Note: This guest post is from Anna Adachi-Mejia; an earlier version appeared in Medium. Thanks, Anna! Are you planning a combined in-person and videoconference meeting – in other words, a hybrid meeting? As a former faculty member who has facilitated and attended hundreds of hybrid meetings, I understand how this can feel like the worst … [Read more...]
Board ambassadors: 20 ways to improve their outreach and impact
A key role for any nonprofit board is ambassadorship: representing and promoting the organization throughout their networks and communities. In today’s post – adapted from a recent webinar hosted by the Sustainability Network and co-created by my colleague Harvey McKinnon – I’m pleased to offer twenty tools and techniques you can use … [Read more...]
When thousands of fundraisers gather, what happens?
Note: This post is from Train Your Board partner Laurel McCombs. Thanks, Laurel! My colleague Bob Osborne and I just spent a few great days in New Orleans at the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference (AFP ICON). This might be the largest fundraising conference in the world, with several thousand attendees from … [Read more...]
Your favorite thanks: A fundraising exercise
Note: This is adapted from Train Your Board (and Everyone Else) to Raise Money, which I co-authored with Andrea Kihlstedt. Fundraising is about gratitude and appreciation. When we demonstrate genuine, personal appreciation, donors respond – and they keep giving. By developing a “thank you menu,” you can provide more opportunities for … [Read more...]
Consultants: First, do no harm
A former client called last week. He had hired a team of consultants to facilitate a two-day planning retreat and the event had gone badly. It’s a long story, but here’s the gist. The consultants did their homework and carefully prepared the agenda. However, once the retreat began, they faced a lot of tangents, conflict, and … [Read more...]
The long haul: Stamina, persistence, resilience
Note: This is adapted from my first book, Grassroots Grants, published in 1996. It still feels timely. I once wrote on a job application, “I’ve learned to keep my sense of balance and my sense of humor under the usual constraints of not enough time and never enough money.” It’s a clever sentence, but in one sense it’s a lie. When I … [Read more...]
Raising money from businesses: Six ways board members can help
Whenever I’m working with nonprofit boards – specifically, boards with limited fundraising experience – the brainstorm always begins like this: Let’s ask businesses for donations. While I have mixed feelings about this approach – after all, corporations provided only 4% of philanthropic dollars in 2021 – I also understand and … [Read more...]
Seven ways to build community fundraising partnerships
Note: This post is from Train Your Board partner Bob Osborne of The Osborne Group. Thanks, Bob! As the nonprofit sector considers how to behave in a more holistic, community-centric way – in other words, deeply engaging and partnering with the communities we serve – I’ve been wondering: How do we implement this approach with … [Read more...]
The COVID relief money you haven’t received … yet
Note: This guest post is from financial management consultant Cynthia Moore of Operation Fairy Godmother, cynthia@operationfairygodmother.org. Thanks, Cynthia! Did your organization take advantage of the PPP, EIDL, Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, or other Federal grant and loan programs? For many nonprofits, this money was a godsend … [Read more...]
Five tips to improve your writing
In March 2014 – almost nine years ago – my colleague Andrea Kihlstedt and I shared our first blog post on Train Your Board. Today’s post is number 200. Wow! How did that happen? This project began as a book of fundraising exercises, then expanded to include a website, blog, and video training series. After a few years, Andrea stepped … [Read more...]
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