Executive Issues

What will be the greatest challenge facing direct mail fundraisers in 2005?

HOW WOULD YOU define the public’s current perception of nonprofit organizations, and how do you think that perception will affect fundraising in the next fiscal year?

Why do some nonprofit organizations thrive while others, just as worthy, languish in fundraising mediocrity, barely able to raise enough money to keep the doors open?

Sure, the fundraising environment is getting tougher and tougher every day because of increased competition. But even in this climate, organizations can achieve remarkable results and thrive.

The job of a nonprofit executive director involves numerous and ever-changing roles and responsibilities, which can lead to personal burnout — and paralysis for an entire organization, write Mim Carlson and Margaret Donohoe, leadership development consultants and authors who draw on robust careers in the nonprofit sector to deliver a new book, “The Executive Director’s Survival Guide.”

Carlson and Donohoe provide suggestions for tackling duties such as fundraising and creating a budget, as well as juggling internal priorities of staff and volunteer development, financial management, program effectiveness, resource development and board relations.