Grant Writing & Funding · Ep. 291: 4 Steps Executive Directors of Nonprofits Can Lead with Confidence with Dr. Patton McDowell

4 Steps Executive Directors of Nonprofits Can Lead with Confidence with Dr. Patton McDowell

This episode, Dr. Patton McDowell explains the ways executive directors can advance their leadership skills, build working relationships, and expand their community.

Dr. Patton McDowell is a nonprofit consultant, leadership expert, and mastermind coach.

Dr. Patton joins us to discuss the different ways executive directors can advance their leadership skills, effectively network, and build solid relationships.

He also talks about how to consistently grow, engage with board members, and stay strategic throughout the year.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

Different leadership skills you need in a nonprofit.
Ways to remain strategic towards the end of the year.
Creating a community for nonprofit leaders.
The keys to effectively engaging with a board of directors.
How to create a job description for your board members.
Ways executive directors can advance leadership skills throughout the year.
Why masterminds are useful for creating community.
How to establish good working relationships when networking.
The trajectory of most executive nonprofit leaders.

About Dr. Patton McDowell

Patton McDowell is a nonprofit expert, author, speaker and coach. He leads PMA Nonprofit Leadership, a consulting practice he founded after his successful twenty-year career in the nonprofit sector. His leadership experience includes work at Special Olympics International and Special Olympics North Carolina, and he led fundraising teams at a public and a private university. He is a frequently sought-after consultant and speaker on nonprofit issues of strategic planning, organizational development and staff & board leadership. Patton received a BA from UNC Chapel Hill, an MBA from Queens University of Charlotte, and a Doctorate from the University of Southern California. He’s a Certified Fundraising Executive and a Master Trainer for AFP International.

Having worked with over 250 nonprofit organizations, Patton recognized the need for skilled leadership in this increasingly complex and quickly expanding sector. He was determined to provide a practical guide to help anyone in – or pondering – nonprofit leadership define their goals and give them a clear path to achieve them, motivating him to write, Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector.

Quotables:

“The saddest conversations I have are with talented board members who love a organizations cause but say it took them a year to figure out what was going on, and I think we as nonprofit leaders need to look in the mirror and think are we wasting incredible board talent because we’re not giving them clear instructions.”
“People say they don’t have time to build relationships, but really they don’t have the time not to.”
“There is power in community, the whole term mastermind is because in essence more minds are better than one so we have to as professionals incorporate the wisdom of others in our networks because it will pay off.”

Connect with Dr. Patton McDowell:

Website
LinkedIn
Email: pm@pattonmcdowell.com
YouTube: Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership
Facebook
Instagram

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

Support for this podcast episode of Grant Writing & Funding is brought to you by our friends at Bloomerang.

Bloomerang offers donor management, online fundraising, and volunteer management software that helps small to medium nonprofits, like First Tee of Greater Akron. To hear the full story visit bloomerang.com/grantwritingpodcast/.