The phrase, “haute couture” refers to the creation of exclusive, custom-fitting clothing. This clothing is made from high-quality, expensive fabric, sewn expertly by the most experienced of seamstresses, and form-fitted for a particular client. Haute couture emerged in the mid 1800s in France. You know the names of many of the official haute couture firms…
Category: Leadership
Communication Frequencies
At what communication frequency do you most comfortably operate? Do you resonate most on the email frequency? Or maybe it is the face-to-face frequency? Or the phone frequency? Or the text frequency? Or the social media frequency? Or possibly there are still a few out there who resonate most with the touch-intensive letter frequency. Most…
Tetelestai!
Tetelestai is a wonderfully rich Greek word. Somewhat poorly translated it means, “It is finished!” As part of my work as a consultant I conduct vice presidential-level searches for institutions. A first-hand observation I would make after looking at thousands of resumes – many people leave positions too quickly. Different studies place the average tenure…
The Law of Exclusivity
Recently, my wife and I celebrated 10 years of marriage with a long weekend in NYC. It was a fun and memorable trip. One of the memories we both will treasure was the night we saw “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” on Broadway. The show was fantastic. But even more, one of…
Why Bacon Tastes So Good
Mashable recently ran a helpful short piece on why email bacon is effective while spam is a nuisance. Bacon, of course, is the email that we sign-up to receive. It’s the Groupon coupons, the Facebook updates, and, yes, the Jason’s Blog feed. Spam, on the other hand, is all of the unsolicited email junk from…
Reform or Transform
When we reform something we make it better. We correct. We amend. We revise. When we transform something we change it altogether. We reconstruct. We metamorphose. We revolutionize. We talk far more about transforming than we do about reforming. For instance, we say our institutions provide a transformational education experience. We tell our Boards that we…
“Active Recovery” Donor Stewardship
To counteract the impact that age is having on my metabolism, I started running last year. The past year’s worth of running has taught me a lot. For example: It’s rather easy to get injured running. Toenails can get mangled. Knees can ache. Ankles can twist. The simple act of running in a straight line…
Developing Evangelists
Recently, I wrote about the importance of having the right person ask the right prospect. Understanding and implementing this concept will greatly enhance your fundraising outcomes with individual prospects. However, to increase your overall fundraising success, there is a broader concept that must be mastered: Developing Evangelists. Evangelists are those key people who regularly encourage…
Do Dollars Matter?
Recently at a CASE conference, I heard a presentation in which the following statement about performance metrics for MGOs was made: If you create and track MGO metrics for visits, moves, and proposals (asks), you don’t need a metric for dollars raised. The gift income will be a natural consequence of the activity of the…
Is There A Difference Between Advancement and Leadership?
I have written previously about the similarities between the practice of leadership and the practice of advancement. Recently, I stumbled upon this older but concise definition of leadership: “Leadership is about articulating visions, embodying values, and creating the environment within which things can be accomplished.” — Richards and Engle, Transforming Leadership, 1986 If you want to…