Feeling underpaid – you just might be!

Nonprofit folks have long claimed to be underpaid compared to their contemporaries in the for-profit and government sectors. Anecdotal evidence has seemed to support this claim, and some relatively loose salary survey data we’ve seen has been somewhat supportive of this claim but also largely inconclusive on the whole. And we’ve found that the reality [...]

Tough Decisions in Tough Times

Being a nonprofit leader by definition means you will have to make difficult decisions – and even more so in a down economy. We make decisions about who gets served and who doesn’t. Decisions about how much (or how little!) your staff will be paid next year. Decisions about which programs grow and which need [...]

What Can Make Collaboration Actually Strategic

I just can’t say enough about strategic collaboration in the nonprofit sector, and especially here in Central Texas.
I had the privilege of spending most of Wednesday with 21 nonprofit leaders training them on and discussing the concept of strategic collaboration (which is different, mind you, than regular-old collaboration). The discussion focused on multiple forms of [...]

Help Us Gather Important Nonprofit Economic Data

So, is your nonprofit in the majority or the minority? According to a new study by Guidestar recently published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 52% of nonprofits nationally experienced a drop in donations between March and May of this year. 36% have cut their budgets this year, and 8% report being in “imminent danger” of [...]

Does Austin Have Too Many Nonprofits?

So, does Austin really have too many nonprofits? I believe we do. But don’t pass judgment on my opinion just yet. Please read on for some explanation and a few qualifications.
A recent Greenlights study sought to get to the bottom of the debate regarding the number of nonprofits in Austin. The study was covered in [...]

Fundraising and Root Canals

How is fundraising sometimes like getting a root canal? Let us count the ways…
First, let’s just be honest here. Like dental procedures, no one really enjoys fundraising, do they? With all due respect to the few of you who may relish asking friends, family members, and near-perfect strangers for money, the rest of us normal [...]

Board Strategic Diversity

As Greenlights prepares for one of our most impactful and fun events of the year, our bi-annual Board Summit on April 29th, I had the chance to share some of Greenlights’ expertise with the nonprofits who will be featured that evening. Specifically, I focused on best practices in board member recruitment as one of the [...]

The Money is Out There

Despite the doom and gloom many of us continue to hear related to philanthropic giving dropping precipitously in this recession, I’m here to tell you that people are still giving. And they’ll likely give to your organization if you take the right approach.
Nationally, 75% of all dollars donated to organizations come from individuals – not [...]

5-Minute Mistakes That Can Cost 5 Hours

In times like these when resources (dollars, time, staff, free chair massages, etc.) are increasingly scarce, it’s easy to lose focus on the smaller details of managing a nonprofit organization (or your life for that matter). Consider this hard lesson I learned.
So I set out last weekend to re-stain my wood deck and the arbor [...]

Greenlights Wants to Know

Greenlights wants to know how your nonprofit organization is faring 5+ months now into this down economy. Not a day goes by for me without a question from a donor, another nonprofit leader, a friend (or even my overly concerned wife!) about how Austin-area nonprofits are faring through the recession. And while Greenlights (knock on [...]