Blog
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Tips for fundraising letters
Clients regularly ask me what goes into a good fundraising letter sent to previous donors. Here are some tips, in no particular order: Spend time thinking about the opening sentence…
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Making them move
Lesson 7 of Why Organizations Thrive is to become a very good public speaker. Here’s one public speaking tip that I’ve found useful over the years: make the audience physically…
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“I was waiting for . . .” is not a valid excuse
Pet peeve of mine: Using “I was waiting for” as an excuse. Too often somebody who’s not meeting a deadline responds that they’re failing because: “I was waiting for John…
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The point comes before the story
Readers of Why Organizations Thrive know that I’m a big believer in nonprofit leaders becoming excellent public speakers and organizations knowing and telling their stories. When giving a speech, which…
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Quick thoughts about e-newsletters
Because I try to stay in close touch with both current and former clients, I subscribe to a large volume of e-newsletters from nonprofit organizations. There are a lot of…
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Thinking about triggers in work plans
I’ve previously written about the importance of generating work plans once wrapping up strategic planning. One of the most useful tools in a work plan is the concept of triggers.…
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What you call it doesn’t matter
I was recently talking to someone who plays the staff role for a medium sized nonprofit organization. She had raised the possibility of doing strategic planning with her boss and…
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A riddle about five frogs
A riddle that I recently was told (again). I know I’ve heard this before, but couldn’t remember where/when. If anybody knows the original source, please let me know. The riddle:…
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E-Book Published
In early May 2013, I published my first book. Why Organizations Thrive: Lessons from the Front Lines for Nonprofit Executive Directors. In the first week, more than 100 individuals downloaded…
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Hire for things other than just existing skills
One of my pet peeves when talking to those doing hiring for nonprofit organizations is an overemphasis on finding people with the right existing skills. A recent article suggests the…