Meeting the Job Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders: A Fieldbook on Strategies and Actions

Chapter 6

Scope and Scale

Figure 4: Scope and Scale

Program Complexity

Issue: Nonprofit leaders have to plan, implement, and evaluate programs, often across multiple functions, sites, geographies, and populations.

Why it matters: Managing program complexity is critical to program effectiveness. It has the potential to distract leaders from high-priority issues and cause them to focus on urgent but not important ones.

“I'm pulled in many directions”

Monica is the associate executive director of a $15 million multiservice organization that serves new immigrants in her community. The organization's mission is to support the new immigrants in gaining ...