Not So Fast: Keep Chairs and Committees for Virtual Programs
It’s September in the nonprofit universe--the time when many nonprofit organizations kick-off a slate of programming to showcase the importance of their mission, and educate and engage their community. Now that everything is remote, likely for the year, this may have
Don’t Go It Alone–Lean On Your Leadership
Now that we’re settling in to business in the time of Covid, organizations are reinventing their programming. They’re focused on being safely accessible, and rethinking ways to communicate their missions without in-person events. I see teams of talented professionals spending
Net Casting for the Networking Challenged
In the organizational consulting field, ongoing professional development is a non-negotiable—it’s that important. I read/listen to experts in my field to acquire new ideas, perspectives, skills and techniques. Across the board, top experts assert that constant professional networking is essential
What’s the Buzz on Fundraising Now?
Buzz, buzz, buzz… What’s that sound? In one ear, it’s the sound of those Japanese Murder Hornets. In the other ear, it’s the sound of the country reopening for business. And non-profits need to get onboard with that latter buzz. The first
How’s My Outfit?
Do these colors work for me? Is my jacket hanging right? Are these pants flattering? This is a thought process I went through every single day — until the global pandemic hit, and I stopped wearing work pants. And that’s when
Can you hear me now? Board meetings and phoning it in.
I recently attended a conference for nonprofit professionals, and this caught my eye: How to Engage & Maximize Your Nonprofit Board featuring social enterprise and start-up investor, Chris Himes. I popped in to hear what one high-level angel investor had
Program and development: how and why to build the bridge. Now.
When I get acquainted with a nonprofit, the divide (more like crevasse!) between the organization’s development side and programming side is something I can usually count on. From an operational perspective, this divide makes no sense at all: programs cannot
360 degree reviews: the art is in the implementation
Recently, a robust organization doing serious humanitarian work contacted me to figure out why their 360 degree review process wasn’t working so well. They said management's reviews of their reports were one or two sentences, woefully incomprehensive and incomplete. Since
First Things First–The Weekly Check In
When I’m hired by an organization to coach new employees as part of their onboarding process, I always start with the same question: Do you have a set, weekly meeting with your supervisor? I used to assume this recurring practice
Prospecting: A Productive Expansion Method, or Why “Donor Reviews” Need To End
As far back in my career as I can remember, I’ve sat in meetings with other professionals and/or volunteers, talking about how we might meet the annual campaign goal for that particular year. Lists of contributors to previous campaigns were