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McAdam Book Award 2006

Terry McAdam Book Award

For Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Nonprofit Management

What is the most valuable nonprofit management
book published in the last year?

2005-2006 Award Recipients

W I N N E R

The Light of Conscience: How a Simple Act Can Change Your Life

By Bill Shore
Published by Random House

An inspirational meditation on the power of conscience — How a simple act, a moment of purpose, can change your life, your community, even the world

We all struggle at times to know what to do to seek and abide our conscience—when right and wrong are not black and white, when heart and head speak with different voices, when our intentions and interests are not aligned. If you believe that the outcome of these struggles affects the course of your life, and the lives around you, then this book is for you.

If you believe that there are times and places when the choice an individual makes to speak or be silent, to eat or fast, to remain seated or to stand up in a crowd, to stare and remember or to walk on by and forget, can be as powerful as a president's command, a congressional appropriation, or a military incursion, then this book is for you.

This book is for you if your profession is rewarding financially but not spiritually, or if you’re ever worried that your career and conscience conflict.

This book is for you if you are a parent whose love of your children never wavers with the anxiety they cause you but sometimes leaves you wondering whether they will grow up to do the right thing even if no one is watching.

This book is for you if you question whether the countless small decisions you make each day add up to a larger judgment about your life's meaning.

Finally, this book is for you if you believe that quiet, often solitary acts of conscience have echoes louder than the original sound; that individual acts have the potential to trigger large public consequences and continue to inspire others from generation to generation; that such acts bring rewards to the individual, that unforeseen benefits accrue, that one gains more than was sacrificed, and that there is a transformative power and richness to a life so lived.

(From the Random House book description)

H O N O R A BL E M E N T IO N S

Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards

By Richard P. Chait, William P. Ryan and Barbara E. Taylor
Published by John Wiley & Sons

A new framework for helping nonprofit organizations maximize the effectiveness of their boards.

Written by noted consultants and researchers attuned to the needs of practitioners, Governance as Leadership redefines nonprofit governance. It provides a powerful framework for a new covenant between trustees and executives: more macrogovernance in exchange for less micromanagement.

Informed by theories that have transformed the practice of organizational leadership, this book sheds new light on the traditional fiduciary and strategic work of the board and introduces a critical third dimension of effective trusteeship: generative governance. It serves boards as both a resource of fresh approaches to familiar territory and a lucid guide to important new territory, and provides a road map that leads nonprofit trustees and executives to governance as leadership.

Governance as Leadership was developed in collaboration with BoardSource, the premier resource for practical information, tools and best practices, training, and leadership development for board members of nonprofit organizations. Through its highly acclaimed programs and services, BoardSource enables organizations to fulfill their missions by helping build effective nonprofit boards and offering credible support in solving tough problems.

(From John Wiley & Sons book description)

Play to Win: The Nonprofit Guide to Competitive Strategy

By David La Piana and Michaela Hayes
Published by Jossey-Bass

Most nonprofit professionals are accustomed to using collaboration for improving both organizational effectiveness and program delivery. While collaboration is eagerly embraced, competition is often viewed as a less desirable route for meeting strategic challenges. Competition, however, is an effective and dynamic means for achieving positive results for nonprofit organizations.

Play to Win offers nonprofit leaders the help they need to develop their organization’s unique competitive advantages and to use the power of competitive strategies to build their organization’s capacity for advancing its mission. This book offers a clear description of competition and discusses its practical, ethical, and political ramifications within the nonprofit sector. It demonstrates how, by being a more effective competitor, a nonprofit can enhance its chances for both programmatic and financial success. Play to Win is filled with practical tools for assessing a nonprofit's position in the marketplace and developing winning competitive strategies to advance its mission.

Written by David La Piana with Michaela Hayes, Play to Win guides nonprofit leaders through the process of developing a strategic approach to inter-organizational relationships grounded in direct market feedback. He also provides step-by-step directions for helping leaders compete effectively for limited resources. The book covers the specific areas where nonprofits most often compete, including garnering all types of funding; recruiting board members, staff, and volunteers; attracting and keeping clients; and gaining positive media attention. It reveals how to assess the relative merits of collaboration and competition, and shows nonprofits how to customize an optimal mix of collaborative and competitive relationships.

(From La Piana Associates book description)