Category: Fundraising
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Donor stewardship amidst a pandemic
I’ve been thinking a lot about effective donor stewardship in the midst of a pandemic. Some strategies that traditionally are used for donor stewardship aren’t feasible during social distancing. For…
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Planning and Management Amidst a Pandemic
I’ve worked with quite a few clients over the last few years developing strategic plans. A few have called me and asked: what now in light of the pandemic? I…
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Does your nonprofit pass the marshmallow test?
One of the most famous social-science studies was the marshmallow test. Put a marshmallow in front of a preschool aged child and tell the child they can have a second…
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Relentlessly Focus on Relationships
This is a republication of Chapter 1 of Why Organizations Thrive.  Organizations that thrive relentlessly focus on relationships.  This must begin with the Executive Director and the Executive Director’s relationships.…
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a lesson from my yoga instructor
My yoga story told a short story that she applied to life, but my mind immediately applied to nonprofit organizations. Chapter 1: You’re walking down a street, and you fall…
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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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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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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.…