On my high school baseball team, I typically played third base and caught. In an important sectional tournament, I was assigned to play first base. It was the only time I played that position all year. I was excited to play the position and knew I would play it well because I could adapt quickly to changes in scenarios. I apply that same confidence to my nonprofit work...
We all love a good crisis. Don’t we? No, you say? What did you do the last time you passed a traffic jam on the opposite side of the expressway? Did you slow down and rubberneck to check it out? What about that fire that you just happened to drive by? Did you park, get out and watch?...
I was so impressed with the way my colleague Sharon Kerr, who works for The Salvation Army in California, organized and rallied her program people that I had to pass it on to you to copy and use, with her permission...
All of us constantly are interacting with representatives from foundations, corporations, associations, organizations and families. Each contact is different, and long-term success depends on initial interactions and subsequent personal activities. Have you ever taken the time to look at your prospects and match them with your staff based upon personality and potential fit? If not, and if possible, I strongly suggest you look at these linkages...
Give Local America, a single-day, online-only fundraising event, happened on May 3. This annual rally brought thousands of people together to support local nonprofits in their communities. But this year, the event hit a glitch due to a hardware issue, causing delays in processing the payments and frustrating a lot of people...
After spending two days with 100 different leaders in the nonprofit space, I have been surprised at the conversation around charity aggregators. It’s a hot topic. Please give me your thoughts. All I need is 10 minutes, and it is anonymous...
When you have been in the nonprofit business as long as I have, you have seen everything. I have been to countless meetings, lunch appointments, seminars, dinners and various events. In the nonprofit world, you typically react to someone’s act. We all strive for the end result, whatever that turns out to be in the long run. I can wait forever if, in the end, it results in large quantities of time, talent or treasure for the institution I represent...
This week I was visiting with a great mentor—an incredible philanthropist, board member and fundraiser. We are both fans of a friend who recently left a university where the president did not allow anyone else to engage with its top donors and prospective donors...
Peer-to-peer is the fast food of fundraising. It is fundraising by the numbers. It is about setting up a system with known drivers and letting that system work. It is big. It is exponential. It is predictable...
Picture this familiar scenario: It’s been six weeks since you spent time and effort researching regional foundations and sending out eight new proposals in support of a planned educational initiative on behalf of your three-year-old community arts organization...
