Categories
generosity

How to Ensure Your Kids Catch Heartfelt Generosity

Right now, our attention is on the small acts that reduce our chances of catching any kind of crud going around. It could be a cold, flu, or today’s new bug, the coronavirus. But I have a surprise, some things are worth catching. And when it’s right and it goes

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nonprofit change

When Nonprofits Need to Make Changes, So Can You

The conversation went something like this: “I’m sure you’ve heard they have a new Executive Director. What do you think is happening over there? Do you think they will survive?” The answer is yes, they will survive. In fact, my guess is they’ll still be going strong and delivering services,

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donor risk

Take a Risk to Be Part of Something Great

How do nonprofit organizations you support get better at what they are doing? How do they learn their way into new, better, or improved services? The big question is how do you help them change the world? Can you expand your services? A state agency asked the local nonprofit executive

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role models

How You Can Be Their Best Role Model

The question is, who is watching and listening to you? No, I don’t mean in the way that Alexa or Google Assistant is tracking your words and making suggestions. I don’t mean how a drone tracks you down and finds your address to deliver the Amazon package to your front

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philanthropy role models

How Your Role Models Make You a Greater Philanthropist

The email was short and said, “If you don’t have this, I wanted to send it to you.”  Thirty-plus years of memories raced through my mind when I saw the attached picture. It’s a collection of memories that have not faded with time and are relevant to the work I

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How to Prepare for Life’s Untimely Events

While sitting at a stoplight, I answered a phone call expecting one voice but hearing another. The voice I expected was the founder of a family foundation that I had worked with for several years.  We had been preparing for a meeting two weeks away. The voice I heard delivered

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Bridge Building

How to Forge Stronger Relationships with Your Favorite Nonprofits

The world of private philanthropy is often an enigma in the eyes of nonprofit leaders. We create confusion and frustration for nonprofit organizations. We are a puzzle. We speak in riddles and leave breadcrumb trails of paradox. Nonprofit staff spends countless hours in workshops and conferences seeking a better understanding

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40 years of learning

Philanthropy Made Easy… After 40 Years of Lessons Learned!

It started this way, “The questions that loom large as you navigate a college education are: What’s next? What career, what advanced degrees, where to start?” That was the opening paragraph of a very short piece I contributed to my alma mater for A Patriot’s Guide to Success. It was

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joy of giving

How Family Giving Adds Joy to the Holidays

Will the next generation give as much as their grandparents and parents? And which generation is “the next generation”? Well, of course, the answer is relative. Every generation wonders about the one that follows.  Baby Boomers have been wondering about Generation X, and they are now both wondering about the

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