Leaders Who Make a Difference: Essential Strategies for Meeting the Nonprofit Challenge

Nanus and Dobbs have written a seminal book about a long-neglected and key area of American life: the leadership of not-for-profits.... It's a first and should be read by all those concerned about not-for-profits: board members most especially, but volunteers, executives, benefactors, and academics as well.
--Warren Bennis, University Professor, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, and coauthor of Organizing Genius

These authors have made a remarkable contribution to social sector nonprofit leadership. It's a valuable resource by two great authorities on a critical need.
--Frances Hesselbein, chairman of the board, The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management

If there's one thing that today's nonprofit sector needs more than anything else, it's leadership.... Burt Nanus and Stephen Dobbs illustrate the qualities that do 'make a difference' by telling real-life stories of exceptional nonprofit leaders--few of them household names--and examining the lessons these men and women learned the hard way.
--Dorothy S. Ridings, president and CEO, Council on Foundations

There are many books on leadership, but few that focus specifically on the unique role of nonprofit executives. For the CEOs and directors of more than one million U.S. social sector organizations--as well as those who aspire to these positions--best-selling author Burt Nanus and colleague Stephen M. Dobbs have written the first comprehensive and authoritative book on nonprofit leadership.

The authors show how leaders build successful nonprofit organizations by developing key relationships to improve their performance and move them toward a greater good--such as much higher levels of service to their clients and community. They describe the six key roles that effective leaders must play--Visionary, Strategist, Change Agent, Coach, Politician, and Fundraiser--and present inspiring examples of how their actions in these roles have been crucial to the success of large and small nonprofits flourishing across the nation. Leaders Who Make a Difference offers proven lessons on strategy, team building, fundraising, advocacy, board relations, and much more. Grounded in real-world practice, the book champions the potential of all nonprofit leaders to greatly improve the performance of their organizations and realize their visions of better communities.

BURT NANUS is professor emeritus of management at the University of Southern California, where he was also founder and director of the Center for Futures Research and research director of the Leadership Institute. The author or coauthor of nine other books, including the classic Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge, he is a noted speaker and consultant on visionary leadership. STEPHEN M. DOBBS is executive vice president of the Bernard Osher Foundation and former CEO of the Koret Foundation and Marin Community Foundation. He is a former professor at San Francisco State University and has been a visiting scholar at Stanford, Harvard, University of London, and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Dobbs has been a community volunteer and leader with many nonprofit organizations.