Entertaining Endowments
I recently had the privilege being a panelist at an event focused on exploring the issues surrounding endowments. The forum, sponsored by the Boston area Foundation for MetroWest, was attended by regional board members from nonprofits with a range of missions and budgets of $500,000 through $5+ million. A common denominator among attendees was their need to raise annual and ...
The Job Tenure Myth
It has become common lore that the average tenure of a fundraiser is 24 months. Is it true? As an executive recruiter for advancement professionals, I have to say that the majority of resumes we receive for positions we represent, typically vice presidents, director of development or major gift officers, reflect this average. 24 – 30 months seems to be ...
Building a Philanthropy Relationship Network
Don’t you know all the people who have money? This is both wishful thinking and sometimes the refrain from a non-profit CEO or volunteer during a job interview. Every successful philanthropy development enterprise must utilize the personal and business networks of board members, volunteers and staff in order to find and build connections with potential supporters. In the sage words ...
Moving the Needle in 2011
We’re knocking on the door of a new decade that we all hope will be better than the last one. Those of us who have devoted our professional careers to the third sector probably started our journey in the hope we could “move the needle” for a movement, a cause, an organization, a person. And along the way, we have, ...
