As a leader in your company and in your field, you share your own experiences. It’s a good thing to do. Your stories and the lessons you’ve learned will be valuable to your colleagues when they face similar challenges. By passing the information along, you will be serving them well.…
Continue Reading....Tag: Dennis Fischman
6 Things to Do Before Your Nonprofit Leader Retires
You live in a small town, and the community newspaper runs a frightening headline: “Mysterious Disease Strikes Town: One of Three Residents Will Disappear by 2017.” You read the article, and the news is even worse than you thought. By 2020, scientists predict, two out of three residents will be…
Continue Reading....The Three Generations Nonprofits Want to Reach!
I don’t go to many nonprofit events. I get invited to too many: I can’t attend all of them. So, this spring I chose to go to The Welcome Project’s Yum: A Taste of Immigrant City and skip half a dozen other events held by groups about. Lauren doesn’t go…
Continue Reading....My Generation…and Yours
Does the title of this post mean anything to you? If so, chances are you’re a Boomer. Baby Boomers are the people born between 1946 and 1964, and there are a lot of us. People born between 1965 and 1980 are often called Generation X—“X” as in “unknown”—and people born…
Continue Reading....Lead by Telling the Story of Where You Are Going
“We’ve never had a policy manual. The way we pass along our values is to sit around the campfire and share stories.” That’s the CEO of a $1.3 billion company talking. Elizabeth Weil, in Fast Company magazine, interviewed many business leaders about the power of storytelling. “Leadership is about change,”…
Continue Reading....How Serving Leaders Relieve Stress at Work
“Are you serious about doing business with me?” Diana was a real talent: a former Director of Development for another nonprofit organization who was working part-time these days while raising very young twins. We were lucky she was available. Our nonprofit organization had a lot of grant proposals to write…
Continue Reading....Say “Thank You” with a Story
You’re a charitable person. Let’s say you gave large donations to three organizations. One of them sends you a one-line acknowledgement for tax purposes. Another sends you a form letter that begins “On behalf of the Busy Community Organization, thanks for your donation of $____ made on December 29.” The…
Continue Reading....Be Kind. Always
This is a more personal message than I usually post, and I hope you will take it to heart. You may have seen the message floating around Facebook. “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.” I can tell you that the message is…
Continue Reading....Do You Have the Right Mindset for Social Media?
Are you using social media to promote your cause? How do you decide if social media can provide you a connection to your key stakeholders? How important is it to engage and empower your stakeholders using social media? How do you overcome being overwhelmed with social media?
Continue Reading....Bringing New Board Members on Board
You’ve been wooing her for months, and finally she says yes. Congratulations! You have a new Board member. What does your Board member need to know, and how will he or she find out? Of course, you should share official documents. For nonprofits, those might include the by-laws, descriptions of…
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