Name one important skill you mastered the first time you tried it. Perhaps you can find an example or two, but let’s face it – we become good at things by learning basic principles, followed by lots of practice. Fundraising is no different. It’s a skill to be mastered. If you want your board, staff, or any group to master … [Read more...]
Ask Your Board: How High Will You Go?
Note: This guest post is from our colleague Amy Eisenstein, one of the country’s leading fundraising consultants and trainers. Thanks Amy! Your board members are essential for successful fundraising, especially when it comes to major gift fundraising. Unfortunately, fundraising doesn’t come naturally to most board members, which means … [Read more...]
Your Facilitator’s Toolbox
Think of all the professions that require workers to bring tools to the job site. If you’re a painter, carpenter, surveyor, plasterer, plumber, gardener, or electrician, you travel with your tools. Chefs carry their own knives. Musicians bring their instruments. Yoga instructors shoulder their yoga mats. What’s in your … [Read more...]
Talkers, non-talkers, and disrupters: How to effectively engage your group
If you’ve ever chaired a meeting, taught a class, organized people to accomplish a specific task, or facilitated anything, you’ve undoubtedly encountered these challenges. People who talk too much People who are uncomfortable talking in groups or simply choose not to speak People who disrupt the process and require a lot of … [Read more...]
Want a productive meeting? Create a great agenda
Many board members confuse going to meetings with fulfilling their duties. Alas, attending meetings barely qualifies as work – especially when you consider the typical agenda. A report, a few questions, another report, another question or two, a digression, a discussion about which color to paint the office, and an argument about the … [Read more...]
The most fun way to end a workshop…?
If you’re looking for a fun way to wrap up your next training, here’s a great option from MaryKay O’Donnell, a friend and colleague from the Land Trust Alliance, who learned it from Georgia Peterson at Michigan State University. This exercise engages your participants, gets everyone moving, and reinforces the most important lessons of … [Read more...]
Gnarly Questions (and Answers) About Board Training – Part 2
Last week we ran the first part of Andy’s Q&A with consultant Mazarine Treyz, who posed several challenging questions about building and training effective boards. This week, we’re sharing the rest of their conversation. Enjoy! Finding great board members Mazarine: How can you find good board members? What’s a way to get the BEST … [Read more...]
Gnarly Questions (and Answers) About Board Training – Part 1
Andy recently sat down with Mazarine Treyz, a terrific colleague based in Portland, Oregon. Mazarine asked tough questions about training boards. Andy did his best to answer them. Thanks to Mazarine for sharing this Q&A on her blog. Here’s your chance to eavesdrop on their conversation. The biggest mistake – and how to avoid it … [Read more...]
In Praise of Non-Planning
When it comes to training and facilitation, how much of a planner are you? Do you just show up and wing it? Or do you design every step of every agenda in exquisite detail? As you'd expect, people land along this continuum. When it comes to training (and most anything else in life), you can make any style work. The same principle … [Read more...]
Using Fundraising Parties to Engage Reluctant Board Members
As we roll into spring – and party season! – we’re offering two exercises to help you create and host profitable house parties. Last month, we shared a simple activity, Planning a Fundraising House Party, that you can use to create a party plan calendar. Do this exercise first. Today’s post features a follow-up exercise, Fundraising … [Read more...]
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