The saying, “Most people like the idea of change. Very few like being changed,” rings true. It is not uncommon for people to approach a strategic planning process or any kind of change management experience with skepticism. If change is needed, but ‘very few like being changed,’ a leader is
The conscious nature of infants is fundamentally selfish. As they can’t gather the resources needed for survival, babies have no choice but to let the world know when basic, life-giving resources are missing. They cry, then scream, when they are hungry, or thirsty, or tired, or cold, or hot, or
When the new CEO of the Healthcare Foundation, Sharon Smith, is hired, we may hear people say they are now, “Team Smith.” And, depending on the ego of CEO Smith, that verbalized loyalty could be rewarded. However, CEO Smith might say, “no, no, we all are on Team Healthcare Foundation,”
It’s not about the donors who support us having more wealth and greater financial capacity to give. It’s not about the donors who support us having a stronger willingness to give. It’s not about the donors who support us having a deepening sense of affinity for our cause. It’s not
“Once I have the updated case statement, I’ll be ready to visit with these 3 donors. . .” A gift officer recently said to me. “Can you share the case with me now?” I responded. “No,” she said, “I’m still waiting for it.” “Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear,” I
When it’s annual goal setting time, I can lighten my personal risk by reducing my boss’ expectations of me. I can argue that the goals are too ambitious. I can push back on the assumptions. I can offer far lower goals to make myself look better. But, when I respond
Why do you want to be in this role at our organization? Why do you want to do the work that this position will do? Why our organization or institution? Primary responses to standard interview questions like these might, “I’d like to move up in my career,” or, “I find
Sometimes we choose to make a point. We have a perspective. We want to be heard. We believe our thought is the way to go. So, we make a point. Making a point can be helpful and it can also derail from helpfulness. Other times, though, we choose to help
“It was easier to send a form letter.” “It was easier to send a generic email with a link to our base giving page.” “It was easier to send a universal response card with our direct mail letter.” Easier for whom? Perhaps for us, but almost never for the donor
Some stories we tell ourselves are about us: I’m smart (or not as much as I’d like to be); I’m athletic (or not as much as I’d like to be); I’m capable (or not as much as I’d like to be); I’m in shape (or not as much as I’d
Advancement leaders can create 3 professional development environments for those in their care. These professional development environments can encourage team members to: Learn More Skills – develop the technical skills related to their work; Receive More Instruction – learn from others about how they have enhanced their work; Think More – reflect on what our work means and become more
The concept of “performance-based metrics,” is well known in our advancement work. But, saying something is well known does not mean that it is well understood. In fact, in the case of “performance-based metrics,” I would suggest the concept is very poorly understood. What “performance” are we talking about? Does “performance” equate to outputs? Like dollars raised? Or, commitments received?
If we want the most helpful evaluative process for our development program, an important first question to answer is, “what are we using as our comparison?” For example, we might make the following evaluations, “Overall, our fundraising results haven’t been very productive.” Or, “We are making great progress with our fundraising.” But, neither of those evaluations is especially helpful until
We don’t need more data. We have so much of it we don’t know how to use or store it all. We don’t need more ideas. We have more of them at our fingertips than we can possibly implement. More advancement results typically don’t come from more data or more ideas. More advancement results typically come when we strengthen messy
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This On Demand webinar covers the critical elements of planned gifts and developing a double or triple ask strategy.
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This On Demand webinar for community colleges will explore how alumni relations, advancement, enrollment, workforce development, and marketing teams can work together to build lasting relationships with alumni throughout every stage of their lives.
Listening as higher education presidents or nonprofit CEOs stand before their faculty, employees, volunteers and state that what they do isn’t “the real world,” is a sad statement. I don’t find these types of statements sad because I happen to disagree with them. I find them sad because the statements themselves show a deep lack of understanding regarding the fundamental
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This On Demand webinar explores strategies for growing and maintaining your endowment, and engaging donors in long-term philanthropic investments.
The personalized letter from the president that invites people to join the President’s Circle by giving at least $1,000 is not for everyone. The purpose of any call to action is not to get everyone to respond. It’s to understand the profile of the core audience, identify those who fit that profile, and how someone they respect invite them to
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In this on demand webinar, we will focus on the aspects you can control within your advancement staff and organization to hire, retain and continually inspire your team.
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