Executive Issues

As a nonprofit leader, volunteers and especially board members need to be looking to you as the expert, as the leader. If you need additional expertise for various reasons, bring in consultants, advisors, board members and staff. For nonprofit success  — and fundraising success specifically  — be strategic and lead!

What is it each day, each week and each month that you absolutely must focus on for the best possible fundraising results?

Think about your work performance, and strive to give it your best each day. You will drive home with a good feeling knowing you gave it your best, and others will notice.            

When you have a long career, you create a database of contacts. If you're lucky, you may reconnect with people from your past and start the engagement process all over again.

There's an emerging movement to value talent, invest in the next generation, be open to change, and look for and nurture new fundraisers coming up in the ranks!

Although the outcomes of any given fundraising effort cannot be known with absolute certainty, assessing the probability of success isn't entirely guesswork, either.

How can you understand the communication experience your donors are having if you don't have it all written down?

We believe that managers actually need to manage their major-gifts officers. Sadly, the state of management in the nonprofit sector is sorely lacking. It's just very rare to come across a good manager who really knows how to develop people.

Stopping a downward spiral is doable — but not without investing time and effort, and enduring some short-term pain.

It takes an investment of time and money and a commitment of focus to achieve transformational fundraising results. But isn't that  what your mission deserves?