Greetings!
Two days before Sandy struck the east coast, I flew out to Pennsylvania to celebrate my sister's 70th birthday. A wiser person  than I might have cancelled, but I was sure that Sandy would not interfere with my plans. Monday and Tuesday were to be the bad days, and I was scheduled to fly back to LA on Wednesday-in time for my Thursday workshop at the Center for Nonprofit Management in Los Angeles. Needless to say, rich fantasy life notwithstanding, Sandy arrived with a vengeance and almost all of United's flights were cancelled on Wednesday-including mine. Making matters worse, my sister lost internet connectivity (and hot water-worse still). She could occasionally get calls on her series 3 AT&T iPhone, but my 4s consistently had no service. I was disconnected and out of reach. I envisioned the headlines: Southern California Nonprofits On Verge Of Collapse Investigations uncover that Janet Levine is out of state! Of course, nothing of the sort occurred. Even my clients managed quite nicely without my physical proximity, thank you very much. In short, the weight of the nonprofit sector does not rest on my shoulders. It's both a sobering and liberating thought. While I do believe that I bring value to my clients and students, I do know that without me they would either figure things out or find another consultant to help them get where they want to go. That's that sobering part. I'm just not that important. What we in the nonprofit section do, however, is. And it is on this that we must keep our focus. As many of you know, I write a blog that I call Too Busy To Fundraise because that is what I hear so often. We're too busy-and too important in all sorts of ways to worry about minor details like raising the funds that help move the mission forward. Oh, the mission. That little vision that gives us purpose and helps us to do amazing and important things day after day after day. We need to make sure that IT and not us are front and center. We also must ensure that what we are spending our time on are the important things (as opposed to the merely urgent which too often take up energy and time). And mostly we need to remember that the world will go on without us-our job is to help it be on the right track. **************
Need help in increasing your fundraising capacity or getting your Board to participate? Help is here. Email me or call 310-990-9151. | 
the chronic turnover of development staff. 
But fundraising is critical to the success of your mission. Lots depends on it. So it is something in which everyone--staff and Board--must actively engage.
