Recently, I've started to see renewed push-back from donors about their gifts to charity. If you participate in nonprofit groups, I've heard some exasperated nonprofit executives and fundraisers speaking about donors demanding to know how much of their donations are going directly to programs. This debate and discussions have been going on for a long [...]
Recently, we partnered with a company promoting fundraising ideas. That got me thinking about nonprofit sustainability. I've been talking about it for years. Nonprofits are great, but I think people who begin or work for these organizations need to understand two things: Nonprofits are a business. The fundamental difference between a for-profit business and nonprofit [...]
I’m a consummate student of leadership. I have a passion for the subject and it helps drive the decisions I make in my multiple businesses. I also share a lot of posts on my social media regarding leadership. The ones I am including here are the ones that are transformative, visionary and in keeping with [...]
Finally, it seems that the insanity around the “nonprofit starvation cycle” is coming to an end. For those of you who may be new to the world of philanthropy, the nonprofit starvation cycle happens when donors have unrealistic—and absurd—expectations regarding the costs of running an organization. For a long time, donors have been restricting their [...]
My team and I were recently having our weekly meeting. I’m always looking at the bottom line–down to the penny. And, like any business, we’re looking to expand. Frankly, we’re looking to dominate (just like Amazon and Google) in our industry. I believe every business, nonprofit or social enterprise has to look to be the [...]
Have you ever seen the image of the three monkeys that depict “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”? If you have, I’m sure right about now you’re seeing the mental picture of the monkeys in your mind. Recently, I was talking to my team about our shoe drive fundraising social enterprise brand. [...]
Not too long ago I had a conversation with an old friend. He challenged me on one of the things I keep talking about. For a while now, I’ve been saying that the old ways of doing things are finished. Dead. Gone. The End. In fact, I named my blog “Not Your Father’s Charity” precisely [...]
Corporations as large as Apple to businesses on your local Main Street are aligning profit to their corporate social responsibility programs. They understand that today’s consumer wants to do business with organizations that are socially responsible. This is a challenge for nonprofits, but also a great opportunity. It’s not easy to develop mutually beneficial relationships [...]
I’m going to tell you the answer in the first sentence of this article: people give up. You can stop reading now. If, however, you want to succeed and learn how not to give up, read on… The Experiment If you’re trying to figure out success, here’s a little experiment for you. Go around and [...]
Recently, I was in a meeting with a member of my team. As I was leaving the office, this person made an off-handed comment about someone on my senior staff not being in the office often. The implication was that the executive was getting privileges no one else was receiving and that this person was [...]
