I want you to have confidence about what you can implement and put in motion. I want you to prioritize end-of-year giving. What you focus on factors in to your ministry’s financial fidelity. What a ministry focuses on as the giving year ends is the single most impactful piece of the giving puzzle. No matter […]
Your Compass vs. Your Map: A Quick Guide to Vision & Mission
How can you clarify or put your finger on vision? There are many schools of thought about how organizations should define or use the terms vision, mission, purpose, and values. The good news? You don’t have to take a side. Redundancy rattles. Be clear; the rest is irrelevant. When people are unclear, they end up […]
Grow Better to Escape Trending Troubles
It’s time to walk through your talking points, your ministry’s prospect plans, and how to integrate both with the donor journey. What hurdles are your ministry facing that impact giving behaviors? Despite historic success and growth among organizations, asset holders, and generous people, are there ongoing, unusual losses and failures? Is it the continued, far-reaching […]
Renew or Redo in the New Year
The start of a new year is when people are driven and willing to sit down and look at what’s working and what needs to be reworked. A clean slate is more than just exciting – it’s a prime opportunity to clarify who your organization is and what it stands for, allowing for disciplined planning. […]
Finalize Year-End Giving
All the work you do in development from January through September is reflected in the response and activity from givers in October through December. From a development standpoint, there are two pivot points in the year at which you are trying to ask people to make a giving decision. In the first half of the […]
The Illusion of Effectiveness
My father wisely taught me there are no expenses in development. There are only investments. Every dollar and hour spent on development should have a corresponding result and impact on giving. Why? You don’t exist to keep people employed in development. That’s not why you’re there. You’re there to bring others alongside you to support […]
Work Smarter, Not Harder | Limits of Leadership
Let me give you a framework to think about using your capacity. Imagine your junk drawer at home. The larger the junk drawer, the more junk you will find to put in there. Eventually, you will fill it up and go to junk drawer 2.0. There will always be junk to fill the drawer. Capacity […]
Where You Go Is Determined by Where You Are
If you’re in development, chances are you’ve already racked your brain for the best ways to expand your network. Look around you. Who do you see? Start there. For those of you working in schools or ministries with gatherings, it’s sadly common for people to only interact with others they know. If there’s a stranger […]
Asked and Answered | Fundraising Events
Leaders of communities with diverse backgrounds and economic means must manage the perception that some fundraising activities are being geared only toward those small groups that might be more apt to be able to give financially. Cultural implications exist in an organization’s community when you do fundraising events. While not as big of an issue […]
Now Is the Time for Massive Action
If you are serving in a Christian school or ministry, we firmly believe that NOW is the time to take massive action to grow significant giving that moves you forward. YOUR potential donors likely feel a sense of opportunity and even urgency in finding and giving to deserving impactful organizations. Will they choose your ministry […]
5 Numbers to Know in the New Year
The start of a new year is when people are driven and willing to sit down and look at what’s working and what needs to be reworked. A clean slate is more than just exciting – it’s a prime opportunity to clarify who your organization is and what it stands for, allowing for disciplined planning. […]
Giving | How to Talk the Talk
Leaders in development are aware there are deficits – costs that must be covered and debts that must be paid. This is not, however, what donors are interested in hearing. What’s an organization to do? What Do We Focus On? It’s important not to think or talk in percentages – even internally – about development. […]
Metrics that Measure
Any development director worth their weight has figures and facts on the tip of their tongue for use at any given moment. You have a brand to market. Is your marketing based on measurement or the other way around? Statistics are magical – they can show whatever it is that you want. You have the […]
Engaging Endowments
“Endowment” is a harsh word for many, but it need not be. I suggest, instead, we think of it as an allowance. When our boys were younger, they completed certain chores around the house as part of our family. In return, they received a small allowance. Knowing they would most likely complete their assigned tasks […]
What’s the Plan?
Resting in peace, not dead. Between jobs, not unemployed. Thrifty, not cheap. Unique, not odd. Golden years, not old age. Euphemisms are proof of just how much the English language loves to spin. It’s time for a spin in development. It’s time to present the possibility of Planned Giving. Organizations faced with the stress of […]
Ordinary for the Extraordinary
Missionary and evangelist Jim Elliot once wrote, “Forgive me for being so ordinary while claiming to know so extraordinary a God.” Elliot had a heart for unreached people and a passion for sharing the Gospel. For more than three years, Elliot worked with four other missionaries to orchestrate Operation Auca. The Huaorani people were an […]
The Core 4
How can you know where you’re going when you don’t know where you are? The same holds true in reverse! Paying attention to the CORE FOUR will keep you on track!
Reminders for Relating
Little nudges make for big impacts in the minds of your donors. In the unknown, make sure current and past givers know where your ministry stands…and how to stand by you!
5 Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
Do you learn more from success or failure? I am a firm believer in the power of using what went wrong to make something go right. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid.
Covered NOT Cancelled
Ecclesiastes 7:21 states in part, “Do not take to heart all the things people say…” Ignoring what others say about something or someone you care about has always been easier said than done, but never more so than in these past few months. Divisions from cultural movements have swept the news cycle, filled our social […]
