As 2016 comes to a close and I look to 2017, I took some time to reflect on this blog.
I love helping nonprofit leaders and fundraisers more effectively lead their organizations and raise massive amounts of money to fund their causes. That’s why I host this blog and share my insights on our sector.
In case you missed them, here’s a recap of my most popular posts from 2016:
10 bad decisions that nonprofits make: This post highlights 10 of the most frequent and most dangerous mistakes that nonprofits make. These mistakes cost nonprofits millions in lost revenue every year.
6 tips to successfully navigate the “messy middle” of change management: I wrote this article when I was in the midst of some significant change professionally and personally. If you’re going through big change, or headed into some significant change in 2017, I hope this can help you get through it with minimal pain.
What I learned about leadership by teaching my 5-year old to swim: I can’t believe that it’s been a year since I taught Elisabeth, my 5-year old to swim. If you’ve never taught a child to swim, you’re missing a huge personal growth opportunity! She learned to swim, but I think maybe I learned more about myself and my leadership in the process.
The success of middle and major donor direct response campaigns: In 2016 my team ran middle/major donor direct response fundraising campaigns for about a dozen of our partner organizations. Check out how you can raise six and seven figures simply by engaging these donors differently in your direct mail program.
5 leadership lessons I learned from boxing: I finally got back to boxing after nearly 20 years. It’s been an amazing year re-learning the science behind boxing, and becoming more disciplined and intentional about my health and exercise. Along the way I discovered that I could learn a lot about leading through boxing. I hope you can learn something from my experience too.
I’m going to spend the next few days traveling and planning for a successful 2017. For me that involves reflecting on what I accomplished in 2016, where I fell short, and what I learned in the process. It will also include setting new goals for 2017. If you want to learn more about that process, check out Michael Hyatt’s Beginner’s Guide to Goal Setting.