Building Smart Nonprofits

David J.O’Brien enjoyed a career in the for-profit sector over a span of 45 years, with broad based experience in multi-industry corporate development, finance, and management of organizations ranging from Fortune 500 conglomerates to startups. David has served as Board Chair, Committee Chairs, and Director/Trustee of numerous nonprofits in diverse fields including education, international health NGO’s, social services, and the arts. He resides in rural San Diego county with his wife, Dr. Paula Cordeiro, and when not active in the nonprofit community, enjoys sailing Colibi, his 60 year sloop, cooking, oil painting, and accompanying Paula on her travels working with NGO’s in Africa, & Central/South America. Matthew D. Craig is a Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager with JPMorgan Chase, where he specializes in providing a broad range of services to governments and nonprofit organizations. With over 20 years of experience in the financial sector, he has held positions in credit underwriting, commercial and small business banking, and private wealth management. Throughout his academic and professional careers, Matt has been an active volunteer and advocate for myriad social organizations. He is a philomath, teacher, traveler, and mediocre beach volleyball player. Matt currently lives in Escondido, CA with his wife Courtney and their twins, Kerrigan and Landry.

A much-needed overhaul plan for the nonprofit model . . . O’Brien and Craig encourage pushing for greater transparency in reporting of spending and overhead; cultivating trust with donors by identifying major issues early on, rather than avoiding problems until they become unavoidable; and overcoming a view common among nonprofit boards of debt as “anathema to good fiscal stewardship” and instead guiding them toward seeing credit as a valuable tool. Any nonprofit leader thinking that there must be a better way will find persuasive answers here.