Creating more strategic, financially savvy, and confident nonprofit leaders and organizations.
In my last blog post, I talked about how making decisions from a place of fear is solidly rooting you in the world of scarcity. And that’s the last place you want your nonprofit and your social change work to be. Yet, scarcity is such an omnipresent ethos in the social change sector — from […]
There is something that I find nonprofit leaders often forget. And this is that you are immensely powerful. You are, in fact, powerful beyond measure. But there are so many ways that our society attempts to strip you of your power. To name a few: Legal and norm limits on your ability to influence policy […]
2020 continues to uncover the many social problems we need to solve, and broken systems we need to reinvent. This is crystal clear most recently with the horrific wildfires that have demonstrated how desperate we are for a solution to climate change. 2020 has been crisis after crisis, but these crises are also incredible opportunities. […]
I have been feeling lately that we social changemakers are on the cusp of something really big and new. It is an opportunity — an opportunity we have likely been training for our entire lives — to remake the world in ways we could formerly only imagine. Social change leaders, who have for so long […]
This summer, after much convincing, one of my clients (who was close to burnout) reluctantly took a long weekend off. She said it felt amazing. But she also felt guilty. It is insane that three very short days away felt somehow wrong to this beleaguered nonprofit leader. But, her plight, nonprofit leader burnout, is so […]
Fear, anxiety and anger seem to be swirling lately. These are dark times for our country, there is no doubt. And perhaps particularly in the social change sector — a sector built on creating a more equitable, loving, and connected society — these dark times are particularly hard to take. But the true danger in […]
As a nonprofit leader you no doubt face an endless barrage of critical decisions. Should we grow this program? Do we add this new staff position? Should we invite this new board member to join? Should we pursue this new funder? The list goes on and on. And often the direction nonprofit leaders choose is […]
Nonprofit leaders are, as a rule, a pretty compassionate bunch. By definition, someone who has decided to start or lead a nonprofit probably has a greater ability than the average person to see pain and feel compelled to relieve it. Whether it’s a desire to ease the suffering of homeless populations, or help kids access […]
As part of the martyr complex from which so many of them suffer, nonprofit leaders often think that it’s best to push themselves and their organizations harder, faster, farther. Nonprofit leaders are continually faced with new opportunities – new client populations to serve, new demands for program expansion from funders, new partnership opportunities. And while […]
Nonprofit leaders tend to err on the side of caution. But these times call for something quite different. These times demand that you overcome the fear and risk-aversion that sometimes cripple your work. You no longer have the luxury of sitting by and waiting for “permission” to do what you have to do. This is the time […]
Did you know that self doubt is one of the biggest hurdles you face? Truly. You think your funders, your board members, your staff, or policymakers are a tough crowd? I bet your toughest crowd is actually you, yourself. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that voice that wakes you up in the middle […]
I know how scared you sometimes get. I see you tossing and turning in the middle of the night, terrified about how you will make payroll. Or worried that you will never attract truly helpful board members. Or working 80 hour weeks because you fear no one else will help. Or anxious to check your […]
There was a really interesting article in Inside Philanthropy last week arguing that nonprofit leaders desperately need sabbaticals, therefore more funders should fund them. I completely agree with the first part, but strongly disagree with the second. Nonprofit leaders, like any human being, need large chunks of time away to rest, recharge, find inspiration again, […]
A key step in opening your organization to receive all the abundance — of money, people, influence, and power — you need to achieve your mission is fully embracing what is not working. Wait, what?? My guess is that you don’t like something about yourself as a leader and/or your organization. You might be the […]
My guess is that if you are leading a social change effort, you have likely been denying your own needs, and thus your own power, for far too long. I have found that the people attracted to the social change sector tend to be so concerned about their fellow humans that they more often than […]
Note: I was asked by the Council on Foundations to blog about their “Leading Together Conference” last week. My post that follows originally appeared on their website here. I came away from the second day of the Council on Foundations’ Leading Together 2021 conference with an enormous amount of hope. Hope in humanity and in […]
If you are feeling — as we hit the middle of 2021, a year almost as difficult as 2020 — exhausted, overwhelmed, worn out, you are not alone. Because I see you. I see you hang up after a call with a discouraging funder and put your head in your hands. I see you reliving […]
So, now that you know the power of the word “Yet” to move you from scarcity to abundance, it’s time to start thinking about what you really want. Perhaps the most egregious part of being stuck in scarcity is that you get so used to thinking there is never enough that you lose touch with […]
I’m not gonna lie, last week was rough. As I know you are well aware, there was a palpable sense of fear and anxiety everywhere you looked. Even my friends in other countries reached out to say they, too, were watching our elections in the U.S. with fear and anxiety. No matter who you voted […]
As if 2020 hasn’t been hard enough, this weekend we lost a true social change warrior, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A stalwart for gender equality, she spent her life working to make life better for women. Her death came on the heels of the death of another champion for those who have been held back — […]
