Futurism Thinking for Nonprofits
October 4, 2025
With increasing demands for service and rapidly diminishing resources for responding to those demands, nonprofits must find new approaches for making their mission happen. Throw
Welcome to Hardy Smith’s blog, where he shares experience and insight learned through decades in the corporate world and advocating on behalf of nonprofits and associations across America.
Hardy’s mission is to help maximize the performance of nonprofits and associations and their essential leadership teams.
If you’re seeking to triumph over communication challenges, bring meaningful and manageable solutions to, and realize measurable results of your organization, this blog will give you more than ideas — it will maximize your team’s performance like never before.
With increasing demands for service and rapidly diminishing resources for responding to those demands, nonprofits must find new approaches for making their mission happen. Throw
When your organization hits a crisis—one big enough to threaten its future—how do you lead it back from the brink? To find out, I spoke
It’s the half-way point for this year. Where is your nonprofit on achieving it’s priority goals?
Investing time in reading should be a priority for every nonprofit, association, and chamber of commerce leader.
Here’s my latest list of recommended reading to help leaders improve their skills.
Nonprofits spent most of 2020 in a reactive mode caused by pandemic induced disruption and uncertainty. Those same difficulties will continue well into the new year.
Resolving to take intentional action rather than being stymied by constantly reacting is how organizations can proactively keep their mission moving forward despite the
challenges being faced.
Nonprofit and association leaders are certainly in an unprecedented time and the situation is rapidly changing. In many ways, you’re asked to be the calm in the storm. To assist you with the challenges this worldwide pandemic is creating, and to help you guide your ship to safety, nonprofit and association thought leaders are sharing the following resources.
No doubt 2020 will be a year of challenge for most nonprofits. Here are five action resolutions that will help make your year a successful one.
Nonprofits share many problems. Issues such as donor retention, volunteer turnover, and board member engagement are just a few that plague nonprofits on an ongoing basis. And, not by coincidence, nonprofits also share frustration because common approaches fail to yield positive results. Why continue to invest limited time and resources doing what doesn’t work? Perhaps best practices that don’t produce positive outcomes really are stupid. Speaker colleague Stephen Shapiro has some insight on the matter and shares his solid advice.
Is your organization willing to honestly assess its performance, challenge current practices, and take action on changes needed for a sustainable future?
Audiences of nonprofit leaders indicate that few of them engage in strategic planning, yet they know the benefits. Why? It’s a puzzling situation. My own experience that planning is a mission tool in the nonprofit tool box and its reinforced by two significant reports.
With increasing demands for service and rapidly diminishing resources for responding to those demands, nonprofits must find new approaches for making their mission happen. Throw
When your organization hits a crisis—one big enough to threaten its future—how do you lead it back from the brink? To find out, I spoke
It’s the half-way point for this year. Where is your nonprofit on achieving it’s priority goals?
Investing time in reading should be a priority for every nonprofit, association, and chamber of commerce leader.
Here’s my latest list of recommended reading to help leaders improve their skills.
Nonprofits spent most of 2020 in a reactive mode caused by pandemic induced disruption and uncertainty. Those same difficulties will continue well into the new year.
Resolving to take intentional action rather than being stymied by constantly reacting is how organizations can proactively keep their mission moving forward despite the
challenges being faced.
Nonprofit and association leaders are certainly in an unprecedented time and the situation is rapidly changing. In many ways, you’re asked to be the calm in the storm. To assist you with the challenges this worldwide pandemic is creating, and to help you guide your ship to safety, nonprofit and association thought leaders are sharing the following resources.
No doubt 2020 will be a year of challenge for most nonprofits. Here are five action resolutions that will help make your year a successful one.
Nonprofits share many problems. Issues such as donor retention, volunteer turnover, and board member engagement are just a few that plague nonprofits on an ongoing basis. And, not by coincidence, nonprofits also share frustration because common approaches fail to yield positive results. Why continue to invest limited time and resources doing what doesn’t work? Perhaps best practices that don’t produce positive outcomes really are stupid. Speaker colleague Stephen Shapiro has some insight on the matter and shares his solid advice.
Is your organization willing to honestly assess its performance, challenge current practices, and take action on changes needed for a sustainable future?
Audiences of nonprofit leaders indicate that few of them engage in strategic planning, yet they know the benefits. Why? It’s a puzzling situation. My own experience that planning is a mission tool in the nonprofit tool box and its reinforced by two significant reports.
