It is a big day when the home you’ve had on the market for eleven months finally sells. In fact, for days leading up to the closing and the hours and minutes before, I was afraid to let myself get excited in case something, anything unexpected, went wrong. It did sell, but not until we spent many hours and dollars that we didn’t intend trying to make it better. We worked hard to make it attractive ...[Read More]
How Nonprofits Make Great Lemonade Out of Lemons
16 Ways to Give and a Challenge for You!
No fluff, no story, no long explanations. I have a challenge for you. Think about ways to give to your favorite charity. I am sure several ideas came to mind. I first came up with six simple and obvious ideas. Then I started thinking about what’s unexpected. And then I started doing the math on how to do more. Let’s not stop here. What did I miss? My First Obvious Six Make your normal size donatio ...[Read More]
How to be a Fan and Encourage Important Work
Four hundred unopened emails waiting for me to read, respond, or delete. Every day I try to reduce the number through quick deletions and one-line responses. But it bothers me that I have so little time to read the important information coming to me from countless organizations. I’ve been on nonprofit email lists for many years. And I will admit that often after a brief skim, they quickly mo ...[Read More]
Make Plans to Give Now and Again Later This Year
Most email I read now begins with, “I hope this email finds you and your family safe.” Early on, I was comforted by these statements. Today they feel repetitive. I realize the writer doesn’t have any idea how to start the email or the letter right now. All the rules they lived and worked by have disappeared. Dare I repeat the other statement made so often today, “our world has changed, and we must ...[Read More]
3 Insights From Leadership Forged in a Crisis
What will the great nonprofit leaders of today look like? What actions will they take that encourages us to look forward to a new future? Right now, all over this country, we are among nonprofit leaders being made – not born. To truly understand what to look for in leaders during times of crisis, sometimes we need to pause and look backward. Published in late 2017, the book, Forged in Crisis: The ...[Read More]
What This Moment Requires is Guts – Let’s Accept the Challenge!
Amid the most unusual and unexpected event of our lifetime, I find myself struggling for words. No story seems appropriate, no example relevant. I’m bombarded by hard, rough around the edges news, like the text I received a few minutes ago with a story from the local television station explaining that crisis calls to family violence shelters are up. I’m not surprised. I am deeply concerned at a le ...[Read More]