By Gordon Fischer
May 13, 2026
The Indiana Fever drop Wednesday night to the Sparks in Los Angeles. Caitlin Clark again, against the team Iowa fans love to keep an eye on. Quick game, short flight, right back at it.
I wrote a longer piece this past weekend about Clark walking back to the tunnel for treatment during Saturday’s opener, and what that looks like in a nonprofit context (read the full post here). A few of you wrote back, which I love. So one quick follow-up while the season is still young.
Three questions for your next board meeting
If you only have ten (10) minutes on the agenda for the people part of governance, spend it on these three (3):
- Who on our team has not taken real time off this year? Not “a long weekend.” Real time off. Name them out loud.
- Who is doing two (2) jobs because we have not hired the second one? The treasurer doing the bookkeeping. The ED running development. The chair also chairing the campaign. Name them.
- What is our actual plan to take that weight off, in writing, by the next meeting? Not “we will think about it.” A motion, a deadline, a person responsible.
That is it. Ten (10) minutes. You will be surprised what comes out of the room.
Why this matters in May
May is the month where it still feels possible to fix things. By August your ED has already used up whatever reserves she came into the year with, and by October you are in budget season, and by December you are trying to close the year. Right now, in May, you can still build the bench, still split the role, still hire the part-time bookkeeper, still give your chair a real break. Six (6) months from now, those same fixes are emergency surgery.
The Fever has a 44-game season ahead. So do you. Treat it like one.
Want to talk it through?
If something on the list above hit a nerve, I offer a genuine free one-hour consultation to any Iowa nonprofit. No catch, no pitch.
📧 Email: gordon@gordonfischerlawfirm.com
Tell me who on your team has been walking back to the tunnel. We will work on it together.
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