Michele Goodrich

At the end of 2014, I was determined to make all my year-end charitable contributions online. In most cases, it was a fairly easy thing to do. However, in other cases, it was a difficult, confusing and time-consuming task.

It is estimated that 30% of charitable contributions are made between Thanksgiving and Christmas and 10% of those are made in the last 48 hours of the year. With that being the case, it is not too late to capture a share of this year’s holiday generosity by launching a year-end fundraising effort!

A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting of non-profit leaders struggling through a slump in their capital campaign.

A 2013 documentary directed by Andrew Garrison is hands-down one of the best leadership films I have seen recently.  I doubt that was the director’s intent, but from my perspective he has done just that.

For the longest time I avoided giving gift cards as presents. It seemed like such an impersonal gesture. I had visions of the recipients stuffing all their newly acquired gift cards into their wallets and heading off to the mall without a single thought as to who gave them what card or attaching any kind of significance or meaning to them other than the dollar value encoded on the magnetic strip.

I looked out the window of my warm home last week to see my mail carrier dressed in a full snowsuit, heavy gloves and a hat with furry ear flaps struggling to climb over a pile of drifted snow to deliver a package. It was after 7 pm and certainly not the first time he had delivered the mail that late this week. In addition, my city’s trash and recycling crews have worked quite a few extra-long days this winter to make up for times when snow removal took precedence over refuse collection. And the steady stream of plumbers, garage door repairmen and HVAC experts coming in and out of my small neighborhood over the past seven weeks has been remarkable.

An article from the December 30, 2013 issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy suggests an unconventional approach to New Year’s resolutions for nonprofit leaders. Instead of providing a list of things to add; it recommends things to stop doing. The list was compiled with input from experts in the nonprofit field and provides some thought provoking ideas for consideration.