Past Articles

Capital Campaigns

How Do We Know When We’re Ready for a Capital Campaign?

Recently, while meeting with a potential client, we were asked the important question, “what do we need in order to have a successful capital campaign?” Since we are often asked similar questions, I’ve been inspired to make it the basis for my latest blog to add to our ongoing conversation regarding our work as consultants [...]

Ethics

How Could This Happen to our Nonprofit? – Fraud Protection

If you Google the phrase “nonprofit fraud prevention”, you will get thousands of articles and presentations, primarily from the accounting world, discussing the far too often occurrence of fraud or embezzlement in nonprofits of all sizes.  These articles are full of excellent suggestions on how to prevent fraud, embezzlement, or theft by valued employees, yet there [...]

Capital Campaigns

Why Endowments Now!

Focusing on building – or establishing for the first time – your endowment fund is perhaps the best way to respond to the challenges presented by a strained economy.
Given the recent challenges nonprofit organizations have been facing, focusing now on strengthening – or perhaps establishing for the first time – your endowment fund, may seem [...]

Capital Campaigns

Cultivating a Donor: Like Cultivating a Garden

When growing a garden, the gardner has to plan the garden, plant the seeds, provide the right balance of water, sun and nutrients and keep the garden free of weeds and threatening pests. Cultivating a donor is much the same process. You need to have a plan, plant the seeds of knowledge about the good [...]

Leadership

Tired of Talk about Vision

Tired of talk about vision? Me too! And here’s why.

Leadership

“I’m not saying please, I’m not being reasonable, I’m making the decision”

It’s up to the Executive Director to make hard decisions – as seen on TV.

Leadership

Anyone Know Why We’re Meeting?

Congratulations! You’ve limited your meeting attendees to those who need to be there.
Now, how are you going to keep from wasting their time?
Your valuable volunteers are smart. They can come up with great ideas and engage in really substantive conversations that result in good policy. That only works though, if they’ve been given time to [...]

Leadership

Why am I here?

Wasting time in meetings is harmful to the bottom line. Inviting the right people is key to productive meetings and happier staff and volunteers.

Leadership

Nonprofits Need Help, Not Just Directives

Telling nonprofits to collaborate or merge is easy. Implementing it is hard. Where will the help come from in order to make it happen?

Leadership

Is this meeting necessary?

We all have the experience: Sitting in a meeting, wondering when it will end, and too polite to just up and leave. Meanwhile, we’re screaming inside, “Get me out of here!” Of course, this never happens in your organization. But if this experience is so common, why does it still happen?
I contend it’s because no [...]