Executive Issues

Fundraising is a high-stake, high-anxiety field. Both staff members and board members face constant anxiety and fear of failure. And the anxiety ramps up during capital campaigns when the goals and consequences of failure are even higher.

It's quite interesting from a consulting perspective the wide array of decision-making processes in retaining counsel. In larger organizations that have a budget for resources, including hiring advisors and consultants, hiring consultants is most often a staff decision. And it should be...

If Trump is successful in repealing the Johnson Amendment, the nonprofit sector will face a heavy burden. The beauty is the Johnson Amendment has been protecting nonprofits from politicians for over 60 years by keeping these organizations nonpartisan, but with its removal, the floodgates would open, and political candidates will begin knocking on the doors of nonprofits seeking endorsements for their...

In last year’s installment of this annual nonprofit trends feature, we wrote that something felt different about all the change happening in the sector. We chalked it up to urgency. Acceleration. Things were changing fast. That was nothing compared to what’s in store for 2017. We collected insights, observations and predictions from some of the nonprofit sector’s smartest people, and we’re delivering them to you here. We hope the 40 ideas here paint a clearer picture of the sector as it is and as it will be...

If you’re like most fundraising professionals, you’re ignoring one high-potential giving option. Sadly, it could be costing your nonprofit organization a fortune. I’m talking about gifts of appreciated securities (e.g., stocks). Just days ago, the Dow broke through the 20,000 level to set a new record close. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 are also…

Many of us, especially in business settings, are afraid to admit we don’t know something. We worry that it is a sign of incompetence or weakness. I disagree. Actually, I believe that when you don’t know the answer, owning up to it is important to establishing trust with your coworkers and clients, the media and your donors...

If you spend any time in nonprofit resource development, you will or should develop a desire to step up to major gift solicitation. Major gift fundraising is the highest level and is not easy. Many professionals are engaged in major gift fundraising, but like a pyramid, very few excel at the highest level for a long period spanning multiple organizations...

Remember your first job? Most people do. In my case, each of my early jobs—from working as a musician while in college to my time as a pension fund executive overseeing billions of real estate assets under management—played 
a role in getting me to the next step in 
my career. Here are some lessons I took from early jobs that I still use today...

The word I hear lately more than any other is "uncertainty." Here in the U.S., every four years on Jan. 20 there is a change of power. It comes with the awesome privilege of being part of this great democratic experiment called the United States of America. In my lifetime as a voter, there have…

If a coalition of philanthropic leaders have their way, more San Diego nonprofits will be heading into the shark tank. There’s a growing movement to build a stronger social entrepreneurship ecosystem in San Diego. Supporters envision more nonprofits pitching ideas to potential backers, pursuing money-making ventures aimed at addressing social problems and seeking investment in…