Blog Posts

From Marlon Brando to an airline stewardess (1966) Dear Lady — There is something not quite definable in your face—something lovely, not pretty in a conventionally thought of way. You have something graceful and tender and feminine. You seem to be a woman who has been...

Knowing that I couldn’t lead a fundraising campaign without a guiding light, I did the only thing I knew to do—make it up. Being an effective leader means you have to improvise with what you have, and I needed to create a plan with the information that was available....

In the fall of 2002, Tim and I moved back to our hometown in West Virginia. As we were unpacking, Tim removed a long tube from a box and unrolled many of our favorite posters. One poster was of a beautiful castle, which neither of us remembered buying. We weren’t sure...

So, how are you doing with your 2020 New Year’s resolutions? If you are like me, a mere week into it, I’m gasping for air. What possessed me to set those virtually unattainable goals? Did I think the big red “S” for Superwoman emblazoned on my chest was going to give...

People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. Brian Tracy In my handwriting on the top of the piece of paper it says, “mid 1990’s.” Underneath were written the words, “Dream Book.” It was...

As a kid I played Kick the Can until the light of day had disappeared and the streetlights had been burning far longer than my mother would have liked for me to be outside. When it was finally too dark to see, the person who was “it” would yell, “Ollie, Ollie in come...

Feeling gratitude had not been on Dave Tally’s mind for the previous six years as he had been homeless and living on the streets of Tempe, Arizona. He readily admits that losing his career as a landscaper was because of his own poor life choices of drinking and drugs....

This was in the local Vail, Colorado newspaper today about the recent bear sightings. You may ask what relationship it has to fundraising? Well, the number of people who read this post on my social media today sky rocketed. To get people's attention to donate to your...

Are you thinking about how to prepare for end of the year fundraising? Maybe you can start with preparing yourself, like I did. Tim and I created a Gratitude Jar. Every week for one year we wrote on a piece of paper something that made us feel grateful. Sometimes...

Yes, you probably guessed it from the photo. It is autumn and that means end-of-year fundraising is knocking at our door. What are you doing to prepare? Here's an idea that may help get you jump started. In your appeal letter you will be telling stories about how your...