Executive Issues

There is a lot of talk these days about fake news. Fake news is intentional misinformation. Falsehoods. I recall getting an email from a friend during the 2008 presidential election. The information presented was shocking, but appeared to be from a “reliable” news source. I spent 15 minutes on Google and found that the information was completely false...

Don’t forget fundraising compliance. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that moving your fundraising campaign online means the rules don’t apply. Who rules and manages the Internet? If a donor decides to give to you online, that’s on them, right?...

We recently entered the fourth phase of the corporation. First, in the 1920s Alfred Sloan created the concept of the corporation with General Motors; second, in the 1950s Peter Drucker codified the discipline of management; third, in the 1980s Japanese introduced team and quality. And now we are in the fourth phase—the epoch of integrating…

Ethical dilemmas are inevitable. They happen to the best of us, but not to fear! The good news is that it’s not the end of the world. It might seem like it when these dilemmas initially hit, but have faith that you can handle the pressure...

There’s quite a bit of noise out there in the major gift world on management—what next step to take, how to approach the donor, how to frame the ask, etc. And still, with all of that information, Jeff and I find hundreds of major gift officers frustrated in their jobs...

By now, you know the tremendous power monthly donors have. You know how it can help improve your donor retention to much higher levels. We typically see monthly donor retention rates between 87 percent and 95 percent—that’s double that of one-time donors...

The importance of a high-functioning and accountable nonprofit board of directors has never been greater. An effective board can mean the difference between expanding mission objectives and failed initiatives, between meeting constituent needs and shrinking programming, and between hitting financial goals and worrying about meeting payroll...

We see mergers in the business world as a tool to promote efficacy and productivity within the organization, but does this hold same for nonprofits, too? According to the “Chicago Merger Study,” it does! If you think about it, nonprofit organizations work almost the same way as for-profit business do; the difference is that nonprofits are generating funds to go directly to their mission and cause...

Outside the obvious red ink or even absence of financial reports, what might be the indicators for the board to reference that all is not right with their nonprofit?...

It’s still one of the chief complaints among nonprofit CEOs: Board members not engaged enough in fundraising. It’s frustrating to have the responsibility fall back on you. It’s too hard and demoralizing to think you’re in this alone. It detracts from the rest of the competing priorities you need to address...