Note: This guest post is from Annie Winkler of Real Pickles Cooperative. Thanks, Annie! We all have many ways we can think about who we are. There are: Identities based in our families of origin: sibling, child, parent. Labels based in communities we belong to: gay, Indigenous, physically-abled, poor, cis-gendered, … [Read more...]
Trainer confidential: How to move everything online
Three months into the pandemic, I've noticed three facilitation and training trends. First, the webinar wave. Lots of nonprofits and consultants started offering webinars: many for the first time, many for free, and many mediocre. It’s easy to organize and present a webinar, but it’s difficult to do it well. During this first wave, … [Read more...]
Board members: What you can do right now
How are you doing? How is your organization doing? As we navigate the challenges of COVID-19, many nonprofits are taking tactical steps to serve and survive: implementing anti-infection measures, working from home, moving programming online, taking a hard look at their budgets, and so forth. In this new environment – which changes … [Read more...]
Mastering virtual meetings
How many online meetings have you attended recently? How many were engaging, satisfying, and effectively facilitated? As I write this in mid-March 2020, we are just beginning to feel the impacts of the coronavirus across North America. As you gather less often with colleagues, more of your work life is probably moving … [Read more...]
How to market your micro-business
This year, I celebrate my 25th anniversary of working for myself. After all these years, it’s a still a one-person business – by design. Yes, I use contractors for various tasks, like managing my websites. For bigger jobs, I team up with other consultants, which is productive, educational, and fun. Most of the time, however, it’s … [Read more...]
How to build a gift chart: A fundraising exercise
What’s my favorite fundraising tool? That’s easy: show me a gift chart. If you’re like me, you need to understand how many donations, at what amounts, are needed to reach your goal. If the information is presented in a visual, easy-to-understand way, that’s even better. A gift chart can be used to: Test the feasibility of … [Read more...]
Showing up imperfect, part 2: Power, privilege, and imperfection
A few months ago, I published a post called Showing Up Imperfect. Based on my experience leading a series of train-the-trainer workshops in Maine, I reflected on the value of humility, vulnerability, and imperfection. To summarize, there’s a big difference between being imperfect and being incompetent. Know your stuff and do your work … [Read more...]
Board members: It’s not a life sentence
Once upon a time, I served with a skilled, committed, hard-working board president: a great strategic thinker and also attentive to detail. This is a rare combination. If I could clone this person for other boards, I would absolutely do it. Our president, however, was always dancing on the edge of burnout. Lacking an obvious … [Read more...]
Showing up imperfect
A consulting colleague has a successful business facilitating workshops on a variety of topics, serving a variety of clients. She’s supremely well-organized. She designs meticulous agendas, prepares materials days in advance, and rehearses her presentation. As the day of the job approaches, you don't want to mess with her, because … [Read more...]
Dream big, raise more money
Once upon I time, when I worked as a development director, I would gather the program staff annually to ask the “what if” questions: What if we had all the money we needed? What if we could do the work we wanted to do without worrying about the budget – what would we do? What if we had the capacity to try new things and do our … [Read more...]
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