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When you don’t have a hobby
Not-for-profit is a synonym for longer hours, less pay. But working all the time makes you BORING. Would you want to connect with someone who can only talk about their work? When you don’t have a...
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How to reach your goal in 778 baby steps
Jim Collins coined the phrase BHAG (pronounced Bee-hag) in his iconic book Built to Last. Do you know your #1 goal for the year at work? I hope so. If you don’t, stop reading this post and pick up a...
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How do you feel today?
My friend Sarah is an amazing public school teacher. She is always in control of her classroom without ever having to raise her voice. How does she do it? She lets the class self-regulate. At the...
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Can we talk about the F word?
(no, not that word. The Feedback word!) How do you know you’re on the right path at work? What metrics are you tracking to know that your efforts are working as a not-for-profit? If you’re a...
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How to listen until your ears hurt
This week’s task is about listening. I want you to learn how to really listen to what people are sharing with you, and what sharing that piece of information means to them. Lots of people THINK...
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Attack of the Killer “Shoulds”
There are lots of things I should do: floss twice a day, make a healthy lunch, only check my emails twice a day. You get the picture. I can get completely overwhelmed by the shoulds—to the point where...
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When Your Job Feels Like a Slog
Feeling like a grump at work? Can’t get yourself out of a negative headspace? This is a problem! You can’t pitch opportunities and possibilities as a leader with a head full of apathy, or worse . . ....
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Solving the Puzzle of Funding Priorities
I am old enough to remember the original Rubik’s cube. I use this analogy when I am talking with clients about funding priorities. Imagine you’ve got two Rubik’s cubes The first Rubik’s cube: You have...
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Getting Out of Your Head and into Your Heart
Nonprofit professionals excel at balancing acts. Think of the trapeze artists at the circus: they balance beauty, artistry, and passion with hard work, perseverance, and commitment to perfection. This...
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Volunteers Behaving Badly (and how to handle it)
We’ve all had one in our career: a volunteer who drives us batty. They mean well, they are passionate about the cause, but they just don’t seem to get that you’re running a not-for-profit here and...
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Visionary Leadership and the Cost to Raise a Dollar
How much does it cost you to raise a dollar? Do you know? Should you care? The answer is a resounding YES. If you were a business, you would need to understand what your revenue drivers are, and how...
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The Power of a Pilot Program
Doing things differently creates challenges for organizations. There is inherent risk in changing things up, and a ton of education involved in trying an alternate plan or approach. As leaders, we...
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Positioning People as your most Powerful Resource
Every great leader comes to the same inevitable conclusion: Great leadership is less about telling people what to do, and more about modeling the behavior that you know your people are capable of. ←...
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Your Best Beginning to the Day
I’ve always admired people who start their day journaling their thoughts. I don’t. I crawl out of bed, reach for the blackest cup of coffee I can make, and I ease my way into the day. And I probably...
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The Beautiful Art of Spidering
A spider web is a beautiful thing. Every string is intertwined with the next one, and each strand relies on the other to create an incredibly powerful web that is both strong and deadly. Where am I...
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Your Ideal Schedule
Fundraising mojo comes from knowing that you’re productive at work. It feels GREAT to get things accomplished, doesn’t it? Getting things done requires you to own your own work schedule and workplan....
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The secret to finding more time in your day
Planning is the single biggest antidote to chaos. Once you know where you’re going (big hairy goals) you’ve got to be able to break the journey into manageable bite size pieces. I’ve talked about this...
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How to Get from Ho-Hum to Heck Yes!
Last week I was working with a coaching client who was planning for her AGM. Annual General Meeting. We all have one. We all need to legally hold one. But honestly? AGMs sound incredibly BORING! One...
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Three Reasons Why You Need to Call Your Donors
When someone makes a gift, it’s a big deal for them! They took the time to find you, get out their credit card or cheque book and say: “I trust you. I want the change that you’re talking about to...
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Managing Growth: a Cautionary Tale
No matter how much money we raise, we could always raise more. Do you feel that way? Does your boss or board feel that way? Being a fundraiser is a tough job. It’s different than being a firefighter...
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