Executive Issues

One Day I Talked to a Great Finance Executive …
July 30, 2013

Two weeks ago, the heat index in New York City was 107 degrees. One would have thought the session I participated in with a finance executive and a bunch of fundraising executives would have been just that hot, right?

Does Your Organization Really Support Fundraising? Take This Simple Quiz
July 22, 2013

Many organizations pay lip service to supporting their fundraising team but end up failing miserably. Your board, your executive director, and your program and administration staff can undercut fundraising efforts easily. And in many organizations it’s happening all the time. Take this simple quiz to see if your organization has a supportive culture of philanthropy.

3 Ways We Can Reinvent Philanthropy
July 8, 2013

This clip is from the video roundtable held at the Reinventors Network. The conversation included Jacob Harold of GuideStar, Mari Kurashi of GlobalGiving and Clara Miller of The F.B. Heron Foundation. The full conversation is online here. My comments are focused on the system of philanthropy — individual and institutional, recognizing the digital infrastructure on which it now stands. The panelists had all just been asked to think about how these funds — voluntary, fragmented and privately controlled — could be directed toward major, rapidly threatening crises such as climate change.

4 Ways to Create a Culture of Giving at Your Nonprofit
July 8, 2013

In "Give and Take," Adam Grant’s premise is that there is more to the secret of success than hard work, talent and luck. What’s missing is generosity. Givers excel in a collaborate work environment, but can burn out easily if they don’t see the impact of their contributions or don’t learn how to set boundaries. This is especially true for people in helping professions such as nonprofit leadership, cause marketing and social responsibility. Here are Grant’s four tips for creating a cultures of successful givers at your organization.

Work the Plan!
June 26, 2013

Create a great plan. Execute. Fine-tune. Execute. Fine-tune. Even after great success, pull out the plan and execute, fine-tune, execute ...

Sacred Cows: Battling Ourselves
June 25, 2013

As we compete to drive the greatest donor experience, create the best offers for our supporters and communicate to build the best relationships, sometimes our own sacred cows get in the way.

Open Debate, Not Politeness, Is What Drives Nonprofit Innovation
June 19, 2013

Everybody in the nonprofit world talks these days about innovation, but not about what drives change: open debate and critical thinking. Fortunately, a small but growing cadre of critical thinkers is trying to change things by starting to ask tough questions and demanding honest answers from grant makers, their peers and their constituents. But what questions should we grapple with as we confront tough issues?  Here are some to consider before racing to pronounce the “next big new important thing.”