A friend was having trouble with his boss. “We don’t connect. I don’t know why. I guess we just see things differently.” “Do you trust her?” I asked. Silence. A laugh. “No.” Donors give you money because they trust you. Volunteers volunteer because they trust you. Development directors and CEOs succeed because they trust each[…]
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I visited the offices of a community foundation last month, I was ushered into a small, lovely meeting room overlooking the city’s most famous avenue. The room was tastefully decorated and filled with local artwork. A stack of postcards with information about the artist rested on a side table. The room was named after the[…]
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Thank you for sharing our success for 20 years! Over the past two decades, I’ve helped over 1,000 organizations to grow their incomes by multiple millions of dollars. No surprise—additional nonprofit income remains a need. Here are ten proven income mindsets. Adopt them to be a better nonprofit leader: 1. Income Sustainability is the result[…]
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The board chair of volunteer-based nonprofit calls. She wants my help to obtain income to hire their first staff member. This new employee will run special events, do office management, write grants, and spearhead development efforts. In my 20 years of advising nonprofits I’ve listened to Rolodex full of similar requests to help make this[…]
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Far too many nonprofit leaders, these and similar arguments persuade them that earning more income is impossible. They say: Our location is terrible. The competition has all the benefits. We don’t have enough money. Our employees won’t be able to compete. How often do you hear arguments like these about why you can’t earn[…]
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Martin Luther King. Abraham Lincoln. George Washington. In winter, we remember the birthdays of American leaders. Considering the underside of our history, we have much for which to be thankful. Things might have all turned out much worse. Washington was the only founding father who freed his slaves. This was no passing gesture. He meant[…]
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Are you sitting in an uncomfortable chair? Dealing with crummy software? Writing with the world’s cheapest pen? Why? In all likelihood, it is to minimize your nonprofit’s overhead. Appropriate overhead is the funding a nonprofit needs to do its programs well and frugally, with quality prioritized over frugality. Like a well-fitting hiking boot, appropriate overhead[…]
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One of your donors makes a six-figure gift to another nonprofit. Can you use this information to further your mission, and help the donor and your community? By leveraging his nonprofit’s member benefits, one director of philanthropy designed a way to help generous donors achieve more of their goals. When a Director of Development (we’ll[…]
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Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read, you begin with A-B-C; when you sing, you begin with do-re-mi…. Do you recognize The Sound of Music lyrics? Maria sings them to Captain von Trapp’s seven children. By starting with the basics, over time, the von Trapp family became[…]
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1. A Magic Slate. Yesterday, you learned. Be grateful for the education, no matter the cost. Start fresh. 2. An Oxygen Mask. Love your neighbors as yourself gives two parties love. Each is important. Like on an airplane, first you don the oxygen mask of self-love; then help your neighbor[…]
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