Blog

WHAT’S YOUR WHY?

Posted by Lora Dow

Why do you do the work you do?

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Topics: Leadership, Volunteer, Volunteer Development

MAXIMIZING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Posted by Jan Brogdon

Those of you familiar with our work know how fond we are of Seth Godin’s “The Dip.” His concept of the dip – the place where all the energy and excitement of our exciting new project or campaign starts to fade – is relevant in all sorts of endeavors, including:

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Topics: Learning, Professional Development, NAYDO

WHO ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS?

Posted by Mike Bussey
Thank you for asking, but we’ve already made an endowment commitment to your organization.

If you’re visiting with your best endowment prospects, invitations to become members of your legacy society quite often produce this response. And it is gratifying to hear! The challenge is to identify your best endowment prospects – your organization’s “best friends.”

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Topics: Endowment, Donor Prospect, Planned Giving

IS YOUR VISION BIG ENOUGH?

Posted by Danny Maier

As a sufferer of myopia since the 3rd grade, I’ve been wearing glasses a long time. Perhaps it’s my nearsightedness that has me often trying to focus on the trees and missing the forest – the big picture. But, while the details are important, it’s the bigger vision that inspires.

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Topics: Case For Support, Vision

ARE YOU LISTENING?

Posted by Thom Peters

Over the years, I’ve had a chance to meet some really outstanding and wonderful people, including many captains of industry. If all my exposure to successful business folks was from what I hear through the media, I would never realized that there are so many truly servant leaders out there.

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Topics: Volunteer Leadership, Stewardship

HIDDEN AGENDAS

Posted by DBD Team
Our board just isn’t a fundraising board.

We hear that feedback from nonprofit leaders – both staff and volunteer – nearly every day. Whether it’s said with regret or with frustration, nonprofits, schools and churches are clearly puzzled as to why their board seems disengaged or focused on less-important minutiae.

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Topics: Volunteer Leadership, Art Of The Ask, Volunteer Management, Endowment, Campaign Leadership, Annual, Capital, Big L Leadership

POWERING THROUGH THE DIP

Posted by Peggy Vinson

Every non-profit leader is familiar with the feeling: somewhere, about half-way through the campaign, you hit a dip. It happens every year, but I’m always amused at how unexpected this seems to everyone.

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Topics: Volunteer Leadership, Volunteer Management, Annual, The Dip

SEEKING ADVICE

Posted by Bruce Berglund

Recently I had the opportunity to meet with the president of a large family foundation. We had a great dialogue regarding the value of feasibility studies today. He was quite wary of studies that didn’t involve the not-for-profit staff or studies that only tested the viability of the campaign goal.

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Topics: Nonprofit Leadership, Feasibility, Foundation, Ask For Advice, Cultivation

VISION LEAKS

Posted by Lora Dow

Pastor Andy Stanley is famous for saying “Vision is a mental picture of what could be, fueled by a passion that it should be.”

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Topics: Volunteer Development, Volunteer Leadership

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Posted by Jan Brogdon

You approach an intersection as the light turns yellow. What’s your response?

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Topics: Hiring

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