While 2020 will likely be remembered for its relentless challenges, the lifelong learner in me is struck by the many lessons the past year taught us. Nonprofit leaders have stretched and grown faster than ever, being required to think differently, reimagine new ways of serving communities and speed innovations to deepen impact. While we can’t predict the future, we can …
Caring For Our Emotions: 20 Gifts that Cost $0
The holiday season is naturally a time when we’re buying and giving gifts to family, friends and colleagues to show how much they mean to us. But it’s often the things that cost nothing that mean the most. These 20 emotional gifts designed to strengthen happiness, well-being and compassion are sure to mean more than anything that will arrive on …
Why Every Nonprofit Should Be Conducting After Action Reviews
While serving as a training support battalion commander in the U.S. Army, my command had the responsibility of capturing learnings after every operation. Known as After Action Reviews (AAR), these assessments brought a group of stakeholders together to reflect and discuss a task, event, activity or function to identify the key lessons learned as well as steps for continuous improvement. …
If You Want to Be a Courageous Leader, Do These Three Things
From an early age, we’re told that if we work hard, we’ll be successful, and if we’re successful, we’ll be happy. But according to positive psychology researcher and bestselling author Neil Pasricha, that model is backwards. Neil says that being happy is what leads people to do great work, and great work creates success. Neil believes this so much that …
How to Calculate the Value of Volunteer Time
Some things in life are hard to put a value on — love, passion, dedication, selflessness. These are all attributes volunteers embody, but how can nonprofits determine the value of a volunteer hour? Each year, Independent Sector gathers data and conducts research on volunteerism in the nonprofit sector. The results of that research provide nonprofits a way to calculate the …
The X-Factor in Courageous Leadership: 4 Ways to Strengthen Your Mental Fitness
Authentic, trusting relationships are at the core of achieving the majority of goals in life — from personal happiness to career success and everything in between. But before meaningful and lasting relationships can grow, they must be rooted in the relationship we have with ourselves. Believe it or not, the most important conversations aren’t those you have with others; they’re …
The One Budget Cut You Shouldn’t Make During a Crisis
During times of crisis and economic hardship, learning and development are often the first items cut when organizations must trim budgets. But why is talent development so easy to deprioritize when it’s the one thing that can help raise more dollars, serve more constituents, and increase employee morale and productivity? Research shows that staff development increases the expertise and productivity …
Reducing Your Nonprofit’s Risk: Trends to Anticipate & How to Tackle Them
For most nonprofit organizations, the cost of property and casualty insurance is among the top five expense items within already limited budgets. As the need for nonprofit services increases, resources shrink and the insurance marketplace becomes firmer, nonprofit leaders must take steps to reduce and control their organization’s risks and lower costs in the process. Before we dive into risk …
Major Gift Fundraising: Build a Plan that Works
During economic downturns, data suggests that Americans typically give less to charity. As communities simultaneously navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, a recession and the social movement for racial justice, the need for nonprofit services continues to increase as inequities deepen. Understanding how to raise funds in times of uncertainty is critical to respond to some of the greatest challenges our communities …
How to Host a Successful Virtual Fundraising Event: Girls on the Run Case Study
Like most nonprofits impacted by COVID-19, Girls on the Run Greater Tampa Bay faced a pivotal challenge — how to deliver a major fundraising event with significant revenue goals and in-person mission programming virtually, all in a matter of weeks. Girls on the Run is a developmental, life-skills program that inspires girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a …