Executive Coaching, Professional Development, Training, and Career Advancement for Nonprofit Leaders in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
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?
Having 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…]
In 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…]
Laughter 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…]
My 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…]
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 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…]
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.
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…]
“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…]