Executive Issues
August 24, 2017 at 9:52 am
Lest we assign blame to organizational leaders, we must understand that fundraisers are often quick to sign on with new employers who reveal all the signs of unreasonable expectations. Most fundraising professionals I know want to be admired for their abilities to turn things around and make things happen...
August 23, 2017 at 12:15 pm
Long plagued by declining membership, the Boy Scouts are considering a campaign to recruit in a previously untapped market: girls. The Girl Scouts aren’t having it. A feud between the two largest scouting organizations broke into the open Tuesday when the president of Girl Scouts of the USA called the Boy Scouts’ “covert campaign” to…
August 22, 2017 at 11:14 am
The Internal Revenue Service has revoked the nonprofit status of a hospital for the first time since new charity care reporting requirements went into effect late last year. The name of the hospital is redacted from the text of the tax status letter (PDF). The letter is dated Feb. 14 but was released on the IRS…
August 21, 2017 at 10:08 am
I want to talk about how callousness reduces us to mere cogs in a fundraising machine vs. the caring individuals we want and need to be. And then I want to share with you how to deal with this very common dynamic in the life of a MGO...
August 17, 2017 at 10:16 am
The NYU School of Law plans to launch a new center funded by Michael Bloomberg's charitable organization to assist state attorneys general that oppose moves by the Trump administration to eliminate and scale back environmental and energy regulations. The charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies, which was founded by the former mayor of New York City, will donate…
August 17, 2017 at 10:10 am
Venture capital firms certainly have no shortage of cash to invest in startups. PitchBook released its 2017 PE and VC Fundraising report today for North America and Europe. Through July, $27.5 billion has been raised across 165 firms as venture fundraising is on pace to exceed $40 billion for the fourth consecutive year. It’s also…
August 17, 2017 at 9:27 am
Passion for mission, also known as the dissatisfaction with the status quo, is often described as the driver for what brings individuals to a nonprofit board. But remember, a board consists of individuals, and while years of service can often result in an aligned board being clear about values and interests, a “Theory of Change” exercise is an efficient and effective process and resultant tool for developing a collective “term of agreement...
August 16, 2017 at 11:21 am
The term “cult of personality” tends to conjure dramatic images of political or religious leaders influencing the masses. It seems grandiose and powerful. Cult of personality has varied definitions, but they all basically boil down to this: The situation that arises when an individual person gains intense loyalty from a group of people from the sheer force of his or her personality...
August 14, 2017 at 11:26 am
“Fundraising is both a science and an art,” says M. Gasby Brown of Bridge Philanthropic Consulting, one of the nation’s foremost fundraising firms. “It is great to give strategy,” adds her partner, Dwayne Ashley, “but an organization needs money coming in the door. If you don’t drive that result, nothing else matters.” Before Brown and…
August 8, 2017 at 10:38 pm
Your volunteer has two relationships you need to worry about: one with the organization you represent, and one with the mission of that organization. We’ve all seen a volunteer became disenchanted with an organization, but not with the mission...
