Fundraising Leadership ™

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

Collecting Courage: Traversing the whiteness of the philanthropic sector as Black fundraisers

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“Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.”  ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Collecting Courage: Joy, Pain, Freedom, Love is a perfect example of what happens when two parallel paths converge to create something special and of significance.

On one pathway was Our Right to Heal, an initiative featuring the voices of ten Black Canadian fundraisers sharing their journey towards healing from painful and traumatic experiences. In May 2020, a few days before George Floyd was killed at the hands of the Minneapolis police on May 25th, the stories were published by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (Global). His death served as a flashpoint triggering worldwide outrage about police brutality against Black people and igniting protests against anti-Black racism.

On a related and separate path, our group of Black Canadian fundraisers selected Cap in Hand: How Charities are Failing the People of Canada and the World by Gail Picco as our book club selection for December 2019. When Gail joined us for the discussion, she shared her idea about a compilation of writings featuring the voices of Black fundraisers. In March 2020, Gail became the Editor-in-Chief of The Charity Report, a new digital magazine, and at the same time launched Gail K. Picco Books, an imprint under Civil Sector Press.

These two convergent paths intersected, creating a perfect storm and genesis for the book. Conditions and timing were right to address historic exclusion and oppression in the charity sector. In June, discussions got underway and Collecting Courage: Joy, Pain, Freedom, Love was born. [Read more…]

Community Reflections on 2020

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A display with a floral 2020 planner and pencilsAs coaches and facilitators, we have watched our community members and their organizations experience tremendous challenges throughout 2020. We have also been inspired by the creativity and resilience both in our community and the nonprofit sector. Each December, the Fundraising Leadership team offers reflections on the past year. Michelle shared her reflections and rituals in 2019 and Janice did the same in 2018.

Reflection can be defined in many ways. It can represent careful thought being given to a topic. It can also mean the image of something in a mirror.

The metaphor of a mirror feels relevant this year as 2020 reflected many important things. It showed us more about ourselves, the nonprofit sector, and society as a whole. It reminded us all of the importance of connection and community.

In this spirit of connection, we decided to highlight some of the voices from the Fundraising Leadership Community. To honour the collective and personal experiences of 2020.

We were inspired by these words of our community members and we know you will be too. [Read more…]

4 Common Fundraising Challenges – And How To Overcome Them

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A plant growing out of a vase filled with coins.

Raising enough money to support programs and services can be challenging, especially for small and medium sized organizations.

This year, Covid and the resulting inability to have fundraising “as usual” has brought even greater obstacles and anxieties to many organizations.

Are any of these four common fundraising challenges tripping up your organization?

[Read more…]

10 Steps to Create an Equitable Organization

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Steps painted bright coloursHaving diversity in the ranks and working on making the organization more inclusive is a commendable first step. However, diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts do not automatically lead to an equitable organization.  Creating pathways to make an organization equitable require different approaches and processes.

Take a look at the guidelines below to see what changes might need to occur in your organization: [Read more…]

7 Ways Organizational Leadership Can Demonstrate Purpose Through Action

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Movie clap boardIn September 2020, I was elected as the Chair of the Board of a local community health centre (CHC).  I have served on the board of this organization for almost four years. Visually it’s a board that is diverse and reflects the community it serves. However, visual diversity is only a part of the story of this board.

As we come together and learn more about each other and our backgrounds, the depth and richness of our diversity is becoming even more apparent. Working with members of the board, organizational leadership, staff and community members, the opportunity to fully leverage our diverse perspectives is a personal and shared goal to be pursued with vigour and intentionality.

Now more than ever, the current climate demands a board profile with a range of competencies and diversity of perspectives.  The best way to achieve diverse competencies and perspectives is to ensure homogeneity isn’t the blueprint for engaging people in the work of organizations.  There is richness in diversity because it allows us to obtain a more complete picture of whatever confronts us, be they challenges or opportunities. The more comprehensive picture one has of a situation, the decisions made are more informed, thoughtful and considered. [Read more…]

Taking the Plunge into a Senior Leadership Role

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Diving BoardLaughter and self-care have been an important part of my daily routine during this pandemic. And nothing lifts up my mood like 30-mins of Mr. Bean adventures. Mr. Bean is a legendary series of skits by British comic Rowan Atkins. In one episode, Mr. Bean goes to the local pool. He struts around to the diving board and confidently climbs to the very highest one. As he starts walking towards the end of it the height of it finally gets to him and he panics. He tries to go back but is confronted by two naughty children and so as not to show weakness he clumsily drops off the diving board in a most ungraceful flop.

You might wonder by now, what Mr. Bean has to do with leadership: Getting your first leadership role is a lot like his diving experience. We are often convinced we would make great leaders, and sometimes we can even be a bit overconfident. And once we get up there, the gravity of the role dawns on us, there is no easy way back and of course there are always detractors even if they only live in our heads. In my role as a talent recruiter in the nonprofit sector, my mission is to uncover emerging leaders. It is often not about specific experience on a resume (i.e. managed $5M budget or had 10 direct reports), but rather about self-awareness and the ability to reflect on these experiences. [Read more…]

How Emotions Point to Our Values

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LighthouseMy values are what are keeping me grounded during this time. The work I embarked on early this year with the support of Janice Cunning and her leadership coaching has been crucial to keeping me a little sane during these times, and I feel privileged to have had this opportunity.

As part of this process, my goals were: to identify my superpowers, understand how could I expand my influence for more significant impact in my work, and most importantly, ground my leadership as I took action on the challenges and dreams that I have for my team, my organization and the feminist movement.

I make it a practice to continually check within myself on my perceived values to move with coherence through the intricacies of our sector and the fundraising profession. I believed that writing down and naming my values one more time early in 2020 would not have been so much of a challenge. This was my first challenge as I worked with Janice towards my coaching goals. [Read more…]

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…]