What can you do with just one piece of paper?

I promise this isn’t a joke about nonprofit resource issues – this is an actual exercise I use in workshops I facilitate – so just stick with me.

Pull out a piece of paper and ask yourself:

“What is the highest and best use of this paper?”

For nearly two decades, I’ve worked as a senior leader in and a consultant and advisor to nonprofits across a range of cause areas, mission types, and organization sizes.

When it comes to established nonprofits - organizations that are well out of the startup phase, have 20+ staff members, and are managing upwards of $3 million to $5 million in annual revenue and expenses - here's one of the biggest mistakes that gets made during strategic planning.

What can nonprofit leaders learn from the recent termination of AmazonSmile?

“Free” ways of fundraising are never free.

As a leader, it may feel harmless - or even important - to have your staff spend time on programs like these.

But what’s the trade off? What else could they have been working on that would drive more value for your organization and your community?

It’s time we had a talk about the C word - Comparison.

Most of us learned how to compare objects or pictures as children. It’s an important skill that gives us context and helps us understand the world in new ways.

In work life, comparison is often contextualized as understanding our position with respect to our competition. It can provide us with important information about the likely success of our programs, products and services, but it should be just one of many factors taken into consideration.

In the nonprofit sector, too often, comparison becomes both unhelpful and unhealthy.

What are you leaving out this year?

The new year tends to bring with it big dreams, aspirational goals, and a desire to do, be, and add MORE.

But more isn't objectively better. Or more effective.

It's just more.

I was in middle school the first time I cheated on a hearing test.

I remember sitting in a chair on stage in the school theater and realizing I couldn't hear the tones in the headphones.

I panicked briefly, but then I realized I could still hear the clicking of the switches on the switchboard.

So whenever I heard a click but couldn't hear a tone, I faked it. I guessed which ear the tone was in based on the pattern the tester was using and raised that hand.

And here's the thing - it worked. For more than 20 years.

Until it didn’t anymore.

Here’s a secret that will change your life.

Ready for it? Here it goes:

Plan for 85%.

Not 95%. Not 100%.

85%.

Here’s why…

Do you ever feel like just when you're gaining momentum, something comes in and throws you off track?

For the past 24 hours, my website has looked like this. 😱

I realized the problem about 2 minutes before sending out a newsletter to my entire email list linking to lots of timely, helpful content on my site - which they definitely wouldn’t be able to read.

When something throws a wrench in our plans, it can be easy to fret, obsess, or spiral about it. That's a human response to a frustrating situation.

But, unfortunately, it also steals your time and energy - which could be well spent on other things!

This post offers 4 easy-to-implement tips - based on actions I’m taking right now - for maintaining momentum during challenging times.

In the social good sector, one of the hardest things to figure out is how to create change that works and lasts.

Kimberley MacKenzie, CFRE and I had a great conversation about improving change capacity and resiliency on this episode of her podcast - The Intersection.

We talk about the importance of understanding the human side of organizational change, developing clarity and the stamina to see a change through, and how leaders can set themselves and their teams up for success.