Hildy Gottlieb Part 2: Community-Driven Tour 2008 (For Part 1, head here) If there is anything that has stood out about this tour, it has been the spirit of connection, friendship, warmth, love that has infused every step along the way. The line between friends and family blurred years ago for me. These days, the line between … Read more
The Nonprofit Times reports the following: “Only slightly more than 1 in 10 donors (13 percent) say their experience as a donor exceeded expectations, according to a new survey. While 83 percent of donors said their experience met expectations, it leaves “more room for improvement for nonprofits to wow their donors,” said Dirk Rinker, president … Read more
“My board shows all the signs of NOT being ready to recruit. So what do we do?” That question came from a reader of my Board Recruitment & Orientation workbook. She was responding to a chapter that lists indicators for whether or not a board is ready to recruit. (There is a similar article at … Read more
When will we stop the ridiculous demand that boards get past their “hang-ups” and just get out there and ask people for money? This morning’s Google Alert linked me to yet another article excerpted from yet another book on how to get boards to “Break Through Fundraising Anxiety” – this one from BoardSource, but it … Read more
I saw this ad for a Community Engagement Officer in Norwich, England, and I almost jumped up and did a happy dance. First, from the perspective of writing an enticing job advertisement, this is an ad that made me want to fly across the ocean and apply for the position. No government mumbo-jumbo. A truly … Read more
Happy Monday! I spent this past weekend thinking about Debbie, my best friend from childhood. In a few months, Dimitri and my work will take us to the community where she lives, and so I’m thinking a lot about Debbie these days. After 30 years of living 3,000 miles apart, Deb and I are still … Read more
Last week in Reno, Nevada, +100 leaders from the worlds of Business, Government, and the Community Benefit sector convened at UNR’s beautiful new Student Union building, to ask and answer, “What will it take to make families in Northern Nevada financially stable?” I was blessed to be their facilitator. Blessed because it was a shining … Read more
Greetings from Reno, Nevada! I thought it might be fun to share some of what we have been doing on this incredible trip, and figured I would start with the mini-workshop we did on Tuesday – Building an Energized Board. I love doing this particular talk. First, I love talking about boards, as I really … Read more
Reading the paper every morning reminds me how much words matter. Express a thought with one word, and it can conjure a whole different image than another word that describes the same thing. An example: In my local market, I can buy “Organic” vegetables, or I can buy “conventionally grown” vegetables. Another word choice, another … Read more
Kelly over at the Nonprofiteer had a great blog post today – a rallying cry to stop whining about board recruitment and just get out there and do it! (Ok, to be honest, Kelly always has a rallying cry to stop whining about this or that – she has no tolerance at all for BS … Read more