The Nonprofit Handbook : Management (Wiley Nonprofit Law, Finance, and Management Series)

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive first stop for nonprofit management issues
Review: If you have a management issue that needs attention in your nonprofit organization, make this book your first stop. It covers a multitude of relevant nonprofit management topics, including HR, fundraising, finance, IT, etc.

I say FIRST stop, however, because the book is probably not going to provide you with detailed enough information. Some topics, like unrelated business income, are treated quite exhaustively. Others, like the chapters on accounting and on how to solve a financial problem in a nonprofit organization, were pretty light. (In the latter case, most of the chapter is spent on cutting expenses, while the ultimate solution--increasing revenues--got only a page.) Each chapter, however, has a bibliography at the end which will direct you to further resources. This was the main value of the book for me.

My advice: good reference, but check this tome out of the library.

Rating:
Summary: Covers just about every conceivable topic of management
Review: When the IRS recently took the position that special events can sometimes be taxed - for example, if an event takes six months or longer to create - U.S. fund development professionals and nonprofit managers began to ask, "Are our events going to have a problem"? and "What is the rationale for such a tax"? and "Where do I go for more information on this topic"?   If your development office had a copy of the just-published work, The Nonprofit Handbook: Management (Second Edition), you'd find your answer right there, in chapter 27, "Unrelated Business Income."  This encyclopedic volume on just about every conceivable topic on the subject of the management of nonprofit organizations is a well-thought-out collection of articles by many of the best experts on the various aspects of nonprofit management.  Indeed, its chief strength is that it covers so much ground -- covering strategic planning, human resources, communication, fund raising, information management, accounting, finance, and legal issues.   Tracy Connors, the book's editor, has done a good job in selecting the experts who have contributed articles.  Attorney Bruce Hopkins, for example, is perhaps the best known author of books and articles on the law of tax exempt organizations.  He has contributed a useful chapter on that subject in this volume.  (We'll be reviewing his book, Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, in the future.)   In covering so much ground, the handbook at times leaves the reader wanting to delve deeper.  That was anticipated, it seems: Each chapter provides a "suggested reading" list, making the work a good launchpad for deeper study, if needed.   The Nonprofit Handbook:  Management is a valuable resource for anyone in a nonprofit organization responsible for strategic and operational management decisions.  That would include fund development officers in universities, health care organizations, arts organizations, cause-oriented nonprofits, and so forth.  It is also invaluable to nonprofit CEOs, COOs, CFOs, VPs, board members, human resources directors, and so forth.