Do you want your nonprofit to emerge strong and healthy from the pandemic? Understanding the difference between frugal and cheap will help you in any year, but it has increased urgency as you start with 2021 pandemic budgeting. A culture of cheapness American culture, and our nonprofits, have deep roots [...]
Times are tough. Full stop. Thereâs something about nonprofits and crisis, right? But right now itâs more, more, more. Itâs exhausting. So⊠what to do? I happened to listen to a âTough Times, Tougher Nonprofitsâ webinar with nonprofit leadership guru Joan Garry last week, and was inspired to write this [...]
2020 has been a year for the ages. Not only are we dealing with a global pandemic, but also civil unrest, a shrinking economy, partisan politics, and environmental disasters, leading to uncertainty about 2021. Not only does this create unease in our personal lives, but also professionally, and across all [...]
âWeâre 100% volunteer-run!â That may not be the good news you think it is. Itâs not that volunteers arenât valuable. They absolutely are! Itâs just that eventually most roles outgrow the duties and reasonable time commitment of a volunteer position. That caps your growth. But how do you get from [...]
Sometime in your career youâll likely be approached by a donor who wants to give you a gift you probably shouldnât accept. It may be due to the fact it comes with strings. Or liabilities. Or expenses. Or youâre just not staffed up to do the work required to comply [...]
In Parts 1 and 2 of this four-part series I introduced a â4-Step Strategy to Cure Your Current Fundraising Headache.â Because the times weâre in are trying. Donors, however, are still giving. You can succumb to the crisis, take two aspirin every four hours for the rest of the pandemic, [...]
In Part 1 of this four-part series I introduced a â4-Step Strategy to Cure Your Current Fundraising Headache.â FORWARD FACE Equilibrium: Balance your fundraising strategies FUEL the Machine: Charge your annual contributions income engine FUMES Provide Accelerant: Prepare for âretirementâ FUTURE Proof the Mission: Leave a legacy for generations to [...]
Itâs hard to imagine a time before GPS and Google Maps, even back before the days of those AAA maps for long car rides. But before automobiles and trains or Trans-Atlantic flight, cartography was as much a mystery as it was science. In 150, Ptolemyâs Geographia warned of mythical characters [...]
Time to get your bearings so you donât lose your way amidst the chaos with your current fundraising strategies. Things are getting tougher. Partly because this doesnât feel new anymore. The early urge to jump in with both feet to do something â a virtual event, a crisis appeal, a [...]
Fundraising hasnât been this hard since the Great Recession. It seems like just about everyone, everywhere is exhausted by the two pandemics facing our country, coronavirus and racism. There is an underlying sense that we are in the midst of a great shift in mindset and values. All while the [...]
"It's not what happens to you, it's how you respond to it."Â -- Epictetus, Greek philosopher How you define the problems facing you matters, because it affects how you respond to it. There are two basic ways to define the largest problem most nonprofits face during an economic recession: Expenses [...]
Amidst the countryâs ongoing shelter-at-home restrictions, the economy remains in flux, and everything seems very unsure and unstable. Itâs hard to watch the evening news without feeling your stomach tighten. You may be feeling like life has gone from a sprint, to a marathon, to a double marathon. And youâre [...]