Customer service! Don't forget customer service! It's right in there with HR, Finance, IT, executive management.
There's a good book from the old Quality Circle/Japanese management days called "Quality is Free."; The major principle of the book is that quality is defined as giving the customers what they want. You find out what your customers want and give them more of it. You stop giving customers what they don't want and apply the savings to giving customers more of what they want. Thus, "quality is free."; This works for any type of enterprise, however it's defined.
Of course, you have to know who your customers are. And your suppliers.
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>>I agree with Victoria and Peter. HR, Finance, IT, executive management -- all those functions don't change just because you're in a nonprofit. Yet, how many times have I heard of nonprofits in trouble in those areas? Those functions are shared by for-profits yet people are more than willing to give those departments a pass at many non-profits.>>
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