by Eddie Thompson | Jul 29, 2019 | Development Management, Donor Communications
My previous post, “Weathering the Storms,” covered practice-management strategies to employ during good times that tend to harden nonprofits against three types of hard times: 1) economic recessions that universally impact all donors and their giving capacities; 2)...
by Eddie Thompson | Jun 3, 2019 | Development Management
Hard times at nonprofit institutions generally come in three forms: 1) Economic recessions universally impact all donors and their giving capacity, as well as their “giving confidence.” In the years between 1854 and 2009, there were 33 economic cycles, averaging...
by Eddie Thompson | Apr 22, 2019 | Development Management
This is the second in a series of several posts on Jim Collins’s booklet entitled, Good to Great and the Social Sectors. In this 35-page supplement to his bestseller, Good to Great, the author identifies and comments on five challenges that are unique to nonprofits...
by Eddie Thompson | Mar 20, 2019 | Development Management
In 2007, six years after publishing Good to Great, Jim Collins wrote a 35-page booklet applying the principles to the nonprofit world—Good to Great for the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer. That follow-up seemed to be inevitable since his own...
by Eddie Thompson | Feb 22, 2019 | Development Management, Donor Communications
I sat in a room yesterday with a group of development officers from a large and well-known international organization. This fantastic team makes an enormous impact on the lives of families in need. Since the majority of the funds they raise comes from special events,...
by Eddie Thompson | Dec 13, 2018 | Development Management, Donor Communications
As I visit and have conversations with nonprofit leadership teams, I’ve noticed an increasing trend in organizational practices. We’re making fundraising excessively complicated. It’s true that fundraising can be difficult. However, a good advancement system is not...
