Of course you need more money. “No Money No Mission” is the theme of the graduate level Nonprofit Fundraising course that my colleague Dr. Bob Grimm and I are co-teaching at the University of Maryland this semester. All nonprofits need more money. But “why” do you need it? This is more than a “case statement” question. Fundraising needs should be driven by an overall … [Read more...] about Strategy Begets Fundraising
Developing Your Self-Awareness
Developing your self-awareness has long been thought of as a key to improving your leadership capability. Self-awareness is valuable because if you understand yourself extremely well then you can choose the appropriate effective behaviors to fit the situations you find yourself in. Without understanding yourself, you act on your natural “tendencies” which might not always … [Read more...] about Developing Your Self-Awareness
Managing “C” Players
You’d like to ignore them or just resign yourself to the idea that there is nothing much you can do, but one of your important responsibilities as a leader/manager is to address the “C” players you have on your team. If you don’t, you risk alienating your “A” players who want to be on a high performing team and tempting your “B” players to underperform. A recent article in … [Read more...] about Managing “C” Players
What Donors Want
Major donors want a collaborative relationship and appreciation of their philanthropic goals. This has been a major theme that we have heard this semester from numerous philanthropists and foundation executives visiting the graduate level Nonprofit Fundraising course that my colleague Dr. Bob Grimm and I are co-teaching at the University of Maryland this semester. The head … [Read more...] about What Donors Want
Execution Beats Strategy?
While I preach and preach about the importance of having an excellent, coherent strategy I cannot deny the overwhelming importance of great execution. In recent weeks I have worked with two top leaders (both women incidentally)who are fantastic at execution - which has driven this home. The importance of being able to GSD (Get Stuff Done) is always vital, as two friends of … [Read more...] about Execution Beats Strategy?