Giving is Good
“Hello??!!??” We’ve all heard that word – used in that way – before. You, perhaps, have used it yourself. You’re at a store and the teenage clerk doesn’t stop the personal call on her mobile phone long enough to scan your items on the belt. You may feel the urge to say, “uhh, Hello??!!??” As…
In his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell posits the notion that it takes at least 10,000 hours of dedicated, focused practice to become “expert” at something. He holds that this time constraint is relatively constant no matter the endeavor. Want to become a professional athlete, a rock star, or a uber-successful…
I’ve made broad and sweeping predictions on how technology, donor expectations and regulation, and major gifts will impact philanthropy and our work in the next decade. Now, I offer the final, most important philanthropy prediction for the next decade. . . 2020 Philanthropy Prediction 10: Institutions that thrive will systematically and regularly ask donors for…
Below is the third installment in the four-part series devoted to philanthropy predictions for the 2010-2019 decade. Part I focused on how technology will change our work over the next 10 years, while Part II focused on the ways donor expectations and the regulatory environment will impact our work. Part III focuses on major gift…
Below is the second in a four-part series devoted to philanthropy predictions for the 2010-2019 decade. The first three predictions in Part I focused on how technology will change our work over the next 10 years. Part II below is focused on how donor expectations and the regulatory environment will impact our work. So, without…
Welcome to 2010! (Is that Two-thousand and Ten, Twenty-Ten, or Oh-Ten?) Whatever the name, our new year and new decade are here. At the end of 2009 (i.e. last week), I promised a list of philanthropy predictions for the next decade so here goes! I’m going to provide 10 predictions in total. The first three…
It’s December 30, do you know how your end-of-the-year fundraising will fair? With just over 5% of all giving being done now via the internet (and this number is growing dramatically), it is becoming more important to gauge the effectiveness of your online end-of-year strategies. Especially today. According to Convio and the Chronicle of Philanthropy,…
Two thousand and nine is almost behind us and no one seems to mind. Most of the news was financial and it wasn’t good. We all know the headlines and our retirement accounts continue to feel the pain. So, at the dawn of 2010, I’m asking a question that, on its face, appears to be…
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams Most folk who work with donors think of themselves as “development officers” first and “philanthropic leaders” almost never. I have become convinced, though, that capably serving in the field of development and…
I have written and presented on the use of quantifiable performance measurements in the development profession for a number of years. Having a thoughtfully-crafted set of quantifiable performance measurements is a simple, straightforward, and powerful way to encourage, assess, and reward effectiveness. In general, most development professionals who care about their craft want to…