Will Money Really Solve Your Nonprofits Problems?
What would make everything better in your nonprofit? For a large percentage of your colleagues, money, or lack thereof, is cited as the most critical issue facing their organization. Do you think plenty of money would make everything better for your nonprofit? Makes sense to some extent. Money = more staff, increased salaries, and updated technology.…
Indications and Traits of Great Leadership Ability in Nonprofits
According to John Maxwell, best-selling author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, one of the best indicators of great leadership ability is having proved yourself as a nonprofit leader for at least 6 months. Successfully, that is. Whether it’s leading a board, a fundraising campaign, or an event –Maxwell believes that if you can do this,…
Without this, your nonprofit’s future is at risk
Can you guess the hottest topic in the fundraising world today? Unfortunately, it’s the plummeting donor retention rates. Quick – Do you know the answer to these questions for your nonprofit? How many donors renewed or upgraded their gift from 2018 to 2019? Of those same people, how many donors either lapsed or downgraded their gift?…
Is your board an effective team?
I can’t remember when teambuilding shifted from a touchy feely thing to what organizational behavior expert Patrick Lencioni refers to as “the one sustainable competitive advantage that has been largely untapped” in his book Overcoming the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. Most of us are a part of one team or another: in the workplace,…
Vulnerability and Abundance
We are surrounded by abundance in this world of ours, yet our struggle to raise enough funds to meet the growing need in our communities is named as central to the crisis facing the sector. How do we as nonprofits tap into the resources that we so desperately need? Is it possible that our race…
Here’s why your board won’t fundraise
Because they don’t want to. More to the point, they haven’t had a reason to. I’m talking about the kind of fundraising that goes beyond your day to day expenses. Alice Waters, the founder of Chez Panisse Restaurant and the neighboring Edible School Yard in Berkeley, is considered the mother of the modern slow food movement in…
5 reasons coaching is a no-brainer for nonprofit executives
Insight, new energy, and possibility are a few benefits of engaging with a good coach. Are you an executive director of a nonprofit? Or an executive staff member? Coaching can be a game changer for you and your nonprofit. The big question is, are you coachable? I have coached many ED’s and board members, and…
First impressions are serious business in nonprofits
Why are they so important? The impression you create may affect future job opportunities, getting promoted, or other important matters or collaborations that you’re cultivating in the community. Not to mention raising money and attracting the time and resources of donors and volunteers. Did you know it takes only three to five seconds for someone…
Making your way through the messy middle
The problem is that things are always messier than the how-to’s make them out to be. This is why it’s often better to think less about specifics and more about the principles and qualities to get you through hard times. When you get it, you get it. You’re not relying on some checklist. Brene Brown…
A simple tool to gain clarity and increase productivity
Does lack of time and stress get in the way of progressing at the rate you would like? Getting the most important things done and growing as a leader is a challenge for many nonprofit leaders. It seems there’s not enough time in the day to accomplish anything other than what’s in front of you.…