Early in my fundraising career, I was driving to a donor's office to drop something off. It was a featureless office park in Orange County, and I wasn't sure I was in the right place.   Then I saw the donor's car. His unmistakable personalized plate and his gleaming Maserati.   I pulled my humble Honda Civic into a nearby spot and got ready for the meeting. And all I could think was:   "Do I really belong here?"   For a moment, the gap between my world and my donor's world se

Fundraising can feel confusing.   Depending on who you are listening to or what you are reading, you may think you need to add more events, cancel all your events, focus on major giving only, start a grants program, start a monthly giving program, start a board development committee, disband that committee, and change your CRM. Possibly all at once.   Oh, and call Amazon for a gift, while you are at it.   It's not that any of that advice is bad (well, the Amazon one is), but

There comes a time in every fundraiser's life when you are looking at a list of calls to make.   Maybe it's a list of new donors. Or prospective donors.   Maybe it's a list of volunteers who need to be invited to the event.   Or a list of lapsed donors you want to re-connect with.   And, often at the same time, that same fundraiser gets the idea that it's a great time to take one more look at that CRM report.   Or to double-check to make sure the update email has the right li

I've been a leadership coach for more than three years now. I've also been a coaching client for about half that time.   The benefits of coaching are clear to me -- but maybe you're on the fence. Nonprofits aren't generally known for their willingness to invest in professional development / skill building, so coaching isn't as common as it should be.   So, because I love a three-part list, here's three benefits to working with a leadership coach:   Accountability Successful f

The stories that we tell ourselves - and the stories we revisit when things are grim - can tell us a lot about the values, ideals, and...

The hardest part of my yoga class this morning was not the poses, and it wasn't even the act of getting up and out the door for a 6am...

What does an unreliable home wi-fi have to do with evaluating the effectiveness of your fundraising strategy or your nonprofit board?...

This month, I’m participating in a Quadrant 3 Leadership Coach certification from Concorde Leadership. It’s been a great course so far –...