Never Waste a Good Pause

Posted on by The Alford Group

By Mary Hackett, Associate Vice President and JoAnn Yoshimoto, CFRE, Associate Senior Consultant

It was Machiavelli who first advised “never waste a good crisis.” By that he meant one could look at the opportunities afforded by a crisis to change, to innovate and to improve.

To paraphrase Machiavelli, we advise “never waste a good pause.” Whether it’s a lull in activity or a forced rethinking of business-as-usual, most nonprofits are experiencing a “pandemic pause.” At minimum, everyone should take a moment to consider how to effectively navigate in the new normal. For those who are experiencing a pause, the silver lining is that we can utilize this time to strategically prepare for the future.

We can explore ways to embrace the pandemic pause to PAUSE:

P – Position

A – Analyze

U – Unify

S – Steward

E – Evaluate

Continue reading “Never Waste a Good Pause”

Follow the Yellow Brick Road: The Wizard of Oz as a Strategic Planning Tool

Posted on by The Alford Group

By Michelle Hunter, Associate Consultant

Looking for a way to make your organization’s strategic planning exciting and more relatable? Having a difficult time explaining strategic planning terminology?

Fasten your seatbelt, Toto. We’re not in Kansas anymore.

At first glance, The Wizard of Oz—the widely beloved children’s book by Frank L. Baum, the 1939 film starring Judy Garland, and countless other adaptations for stage and screen—may seem to have little to do with strategic planning: the process through which organizations define their long-term vision and identify strategies and action steps to achieve that vision.

Although the two may seem to be unlikely companions, there is actually a lot we can glean from The Wizard of Oz about strategic planning.

Continue reading “Follow the Yellow Brick Road: The Wizard of Oz as a Strategic Planning Tool”

3 Steps to Light Up Your Donor Engagement Strategy Through COVID-19 and Beyond

Posted on by The Alford Group

By Jennifer Shin, MBA, CFRE, Consultant – LinkedIn

With the cancellation of traditional fundraising events and the elimination of in-person meetings due to COVID-19, nonprofits across the sector are elevating their donor engagement strategies and reaching their base of support in unparalleled ways during this critical time. In my conversations with clients, some are now challenged to think about how to build a more integrated approach to their current donor engagement strategies while using the systems they already have in place as they pivot to plan for the next fiscal year.

Continue reading “3 Steps to Light Up Your Donor Engagement Strategy Through COVID-19 and Beyond”

AFP Greater Arizona Chapter Presentation

Posted on by LuCinda Vacura

March 6, 2018

Not the Culture of Philanthropy you need? You can change it!

Presenter: Mary Kaufman-Cranney, CFRE, Vice President, The Alford Group

Workshop Description:

A culture of philanthropy is essential in any organization to most effectively raise funds but what does that mean and more challenging is, how do you intentionally create such a culture? Mary Kaufman-Cranney, CFRE, will share her journey in taking an organization through a process to create a common language and implement a curriculum to create a measurable difference. She will engage the audience to measure their own organization’s culture and discuss key components and the ideas to make them real so that everyone in your organization appreciates donors as partners who share our goals and participate in achieving them. Participants will leave with a tool to measure philanthropic culture and ideas on how to effect change.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understanding the why and what of the philanthropic culture
  • Measurable assessment of the philanthropic culture and how you can impact it.
  • Clear expectations of the roles of the board, CEO and CDO in a functioning philanthropic culture.

Take Aways:

  • Knowledge of the difference between fundraising as a function and a culture of philanthropy
  • A measurement tool to use in your organization
  • Practical tips on how to impact your organization’s culture

Meet & Greet: 7:30am – 8:00am
Luncheon/Presentations: 8:00am – 9:30am

Cost: AFP members $30 and non-members $45

Register here

We’re All in This Together: Creating a Culture of Philanthropy

Posted on by Laura Edman

As a fundraiser in the rush of day-to-day operations, deadlines, meetings and metrics, it’s easy to lose sight of the motivations and interests of your donors. Sometimes, fundraising can become more about reaching goals than relating to donors. And it can be a slippery slope – the results of which we’ve seen documented in UnderDeveloped: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising,  which outlined various problems arising in the nonprofit industry, including decreasing retention of fundraising employees and donors. There will be no cure-all for the industry as a whole, but there are steps individual fundraisers can take to see better results in fundraising. Those steps have nothing to do with “doing more” or “doing better”…they are related to an organization-wide shift toward a culture of philanthropy. Continue reading “We’re All in This Together: Creating a Culture of Philanthropy”