Blog
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How much input should we seek?
When starting to talk to a potential strategic planning client, one of the first questions that comes up relates to the level of input they are seeking to solicit as…
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Personal stories in fundraising
Telling Personal Stories when doing Fundraising Meetings Often, we spend so much time honing the stories we’re going to tell to donors about our organization, that we fail to also…
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Why Volunteers and a Spiderman Theory
Why Volunteers and a Spiderman Theory of Volunteer Responsibility Most organizations with whom I consult make some effort to involve volunteers. Some are wildly successful. Others are not. There are…
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Alignment around “why” and not just “what”
I was talking with someone recently about the struggle of getting a board and staff to stay aligned around a planned set of activities. In the course of the conversation,…
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Some thoughts about donor stewardship
They gave! Now what? You want donors to have an ongoing, steadily deepening relationship with both you and the organization. So you should steward that relationship.  Hence, donor stewardship. Stewardship starts…
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Overcoming the fear of rejection
When people say they are “afraid” of making fundraising asks one-on-one with a prospective donor, there are many facets to that fear. One is the age-old fear of rejection. Â Everyone…
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Creating a “Time” Budget
As a consultant, one thing I often observe is that clients routinely have staff who are working far more hours than is sustainable. Â Moreover, they often have little idea where…
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A primer on nonprofit dashboards
What’s a nonprofit dashboard? Why should my nonprofit consider getting one? And how should we develop one? These are some of the questions I address in a recent guest blog…
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Thoughts on developing a culture of philanthropy
Beyond the nuts and bolts of fundraising, one topic that often emerges when I work with clients is how to imbue the organization with a culture that supports fundraising growth.…
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Tips for “Virtual” Meetings
This blog was originally drafted in 2016. A lot has changed on the virtual meeting front since them, although many fundamentals remain the same. I periodically update it to reflect…