I fall a lot.  Not a lot a lot, but two, maybe three times a year, I take a tumble that ranges from small to spectacular.  As I've aged-and my bones have gotten more brittle-these falls have become a bit more of a worry.

   I fall mainly because I am notoriously oblivious to where I physically am in the world.  Also because I don't always lift up my feet but, rather, shuffle along.  I've tried to become more aware but I also know that it is only a matter of time before I forget to pay attention and my old habits will take charge.  And then I will fall once more.

   So while I do try to be more in the moment, I am a realist.  I will fall again.  I can live with that and a few scrapes and abrasions-it's broken bones, especially a hip or a knee, that concern me.  My best defense is knowing how to fall so I minimize injury; to keep any damage to my body at the superficial level.

   Nonprofits need to learn how to fall-metaphorically speaking-so when they have a misstep, they don't actually end up crashing and burning.  This is especially true for those organizations that live annual fund to annual fund, grant to grant, or event to event.  One bad appeal, one gala where the honoree doesn't have a strong contact list, one grant that doesn't come through and things begin to look dire.

   Too often these organizations deal with a negative balance sheet by cutting first already too small staff salaries, then they begin to slash programs.  When I worked at California community colleges, I would watch in fascination how they would blithely build programs in flush financial times just to cut them when the government cut their funding.  I would go to my president and the elected board of trustees and try to talk to them about planning for sustainable, non-governmental funding, but they were not willing to listen.  Even today, almost a decade later, the cycle continues and the response to hard times is still the same:  Let's stand around, wring our hands, and cut necessary and/or popular programs.

   Endowment is one way to smooth those rough roads-but endowment alone will not solve the problem. It takes a consistent and comprehensive fund development plan.  More, it takes working that plan.  Even more, it takes an organization that values fundraising, seeing it as part of the solution instead of an irritant that one should deal with but, really, we don't want to.

   When we can learn that fundraising is a gift we give to those who care about the work we do, we will see amazing changes in our organizations.  Until then, we will all continue to fall, and too many nonprofits will fail to live up to their potential.

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  Don't be one of those who fail!  Read on and learn ways to buffer your falls.  Jim Ballam (jim.b@nseoc.com), a very savvy internet marketing consultant, lets you in on the secrets of driving traffic to your organization.   SEO-search engine optimization-is nothing new, but most of us still don't understand how to use it to our advantage.  Jim will tell you how.

  Sumac  a company that offers low-cost, customizable nonprofit software, reminds you not to miss the middle-that is, the mid-range donorwho tend to get lost in the shuffle.

 And Tanisha Williams is offering a great deal on her newest book, Simple Internal Control.

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 Need help in increasing your fundraising capacity or getting your Board to participate?  

Help is here.  Email me or call 310-990-9151.

• Are your fundraising results down?
•  Board members bored?  
• Are you thinking about a campaign? 
• Or perhaps you need individual fundraising coaching!

Whatever your capacity building needs, Janet Levine Consulting can help.

  

 Send me an email or give me a call at 310-990-9151 to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. 

I look forward to meeting with you.

Sincerely,

 Janet