Blog

Recently I had lunch with a church pastor. His church has an endowment fund from the sale of property, but it hasn’t grown much since then. Like many congregations, his church could benefit from the income a stronger endowment could provide.

“Boy, just 24 months after I hire them, they take off!”

“My board members don’t know each other.”

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.

Confession: I am a graduate of the Ohio State University. Having lived in Wisconsin for the past 18 years, I have endured the wrath of Badger fans and even a number of Michigan folks. Much of this comes from friends and seemingly sane people who really don’t like my Buckeyes. Even more so after the win over Michigan and 59 – 0 embarrassment the Badgers endured during their loss in the Big Ten finals to OSU. They don’t just dislike us; they hate us.

Boredom, downtime, thinking time… Sounds like a luxury, doesn’t it? With a plethora of smart phones, laptops and other technology gadgets, there really is never a moment when you aren’t doing something. Whether on the subway, on a plane or waiting for a doctor appointment, there’s no reason to be bored – unless you really want to be successful, that is.

At Donor By Design, one of our core beliefs is to always to tell the kind truth. We serve our clients best when we’re honest with each other about what’s working and what’s not. The importance of an outside perspective was vividly illustrated for me on a recent drive.

As I work with nonprofit staff and volunteer leaders, I often get this question: “How do you ask someone for a $1,000+ gift?”

Endowment, stewardship, and relationship development are fundraising tasks all too often placed on the dreaded back burner. We all have one: the place where the really critical tasks go to simmer and eventually dry up and die.

It’s nearing the end of the year and something is unfinished on your to-do list. It’s something you’ve been thinking about all year, perhaps even for the past several years, and yet you haven’t quite gotten to it.