Chicken Casserole Conversations

I was scrolling on Insta the other day and came across a reel that started with “Alzheimer’s is not what you call a chicken casserole disease.” Having had family members with Alzheimer's, this made me pause.  

The content creator, Former Wisconsin Governor Martin Schreiber, went on to say, “If I have a heart surgery you will bring me a chicken casserole. If I have hip surgery, people will make me a chicken casserole.” Then, he added, his wife had Alzheimer’s and people don’t know much about the disease and therefore, “they don’t know what to say or do.”

This struck me on many levels. First, on a personal level with having family members who have lived with Alzheimer’s. I watched my mom manage my grandmother’s care alone. The support system that comes with other surgeries and diseases did not wrap around our family.

Then Martin goes on to say “part of that was my responsibility and my fault.” He did not share with family and friends what he was going through and educate his community through the process. That hit hard because we, too, did not share.

But this happens as well in the nonprofit world. There are certain strategic conversations we are ready to have as nonprofit leaders and board members. What are our long-range goals and strategic plans? How do we define our impact and is that keeping up with changing community needs? Is our current financial model sustainable over the next three to five years?  

Then there are the conversations we don’t want to have.  

• What do we do when our senior leadership retires or leaves?  

• What does the landscape look like for our sector of influence? Are we duplicating services or impact of other organizations?

• Should we consider formal collaborations with any of our peer nonprofits? Would our community be better served if we merged with another agency?  

Executives and board members alike don’t want to have conversations surrounding succession planning or mergers. There is so much stigma surrounding both. And just like Alzheimer’s “they don’t know what to say or don’t know what to do.”

But why does this have to be a negative conversation or a discussion wrapped in failure?  

What if we reframed these conversations around our fiduciary duty to steward, wisely and responsibly, the resources our community has entrusted to us?

My proposal is to make mergers conversations and succession planning chicken casserole conversations. Let’s make them part of our annual nonprofit leadership rhythm.  

• Make time to education the board about the landscape of your sector.  

• Learn about formal partnership opportunities across the spectrum ranging from shared services to mergers and acquisitions.  

• Don’t be scared to have an honest conversation with your board (or your chief executive) about their plans and wishes for the future.  

The key to these conversations is to leave ego and fear of failure at the door.

Now who else is hungry?  

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