by Eddie Thompson | Oct 30, 2012 | Donor Communications
In their recent book, Great by Choice, Jim Collins and Morten Hansen published the results of a nine-year research project in which they identified three characteristics of what they called “10X leaders.” These were CEOs who led their companies to achieve ten times...
by Eddie Thompson | Sep 30, 2012 | Charitable Estate Planning
In 1785 a French mathematician named Charles Joseph Mathon de la Cour wrote a parody of Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac in which he mocked the unbearable spirit of American optimism represented by Franklin. The Frenchman fictionalized about “Fortunate...
by Eddie Thompson | Sep 21, 2012 | Development Management
Overused concepts lose their significance over time. The word “hero” is applied equally to extraordinary acts of courage as well as to casual attempts at civilized behavior. The same is true for words like service, sacrifice, and generosity. One particularly worn out...
by Eddie Thompson | Aug 29, 2012 | Development Management
Fundraising executives spend a lot of time looking at pyramids. These planning charts help us prioritize our fundraising goals and keep us focused on the relationships that matter most to the organization. All pyramids have strata — levels that categorize people in...
by Eddie Thompson | Aug 14, 2012 | Charitable Estate Planning
One of the most rewarding projects with which I have been involved had a surprise ending. A hospital foundation had contracted me to introduce charitable estate planning possibilities to a select group of donors. As is our standard approach, the hospital set up the...
