DCM Leadership Articles for the Nonprofit Sphere

The Nonprofit Times
Dennis C. Miller, founder & chairman of DCM Associates, a national search firm, weighs in on what a successful nonprofit organization executive search process entails.

What steps can you take to ensure that 2023 is a strong year for your organization? Here are nine recommendations.

Your organization’s CEO just announced that they are retiring or resigning from their position. Your entire board has relied upon that person for everything over the last few years when it came to guiding your organization forward through all of ...

Introspection and action will key successful 2022 The work that you and your organization are doing is more important than ever. What steps can you take to ensure that 2022 is a strong year for your organization? Read Full Article

High-performing nonprofit organizations are constantly open to learning new ideas and inquiring from others on the best practices and leadership competencies necessary to both sustain their mission and achieve their strategic vision. With the self-confidence that comes from the knowledge ...

How long should a person serve on a nonprofit board? There are many opinions about the issue of having term limits in place for board members. Some argue that losing long-term board members with institutional memory can have a negative ...

Bringing about organizational change can be a difficult task. But we all know that change is a vital business strategy for every organization, especially during these challenging times. Overcoming your team’s resistance to change is not impossible, but it does ...

The nonprofit sector is the glue that keeps our communities together, especially during times of crisis. As the entire country continues to struggle and cope with the coronavirus, what can our nation’s nonprofit organizations do to succeed, not just survive ...

Every nonprofit organization needs to recruit new members to serve on their board. When properly identified, recruited and onboarded, incoming board members will bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to the challenges and opportunities the organization needs to address. ...

Every nonprofit organization relies upon the philanthropic support of others to ensure that the necessary resources are available to carry out their mission. Yet, despite all the knowledge about fundraising, many nonprofits struggle. Read Full Article

If a board feels that its CEO is not performing at the level it expects, it has the authority to develop and implement a performance improvement plan, and monitor the progress of the CEO’s success. Read Full Article

Everyone in government, business and nonprofit is scrambling to cope with the highly uncertain and rapidly-changing landscape. You are not alone. We are all in this together.

Probing the executive: Give me an example Many recruiters aim to validate the claims made by executives during the interview process. Dennis C. Miller of Dennis C. Miller Associates recruits executives and board members for Nonprofit organizations in the US ...

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Exempt: The Financial Magazine For Nonprofit Executives

The Nonprofit Times: The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management

A strong sense of leadership, just like any talent, takes practice. Leaders are not simply born into a position of power and expected to instill wonder within their followers.

Dennis C. Miller grew up in an abusive household. His childhood years were filled with mental stress and feelings of despair and hopelessness. As a young man, Miller sought out the help he needed. This included a short stay in a psychiatric hospital and counseling.

I met a leader in my neighborhood the other day. She doesn’t wear designer business suits or travel with an entourage of assistants. In fact, when I see her she is usually wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, and is buys moving packages from the porch of her church to the trunk of her compact SUV.

Leadership is a behavior, not a position or a title. While some executives exhibit remarkable leadership behaviors, others simply become good managers, never fully realizing their capacity for leadership. The latter will likely have the skill and determination to operate a program and possibly even oversee an organization. It is the former, however, who will successfully guide an organization toward unlocking its true potential.

It just doesn’t make any sense. Mention to someone that you have a chronic condition like high cholesterol or heart disease, and they will shower you with empathy, offers of assistance, and maybe even a recipe for a healthy snack. Mention that you suffer from mental illness, and the same person is just as likely to find a quick excuse to exit the conversation.

What are board members looking for in an executive director? You may be surprised to learn that the skills they care most about are completely different from what they sought in the past.

“What’s wrong with millennials?” is a common starting point for discussion, whether it’s about their work habits, their (overstated) love of job-hopping or their ability to handle feedback.

“Mentoring is the thing that propels people to successful lives, in my opinion. It’s a great support system, it builds your self-confidence, and, more importantly, even if you’re asking for a mentor, I find — particularly with millennials — millennials can mentor you, too.” ~Dennis C. Miller

The cost of depression hits hard, but the good news — for staff and CEOs alike — is that businesses are getting proactive in their approach to it.

Nonprofit boards are seeking a chief executive with transformational leadership styles. Board members previously often placed a strong emphasis on recruiting chief executives who were passionate about the mission, experienced with grant writing, program development, possessed good management and community relationship skills.

The vast majority of nonprofits have great, dedicated and committed executives and wonderful individual board members. Yet, one of the most common questions asked is “how do we create a high performing board as a whole?”

The strategic planning process can be one of the most exciting times for a nonprofit’s leader-ship and board of trustees. A new vision statement is created. A set of strategic goals, which is needed to achieve the vision, is identified.

A "revitalized" nonprofit board is actively engaged in philanthropy. However, most board members would rather "stick pins in their eyes" than participate in fundraising. We need to change from the "Tin Cup Theory" to the "Investment Theory" of fundraising to ...

The NonProfit Times has created a new column for readers to ask questions they have regarding issues with their board. Each month a few questions will be selected for a response in this column.

The roles and responsibilities of boards and their members have been well researched and written about by experts in the field. Based upon my experience, knowing what to do and actually doing it are two different things. To unlock your ...

The roles and responsibilities of boards and their members have been well researched and written about by experts in the field. Based upon my experience, knowing what to do and actually doing it are two different things. To unlock your ...