Inspirational stories can motivate. But stigmatized stories can cripple. This matters for fundraising because it matters for fundraisers. Few professions suffer more from stigmatized stories than fundraising. Story begins with character. Consider the “fundraiser” character. What is this role? What is this title? Fundraiser. What does that mean? Fund means money. Raiser means one who … Continue reading Fundraiser turnover problems: The stigmatized story character
As your team gets bigger your leadership style has to adapt
As Development and Fundraising teams become more successful, many are lucky enough to start growing their teams. However, there are hidden consequences to an expanding team. What lessons can leaders learn to prepare? When Julie Zhuo, Facebook’s vice president of design, first began managing a team, it consisted of just a handful of people. When … Continue reading As your team gets bigger your leadership style has to adapt
What To Do When Someone Is Bringing Down Your Team
Tolerating performance or behavior that negatively impacts the team is choosing to signal to the team that you are OK with it. The only choices you really have in situations like these are to Tolerate, Train, or Terminate. Shane Snow took this advice to heart over the years and made a flowchart as a reminder … Continue reading What To Do When Someone Is Bringing Down Your Team
How to Follow Up with Someone Who’s Not Getting Back to You
We’ve all been there. You email someone asking for a conversation, information, input, or an introduction, and you get no response. Whether you are reaching out to a coworker, a donor, a recruiter, a prospect, or even an old friend, not everyone will get back to you on your timeline — if at all. As … Continue reading How to Follow Up with Someone Who’s Not Getting Back to You
5 Ways to Make the Case for the Back Office in Fundraising
Why is it so hard to secure investment for non-frontline roles? Perhaps the easiest answer is to acknowledge that leadership rarely has a fundraising background. But leaders are more likely to interact with the frontline officers. Their experience with fundraising is seeing and perhaps participating only in the cultivation and asking process. Their line of … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make the Case for the Back Office in Fundraising
How to Identify and Support Future Leaders at Your Nonprofit
All nonprofits have growth in mind. When you grow your organization, you raise more funds. You increase your impact on the community. And you spread the word far and wide about your admirable mission. The recipe for growth requires one vital ingredient you already have access to. This ingredient is leadership. You are likely an … Continue reading How to Identify and Support Future Leaders at Your Nonprofit
Identity and Blackness in Prospect Development
You may know Joan Ogwumike as the author for the past four years of the blog, A Researcher’s Diary, but she is also the writer of the Apra-Illinois blog as well as Prospect Research Associate at the Obama Foundation. Although small in number, Black prospect development professionals deserve an opportunity to share experiences and knowledge pertaining to diversity, inclusion … Continue reading Identity and Blackness in Prospect Development
10 Ways to Reduce Interviewer Bias
Strangers often get a bad deal when it comes to being accurately assessed during interviews. While people who are known to the hiring manager are assessed on their past performance, strangers are judged on their motivation to get the job, a bunch of generic competencies, the depth of their technical knowledge and the quality of … Continue reading 10 Ways to Reduce Interviewer Bias
Data Security in Philanthropy
As the saying goes “Data Is the New Oil” and charities and non-profits certainly hold a lot of valuable data. We collect contact details, build up donor giving histories, process payments, build up donor and prospect profiles and gain insights into very personal and sensitive information. And we do this for a vast number of individuals, … Continue reading Data Security in Philanthropy
Top 10 ways to make better decisions
Decisions, decisions! Our lives are full of them, from the small and mundane, such as what to wear or eat, to the life-changing, such as whether to get married and to whom, what job to take and how to bring up our children. We jealously guard our right to choose. It is central to our … Continue reading Top 10 ways to make better decisions
Propper Fundraising 