I was reading this book on a plane flying into Durango Mexico. A mexican on the plane saw what I was reading and commented that I was reading the "Bible for non-profits". I got to talking to him and it turned out he was a former senator from Mexico who is now in charge of a large non-profit corporation in Chicago.
Peter Drucker is a great author. This book grew out of a series of taped interviews he had with leaders in non-profit organizations. The book is organized into 5 parts. "The Mission Comes First: and your role as a leader", "From Mission to Performance: effective strategies for marketing, innovation, and fund development", "Managing for Performance: how to define it; how to measure it", "People and Relationships: your staff, your board, your volunteers, your community", and "Developing Yourself: as a person as an executive, as a leader".
Drucker's advice is very practical and he illustrates it with well known examples like the American Heart Association, Girl Scouts, and The Salvation Army. He explores the way in which a non-profit should define and measure result and how to make decisions based on those results. He talks about how many organizations get so caught up in what they are doing that they don't take the time to see if they are being really effective. Drucker says that successful non-profit organizations are those that stay focused on their performance relative to their mission and are willing to cut or modify programs that aren't effective.
not bad,but neither good
it is pretty general,there is no such thing as advice or anything the like about practices.he insists in almost every chapter that the mission is the most important thing.the only intersting ideas in his book are some about leadership, but i felt very much that i already knew them,he only confirmed them.this is not to say i am a genius.i am 18, so i guess if you are involved in running a nonprofit for more than one year, you would be able to write a better book.
for a beginner it might be intersting to get it from the library, and read it in a train or so.
not bad, but getting a book on leadership,and other one on marketing is a much better idea.
A Useful Non-Profit Guide
Peter F. Drucker has put together an excellent resource for Non-Profit managers. The book is an easy read and is organized in a very thoughtful and ordered manner. The book guides you from the creation of a mission statement to the betterment of yourself as a person and an executive. The most interesting part of the book, in my opinion, are the interviews that accompany each chapter. Prominent leaders in the non-profit arena accent each topic with practical stories and practical results. The book begins with a helpful overview of what a non-profit organization is and what it should be doing in today's society. The rest of the book concentrates on making five points manifest. Part one emphasizes the importance of having a solid, practical, and workable mission statement. Part two shows you how to take that mission statement and turn it into pragmatic results. Part three focuses on management in the non-profit organization and how it differs from management in the business realm. Part four is a short tutorial that will enable you to get the most out of the people in your organization and part five pertains to personal development; development as a person, as an executive, and as a leader. This is the first Peter Drucker book I have read, but it won't be my last. I feel that he has a thorough understanding of the many differences between businesses and non-profits and eloquently offers useful insight on how to better the work of non-profit institutions.
He didn't make a strong argument for each point
This book contains a lot of useful information, yet the only problem lies on his way to express and prove it. Normally, I saw he made a point, then gave an example for that point which also help him jump to another point... After all, it's really hard to absorb something out of this book. It will be better if the author pays more attention to explain his point, makes his argument stronger.