Outspoken About Outcomes for Nonprofits

In 1994, at a gathering of a dozen top social-sector leaders, Peter Drucker could clearly see potential for the nonprofit world to make huge strides in innovation, effectiveness, and impact. But a big question swirled in his head.

“Though impressed by the emerging movement this group epitomized, he wasn’t convinced that it would amount to wholesale change in the mindset and culture of the social sector,” recalls Mario Morino, a participant in the meeting. For Drucker and the other attendees, the key was to figure out how to turn “this emerging movement into a true force for change.”

More than 15 years later, Morino is still trying to do that. He offers some marvelous ideas in a new book, Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity, published by Venture Philanthropy Partners, at which Morino is chairman. It is the best thing on management I’ve read all summer. (It helped me sharpen some of what we’re trying to achieve at my own organization, the Drucker Institute.)