Executive Issues

If you’re a fundraiser, does this sound like you? Show me my money! According to 5 years of research by Penelope Burk (culminating in her book, “Donor-Centered Leadership”), as well as a much-talked-about study by CompassPoint and the Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund, half of chief development officers plan to leave their jobs in 2 years or less and 40 percent plan to leave fundraising entirely...

Be sure that the meetings you hold are needed. If so, take a few steps to ensure that you have the right people at the table, you have the right agenda to achieve your goals and you guide the meeting to keep the discussion on point and on schedule...

More and more often, we hear this catchy phrase "culture of philanthropy" and how essential it is to high levels of nonprofit fundraising success. Having worked as a staffer for many years, I’m a firm believer. If you want to raise more money and retain more donors, start by looking at your collective mindset toward philanthropy—a culture shift doesn’t start with strategy...

In early February, the Internal Revenue Service and various tax agencies issued an alert warning employers of a Form W-2 email phishing scam. The scam was well known among private-sector businesses—the Democratic National Committee famously fell for a similar version—but the IRS updated the alert to include school districts, health-care providers and, yes, nonprofits...

Early indications do not favor the Trump administration throwing more money toward human services. So, it appears that people living in the superpower that we call home are going to rely increasingly on the work of nonprofits. The inconvenient truth, though, is that those doing the good work are being "systematically starved," as highlighted by…

Is it time to urge the AFP to launch a formal effort to update the Donor Bill of Rights, incorporating donors from offline and online sources, into a single, updated and relevant document? I argue it is, and that part of this effort should be to invite—and consider—input from the fundraisers in the trenches...

I suppose all of us are trying to make deep gladness happen in our lives in some way or another. I know I am. I have discovered there is direct correlation between my happiness and serving others. It goes up when I am giving myself away. It goes down when I am focused on me. It’s counterintuitive, I know. But it’s true...

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...