Executive Issues

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...

Have you ever wondered what the ideal number of people is to solicit a gift? Is a one-on-one meeting best? Perhaps you should bring two people—your president and campaign chair? Or perhaps three people would be even better—president, campaign chair and board member. Sounds reasonable, right? Get a power team to solicit a power gift! But here’s a story that will set you straight...

It is always amazing to me how smart, responsible adults can kill or at least smother a very good thing. I’m talking about the case at a southern university, which has 15 colleges and one major gift officer assigned to each college...

The fundraising industry deserves kudos for the collaborative spirit in which we have always worked, and I hope that it trickles up to other institutions as an effective way to counter the dismantling of our agencies, free speech and democracy as we know it...

Everything I knew and read about strategic planning said that it took a lot of time and money. I struggled every day to figure out how to get everything done with very limited resources. All the books I read and all the classes I attended bombarded me with copious information and theory. How could I narrow it down and make it work for me in my small nonprofit?...

It is of utmost importance to implement effective communication in a nonprofit organization. Why? Because effective communication leads to higher team performance, which ultimately leads to more proficiency within the organization...

To achieve victory, a capital campaign must be won on paper before launched on the streets. Hiring fundraising counsel to conduct a campaign feasibility study is a proven and prudent way to ensure campaign success...

I once worked with a major gift officer, Janet (not her real name) who was so grounded as a person, nothing seemed to rattle her. Janet was incredibly gifted at developing relationships, staying focused and doing all the “little things” right...

Last month, the NonProfit PRO team attended the 2017 Association of Fundraising Professionals’ International Conference, which took place in the beautiful city of San Francisco. While we walking around the exhibit area, we saw something that caught our eyes—a diversity board! The Alford Group, a professional consulting partner helping board leaders, organizational management and community…