Blog

This January, the DBD Team is making resolutions to help us be better. Today Bruce vows to get personal. 

Happy New Year! If you are like me, the first few days back in early January consists of cleaning up your office, creating new files, and maybe even cleaning out the dreaded emails that grow like weeds in your inbox!

As we reach the end of the year, we wanted to recognize several clients who are working with their communities to “think outside the box.” Whether it’s creating new partnerships, or taking programs out into the community, there are always new opportunities to make a difference.

Since its founding in 1878 and the subsequent opening of the landmark building in 1933, the Jerusalem International YMCA (JIY) has been unrelenting in its mission to bring peace to the land and glory to God.

In August, I attended the Global Leadership Summit and heard Angela Lee Duckworth’s presentation on Grit. I was fascinated by the concept and certainly could relate. However, the real inspiration came during my time with a client as we were visiting with a nonprofit supporter and community member.

When I’m not traveling, I work out of my home. This involves lots of video calls and, as my dad called it, “paper work”.  There are certainly good qualities to this (dress shirt on top, jammies on bottom) but there are also times I need to work in a more stimulating environment. And for me, that often means my local library.

It’s November and our minds automatically go to being thankful.

We don’t say it enough: we’re so proud of our clients. They do great work and, once they get the chance to share their stories with their communities, the communities respond in a big way.

Sometimes we’re fractured by the choices we make; sometimes we’re shattered by things we would never have chosen. But our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion.
― Bryan Stevenson

A couple of my DBD colleagues have shared their experiences from this past August’s Global Leadership Summit. I too have been inspired from an extraordinary leader who is making significant impact through his work.

So much has been lost in the terrible fires burning in Oregon, California and Montana. Lives lost. Thousands of acres have been lost. Beautiful vegetation gone.  Homes gone. Family treasures gone.  Sacred hiking trails won’t be the same for years. It’s terrible.

As a consulting firm focused on fund development, we field calls daily from organizations seeking advice and counsel on how to raise money for lots of reasons: annual sustaining, endowment, disaster relief, education and awareness, and of course capital campaigns.