3 Metrics That Reveal Your Nonprofitās Future Fundraising Potential Read time: 3-4 minutes In the hustle and bustle, itās tempting to measure our fundraising progress by one thing: How much have we raised? But I want to argue thereās another question thatās just as important: Are we building the kind of community and systems that will make fundraising easier and more sustainable over time? Because strong fundraising doesnāt usually come from one great campaign or one big ask (focusing...
9 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 6 min read
The Hidden Cost of āScrappyā Nonprofits Read time: 3-4 minutes As a nonprofit, being "scrappy" is often worn as a badge of honor. Doing more with less. Keeping overhead low. Stretching every dollar as far as it can go. Resourcefulness is absolutely a strength. Butā¦ there's a point where investing too little in your organization starts to hurt the very mission you're working so hard to advance. Saying it louder for the people in the back: š¢ Healthy infrastructure doesn't take away from your...
16 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
The Most Important Skill in Nonprofit Fundraising Read time: 3-4 minutes What if the most important fundraising skill has nothing to do with how well you write a grant or how confidently you make an ask? The most important skill in nonprofit fundraising is something much simpler and much more powerful: It's listening. I know it sounds trite ā but hear me out! š In this week's Changemaker Mondays āļø ā š, I'm sharing why listening is the most underrated skill in fundraising and three simple...
23 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
Volunteering Has Changed Over The Past Decade. Tips for Recruiting Volunteers Read time: 3-4 minutes Has volunteer recruitment felt a little harder for your organization this year? Iām hearing it across organizations. Itās not just you. Something has been shifting. This week, Iām actually in D.C. helping present a special project Iāve been consulting on for a global nonprofit, Points of Light, over the past 18 months: Designing a National Volunteer Strategy to increase volunteerism across the...
30 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
3 Things Funders are Quietly Asking Themselves as They Read Your Donation Request Read time: 3-4 minutes Feel like youāre hitting a wall with your grant funding requests? Even organizations with the most overtly compelling missions get rejection letters. It might not be about the quality of your writing. Sometimes it comes down to the answers to a few key questions funders are asking themselves as they read your request. ā¦And once you get a handle on these questions, you can start building...
about 1 month agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
3 Mindset Shifts We Need to Make as Nonprofit Leaders if Our Orgs are Going to Thrive Read time: 3-4 minutes What if some of the biggest obstacles holding your nonprofit back aren't external at all? Sometimes the thing standing between your organization and its next level of growth is a mindset -- A belief about how nonprofits are supposed to work, what leaders are supposed to do, or how boards are supposed to function that just isn't serving you anymore. But mindsets can shift. And when they...
about 1 month agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
3 Ways To Start Preparing (Early) For Year-End Giving Read time: 3-4 minutes Itās June. Half-way through the year (how, I ask?!). And that means year-end fundraising might be quietly starting to creep back into your mind. You know itās coming. You know it matters. But it still feels far away ā and then bam! Suddenly, itās November, and teams are trying to figure out what to say, what to ask for, and how to pull everything together at once. The organizations that feel more confident going into...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
Set Your Organization Up For Success: What Would Break If Your Leader(s) Took 30 Days Off? Read time: 3-4 minutes When was the last time you took a real vacation from your nonprofit? Not the kind where youāre still checking email between activities. I mean a true break where the organization keeps running without you. Donāt freak out. š± I get it. Even imagining that can feel dizzying. Iāve literally been there. I know first hand how in growing organizations, a lot of important information and...
about 2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read
The Fundability Test: If your Nonprofit got $1 Million today, what would you invest in? Read time: 3-4 minutes Would your nonprofit pass the āFundability Testā? š¤ Hereās how it works: Imagine that a magical unicorn š¦ of a donor called you today and offered your nonprofit $1 million ā but only if you could quickly explain the best way to invest that money for the organizationās future. We could all endlessly list things we could spend money on. But the more important question (and the one big...
2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 5 min read