Executive Issues

My guess is that you or some of your colleagues in the field are thinking, "What the heck is Jeff talking about now? Spirituality and major gift fundraising? What’s this all about? OK, I get it. Today, when you hear the word "spirituality," all kinds of stuff comes bubbling up. Some of what comes up is pretty negative. There is no doubt about that...

Recently, I came across this comment on a Huffington Post article about nonprofit salaries: Here’s why I don’t donate to nonprofits. There is no legal cap to the salaries paid to executives. Really? Do y’all think I donated to feed the pig CEO, or the needy? See a poor person in the street, give them…

In his blog post, "A Dollar More (vs. a Dollar Less)," Seth Godin provocatively suggests you consider a race to the top. This made me immediately think of the nonprofit overhead conundrum. Too many nonprofits feel stuck with trying to justify the amount of money they spend on staff and infrastructure in a race to lure more donors to their causes...

Genuine, wholehearted appreciation trumps money, benefits and an epic job title. Because at the heart of it is the idea that you enjoy coming into work every day. Sure, a job is a job, but a cheerfully positive outlook on the space where you spend the majority of your day-to-day shouldn’t feel like a novel concept...

Navigating the maze of the financial, compliance and reporting requirements for charitable fundraising can be a daunting experience for charities and their fundraisers and sponsors. Currently, 45 states and the District of Columbia have some degree of statutory regulation of charitable solicitation activity conducted within their borders. Many states—though not all of them—require registration and reporting of financial and other information...

It is midway through 2016. In a few short months we will enter the holiday season. Most of us are either halfway through a fiscal year or just beginning a new one. In either case, it is time to take professional stock of where you are and where you are going. Last week, we discussed steps for a midyear personal checkup. This time, let's talk about the 10 steps for a professional nonprofit fundraising checkup...

Good news for fundraisers everywhere. Giving is up! According to Giving USA’s 2016 report, which was recently released, giving is up across the board. Americans gave more than $373 billion dollars in 2015, breaking the record set in 2014. This might be hard to hear, but if your organization didn’t meet its goal, it might…

At some point, usually after dealing with a seemingly uninformed (dare I say "stupid"?) request from someone who is higher than you on the organizational chart, you probably have fanaticized about being in charge. Maybe your ultimate goal is to manage the complete fundraising program, or you may have your sights set on the "corner office."...

More and more things are free. You can download software, music, get advice, see a movie—all for free. The internet has created what is now called the "copy economy. You can now get just about anything for free—or nearly so...

People often ask about how to handle a problematic board member. The question is a good one, and most boards likely will confront this problem at some time. In fact, these types of board members turn up much more often than we like. Joan Garry, an expert in nonprofit leadership, called these people toxic board…