More same than different

After three days here with nonprofits of all types, I am confident that I am correct in relaying this information to all: The most important issues facing charities in the United Kingdom....not in priority order

1. Funding: There is not enough.
2. Accountability: While a good thing, there is increasing and usually unnecessary oversight.
3. Boards: Not enough interest in the organization or too much interest in management rather than policy.
4. Not enough new (read younger) volunteers and board members coming in the door.
5. More and more administrative requirements and needs (audits, IT, etc.) without resources to provide them.

Do any of these sound familiar? Do all of them?

I thought so. No matter where you are on the planet, the big issues are still the same. My good friend Carol Weisman, President of Board Builders, went to do training in Australia last year, and reported the same thing. Friends who work in India, China, and Africa report the same issues, in varying degrees.

The moral of the tale? We all are human, and "our" issues are not as unique to us as we would like to think they are.

Home tomorrow.