Stop the nonprofit board blame game
How to Break the Cycle of Frustration Relationships and Benefit from Fully Engaged Boards
UNLOCK YOUR ORGANIZATION'S FULL POTENTIAL
Resolve some of the fundamental problems that plague many nonprofits and associations:
- Board members who don’t perform
- Volunteers who lose interest
- Strategic plans that aren’t used
- Fundraisers that flop
With decades of experience working in the high-speed corporate world of NASCAR racing and advocating for nonprofits and associations across the country, Hardy can provide expert advice and develop effective strategies to help solve business challenges and drive the operational change needed to bring your organization to the next level.
FEATURED TOPICS
Make Nonprofit Planning Pain-Free and Productive
Planning is a critical component to building event and organizational success. Yet many industry leaders avoid essential planning exercises, mainly because previous planning activity has proven to be a negative experience or has produced plans that aren’t used — or both. This presentation shows how to develop a planning process that is both pain-free and productive. You will learn how to avoid planning process mistakes, how to create participation engagement from your planning team, how to develop a successful and stress-free planning activity, how to produce an implementable plan.
Recruiting, Retaining, and Leading Volunteers
Volunteers can be the secret sauce for a successful nonprofit or executing a large event. However, individuals working with volunteers know the challenges they represent. They come, get trained, and are gone at a rate that strains productivity and efficient use of resources. This presentation addresses the challenges affecting volunteer engagement. You will get specific action takeaways that deal with the revolving door of volunteers. You will also learn strategies for leading volunteers and implementing a successful volunteer involvement program.
Creating Success for Nonprofit Leaders
Success and failure create many lessons and I’ve had plenty of experience with both. This motivational keynote, adaptable for either individuals or teams, provides positive reinforcement for overcoming adversity and achieving success. Expect me to deliver how-to action strategies through personal stories, humor, positive motivation, audience engagement, and a dose of tough love to reinforce key message points.
How to stop the nonprofit board blame game
My most requested presentation. With lessons and how-tos from my Amazon best-selling book, Stop The Nonprofit Board Blame Game, this presentation answers the question that frustrates so many nonprofit leaders — Why don’t board members do what they’re supposed to do? This presentation focuses on actions to avoid board member relationship mistakes, keys to recruiting and retaining productive board members, and why board members aren’t passionate about fundraising. A companion breakout session is available.
HARDY'S BLOG
Four Fast Nonprofit Board Recruiting Tips
Many of the challenges with board engagement can be solved with an improved recruiting process. Here are four fast board recruiting tips from my book,
7 Tips for Leading Volunteers
*I originally wrote this article for the Institute For Organization Management Blog and is based on lessons from my book, Stop The Nonprofit Board Blame
Four Fast Nonprofit Board Recruiting Tips
Many of the challenges with board engagement can be solved with an improved recruiting process. Here are four fast board recruiting tips from my book,
7 Tips for Leading Volunteers
*I originally wrote this article for the Institute For Organization Management Blog and is based on lessons from my book, Stop The Nonprofit Board Blame
FROM CLIENTS
“Hardy came highly recommended and he did not disappoint! He facilitated Volusia County Women Who Care’s first board workshop. From the start, he put everyone at ease and asked questions to engage the members resulting in a very productive session that provided the framework that will be used to plan for growing the impact of VCWWC.
“Thanks to Hardy Smith’s facilitation skills, our Seminole County Government’s elected officials and staff were able to gain a shared understanding of the critical goals we should be focusing on. He also helped our organization turn those goals into measurable, improved outcomes.”
“We connected with Hardy during our succession planning process. He was a great asset to the board and brought a wealth of insight to share on board governance. He kept us focused and connected to see our mission through.”
“The time Hardy Smith spent with us was transformational for our board. Identifying the most urgent actions, developing a growth mindset with an eye to the future of our organization and long range planning were all done with Hardy’s guidance. I highly recommend Hardy if you are trying to maximize what our board can contribute toward the growth of your organization.”
“Excellent ideas delivered professionally for presentation to our local Affiliate leaders!”
“I thought our board could just get together and have this discussion; I wasn’t at all sure we needed a mediator. Mea Culpa! It was extremely helpful to have an outside expert frame the discussion and organize the issues to be addressed. I don’t think we could have accomplished as much as we did without Hardy Smith.”
“Chamber professionals are life long learners and Hardy Smith’s session on effectively communicating with boards provided great information for executives at all levels.’
“Hardy’s presentation at HR Florida Leadership’s Conference was on point. He helped chapter leaders prep to create their annual strategic plan. After Hardy’s general session and workshop, the volunteers were energized and eager to begin their next phase of board leadership.”
“Hardy Smith continues to be an excellent resource as a speaker and an accessible thought leader for our members in the association management space. Hardy has a wonderful style of humor and anecdotes that drive his message home. I highly recommend Hardy if you are looking for a dynamic, knowledgeable, and amusing speaker.”
Hardy Smith is an impact player to any organization or event. He brings a wealth of valuable experience in such topics as fundraising, event planning and promotion, team building, and overall organizational performance. His philosophy, ideas, and strategies are creative, innovative, and most importantly are proven techniques that produce positive results and maximize outcomes…
Hardy Smith is an Event Planners dream! He is totally confident of who he is and what he does. He engages his audiences with his masterful story-telling and is the expert “go-to” resource for organizations and nonprofits who are seeking to find solutions to their many challenges. With his wit, wisdom, passion, and experience, we are honored to have Hardy on our team to showcase to the world.
I have known and worked with Hardy Smith for more than 20 years…he has a very unique background that provides him with skills and experiences that will benefit any nonprofit or volunteer based …I have seen him take on very complex issues and demonstrate an ability for delivering results.
Our planning session facilitated by Hardy Smith was very beneficial because he engaged the board in a critical conversation everyone knew needed to be had, but had not been willing to. The result was clarity on the engagement role of board members.
Hardy Smith did an outstanding job facilitating our board’s strategic planning session. He took time to understand the mission of our association and the businesses we represent. Our board members are either business owners or top level corporate executives. Hardy was very effective in getting everyone engaged and his get to the point approach was well received.
Having been in business a long time, I know what strategic planning is, but Hardy’s ability to take it and put it into four to five key elements and then talk about how it can be done without tons of paper work (and tons of hours), I found to be very efficient. He makes (strategic planning) doable.
“Hardy Smith spoke at the Florida Festivals & Events Convention on two topics and was one of our highest rated speakers by the attendees for both sessions. We rarely repeat speakers for two consecutive years, but based on the feedback from our members, we have asked Hardy to return to present a new topic. From a Meeting Planner perspective, Hardy is wonderful to work with. He is very well organized and prepared and also very willing to work with our marketing committee for pre-event promotional opportunities. I would highly recommend Hardy to any event organizer.”
“Thank you for your wonderful presentation during our Association Forum. I have heard nothing but rave reviews about the content of the presentation from attendees. Your time and dedication to learn more about our industry in advance enhanced the impact to those that were present.”
“It’s always a pleasure to have Hardy Smith with us because we know that our attendees will leave with information that they can instantly and easily implement. His How To Stop The Nonprofit Board Blame Game session was a hit with chamber professionals at our Spring Conference and they were excited to have the opportunity to purchase copies of his book.”
We asked Hardy to speak at the first virtual Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Regional Conference on how to engage board volunteers during the pandemic. He delivered a powerful and engaging message that left attendees inspired and informed on how to navigate through these unprecedented times. Thank you Hardy for your patience, flexibility and professionalism.
Thank you for speaking at our Association Executives Education Seminar. You knocked it out of the park and the reviews we have are very high.
Hardy is a wonderful resource for chamber of commerce professionals and their volunteer leaders. Hardy was diligent in incorporating participant interaction even in a virtual format. Our attendees were extremely engaged and appreciated his expertise.
COMPANIES HARDY HAS WORKED WITH
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Stop the Nonprofit Board Blame Game.