Blog

I took advantage of the beautiful fall weather in Chicagoland over the Thanksgiving break to clean up my backyard. My neighbor had the same idea and we struck up a conversation. He asked me (as my mother used to ask me too) "what exactly do I do for work"?

Hiring a consultant is a big investment for a non-profit organization. If this is your first time working with a consultant, or if previous consultant engagements weren’t successful, here is some advice from our consultants to you.

In November, I achieved a personal goal of running my seventh half marathon.  I had not run a long distance in a few years; and, I am admittedly a few years older. Training and preparation are very important for any long-distance challenge. With a very busy schedule, I was concerned about having enough time to train. 

This October, the Donor By Design team is tackling spooky situations in development. Join us this month for hair-raising stories and cautionary tales of frightful fundraising! 

This October, the Donor By Design team is tackling spooky situations in development. Join us this month for hair-raising stories and cautionary tales of frightful fundraising!

If you have been in fund development long enough, you may have found yourself in this situation:

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.

I often tell clients that I wish I could make this work sound more complicated. After all, they’ve brought me in to talk to their team about a campaign that will be vital to the organization’s future. Surely I must have complicated graphs and algorithms to make it all work? When it comes right down to it though, fundraising tactics are really quite simple.