I see the following all the time: Leaders have two clear pictures in their minds. The first picture depicts the position of the organization/division/ department/etc. as it currently stands. Most leaders know how well they are doing compared to annual goals and budget. This is the day-t0-day, ‘on the ground’ picture which shows today’s reality….
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On Being Thankful
Tomorrow is the national day for each of us to pause and count our blessings. If possible, most will include family, friends, and health in that count. This year I am including my work – and I encourage you too as well. Each of us works for an educational, healthcare, or other non-profit which has…
Part II – Measuring Success The Buffett Way
As promised in an earlier blog on Warren Buffett, this is the second entry in a series designed to question how development professionals (and others such as CEOs and Boards) should evaluate development effectiveness. Warren Buffett uses a specific set of principles to evaluate successful businesses. Can the investment methodology of the world’s greatest investor inform…
Lessons from Buffett
There is always something to learn from those who are the best in their fields. I just finished reading Robert Hagstrom’s, “The Essential Buffett: Timeless Principles for the New Economy.” It didn’t disappoint. I walked away with a better understanding of the thinking process of one of the best investor’s of all time and found…
The Real Value of a Campaign Feasibility Study
For most organizations, there are two questions which encourage the use of a Campaign Feasibility Study – “how much can we raise?” and “in what period of time can we expect to raise it?” However, for most non-profit organizations there are far more important and compelling reasons to choose to conduct a Campaign Feasibility Study….
The Generous, The Wealthy, and The Happy
Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door just penned another thought-provoking work entitled, Stop Acting Rich . . . and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire. In “Stop Acting Rich,” Stanley observes that wealthy Americans ($1 million in assets excluding the home) who give away at least 10% of their incomes to charity…
What Should We Give Donors?
Donors give us financial gifts – both big and small. But what do we give them in return? More and more I see organizations providing donors with transactional gimmicks. Make a gift, get a calendar. Make a gift, get a ticket to an event. Make a gift, get a magazine subscription. Not only do such…
Value-Added Discovery Calls
Clients regularly ask me what they should be accomplishing during major donor prospect discovery calls. Most understand that leaving a discovery visit with a clearer sense of financial capacity and a gauge of closeness to the institution are important. However, many clients want to know the other areas that are important to probe. In addition…
Being Self-Sufficient Is a Losing Strategy
The Ancient Chinese were known for their trading prowess (the early uses of The Silk Road) and for their technological and scientific advancements (the development of writing, a calendar, gunpowder, silk, paper and the compass, for example). They impacted cultures, knowledge, customs, and ideas well beyond their borders. At one time, the Chinese were the…