edge.

Employment policies are complex, may vary from state to state, and leave plenty of room for missteps that could cost you thousands of dollars.

What model does your board follow?

Your organization’s mission statement deserves to be elegant, precise, and even poetic because these words embody the reason your nonprofit exists.  History has seen few more exacting wordsmiths than the great haiku poets, and nonprofits can learn much from them.

Who votes matters, and building power within a nonprofit community can dramatically affect people’s lives.