Imagine the following… After talking with a friend who says great things about your organization, I hop on your website – and I’m impressed. Based on this friend’s referral and my bit of online homework, I pull out my credit card and donate $50. Question: Should you accept my gift? Your response: What? Are you serious? Of course … [Read more...]
Getting the most out of your next board retreat
Note: This guest post is from Laurel McCombs of the Osborne Group. Thanks, Laurel! Spring cleaning, annual physicals, board retreats. What do these things have in common? Admit it, your first thought wasn’t completely positive. On one hand, they can all be viewed as obligatory tasks to be endured once a year. Some may view them as … [Read more...]
Eight ways to improve board fundraising
Note: This guest post is from Sabrina Walker Hernandez. Thanks, Sabrina! Here’s a question I hear repeatedly: How do I get my board members engaged in fundraising? (Cue the frustrated sighs from executive directors, CEOs, and development staff.) You’ve got options! Here are eight strategies you can use, right now, to improve board … [Read more...]
Four board tricks you haven’t tried … yet
Many people who contact me want to talk (or complain!) about their nonprofit’s board of directors. They ask, “How can we…” Convince our board to raise more money? Encourage them to take their work seriously? Improve their leadership skills? Transition our board to a different role as our organization … [Read more...]
Why I stopped flying
In December 2018 – a full year before anyone had heard of COVID-19 – I boarded an airplane for the last time. This was a huge change for me and my business. Over the previous 25 years, I had worked in 47 U.S. states and across Canada, piling up lots of frequent flyer miles and spewing lots of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In … [Read more...]
Leading through ambiguity
A friend recently asked me, “In your role as board president, what’s been your approach to dealing with the pandemic?” “Embracing ambiguity,” I said, without hesitation. “The virus changes, the health guidance evolves, the future is unclear. We keep adapting, and I’m comfortable with that.” In that moment, I remembered an Institute … [Read more...]
Is it OK to give up on your board?
Several years ago, while attending a Money for Our Movements conference hosted by the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, I witnessed an interesting debate. This was literally a debate, with two teams arguing the pros and cons of the proposition du jour: Are we ready to give up on nonprofit boards and allow our organizations to be … [Read more...]
Funding social change from your own community
Note: This guest post is adapted and condensed from Fundraising for Social Change, 8th Edition, by Kim Klein and Stan Yogi. It explores how the LGBTQ+ rights movement generated funding and people power in San Francisco. Order your copy through your local bookstore. Thanks, Stan and Kim! In the 1970s, lesbians and gay men from … [Read more...]
Why fundraising is better than an endowment
Note: This guest post is from Harvey McKinnon, with assistance from his colleague Kevin Wilson. Thank you both! For many years I served on the board of a small arts organization. I loved the nonprofit, but one thing bothered me every time we went over the budget: our endowment. The endowment totaled about $900,000, just shy of our … [Read more...]
Designing a complicated meeting? Use video to help clients prepare
Note: This guest post is from Allison Grappone of AGG Consulting. Thanks, Allison! I dislike wasting anyone’s time. Everyone has important things to do. In general, people need more time to themselves, away from meetings, and away from Zoom. To make better use of everybody’s time, I use videos to prime the pump before complex … [Read more...]
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