Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business

A leading not-for-profit CEO on smart ways companies can cut costs while improving results

As CEO of the youth volunteering organization Do Something, Nancy Lublin has overseen its dramatic growth since 2003. She helped it evolve from a debt-ridden, stodgy not-for-profit to a fast-moving, buzz-driven magnet for teens. Do Something now draws more than one million monthly hits on its Web site, while dispensing millions in grant money to young people with good ideas and a hunger to help others.

Lublin now shows why the best not-for-profits are brilliant at doing more with less and what the mainstream business world can learn from them, especially in tough times. For instance, organizations like Do Something are tops at motivating people with nonfinancial incentives and doing effective grassroots marketing on a shoestring budget.

Lublin's book distills the best lessons and stories from her career and includes interviews with other leaders of flourishing not-for-profits, such as Wendy Kopp of Teach for America, Adam Sterling of Save Darfur, and John Lilly of Mozilla.