by Eddie Thompson | Mar 17, 2014 | Development Management
The 1972 crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401 is the classic example of Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT), an aviation term used to describe a perfectly air-worthy aircraft under complete pilot control being inadvertently flown into the ground or an obstacle. When...
by Eddie Thompson | Oct 14, 2013 | Charitable Estate Planning, Development Management
There’s a correlation between the depth of relationship with a donor and the size of an appropriate appeal. When a fundraiser makes an appeal that a donor could not, or would not, seriously consider, the lack of understanding and the lack of relationship becomes a...
by Eddie Thompson | Jun 27, 2013 | Development Management
The following article appeared in the Spring 2013 issue of Healthcare Philanthropy Journal, a publication of the Association of Healthcare Professional (AHP). It was based on a June 2011 article posted on this blog site. The full length article is expanded to include...
by Eddie Thompson | Feb 28, 2013 | Development Management, Donor Communications
In the last article I began describing the twelve characteristics of the most successful nonprofit organizations, which was based on my dissertation research at Vanderbilt University. The first six characteristics related to personal communications and the depth of...
by Eddie Thompson | Jan 10, 2013 | Development Management
This is part two of my review of the book by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen — Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (See part one: Donor Pinging). My objective is to suggest a few ways the principles in Great by Choice can be...
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...
