Executive Issues

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…

We’ll dig deeper into when innovation makes sense. When does it really have value? I’ll be suggesting three additional questions for you to consider prior to adopting a new idea. And I’ll offer you a whole new set of tools to help you arrive at answers...

I’m going to rant for a minute here. Over the last six months, I’ve explored more than five dozen nonprofit development operations, and, in many ways, I’ve been disappointed at what I’ve seen. That’s not to say that these programs are failures or that the people in these organizations aren’t doing good and meaningful work.…

Please allow me to introduce three executive directors. Pamela Iacobelli, the president and CEO of CultureSource, a Detroit-based arts nonprofit with six staffers. Lisa Goldstein, the executive director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, a 10-employee nonprofit based in New York City. Joe Selby, the executive director at Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, a $400 million…

According to University of Toronto research, having the face of a leader may depend on whether the enterprise being led is a for-profit business or a nonprofit organization. In a paper entitled, "Predicting Firm Success from the Facial Appearance of CEOs of Nonprofit Organizations," Daniel Re, a postdoctoral fellow, and Nicholas Rule, an associate professor of…