Executive Issues

Tedious, unimpactful, busywork is enough to burn anyone out in any industry. Sadly, it comes with the territory for any career, job or project. Sometimes, before you can do the work you love, you have to take care of certain responsibilities, whether we like it or not. In the nonprofit world, that problem is exacerbated. Why?...

As development professionals, we come across many misconceptions about our profession and the nonprofit sector that dilute the power of philanthropy. By casting fundraisers in a negative light, myths prevent giving and deter qualified people from joining our industry as professional fundraisers...

When it comes to a nonprofit organization’s mission, relationships are important. It is imperative for nonprofits to use everything at their disposal to reach their mission’s goals. It’s a known fact that technology is constantly evolving. It’s easy to think of technology and relationships as two separate entities, but what if we melded the two together to achieve “the bigger picture”?…

June to-do lists of most nonprofits are always focused on the financial preparations for the upcoming fiscal year. Yet, many still remain unprepared for the possibility of a future audit. To prevent being blindsided in the future, it would be beneficial for nonprofits to move some of their attention from this fiscal year to re-evaluating their organization’s workflow and infrastructure...

In this period of fake news and alternative facts, we might feel a bit weary of hearing a term such as “half-truths.” But there is an anonymous quote that approximates what I mean by a half-truth: “Beware of the half-truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half...

Fundraising is all about relationships: The depth and quality of relationships between donors and the institution—the organization’s staff. It is also all about numbers. You must have a certain number of donors at specific levels to meet your goal (unless you have one donor driving the project, but then you will most likely eventually have to worry about sustainability)…

I am a sucker for those ads that feature dogs and other four-legged creatures in cages. The organizations that I contribute to on a regular basis include the following: ASPCA, The Humane Society, Farm Sanctuary, AARF and PAWS...

The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides qualified employees of both nonprofit and for-profit companies up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to deal with a “serious health condition” or to care for certain family members with a “serious health condition.” In most instances during a period of FMLA qualified leave, an employee’s job is protected and their employment cannot be terminated...

There is a popular advertisement on television that must be working well, as it has been on for some time now. The Volvo ad is striking and memorable. It uses verses from Walt Whitman’s beautiful “Song of the Open Road...

With the exception of a nonprofit board’s infancy or juvenile stage of governance, it is my opinion that for all practical purposes, sitting on a nonprofit board is more glory than guts, requiring the minimum of wear and tear...