Ready Development Data For a Strong Fourth Quarter

Ready Development Data For a Strong Fourth Quarter

As the fourth quarter approaches—a critical time for fundraising—nonprofit development teams are gearing up for year-end campaigns, donor outreach, and planning beyond 2025. We recently supported a leading local nonprofit during a busy hiring season by helping their development department prepare their Bloomerang donor database for stronger donor retention and campaign readiness.

This assignment offered valuable insights into how nonprofits can optimize their data systems to drive fundraising success. Whether you're onboarding new team members or refining your donor engagement strategy, here’s our Good Advice for getting your development data in shape for a strong finish to the year—and a powerful start to the next.

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Managing the Summer Schedule Shuffle

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Managing the Summer Schedule Shuffle

Summer is a season of sunshine, travel—and for nonprofit leaders, a strategic juggling act. As board and committee members head to vacation homes, travel abroad, or simply unplug, keeping your organization’s momentum for strategic planning, fundraising and community engagement can feel like a challenge. Add in your own need for rest and vacation time, and it’s easy to see why summer requires a thoughtful approach.

Here’s some good advice for managing the shuffle of summer schedules while still making meaningful progress on your mission.

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Build Capacity Through Volunteer Engagement

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Build Capacity Through Volunteer Engagement

I just returned from the Fort Worth Chamber’s State of Economic Impact event – and it was excellent. (Thank you, Fort Worth Chamber, and Cadence Bank!)  All the speakers were great, but three inspired this article: 

Ken Buchanan, EVP of Revenue Management at the DFW Airport who described their best-in-class volunteer program as a key part of delivering exceptional customer care.

Steve Montgomery, President of the Fort Worth Chamber, who praised the Chamber’s member volunteers for their work during a recent small business walk.

Robert Sturns, the newly named Executive Director of Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County (WSTC) whose facilitation reminded me of the time he invited me to speak on volunteerism at the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.  He was serving the City of Arlington at the time, I think.

That event - years ago - brought together leaders from chambers, nonprofits, corporations, and civic sectors across the region to discuss building organizational capacity.  My contribution focused on using volunteer engagement as a capacity-building tool. Reflecting on that presentation, I realize that the advice I shared then is just as relevant today – and perhaps even more so, and I offer it here.

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Three Takeaways for Nonprofit Leaders from NCN’s Webinar: The Legal Landscape and Path Ahead for Nonprofits and Philanthropy

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Three Takeaways for Nonprofit Leaders from NCN’s Webinar: The Legal Landscape and Path Ahead for Nonprofits and Philanthropy

On March 17, the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) hosted a webinar titled The Legal Landscape and Path Ahead for Nonprofits and Philanthropy. The event featured attorneys, nonprofit leaders, and philanthropists from organizations such as the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Democracy Forward, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. (You can view the full webinar recording here.)

Three key insights from the panelists stood out as valuable guidance for local nonprofit leaders navigating the current, unstable landscape of government funding. 

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Find Joy in the Job

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Find Joy in the Job

With a recent invoice payment, we received a handwritten thank you note insert from a client, (and we were still in the middle of the assignment).

At a board meeting, we were given an iced sugar cookie in the shape of a unicorn with appreciative words of how unique our services were to the exact needs of that board and foundation.

Another time, we received a crystal vase from an executive committee with sentiments of how we served as the vessel for their cause to flourish and how they hoped we would remember them by filling the vase with fresh flowers in the future.

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