Imagine how a donor feels when she’s reached her limit “No, we can’t do that. But it’s a good idea. You should definitely offer that suggestion.” “I can’t. I’ve run out of allowed suggestions.” “Oh, well, they limit them to make it easier on them.” Had enough yet? The above was a real conversation I […]
The Oprah Syndrome
I think of it as The Oprah Syndrome. And if you raise money for a nonprofit, I’m betting you’ve run into it, too. Picture this: you’re at a board meeting. The topic of discussion is a forecast deficit for the year. “What are we to do?”, the finance chair moans. Board members look around, hoping […]
The value of trust
Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about the value of trust. This was spurred in part by a couple of pieces of mail I received. One looked like business mail from our garbage collectors. I opened it because you can never tell anymore what might be a bill and what might be another […]
Just call me Cassandra
Do you recall Cassandra of Greek mythology? Apollo granted her the power of prophecy. But when she refused his advances, he twisted the gift. She’d still see what was coming. But no one would believe her. Development staff often have to be the speakers of unfortunate truths. Like Cassandra, we’re castigated and disbelieved. It doesn’t […]
The overhead myth and you
Ah, the pernicious overhead myth. Dan Pallotta’s TEDtalk continues to spur conversation and (even some action) about the way we evaluate effectiveness. Funders have for too long depended on simplistic measurements, largely how much money is spent on administrative costs, or overhead. This provides a measurement of sorts, and one that’s easy to arrive at. The […]
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