Philanthropy should not just be about big checks. We live in times of scarcity. How are you mobilizing your community in fresh and different ways? How are you building long-term capacity to sustain your organization? How are you creating stronger, deeper relationships with constituents? 1. Identify where your communities hang out.How? Lo for what groups…
DetailsI just returned from a two-week vacation in which I unplugged. Guess what? This crazy planet filled with crazy people kept somersaulting all around the sky. It didn’t stop. There’s no way to stop it. And guess what else? I relaxed. I even got a little bit bored. And that was a good thing.…
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In Becoming a Futurist Leader, Jill Schumann speaks directly to the reasons I SWOT analyses. They’re all about loing at the present to divine the future. And leaders need their crystal balls to identify trends, anticipate change, and be open to possibilities that will enable them to work effectively and have greater impact. …
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Shall we join forces? Fundraising is not basketball, but it’s madness not to play as a team. I’ve spen with three nonprofits in the past several months that, rather than joining forces, have decoupled their marketing and development departments. I surmise they do this because marketing doesn’t understand development. Or development doesn’t understand marketing. Or…
DetailsWe’re six weeks into 2012, and our new year’s resolutions may be beginning to fade. For those on a June-July fiscal year, it’s planning time. What should we be thinking about when it comes to allocation of our energies and resources this year? First, let’s clear out some space. I’ve participated in many a planning…
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The current zeitgeist is one of information overload, as highlighted in a recent article, Content Rivers and Information Gluttony. The availability of information is not the problem, however. We’ve been in overload at least since 1970, as described by futurist Alvin Toffler . Our inability to limit our choices is what gets us into trouble. …
DetailsNetwork for Good has a great ebo out with 10 Resolutions to Make (and Keep!) for On Fundraising and Marketing Success in 2012. It’s worth downloading the whole thing, but I’d like to talk about the first resolution they highlight: Put fundraising first. Put. Fundraising. First. Give this a minute to sink in. . Of…
DetailsWe’re seeing a lot of predictions for how fundraising and nonprofit marketing will play out in 2012. They’re all interesting, and merit some consideration and reflection. Today I’m engrossed by a recently released 2012 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report from Kivi LeRoux Miller. It’s worth downloading a , but here are some highlights with a few…
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We’re in the era of ‘Big Data.’ The digital revolution has made it so there’s and information that can be acquired and stored. We’ve gotten really good at collecting data. It’s everywhere. But use of data is not. In fact, at the moment less than 0.5% of all data is ever analyzed and…
DetailsIt’s interesting how these Five Common Strategy Mistakes d by the Harvard Business Review blog are as applicable to nonprofit as for profit businesses (albeit with slightly different twists). Many thanks to Joan Magretta , author of Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy, for alerting us to these common traps into…
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