Accountability

Last Monday, at a rally in Georgia, Donald Trump took the stage in front of the "Make America Great Again" faithful and threatened a familiar boycott. “How about I tell CNN that I’m not gonna do the next debate?” Trump said, according to USA Today. “I won’t do the debate unless they pay me $5 million, all of which money goes to the Wounded Warriors or to vets." How would CNN respond?...

You can easily think of a long career in the fundraising profession in terms of time, growth and opportunity. To have a career in this field you must have an interest in attributes that point you in a career direction. A long career may consist of 10 positions or more. My four-quarter career theory focuses on four major career stages...

One of the first things a fundraiser learns is that he or she doesn’t have all the answers. We rely on testing, experience, data and, sometimes, our guts to help us make decisions about how and when to invest our fundraising dollars. However, I’ve found that in the busyness of our work, we don’t always ask the right questions...

Diane is the executive director of a medium-sized nonprofit in the Southwest. In her projections for next year, she has inked in moderate bumps in her fundraising goals. Seems like that’s insufficient for her finance committee. The members of her committee want absolute certainty on the 2016 numbers. You read it right, absolute certainty...

One day after Wreaths Across America told WTOP it still needed 8,000 wreaths to be able to afford putting one on each headstone at Arlington National Cemetery, the nonprofit has reached its goal. “We are very humbled by the response from so many and in such a short amount of time,” said organization chairman Wayne…

I consider these three words the holy trinity of fundraising success. They are simple. They are easy to remember. They really work. Plus, if you wrap them up with some emotional color, you’ve got an offer that can’t be refused. Let’s take a look...

“When you develop visit scripts, do we have to learn them verbatim?” the client asked. I was shocked. We develop scripts for every pre-solicitation and solicitation visit in a campaign. However, these outlines are not something to regurgitate word for word. They are outlines to use to become familiar with the flow of a visit...

As the Girl Scouts, Turning Points for Children and countless other nonprofits have shown, crisis comes in ways that are impossible to imagine. It’s up to the organization to be proactive and transparent, to have a plan...

As the year comes to an end, we have the opportunity to reflect on our lives, give thanks and plan for the coming year. We reflect on family, our relationships with friends and community, and often our work life. With this column we offer 10 questions you can use to reflect on your role as…

The Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN), a nonprofit organization funded by the Coca-Cola Co., said on its website late Monday that it will discontinue its operations. The announcement comes four months after it was revealed that the Atlanta, Georgia-based beverage maker was involved in the activities of the group. GEBN, which was formed with an…