National Indie Excellence Awards Winner in Leadership “Many go into nonprofit leadership unprepared for the twin demands of business management and measurable social impact. Finally, we have a resource that guides the way. Nick Grono’s masterful How to Lead Nonprofits is a book I will be recommending for years to come.” —Arthur C. Brooks, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Strength to Strength For nonprofit leaders who want to strengthen their leadership and increase the effectiveness of their organizations, a guide to achieving greater impact—featuring success stories from real nonprofit leaders Nonprofit leadership is hard. Most new nonprofit leaders are ill-prepared for the challenges they will face, and even those who are more experienced struggle to ensure their organizations deliver the change they are committed to.
Nonprofits are not meant to be run like businesses—different incentives drive different priorities. In particular, nonprofit leaders have a key advantage over business leaders in that purpose is fundamental to their organization’s work.
From Nick Grono, CEO of the Freedom Fund and a nonprofit leader with decades of experience,
How to Lead Nonprofits offers a leadership framework centered on what matters most for success:
- Achieving outsize impact by pursuing your organization's purpose
- Building an inclusive culture that motivates and empowers your team
- Partnering with the community you serve, funders, and peer organizations to scale impact
With examples and testimony from nonprofit and charity leaders around the world, framed by Grono’s own expertise, this is a highly usable guide to harnessing the power of purpose to shape everything your organization does—internally and externally—as you seek to change the world.
Industry Reviews
"""Many go into nonprofit leadership unprepared for the twin demands of business management and measurable social impact. Finally, we have a resource that guides the way. Nick Grono's masterful How to Lead Nonprofits is a book I will be recommending for years to come""
—Arthur C. Brooks,Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Strength to Strength
""Nick Grono has accomplished the rare feat of blending intellectual clarity with practical guidance . . . This work can help any nonprofit CEO who seeks to transform inspired purpose into a powerful flywheel of tangible impact.""
—Jim Collins, Author, Good to Great and Good to Great and the Social Sectors
""Nick Grono reflects on years of nonprofit leadership to produce a book that is timely, thoughtful, and necessary. There is a level of candor and vulnerability that makes it relatable to anyone who is in or aspires to nonprofit leadership in a way that corporate leadership books aren't.""
—Tirana Hassan, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
""Informed by Nick's decades of experience in the sector, How to Lead Nonprofits provides a very practical road map for leaders of all types of nonprofits, even with the complex range of challenges they face.""
—Cindy McCain, Executive Director, World Food Programme
""This is an important book for anyone looking to build nonprofit institutions that create enduring change. Nick understands the power of using the tools of business to create outsized impact in the social sector. Based on his lived experience, he powerfully outlines what it means both to build and to lead nonprofit organizations.""
—Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO, Acumen
""Drawing on the insights and practical knowledge garnered over his decades leading global nonprofit organizations, Nick Grono shares how nonprofit leaders can aim high and make an impact by focusing on the people and purpose that drive them.""
—Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation
""A valuable and much-needed contribution""
—Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch 1993-2022
""Every leader who wants to make a real difference in the world should read this book""
—Mabel van Oranje, Serial Social Entrepreneur, Founder, Leader; European Council on Foreign Relations, Girls Not Brides
""This book helps in giving clarity to leaders and those interested in learning how to succeed in leading nonprofits. It will be a great companion to leaders like me""
—Sophie Otiende, CEO, Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, and Cofounder, Azadi Kenya
""As a newish CEO, this is such a precious book to have on one's table. I was lucky enough to speak to Nick at the start of my tenure on some of points raised in his book, but to see it written down, especially the sections on impact, your priority as a CEO and defining your organisation's culture, is excellent. In fact, every chapter blends in so well it's hard to read one in isolation—take note, read it all.""
—Dr. Comfort Ero, President and CEO of the International Crisis Group
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