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Nonprofit Leadership

Running a nonprofit isn’t for the faint of heart. This category tackles the hard realities—strategy, staffing, board dynamics, burnout, and the mindset required to lead through uncertainty. Practical insights for CEOs, development directors, and those responsible for ensuring the mission doesn’t fail.

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Mission-Driven Giving at Work: What Faith-Based Campaigns Can Teach the Philanthropy Sector

December 10, 2025 No Comments

Faith-based fundraising offers powerful lessons for the broader philanthropy sector. By anchoring giving in mission, community, and shared values, these campaigns inspire deeper donor commitment. Their focus on storytelling, transparency, leadership participation, and consistent engagement creates a culture of generosity. As Millennials and Gen Z prioritize mission-driven giving, nonprofits that adopt these principles can strengthen donor relationships, increase participation, and build more resilient, purpose-driven communities.

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Google-style search bars with the phrases “It’s All Here…” and “At Your Fingertips,” highlighting that information is easily accessible. Donor cultivation is critical. Fundraisers must understand money and how their donors think.

Ignorance Is Not a Fundraising Strategy

November 20, 2025 No Comments

Do you know how wealthy donors think? Can you explain the gap between a millionaire and a billionaire? Have you checked LinkedIn before your last donor meeting? Do you track economic indicators shaping giving decisions? Most fundraisers can’t answer these questions—and that ignorance costs millions. Google is free. LinkedIn is free. Zillow is free. Donors don’t owe you their money. Show up prepared or leave empty-handed.

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An image of sculptor of clay which is Doable, Durable, Desirable: Redesigning Nonprofit Leadership.

Doable, Durable, Desirable: Redesigning Nonprofit Leadership

October 8, 2025 No Comments

A leadership crisis is hitting the nonprofit sector: veterans are retiring, and few want their jobs. Burnout, dysfunction, and weak succession planning have made top roles undesirable. The solution isn’t another search—it’s a redesign. Leadership must become doable, durable, and desirable: realistic workloads, real support, and roles people actually want. The future belongs to organizations bold enough to rebuild leadership itself.

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Elephant precariously perched on a fragile tree branch, symbolizing unsustainable weight, instability, and the looming collapse of fragile systems

7 Pillars That Keep You Standing

September 3, 2025 No Comments

Nonprofits rarely collapse from bad intentions. They collapse because the foundation is cracked. Seven pillars determine survival: strategy, packaging, focus, prospects, outreach, stewardship, and leverage. Miss one and you wobble. Miss two or three and you’re irrelevant. Passion won’t save you. Discipline will. Prosperity isn’t luck—it’s alignment. Ignore the pillars, and you’re building a mission on sand.

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Small boat charting rough waters and winning — symmetry with a small foundation that succeeded against all odds

Small and Mighty 

August 1, 2025 4 Comments

The GOSUMEC Foundation proves you don’t need to be a big nonprofit to achieve sizable results. Drs. Sanjay and Archana Bindra turned their 25th wedding anniversary into a $1 million endowment for medical scholarships in India. With zero staff, full transparency, and a focus on legacy giving, their grassroots nonprofit offers a replicable model for small organizations everywhere. Visit gosumec.org or scan the QR code in GIVING magazine to learn more about their work—and the groundbreaking GIVE Study.

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Illustration of a crouching nonprofit leader under a lightning-cracking storm cloud, symbolizing organizational fragility and looming Black Swan crises.

Built to Break: How Nonprofit Culture Creates Its Own Crises

July 7, 2025 No Comments

Many nonprofits operate like unsuspecting turkeys, assuming past stability guarantees future safety. Built on feel-good events, crisis-driven appeals and compliance-focused boards, they remain fragile when unpredictable Black Swans—economic shocks, political upheavals, shifting donor sentiment—strike. Reactivity replaces strategy, visibility trumps resilience, and metrics reward vulnerability over strength. True antifragility requires cultivating long-term donor relationships, endowments, dissent-welcome hiring, mission-anchored vision, and durable structures that absorb disruption and emerge stronger, turning inevitable crises into growth catalysts for mission-driven impact ahead.

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Frustrated fundraiser overwhelmed at desk with coffee cup, laptop, and donor charts—reflecting burnout and job dissatisfaction in the nonprofit sector.

Why do Nonprofits Struggle to Retain Fundraising Staff?

July 7, 2025 No Comments

Fundraisers often leave nonprofits not because of money, but due to burnout and misalignment between mission and daily operations. Passion for the cause can be overshadowed by relentless financial pressures, lack of authenticity from leadership, and inconsistent internal messaging. When leadership fails to communicate transparently or support staff meaningfully, trust erodes. Organizations that retain fundraising talent foster mission-driven cultures, prioritize authentic leadership, and ensure that every team member feels genuinely connected to the work and valued in their role.

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Leadership Quiz Banner

QUIZ: Do You Know Enough to Lead?

June 24, 2025 No Comments

Most fundraisers assume they deserve a seat at the table; this tool reveals if you truly do. It tests your grasp of financial metrics, donor intelligence, and strategic priorities—core knowledge that separates respected leaders from the overlooked. You’ll identify gaps in your organizational awareness and uncover the skills that position you as a trusted, data-savvy partner. It’s more than a professional check-in—it’s a reality check on your readiness to lead.

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