An old book on starting and running an NPO that just does not cut it in 2007.

books:

	• Starting and Running a Nonprofit Organization Joan M. Hummel University of Minnesota Press, 1996 - 152 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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Journeyman Survey of the Topic

I found the book useful, particularly for larger foundation type organizations with a mainstream charitable mission. Not as useful for smaller charities that do not have a large board of directors or advocacy\education types of nonprofits. I felt I got my money's worth, but had to read between the lines a bit to apply the information to my particular organization.

An old book on starting and running an NPO that just does not cut it in 2007.

This was an interesting little guide book written with nonprofit founders and executive directors in mind. The first edition was written back in 1980, and the current edition was written back in 1996. I think the time has come to put this book out to pasture - or write a new edition. The book just doesn't cut it in 2007. It really surprises me that Amazon still sells copies of it. The book is comprised of the following chapters:

1. Introduction
2. Startup checklist
3. The nonprofit Board
4. Organization bylaws
5. Legal issues
6. Mission, vision, and strategic goals
7. Financial intelligence
8. Bookkeeping
9. Raising funds (donations)
10. Staff and volunteers
11. Community relations
12. Resources that can help
13. Bibliography

Chapter 2 was a simple checklist of 37 items. I found many of the items to be pretty well thought out. In fact, I think the checklist is the high point of the book. However, it was deficient in my humble opinion. Small nonprofits are not all that different from small businesses. Both need to be conceptualized. Someone starting a small business needs to document a sound business model or profit model. And then a business plan must be written to explain how the person is going to create the business over a period of 3 months to a year. Instead of a business model nonprofits need an operations model. And instead of a business plan they need what is called a Financial and Operations Plan. Nowhere in the book's second chapter is there mention of the need for an Operations Model. Nor is there any mention of a Financial and Operations Plan. This is a serious flaw in the book.

Chapter 3 failed to mention that Board members should be wealthy and financially able and willing to make sizeable gifts to the organization. And it failed to properly highlight the duty of EVERY Board member regarding donating funds to their organizaton and soliciting funds from donors. This problem was made worse in Chapter 9 because there was no mention made of Board member duties regarding personal financial contributions and solicitation responsibilities. Furthermore, Chapter 9 on fundraising could have covered lots more material about fundraising and it didn't. There was way too much emphasis placed on grant fundraising and corporate donations, and not enough coverage on soliciting gifts from individuals.

Chapter 11 probably should have been entitled Marketing and Promotion instead of Community Relations. So much more could and should have been discussed that wasn't. Topics that come to mind are advertising, direct mail, public relations, and special events. It wouldn't be fair to add Internet and Web sites here since the book was written in 1996. So I won't.

Chapters 12 and 13 are out of date and pretty much worthless to a reader in 2007.

It is stated in this book that many nonprofits fail to reach their goals because they were not put together well in the first place. Many books fail to get high ratings because they are not put together well in the first place. Unfortunately that is the case with this book. 3 stars!

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purchase of a NPO book

The status of the book is alright, nothing to mention about that. About the shipping either, since it came all the way from oversea. This book gives just basic information and only usefull literature for the US, but still I estimate it's value as quite usefull especially for the first steps of your non profit org. Though it lacks of the connection between small, very local and nation wide operating n.p.o. First steps are wonderfully described, then nothing till you have your own board of directors and couple of departments under you. Therefore i can truely recommand this book of Hummel for beginners, for organisations in their childhood, because when you grow the rest will come anyway with your own experiences and a little help of this book's literature.

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A useful introduction for the dreamer...

I thought this was a great book for introducing the basic steps involved in starting a non-profit organization. It clarified some simple issues for me. I have ZERO experience in starting a non-profit organization and wanted to get an idea of what it takes to do so, and this book was a great starting point, although you will clearly want to move on to more "meaty" books if you actually get your organization off the ground. After a few hours, I had solid drafts of my mission statement, articles of incorporation, and bylaws, and I knew what I needed to do next. It might be too simplistic for large organizations, but it was perfect for my itty bitty dream!

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reviews: page 1, 2

Containing handy checklists, worksheets, and lists of resources, a standard handbook describes, step-by-step, all of the phases of creating and operating a new nonprofit agency, including obtaining tax-exempt status and creating a strategic plan. Original. UP.