If I had all the money lost by nonprofit organizations because of the costs of poor segmentation, I’d be very wealthy. I would have started a foundation long ago and would be spending my time giving money to worthwhile causes rather than helping to raise money for them. Because my intent here is to dash off […]

  For many years I’ve been asked, generally by younger staff at client organizations or by people attending my seminars who are contemplating a career in the field of development, “What’s the most valuable degree I could get?” It’s a great question, and one that used to trigger a range of provisional answers. Because the field […]

  In seminars I teach at conferences, I’ll frequently ask participants, “What is the primary purpose of development?” Answers always vary, but they tend to cluster in several areas like raising funds, building relationships, advancing the organization’s mission, and teaching stewardship. There’s truth in all of these, although I’m very doubtful about notions of teaching […]

Okay. It’s time for a personal confession. I loathe waste. Inefficiency bothers me. And not being strategic just drives me up the wall. It’s conceivably little more than some deeply ingrained idiosyncrasies, but I suspect the contributing factors may be a tad more complex. But whatever the ultimate constellation of causal variables, as a strategic thinker it […]