On Wednesday, July 16th, Ascendant hosted a breakfast for nonprofit executives at the Fairmont Copley Hotel in Boston. Over 80 executives showed up. They keynote speaker was Dr. David Norton, co-creator of the BSC concept.

The Balanced Scorecard management system has been around for quite some time -- born in 1992, it's now officially a teenager. And while 16 years is still relatively young in human years, it's a few lifetimes in management concept years. Remember the other "great ideas" of the early 1990s? Like reengineering?

Have you decided to deploy the Balanced Scorecard in your organization? If so, congratulations. You've just taken the first step in aligning your organization for success. But it's important to remember that deciding to deploy the Balanced Scorecard is just the first step on this journey. Throughout your travels, keep the following in mind:

The Summer 2008 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review has an interesting article entitled "Reimagining Microfinance" where they argue that microfinance should be viewed as a platform, not as a product. One of the critical factors in this transformation is the creation of holistic performance standards and a certification program that add transparency to this market.

One of the key articles in the Summer 2008 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review is titled Achieving Breakthrough Performance, and is written by Gottfredson, Schaubert, and Babcock (two partners at Bain and one CEO of a nonprofit). In this article, they argue that there are 4 principles that nonprofits should follow to achieve performance.

I recently returned from the new National Harbor development and the Council on Foundations annual summit in Washington, DC. It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about issues facing community, family, and corporate foundations and to hear from leaders in the field on key strategic problems.

A constant problem for many not-for-profit organizations is recruiting, engaging, and retaining volunteers. The volunteer labor force has a lot of benefits: it costs little and is typically passionate about the cause. But volunteers bring baggage, too: there's a lot of turnonver and retraining required and they typically have their own ideas (not all bad) on how to acheive the organization's objectives.

We're getting all of our ducks in a row for the Council on Foundations Leadership Summit week after next. We just found out our booth number -- 637 -- and have decided to hold a drawing for an iPod Touch in return for filling out a brief survey.

Even if you're not interested in winning the iPod, please stop by to say hello and to learn more about how we're helping foundations, associations, government agencies, and charities execute strategy with the Balanced Scorecard.

You can also pick up a copy of our shiny new brochure, or some ever helpful Ascendant SMG sticky notes. We look forward to seeing you in DC!

It seems to be the age old question: How can I get the best out of my board without being subject to their disruptive whims?

Communications is often cited as the key success factor or failure point in working with the board. I contend that the most essential form of communication is around the strategy and progress against that strategy. The Balanced Scorecard Management System can create that communication platform for the Board and the Executive Director and provide the structure, format and content for a strategy review.

We're very excited to be a sponsor of the upcoming Council on Foundations "Philantrophy's Vision: A Leadership Summit" in Washington, DC, on May 4-7th. The speaker list at the event is very compelling, ranging from Bill Moyers to Newt Gingrich, and we're excited to part of the over 3,000 people participating.