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You’ve finished your meal at a restaurant and you’re ready for the check. But your server is nowhere to be found.

You glance toward the kitchen and see them flipping burgers on the grill. A moment later they rush past carrying a stack of dishes. Then they stop at the door to seat a new table before disappearing again.

Meanwhile, you’re still sitting there with an empty glass and no check.

At some point, most of us would recognize the problem isn’t bad service. The problem is that one person is trying to run the entire restaurant.

Yet this is exactly how many nonprofits structure fundraising.

A development director recently asked us a simple but incredibly important question:

“What does it actually look like to build a relationship with a foundation?”

Not in theory. Not in a textbook. But in real life.

Do you call them? Email them? Invite them for a tour? Wait until the application opens?

It’s a fair question, and one we hear often. For many organizations, foundation funding can feel transactional at best and mysterious at worst. You submit a proposal, hope it aligns, and wait for a decision.

Nonprofit boards often find themselves stuck in a rut, performing the same old tasks with the same agenda month after month, with little impact. This "old work," as described by board expert Richard Chait in his 1996 article "The New Board Work of the Nonprofit Board," remains highly relevant today. I had the opportunity to rediscover this valuable resource in my files, and it reaffirmed that boards have the potential to move their work toward a more impactful and relevant approach.

What are things you might stop doing that could improve the quality of your day-to-day life? Harvard professor and researcher Arthur Brooks calls this a “to don’t” list: things that you find yourself doing out of habit or obligation even though they lower happiness and productivity.

As you consider your own list, I encourage you to try the following:

As our firm has grown over the years, I’ve had the privilege of spending time with our new consultants, sharing our company history, axioms, and explaining how we “show up” for our clients.

Recently, the leader of a large $200M+ nonprofit asked me what I look for when hiring consultants. What advice would I give when hiring fundraising professionals? How does DBD Group differentiate itself from other firms in the same space?

I think he was surprised when I didn’t talk about years of experience, education or successful previous campaigns. Without pausing to contemplate the question I answered that I look for the gifts of presence and curiosity. These two gifts are a powerful pairing.

This month, we're thinking about thanks... especially for those who support nonprofits in their important work. It's time to think outside the box about stewardship. 

How ironic is it that a year of forced isolation has actually provided us the ability to connect with each other in a deep, meaningful and global scale? 

“How are you doing?” has shifted from a casual greeting to a meaningful invitation to connect through a common, shared experience.

It’s happened to all of us over the last year while on a video conference: you want to express a thought, respond to a question or offer an opinion and you’re the only one who can hear you talking. You’re on mute! With technology, an easy fix is just a click or two away.

While the technology of today highlights our moments of silence, being on mute is certainly not a new phenomenon. 

Do you have a friend or a colleague who is GREAT at asking questions? You know, the person who always seems to just know more about the people and circumstances in their lives than others? They don't just draw you into conversation, they help you build a stronger connection through the interaction.

As a cyclist, I have never really looked forward to the winter months. I’m fine with riding in cold weather (it’s all about the layers), but the real challenge comes from the shorter hours of daylight. Night riding on the roads of New Jersey is unsafe and unnerving to say the least!