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Have you seen NPR’s brilliant new marketing campaign ? It “defend[s] the right to be curious.” I’m absolutely smitten .   As NPR’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mishka Pitter-Armand, put it, "Curiosity is the fuel of a functioning democracy."  It’s also essential for thriving, creative nonprofits. Get Curious About Curiosity Curiosity can be intrinsic or externally motivated. It can focus on intellectual topics or interpersonal issues.    Regardless of its particularities, the ben

We’ve all been there. You’re coaching a new hire, a volunteer, or a team member on a specific task, and it’s just not landing. You’ve explained the process, shared resources, and even offered support—yet two weeks later, the task is still undone. What’s the disconnect? I realized the problem wasn’t in what I was explaining, but how I was coaching. I could outline steps and cheer people on, but that’s not the same as effective coaching. True coaching requires understanding wh

What if we began the year believing in abundance rather than scarcity? What if we felt confident that we could attract the volunteers and donors our organization requires to meet the community’s needs? What if we expected great things to happen? What if we really believed that we could improve the world? Notice what happened as you read those questions. Did you feel your shoulders relaxing? Did you feel curious? Did you find these questions opening you up to new ideas? That’s

Whack-A-Mole is one of my least favorite arcade games. It feels rigged. There is no way to keep up with those blasted moles. There are too many, and they are too fast. (For the record, Skee-ball is my preferred game.) As a nonprofit professional or volunteer, you may feel like your whole life is Whack-A-Mole. Work on the grant budget. Make a plan for the staffing shortage. Reach out to the key donor who left a message. Check with the finance department about an unpaid bill. I

Whether you love it or hate it, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is transforming the nonprofit landscape. We’re all on a colossal learning trajectory—even the most tech-savvy among us are discovering something new every day. Lots of questions linger about ethics, intellectual property, and data privacy. (And don’t even get me started on mysteries like AI hallucinations. How does that happen?) Within nonprofits, we’re seeing all sorts of amazing uses: Wealth screening with deep a

I’ve been a fundraising consultant now for 17 years, and a frontline fundraiser for years before that. So, much of my career has focused on helping organizations raise the resources they need to achieve their missions. I love guiding nonprofit leaders through the art and science of making the ask—coaching teams through major gift best practices, building donor strategies, and creating fundraising materials. But recently, the tables turned. I found myself on the other side—no

If you’ve ever spent time with a preschooler, you know the power of the question: “WHY?” For any answer you give, they’re inclined to...