Larry C. Johnson

But we need to be aware of who needs to make which choices. When we don't attempt to make the choices that others should be making, life works out a whole lot better for everyone.

Your board may be performing well enough, but once you've seen a group that is truly united, you realize how much more can be achieved.

When we live and breathe a cause or project each and every day, it becomes a part of us. That's not a bad thing, but it becomes a serious liability when reach out to others who do not share our insider knowledge.

Every organization has a fundraising "tipping point." Most never actually reach it, but many find their revenue totals plateauing with miniscule increases from year to year.

The proper role of a board is to expect and demand from staff workable, realistic plans for revenue generation. Both board and staff have a role in implementing these plans.

Focusing on high-cash giving not only maximizes actual year-end returns, but more importantly, builds motivation and commitment in the segment of your donor base with the greatest inclination to give.

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

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

When you're approached to fundraise for your favorite cause or organization, there's no need to cringe and duck. The key is to shape the method and approach to attitudes that are built upon mutual benefit and personal investment. You'll even make some new friends.

As you reach out to renew those friendships with loyal donors to your cause with year-end appeals, the first question you should ask yourself is how these investors to your organization came to be the loyal, dependable friends that they are? You’ll discover that sustaining and expanding the flow of year-end investments is much more about what you did last year than anything you will do in the next few weeks.