William D. Pawlucy

William Pawlucy, MPA, CAE, IOM is president and founder of Association Options, a global consulting company. Bill works with nonprofit organizations and nongovernmental organizations across the United States and globally in Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Turkey, where he consults with the Center for International Private Enterprise to help strengthen democracy and private enterprise in the region. He also has served on the national Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and offers board resources, strategic planning, executive recruitment and other services at Association Options.

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Articles by William D. Pawlucy

• Why leadership development committees trump nominating committees

  Wednesday, June 09, 2021

  An organization’s leadership is fundamental to its success. Great leadership leads to great governance, which in turn leads to successful planning and implementation of an organization’s strategic plan to achieve its mission. Many organizations are familiar with the idea of nominating committees, which is a popular fashion for identifying and promoting members of their organization and industry into leadership positions. However, many organizations would benefit from forgoing the traditional nominating committee and substituting it with a leadership development committee. Here's why.

• Why board orientation is fundamental to the success of your organization

  Wednesday, February 17, 2021

  How many times have you heard, "we don’t need a board orientation; it is a waste of time," as your organization prepares to welcome new board members? This type of thinking usually stems from the director who likes to exert control over the organization and who easily dismisses any information that would threaten such control. Despite this common misconception by some leaders, board orientation remains one of the most fundamental keys to the success of your organization.

• 10 signs of a well-honed association

  Thursday, July 16, 2020

  An association president said, "we will never again be so unprepared as we were when the pandemic hit. Our newly formed strategic plan has a new goal named, 'Well-Honed Association,' dedicated to being as prepared as possible for any future disruption to our association. At the root of our plan are strategies and performance measures identifying the top areas of preparation." The following are the top 10 signs of a well-honed association that require strong role-model leadership.

• Elements of a recovery plan

  Tuesday, June 30, 2020

  In our first article, "The metrics guiding nonprofit recovery," we took a broad look at five key economic indicators to take action on. As a follow-up to the first article, we will now discuss the elements of a recovery plan. In order to plan properly, your organization needs data, your leaders to guide the conversations, stakeholders to inform the process, and a plan to address external urgencies. Use this as a short-term supplement and driver for change of your current long-term plan.

• The metrics guiding nonprofit recovery

  Wednesday, June 24, 2020

  What are the signs or metrics for recovery, and how do we take this information and make good business decisions? Business Insider recently published an article with five charts showing a potential economic recovery. What do various factors mean for a nonprofit organization’s recovery, and how can it take action? I think there are several areas to concentrate on.

• Vital signs to monitor for association recovery

  Thursday, May 07, 2020

  "If my association went for a health checkup today, there would be some serious health issues," said a president of a large healthcare association. As the economy moves to recovery, consider taking the association’s vital signs, just like a doctor takes body temperature, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. In this case, taking the vitals of the association includes the health of the association; identifying potential symptoms; and developing treatment plans.

• Project management essentials for project success

  Wednesday, January 08, 2020

  A project is an activity with a specific goal in mind and a clear beginning and end. Unlike ongoing services and operations, a project will end, ideally, with the accomplishment of the stated goal. Identifying clear goals and establishing a project plan are critical to effective utilization of resources. It is important that the following questions are asked for every project by the staff team, led by the executive director.

• 10 things to start and stop doing in 2020

  Monday, November 04, 2019

  We cannot continue to do what we have done in our nonprofit organizations and expect to provide value and relevance to our members. Competition is greater and unmerciful to weaker organizations. As we move into 2020, what should we start doing now to gain major traction for our members and stop doing so we can focus resources on our core competencies? Let’s explore.

• The life cycles for governance and management

  Friday, June 28, 2019

  Two board members walk out of the association’s planning session. One of them says, "Great session, but who’s going to do the work?" The other board member offers, "I don’t really know, but those cookies were amazing!" Too often, there is no good understanding and closure around the roles of governance and management after a strategic planning session. Governance and management have distinct roles.

• Structural systems and processes to sustain an association

  Tuesday, April 16, 2019

  Every association has a framework. A solid and well-built framework promotes sustainability and a strong structure. The following are the key structural systems and processes for performance excellence. If one is missing, the organization is not “firing on all cylinders,” and will need a tune up. We will explore each of these areas one by one and the essential items in each area that should be in place to run at peak performance. These areas are governing documents; strategic direction; performance measures; protocols and behaviors; committees and task forces; and financial oversight.

• Gap analysis improves associations

  Friday, February 22, 2019

  The dictionary defines a gap as an incomplete or deficient area. A gap analysis is what an organization conducts to identify these incomplete or deficient areas in order to move from its current state to its ideal and desired future state. Every nonprofit can benefit from a gap analysis annually and in conjunction with reviewing its strategic plan. So, how do you perform a gap analysis while integrating it into your organization's strategic plan?

• Is your board getting bogged down? Take back control

  Wednesday, June 20, 2018

  Your board meeting is stuck and your three-hour agenda is in jeopardy. What do you do? Rather than allow panic to set in, take a deep breath and refocus. Keeping a board on track during a meeting is an art form, and even the best facilitator sometimes needs other tools to control a board that has gone "off the rails." Here are five tips that can help you get your board meeting back on track.

• Building a dashboard for performance that your board wants to see

  Wednesday, June 06, 2018

  "Directors should regularly ask at the board table, 'How will we measure success on this project or event?' By measuring progress there is accountability, continuous monitoring, and a way to sunset the program if it proves unsuccessful,” says Bob Harris, CAE. Here are some performance measures that you might want to consider to measure success, and so you can make real-time decisions around your programs.

• Your board’s information curve

  Wednesday, November 01, 2017

  ​Your board members have a fiduciary duty to members in three areas: the duties of care, loyalty and obedience. A functional board recognizes the importance of all of these in making decisions. Being an informed board member is tantamount to advancing the mission of the organization they serve.

• How to find quality of life as an association executive

  Wednesday, October 04, 2017

  "I am on and available to my board 24 hours a day, seven days a week," one association executive told me. "The board has my home number as well to reach me if they can't get me on my cell." I then asked him this question, "What is so important that it just can't wait until the next business day?"

• Information digestion: Prepare the board without overloading them

  Wednesday, July 26, 2017

  "Help! My board wants a big packet of information prior to a board meeting. But they don't read it, and the next-generation board members hate it!" said one executive director who puts together a 300-page packet for each board meeting. "How do you know?" I pushed back.

• Lots of programs, lots of confusion: Evaluate, understand, bundle, repeat

  Wednesday, April 19, 2017

  One member said about the programs and services of his nonprofit, "I feel like I am walking in a fog and picking programs that might work for me. Once I am out of the fog, I am not 100 percent sure I picked the right ones." If a member has to go through a fog to choose a program or service from your organization, do you think they will enter that fog a second time? So, how do we clear the fog and shine a light on the programs that would be most beneficial to your members?

• Building a sustainable nonprofit organization

  Wednesday, March 01, 2017

  According to the United Nations report, "Our Common Future," a sustainable nonprofit organization is one that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the well-being of future generations." This quote truly struck the chord of what is at the center of sustainability in any organization: not compromising the future for short-term gains.

• The universal language of strategic planning

  Wednesday, January 04, 2017

  ​A strategic plan is the universal language to success and performance of any organization, anywhere in the world. I had the rare opportunity of seeing how universal strategic plans truly are when I worked recently with nongovernmental organizations (or associations) in Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

• Assessing the mission impact factor

  Tuesday, November 29, 2016

  In strategic decision-making for your organization, the question of return on investment typically arises. But how many times do we ask ourselves, "What is the return on mission?" In a financial sense, a return on investment speaks to what we can expect if we invest dollars in a stock, a business venture, etc. A return on mission then needs to focus decision-making on advancing the purpose or reason for existence of an organization.

• 7 tips for managing your most precious resource — time — in 2017

  Friday, November 11, 2016

  The most precious resource in the world is not gold but something more valuable — time. As we all know, the time we have is fixed and very much finite. It is becoming even more precious and guarded by your volunteers and staff.

• The connection between leadership and dysfunction

  Wednesday, September 07, 2016

  What does dysfunction look like? How do we fix it? What characteristics are necessary in a good volunteer leader and staff? All of these questions were explored on a rainy Sunday morning not too long ago when I had the rare opportunity to discuss this with a group of passionate and talented volunteer leaders and staff of a major nonprofit organization where the focus was leadership. Here are the questions we explored and here is what they had to say.

• Relevance and value: Focusing the board on what matters most

  Thursday, August 11, 2016

  ​Relevance and value. These two words, when combined, are powerful in any organization that is looking to deliver a blockbuster member experience. "Important to the matter at hand" and "relative worth, merit or importance" is how Dictionary.com defines these two words. How do we define relevance and value in our organizations, and how do we keep our boards focused on what matters most?

• Measuring performance is the key to performance excellence

  Wednesday, July 20, 2016

  A question that should always be asked at the board table is, "Why are we discussing an initiative if we can't measure it?" Measuring performance is the key to performance excellence. The basis or starting point may be the mission and strategic plan. The plan outlines goals and strategies for several years. Use it to build a set of key evaluation metrics to monitor progress and maintain a competitive advantage.

• The success or failure of your event rests with your venue

  Thursday, July 07, 2016

  Conferences and other face-to-face events were given the death knell as we ushered in the digital age, but there still is a need for live human interaction. Live meetings are very much alive and doing well.

• The board assessment in 3 easy stages

  Wednesday, June 22, 2016

  Assess. Improve. Repeat. Sounds really simple, but in a recent study conducted by BoardSource, "only 51 percent of boards reported that they use a formal, written evaluation of their board." According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S. Therefore, roughly 750,000 nonprofit organizations do not assess the performance of their boards.

• 10 cost-saving tech tools to help nonprofits

  Wednesday, June 01, 2016

  Nonprofit technology budgets are shrinking, but the need for robust technologies is growing. Organizations with both small and large budgets can benefit from these 10 tools that can help collect data, improve communications and provide additional capacity.

• A quick guide to Robert’s Rules of Order

  Wednesday, March 30, 2016

  ​Have you ever attended a meeting and felt like nothing was achieved? Using meeting rules of order is the key to a high-performing organization. In 1876, Army engineer Henry Martyn Robert published "Robert's Rules of Order" to establish a firm set of guidelines for conducting meetings and making decisions. These rules of order still hold up today, and here is a quick look at these formal meeting procedures.

• 12 rules to live by in the board room

  Wednesday, March 09, 2016

  ​Have you ever sat in a board meeting gnashing your teeth and saying to yourself, "When is this meeting going to be over?" or "Why won't they listen to me?" or "What is the purpose and my contribution?" These are the typical questions board members and other volunteer leaders ask when a meeting is inefficient and run poorly.

• Cooperate or die: Building a collaborative board

  Wednesday, February 17, 2016

  ​It is so easy to say, "Our board is going to be collaborative and work better together this year." The hard part is defining what it is, what it looks like and how it is done. There is no magic in making this happen, but there is a lot of good work to build a collaborative mindset that is magical. Building the mindset in turn builds a great team, and a great team innovates through great collaboration. But how do we get there?

• Disruptive innovation for nonprofits in 2016

  Wednesday, January 13, 2016

  As we enter another year, how do we innovate and disrupt in our nonprofit organizations in order to increase relevance and value to our members so we don't continue to do the "same old, same old"?

• Review, refresh and realign your committees for success

  Wednesday, December 09, 2015

  Year over year, the priorities of a nonprofit organization change. As major planning takes place, why is it that committees and their composition often remain relatively unchanged? It would be the same as leaving the budget unchanged year over year regardless of the changes in the organization.

• Failing to use data is failing your nonprofit organization

  Tuesday, November 24, 2015

  ​You research your mortgage options, your car loan interest rates and schools for your children, but when it comes to our nonprofits, this depth of data and research is sometimes missing. Data is the cornerstone of good decision-making and is necessary for board and staff effectiveness.

• A governance reboot is necessary for 2016

  Wednesday, November 04, 2015

  The bad news: You have an ineffective board of directors. The good news: They know it and ask for help. This is the perfect opportunity to re-engineer decision-making in your organization and increase nimbleness and innovation. Focus on outcomes in the process, and you will be better off than discussing the "same old, same old" issues that have been talked about for the past 20 years in fixing the governance issue.

• Jump the curve with your nonprofit organization in 2016

  Wednesday, October 21, 2015

  What do we need to do in 2016 not only move our organization forward, but also to "jump the curve" in how we compete and deliver member value? If we don't do it, someone else will out-innovate and out-think us and take our market share. It is no longer enough to make incremental changes in our organizations but taking a leap and jumping the curve is what is needed.

• 10 skill sets to look for in your next executive director

  Wednesday, September 30, 2015

  Losing your executive director is not only possible but will happen sometime in the future. To be ready for succession, the board should know what skill sets and characteristics they value in an executive director.

• The biggest mistake any nonprofit should avoid in 2016

  Wednesday, September 16, 2015

  A Harvard Business article lists the 17 fundamental traits of organizational effectiveness. The first and most poignant one is that "everyone [in your organization] has a good idea of the decisions and actions for which he or she is responsible." It seems pretty basic, right? Do you have a "good idea" of the decision and actions each person in your organization is responsible for, including the board of directors? If not, the strategic road map for the organization is lacking.

• Dwindling volunteers: How to keep your most important resource

  Wednesday, August 12, 2015

  ​At least 80 percent of nonprofits in America rely on volunteers for their workforce. In fact, most nonprofits would not exist if not for the volunteers that serve them. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published a report providing some startling numbers.

• It’s time to barbecue the ‘sacred cow’ in your organization

  Wednesday, July 15, 2015

  Sun-setting programs in a nonprofit organization is almost always more difficult than if the program was embedded within a for-profit company. In a for-profit company, it is about dollars and sense, and the decision is easier when it's about the bottom line. In a nonprofit, this decision becomes much harder given psychological biases. Even in for-profit companies, these psychological biases exist.

• How technology has made a major impact on the nonprofit membership model

  Wednesday, June 24, 2015

  Nonprofit organizations are only as valuable as the value they provide to their members. That fact won't change. The rise of technology and the shift in generations have made it difficult to sustain a traditional nonprofit model. However, those things may not be so bad, as they force a change in nonprofits that is focused squarely around relevance.

• The board adopted the strategic plan — now what?

  Wednesday, June 10, 2015

  So, you just wrapped up a stellar strategic planning session, and the board adopts the new strategic plan. What happens next? The board has exercised its governance role in setting the strategic road map for the organization, and now it is staff's responsibility to put an effective operational work plan in place to execute.

• Don’t get stuck in mud: Help your board develop a sense of urgency

  Wednesday, May 20, 2015

  A Harvard Business Review article from 2008 features a quote every nonprofit organization should have posted in the board room: "True urgency is a set of emotions, a gut-level feeling that we need to get up every single day with total determination to do something to deal with those hazards and opportunities and make some progress, no matter how modest, and do so today." How many times do we feel like we are stuck driving through mud in our organizations, waiting for a key decision to be made on a sensitive or urgent issue?

• Managing your expectations and workload during strategic planning

  Wednesday, May 06, 2015

  Every day there are many nonprofits in the world moving through the beginnings of a strategic plan. In every one of these sessions, nonprofit boards are creating the road map for their organizations, which is exciting. But there are many executive directors who are dreading the possibility of overloading their staff with too many initiatives. How can an executive director effectively manage expectations during the strategic planning session without putting a damper on the board's enthusiasm?

• What nonprofits can learn from a taekwondo master and a piano teacher

  Wednesday, April 22, 2015

  It is amazing how everyday life can help shape our thinking in areas we never thought would be impacted by unrelated activities. There are three lessons that I have taken away from my taekwondo master and my piano teacher that will stick with me for the rest of my life in the way I do business and also how nonprofits can approach their business.

• What nonprofits can learn from Chipotle

  Wednesday, April 08, 2015

  I was in a fast-casual Mexican restaurant the other day, Chipotle. While in line, I was thinking about how the concept developed by this and similar brands applies to service delivered by a nonprofit. What's the difference between fast-casual and full-service restaurants? Traditional, full-service restaurants are ones "that encapsulate the old-fashioned idea of going out to eat." The question I'm wondering is: Are nonprofit organizations encapsulating the old-fashioned idea of serving members the same way they were served 30-50 years ago?

• Why do we waste time at board meetings?

  Wednesday, March 18, 2015

  How many times do we say that we want our board of directors meetings to run more efficiently? Poorly run board meetings are the number one reason why there is a lack of focus around strategic issues. A dashboard can help immensely in keeping the focus of the meeting on barriers preventing the organization from moving forward rather than wading through report after report.

• 3 ways to make them remember your event long after it is over

  Wednesday, February 25, 2015

  Why do we have one-time attendees at our events and never see them again? Delivering value goes far beyond just delivering content. We see the trends in virtual and augmented reality that overlay our environment to provide more to the experiences we have in everyday life. Similarly, attendees today want more to enhance their overall experience at your events.

• Why should they volunteer?

  Wednesday, February 18, 2015

  According the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report, "Volunteering in the United States — 2013," the volunteer rate from September 2012 to September 2013 was the lowest since the annual report began in 2002. The U.S. volunteer rate declined by 1.1 percentage points to 25.4 percent, with 62.6 million people volunteering at least once for an organization.

• Are you the ‘up periscope’ for your nonprofit organization?

  Wednesday, February 04, 2015

  ​The nonprofit world is seeing a downturn in volunteerism, a squeeze on its revenue streams and rising competition. How can you be the one who sees what is ahead and makes important course changes to maintain your organization's relevance?

• Success in succession: Planning for the future

  Wednesday, January 28, 2015

  Imagine losing your organization's chief paid staff member or executive director. An unexpected vacancy could take many months to fill and is both costly and disruptive to the organization. Whether you are a volunteer leader reading this or the executive director, a succession plan is critical to the success of your organization.

• The first 100 days: How to help ensure success

  Wednesday, January 07, 2015

  Imagine being hired for the most important job in an organization with no training, no standard operating procedures and not knowing who your team is and how they support you. Unfortunately, every year there will be chief elected officers all across the world who don't know their job or ask halfway through their term if there is even a strategic plan.

• Past president’s syndrome: What will your former leader do in 2015?

  Thursday, December 11, 2014

  In 2015, a large number of organizations will undergo some type of board change. But what happens to the "past" president of the organization? In most organizations, the roles of the executive officers and directors are clearly defined with an important purpose. The role of the outgoing president is vaguely defined or not at all.

• New year, new goals: Helping build a presidential platform

  Wednesday, December 03, 2014

  According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are 1.5 million nonprofits in existence in the United States. Most of them will undergo a leadership change at the board level in 2015. A great many of them will experience a change with their chief elected officer. How many of them will have chief elected officers who are looking to make their "mark" on the association with new goals?

• Innovation or evolution in your organization?

  Thursday, November 13, 2014

  How important is innovation versus evolution? Do nonprofit organizations today innovate or evolve? Successful organizations recognize that both innovation and evolution play a similar role and define it as "deliberate evolution."

• All about the results? What nonprofits should measure and why

  Wednesday, October 29, 2014

  Performance excellence in a nonprofit cannot occur without performance measures. After the strategic plan is formed, a set of goals and strategies are outlined along with tactics, and hopefully a tie to the organization's budget.

• What happens to key actions and decisions after a board meeting?

  Wednesday, October 15, 2014

  How much time, care and preparation do we put into board meetings? If we attempted to put a value on the cost of holding and executing a board meeting, the costs would be in the tens of thousands of dollars when you factor in volunteer leader and staff time.

• Organizational change happening? Don’t forget your bylaws

  Wednesday, October 01, 2014

  Bylaws are a set of rules that provide the framework for your organization, but they are sometimes overlooked when organizational change happens. Imagine an event that happens frequently that is a change to the membership structure of your association. After a strategic discussion, your board decides to add a new membership category that currently does not exist.

• Coalition Building 101: How to look intelligently at a merger or partnership

  Wednesday, September 17, 2014

  In a two-year period, the Foundation Center logged in a total of 679 coalitions/collaborations, with 499 of these in the area of developing, offering and delivering projects, programs and services between two or more organizations. That is nearly 500 of these types of collaborations in only two years.