Engine of Impact: Essentials of Strategic Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector

by William F. Meehan III, Kim Starkey Jonker (Contributor)

We are entering a new era―an era of impact. The largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history will soon be under way, bringing with it the potential for huge increases in philanthropic funding. Engine of Impact shows how nonprofits can apply the principles of strategic leadership to attract greater financial support and leverage that funding to maximum effect. As Good to Great author Jim Collins writes in his foreword, this book offers "a detailed roadmap of disciplined thought and action for turning a good nonprofit into one that can achieve great impact at scale." William F. Meehan III and Kim Starkey Jonker identify seven essential components of strategic leadership that set high-achieving organizations apart from the rest of the nonprofit sector. Together, these components form an "engine of impact"―a system that organizations must build, tune, and fuel if they hope to make a real difference in the world. Drawing on decades of teaching, advising, grantmaking, and research, Meehan and Jonker provide an actionable guide that executives, staff, board members, and donors can use to jumpstart their own performance and to achieve extraordinary results for their organization. Along with setting forth best practices using real-world examples, the authors outline common management challenges faced by nonprofits, showing how these challenges differ from those faced by for-profit businesses in important and often-overlooked ways. By offering crucial insights on the fundamentals of nonprofit management, this book will help leaders equip their organizations to fire on all cylinders and unleash the full potential of the nonprofit sector. Visit www.engineofimpact.org for additional information.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Leadership, Buisness

280 pages, Paperback

Published September 3, 2019

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easily accessible book outlining the fundamentals and common mistakes among nonprofit management. Very practical. Lots of stats, anecdotes and research. I plan to refer to this book a lot. Only docked it a star because the research was so stanford focused and I think it would have benefitted from more diversity of sources/info/perspectives.

[Sarah Jewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good exploration of the essentials of strategic leadership for nonprofits, with a focus on tracking impact. The book uses insightful case studies. But I would have appreciated more prompts to think about how I can apply the principles in my own organization.

[Gil Bonwitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great summary of the key drivers of success for a nonprofit.

[Diego Parada Herrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for every person involved in the Nonprofit sectors, from board members to donors and team members. Engine of Impact offers some great insights on the importance of mission driven organizations, data-driven decisions, fundraising strategies and scaling. We have many business strategy books that offer different perspectives and approaches to building a great company. But there are not a lot of these books for nonprofits. This is one of them. If we want to change the world, we need to empower nonprofit impact and take it to the next level. The knowledge, data, examples and perspectives offered in Engine of Impact will contribute to that.

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Esta es una lectura obligada para todas las personas involucradas en el sector sin fines de lucro, desde consejeros hasta donantes y miembros del equipo. Engine of Impact ofrece grandes conocimientos sobre la importancia de las organizaciones impulsadas por la misión, las decisiones basadas en datos, las estrategias de recaudación de fondos y el escalado. Tenemos muchos libros de estrategia empresarial que ofrecen diferentes perspectivas y enfoques para construir una gran empresa. Pero no hay muchos de estos libros para organizaciones sin fines de lucro. Este es uno de ellos. Si queremos cambiar el mundo, debemos potenciar el impacto de las organizaciones sin fines de lucro y llevarlo al siguiente nivel. Los conocimientos, datos, ejemplos y perspectivas ofrecidos en Engine of Impact contribuirán a ello.

[Anna Spivey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be read by anyone that intends to lead people in any area of life and any field of profession. The idea of implementing transformative change that leaves sustainable impact is something that every leader in the nonprofit space desires to achieve. This book argues that the greatest way you can do this is by developing a missional strategy in order to lay a solid foundation for the change that leaders want to see. As someone that has been a leader in church ministry for several years, I have come to learn the power of strategic leadership in vocational ministry. It makes me so happy to have read a book where the author is advocating for the power of strategic leadership and so clearly outlines how people from all angles of an initiative can contribute to the "engine of impact."

This book deserves a resounding 5 stars, and I highly recommend anyone wanting to grow in their leadership to read it.

[Christopher Thorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a useful read. I'm on the board of an education non-profit and this book was a solid review of board obligations and priorities. I also got to hold up our work on strategy development over the past year against the books recommendations as formal comparison. The board's executive committee did this book together and met for a couple of hours to review our take aways. Generally the book confirmed advice that several board members (current or retired business consulting folks) had provided. Some of the books recommendations were more crisp and had better evidence behind them. The book could probably be half as long. It seemed that some of the case study materials got presented again and again and didn't add much. Glad I read it.

[Erica H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be mandatory reading for every board member at every non-profit. And then the board should require their Executive Director to read it and lead by it. Nonprofit leadership programs should use this book as a basis for their curriculum and learning outcomes. The downside of me reading this book is it makes it very hard to go to work everyday at a nonprofit that lacks strategic thinking and strategic management.

[Steve P. Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I’ve read for what it takes to be successful as a non-profit. Business principles still apply and not-for-profits have the same responsibility to achieve outcomes and provide stewardship of resources. This should be required reading for every board.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone who works at, with, or occasionally volunteers at a nonprofit organizations. I would add that this should be revisited every couple of years by leaders of nonprofit organizations as well.

[Tumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I found it so practical, that I bought the physical book after listening to the audible. I refer back to the examples and the pro-tips. I highly recommend this book to anyone else that is leading a non-profit.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read an advance copy--think it's going to be a must read for execs in the nonprofit sector

[Deb G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Common sense business strategies applied to the nonprofit sector to maximize impact. Highly recommend.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about how nonprofits can structure themselves and measure their impact. Good read for nonprofit employees, board members, volunteers, and donors.

[Fred Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid. Nothing earth shatteringly new. I am advising a newly forming NGO and they have found it useful.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super helpful summary of best practices for non-profit success! If you can only read one book, this is a good one for senior non-profit leaders, board members, and even volunteers and donors.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a useful description of the essential elements of successful functioning nonprofits. Full of concrete examples with useful tools and frameworks. I have used this with two groups of nonprofit CEOs as the text for ongoing capacity building and found it accessible with enough new ideas to push both experienced and new CEOs further in their development.