10 Ways Your Brain Reacts to Uncertain Times

Volatility. Uncertainty. Complexity. Ambiguity. These four words (shorthanded to “VUCA”) describe the type of high-stress, high-demand scenarios that can rapidly degrade one of our most powerful and influential brain systems: our attention. Right now, during the COVID pandemic, we are all living in VUCA conditions. Compounding the constant health and economic concerns, we are facing […]

A Mental Trick to Help with Challenging Conversations

Imagine the colleague with whom you have a very challenging relationship, the person who makes the most innocuous conversation tense and uncomfortable. Now imagine the following scenario: You’re sitting at your desk working away when a message from that person pops up on your screen. You open the message and it reads: “I got the […]

Five For-Profit Practices That Philanthropy Should Avoid

Judy Park, Kavya Shankar and a group of Stanford MBA students interviewed millennial donors from the Silicon Valley startup world and these conservations showed a pattern of overreliance on certain for-profit principles in the nonprofit realm, despite potential flaws. One young tech executive in San Francisco said she wanted to maximize return on investment. The […]

Helpful advice for aspiring writers of all ages

“Write something good, and feel good about writing it.” That sentence is from award-winning writer Jacqueline Woodson in response to the question “What’s the goal of writing when you’re 15?” Being a writer is all about expressing your unique perspective with feeling and originality, not about having a huge vocabulary or getting published, says author […]

Don’t Waste Your Time on Networking Events

Large, traditional business networking events are a time-honored institution. They have been a staple of aspiring and successful professionals for so long that most networking advice focuses not on whether you should attend, but on how to make the most of these events when you do attend. In theory, they’re one of the best ways […]

5 Email Marketing Sequences You Should Set Up For Your Nonprofit

One of the most valuable tools available to digital marketers is email marketing. If used properly, it has extraordinary potential to increase revenue and boost return on investment (ROI) in your marketing efforts. But your results depend significantly on your emails’ timing and content. A surefire way to power up your email marketing is to […]

The permission to ask ask

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of working with Tess Nixon Spiller. She wrote this blog at the time and when I first read it, it felt to me she was a magician who had just lifted the lid on their most successful magic trick. It just blew me away… “so that is […]

Fundraising in 2021 – what might we expect?

Back in June 2020, Mark Phillips wrote a study on what fundraising in 2021 might look like? As we head towards an easing of lockdown 3, now seems like a good time to reflect on Mark’s wise words to help us through the rest of the year. When Mark was writing thus, there obviously was […]

5 Ways to Create Meaningful Connections in a Virtual World

This list was initially created by Dr Andrea Dinardo for students embarking on a new career during covid-19 but it is equally useful for fundraisers trying to make online connections with new supporters. It also includes EQ techniques helpful for everyone. Find out more here: https://drandreadinardo.com/2021/02/09/meaningful-online-connections/

Landmark ruling eases telemarketing laws for Dutch charities

On 26 January 2021, the Dutch government unanimously approved two amendments to the proposed Telecommunications Act, softening the rules for charities in contrast with legislation for businesses. The former proposal for the Dutch Telecommunications Act restricted organisations from contacting individuals who have not opted in for marketing calls unless they have a financial relationship as customers or, in the […]