Annual Campaigns

I have spoken at and attended many of my clients’ national leadership meetings, supporting their peer-to-peer income streams. I have been in a lot of bars (for the sake of science), have been in a lot of conference hotels and have spoken with a lot of volunteer leaders about how they came to be there...

Note: The following is an excerpt from the new book “Dollar Dash: The Behavioral Economics of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising.” Details for downloading Chapter 1 can be seen at the end of the blog post. I have spoken at and attended many of my clients’ national leadership meetings, supporting their peer-to-peer income streams. I have been in a […]

The National Park Foundation is commemorating the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary with its $350 million Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks...

Girl Scouts have been selling cookies for 100 years, and in 2017 alone, 200 million boxes will be bought. Yet according to the organization's top leader, those delicious treats come with a very serious purpose—and themselves represent big money. "We have an $850 million dollar business," Sylvia Acevedo, Girl Scouts of USA interim CEO, told…

Play great courses. Support good causes. What’s not to like about charity golf? A reminder came on Sunday when 240 players wrapped up play at the Liberty Mutual Invitational National Finals at TPC Sawgrass. The event was the culmination of an annual series of more than 75 charity tournaments around the country that drew more…

Manchester United announced a partnership with LGBT charity Stonewall. In a statement released on Tuesday, Manchester United said the initiative would see them work alongside the charity to help tackle LGBT issues in sport and society, including looking at ways in which inclusion and equality can be improved. Through the partnership—which makes them U.K.'s first football…

Planned Parenthood just got a windfall donation from a powerful woman. Elaine Wynn has donated $1 million to the women's health organization, Fortune has learned. “As a woman, a mother and a grandmother, I’m proud to do what I can to help protect access to reproductive health care,” the billionaire said in an emailed statement. Wynn…

Last year, I gave you five priorities for success in 2016. I called them “Dive the Five.” This year, I’ve expanded my thinking a bit. I give you “Seven is Heaven.” I promise if you focus on these fundamental areas, you will hear the angels begin to sing and your mission will take wing. Some of these areas will seem familiar, but the way you employ them may need to be tweaked in order for you to survive and thrive...

You’re in the midst of year-end appeal season, and you’re feeling overwhelmed. Have you forgotten a critical component of your campaign? I’ve encountered the forgotten, and it’s not pretty. I’ll explain it to you like this: Recently, I made an online donation to a local arts organization. Fortunately, yes, contrary to many instances, I did receive a thank-you letter, even if it wasn’t the most prompt delivery. The letter arrived approximately four weeks after I made my gift...

A process is "a systematic series of actions directed to some end." The process in strategic planning, for example, can even be more important than the resulting plan. If you conduct planning as a process and not an event, have a proven outside facilitator and let the process work without a leader trying to control it (after all a plan is about the organization, not one person), the results are phenomenal...