National Council of Nonprofit Associations

Donors tend to reward organizations with the "leanest" profiles. They also skew their funding towards programmatic activities. Nonprofit leaders, in turn, feel pressure to conform to funders' expectations by spending as little as possible on overhead-and by under-reporting overhead costs.

These behaviors describe a vicious cycle that has already been recognized in the nonprofit sector but which persists nonetheless. This article by William Bedsworth, Ann Goggins Gregory, and Don Howard offers steps towards breaking down the cycle, based largely on in-depth profiles of four youth-serving nonprofits that have managed to expand their capacities in critical ways despite the cycle's pressures.

This free online guide captures and organizes good practices for nonprofits and foundations. There are thousands of effectiveness-building tips and resources on topics including:

• Accountability and Evaluation;
• Advocacy;
• Communications and Marketing;
• Foundations and Grantmaking;
• Fundraising and Financial Sustainability;
• Governance;
• Management and Leadership;
• Staff Development and Organizational Capacity;
• Technology; and
• Volunteer Management.

Corporate sponsorship is a terrific way for a business to support a nonprofit's mission and for a nonprofit to realize revenue to help move that mission forward. By making a financial contribution that is visible, the business gains public recognition for its support. Fundamentally nonprofits need to recognize that in order to attract a corporate sponsor, the nonprofit needs to offer the business an attractive return for its investment, such as recognition for the corporation's support in a very public way.