Growing Up Nonprofit: Know when it is going well (and when it’s not)
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm Cardinal Creek
It’s a crazy world for nonprofit organizations. So much is going on that impacts you. So much is expected of you. Do you know how well you are doing? Are you healthy? In decline (or worse, in crisis)? In transition?
Let’s take the judgment out of the equation, look at the big pieces of any organization (money, people, programs…), and apply a life cycle framework to the assessment process. There are predictable transitions for every organization and ways to identify them when they happen. Let's talk about some of them together.
Come to this session, and leave with:
Judgment-free language for talking about organizational health even when things are bad.
Indicators for diagnosing where you are and what comes next.
Even a few metrics for the numbers side of organizational assessment.
Sara Peterson
Sara Peterson Consulting
Sara was part of a national consulting practice from 2000 to 2010. During that period, she led organizational development, planning, program evaluation, and search engagements; made numerous presentations on governance, evaluation and organizational change; managed the firm’s annual nonprofit conference; and managed marketing efforts within the firm’s nonprofit and government consulting group. She left the firm in 2010 to set up her own business — guiding clients in strategy, governance, and management. In the years since, then she has been honored to serve new and old clients in a busy solo practice.
Prior to 2000, Sara developed expertise as a private funder and a government attorney, serving as program officer to the James Ford Bell Foundation in Minnesota and as a litigator for the Iowa Department of Human Services.
Sara’s education includes graduate study at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs master’s program with a concentration in nonprofit management. She’s trained in program evaluation, conflict mediation, and board consulting (the last by BoardSource). She received a juris doctor with high distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in French with a minor in music performance from the University of Iowa.
She is a partner member of the Association of Governmental Risk Pools (AGRiP) and stays sharp as a member of BoardSource (Nonprofit Board Consulting Cert., 2018), the American Evaluation Association, and the International Listening Association
Her community service has included officer roles with WFIU Public Radio’s Community Advisory Board, the Monroe County Humane Association, the IAP2 USA Midwest Chapter, the Textile Center of Minnesota, and the Humphrey Institute Alumni Board; as well as work on the Nonprofit Alliance of Monroe County's training/outreach committee, the IAP2 USA board of directors, the Charities Review Council's marketing committee, and the League of Women Voters of Minneapolis' advisory board.
Sara Peterson has been a management consultant since 1998. In that time, she has assisted hundreds of organizations — from small, all-volunteer start-ups to a multi-billion-dollar funder.
Her work includes board development, planning and facilitation, program development and evaluation, organizational assessments, and related services. The bulk of her portfolio is with arts and culture nonprofits, local government, and – on her best days – where the two meet. It is a varied practice, but one that is always dedicated to helping clients do their jobs better.
