Managing the Non-Profit Organization: Practices and Principles Book

This is a very useful book for people with little training in management, which is often the case for leaders in the non-profit sector. Drucker is typical of the "motivational"-type writer one encounters in the business world, and he is very good at providing advice and answers where they are needed. He is not especially scientific in his approach - most of the "evidence" in this book is purely anecdotal - but relied upon the type of "common sense" that has, in fact, proved more successful than science in the business world. This book is adapted from a series of audio tapes, which lends to its conversational tone. Drucker’s key insight in this book is that the product of the non-profit is “a changed human being,” that their ultimate purpose (whatever their specific mission and goals) is to provide a sense of connectedness and meaning to the lives of people in a world which lacks traditional forms of community. Accordingly, much of the advice in this book centers around how managers can help people to develop themselves within the organization, with the final chapter dedicated to the manager’s own development. Drucker strengthens his arguments with interviews with leading non-profit managers, who share their successes as well as the lessons learned from failures.