Fundraising Leadership ™

Executive Coaching, Professional Development, Training, and Career Advancement for Nonprofit Leaders in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

I know you’re busy- Now is the time!

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There’s an adage, if you need something done, ask a busy person. What people say about certain types of professional development is, “I’ll do it when I’m less busy.” Let me encourage you to overcome that mindset when it comes to the PQ training program coordinated by Fundraising Leadership. When you’re busy, now is the time to do it.

The PQ training is based on the book “Positive Intelligence” by Shirzad Chamine.  The book discusses the major saboteurs that make us less able to function well and sets the stage for 5 sage powers that help us to overcome those saboteurs. The PQ model is one of a muscle- your Positive Intelligence muscles that need to be fortified to help you overcome the negative saboteurs and strengthen the sages.  While I highly recommend the book for anybody, the PQ training program I did takes that mindset to a whole new level by providing a significant number of additional tools and resources with which to build your PQ muscle. [Read more…]

Identity Matters

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Magnifying glass on fingerprintIdentity is who we are. It is the way we think about ourselves. It is the way we are viewed by the world and the characteristics that define us. To say the least, identity is fundamental and it matters. But despite the value of our identity many people spend little time investigating or understanding their own. I believe the exploration of your identity requires curiosity, courage and humility. Why does this matter? Because clarity of identity or lack thereof has a direct impact on how we work and live our lives.

In my work, I have discovered a unique link between achieving equity and understanding one’s own identity. Identity influences who we choose to do life with, our friends, our partners. It can control our leadership style, who we hire and who we fire. Our identities create environments, even systems. That is to say, the cultures we create in our homes and in our offices are manifestations of our values and beliefs. And are ultimately an extension of who we are. If we are not conscious of the impact of those environments, real devastating effects can result to those who do not share your
identity. [Read more…]

Choose Your Nonprofit Leadership Style Today

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Folks, buckle your seatbelts. We’re in for a long road ahead. If you haven’t moved out of the pandemic crisis or short-term adaptive operations phases, now is the time.

To operate safely and sustainably today, a long view, as well as a creative, solving nonprofit leadership style, is required.

And you don’t have to figure out what creative, solving-style leadership means all by yourself.

[Read more…]

Building a Thoughtful Fundraising Career

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Laptop with a You've Got This Sign beside it.The year was 2009. I had just graduated from university and knew I wanted to work in the non-profit sector but, like so many others, I had no clue how to go about building my career. None of my relatives were fundraisers or non-profit executives. No one I knew even worked for a charity. Without special connections or outside assistance, I had to learn how the non-profit sector operates the hard way. Despite this initial setback, I achieved several career milestones at a relatively early age and these accomplishments did not go unnoticed. As a result, aspiring and mid-career fundraisers often reach out to me to ask for career advice; to help them weigh the benefits of taking a specific course, program or designation; or to understand how they can emulate my success.

I think many are disappointed to hear me say that there is no silver bullet. I attribute my success as a fundraiser to being very thoughtful about my career development rather than to any one specific thing I’ve done. In order to be successful, you have to know where you want to go, develop a plan to get there, and then actually follow your plan. Of course, you will have to put in a lot of hard work along the way too. Success doesn’t happen overnight, and you will have to adjust course as challenges present themselves and new opportunities become available to you. Creating a plan doesn’t mean that your plan can’t change. But, if you don’t create a plan for your career, your career will happen to you instead of you taking charge and making it happen the way you want it to. [Read more…]

5 Crucial Questions to Help You “Manage Up”

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A white up arrow on a blue background“Managing up” is one of the most crucial skills you can develop as a fundraiser. 

Being good at managing up will continue to serve you throughout your career, whether you’re just starting out, or you’re moving into the role of CEO or Executive Director. 

Managing up is a term that gets thrown around a lot – but what does managing up mean, exactly? 

I like to think of managing up as simply another facet of leadership. It’s supporting and enabling those around you (including those “above you” in your org chart) to feel effective, successful and fulfilled in their role. [Read more…]

The Five Types Of Agility To Lead In Disruption

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elephantIf you’re finding yourself exhausted or unsure about how to make decisions in this time of disruption, you’re not alone. Leaders around the world are trying to learn how to lead with agility in these unprecedented times. As an executive coach, I am getting many requests like this e-mail from Carlos (we’ll call him Carlos to protect the innocent):

“I wonder if you can help me with the head of one of my sales teams. His name is John. John doesn’t think he can sell virtually to our customers during this pandemic. He feels he needs face to face interaction with them. Some of our customers are still trying to figure out how to adapt their business and frankly we’re not sure if their business will survive. John is also not confident that our products are a good fit for them now. I’m concerned that his direct reports are floundering without direction. Can you help?” [Read more…]

It’s All About Impact

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lightning strikeI’ll never forget the day, my staff member, whose role is Latino Outreach, came into my office to let me know that a family who had lost everything in a fire had called our center in order to ask if we could provide them with a house full of furniture. They had lost everything in the fire, had no insurance and little means to replace their furniture. This is not an unusual request, in that our humanitarian center regularly helps people with all kinds of needs, whether that be food, clothes, furniture or mental health counseling.

What was unusual that day, was the fact that on the exact same day, we received a call from one of our regular donors. She wanted to donate a house full of furniture to our center. She knew that by giving us this furniture, we would normally turn around and sell these items through our thrift stores, which in turn directly supported our many outreach programs like our food pantry. Her furniture was very nice and would sell for a good price at our stores.

Before hanging up the phone, she asked if by chance we had a family who was in need of furniture. While she was fine giving it to us to sell through our stores, she would prefer it be given to a family who really needed it if there was someone who presented a need for it. [Read more…]

Stay Curious, Play the Infinite Game

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In 1986, American philosopher James Carse introduced the concept of two types of games – finite games and infinite games. Finite games have a winner and loser. Infinite games have no finish line and the goal is to keep the game going as long as possible. More than 33 years later, Simon Sinek gave voice to this philosophy in his leadership touchstone, The Infinite Game.

Even if you haven’t read the book (though I highly recommend that you do), the tenets of it will likely feel like second nature to those of us in fundraising: we over me, progress over perfection and the importance of always keeping an eye on the big picture. To break it down in our industry’s nomenclature, meeting a fundraising goal is a finite thing; building a movement is infinite. [Read more…]

Playbook for Our Times – Lead The Way

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Recently I heard these words: “There is no playbook for how to lead through this crisis…” I couldn’t disagree more. Perhaps leadership learning is not specific to this “unprecedented” crisis – but all major world (and even many organizational) crises were unprecedented before they happened. This is ours.

Everything you know about leadership has not changed.  In fact, much of what you know is simply being called upon in unexpected ways.  This is a time to remember the basics.  If you are looking for a playbook, one of my favorites is The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner. They say that leadership requires us to set an example, inspire a shared vision of the future, challenge the status quo, foster collaboration, encourage and strengthen others.  They share that leadership is everyone’s business. [Read more…]

Mental Fitness – Getting Your Mind Right

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In the 1967 Film, Cool Hand Luke, Luke (played by Paul Newman), is a prisoner on a southern chain gang. Upon his second failed escape attempt (and receiving his second set of leg irons), Luke is told by the Captain (memorably played by Strother Martin) that he is not going to need a third set of chains because he’s: “gonna get his mind right!”

As we say, “art imitates life.” [Read more…]