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Helping Organizations Thrive 
April 2015 Edition
Welcome to my April 2015 email newsletter. 

The mission of Jonathan Poisner Strategic Consulting is to make the world a better place by helping mission-driven organizations thrive.  I do that by assisting my clients with strategic planning, campaign planning, coalition building, fundraising, communications, and other organizational development challenges.

To keep people informed about my work, I set up this monthly (mostly) e-newsletter.  If you want to unsubscribe, just look for the link at the bottom.   My most recent edition can be read in my archive.

For a complete lists of the consulting services I offer, check out my website.
What Works

Most editions of this newsletter contain a section I call "What Works."  Some of my What Works articles are book reviews.  You can review all of my past reviews on my website. 

In this edition, I review the book To Sell is Human, by Daniel Pink.

I'm a big fan of Daniel Pink. I've repeatedly promoted on my blog a white board video he produced on how to motivate people.

 

As a result, I was excited to learn he was the author of To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth about Moving Others, a book recommended to me by someone who attended one of my fundraising trainings. The "trainee," who was trying to transition out of a high tech sales job into the nonprofit world, told me that Pink's book on sales matched up nicely with what I was saying. She said Pink's book would be a great read for aspiring fundraisers.

 

I read the book to see if I should be recommending it.

 

Pink would definitely agree that fundraising is a type of sales. He defines sales as including "non-sales selling," which includes anyone "persuading or influencing others to give up something in exchange for what you've got." The book repeatedly cites studies on fundraising to support tactics he believes make for more effective sales.

 

Overall, I'm glad I read it. There were numerous "that's interesting" moments and a couple takeaways that will stick with me. But at the same time, I was underwhelmed.

 

The first part of the book makes the case that we're all in sales, with an interesting history about how changes in society have led more and more jobs to embody aspects of sales - defined as broadly as possible. He calls this "the rise of non-sales selling."

 

Read the rest of the review.

Download the review as a PDF.
 
Recent Success Stories and New Clients

I continue to work with two Eugene-based clients on strategic plans.  With both the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council  and Better Eugene-Springfield Transit (BEST), we are at the stage of writing the plans, with plan adoption slated for soon.  

I am in the Research Phase of working with the Vancouver Waterrsheds Alliance to develop a strategic plan. 

I continue to work alongside Mary Fifield of Kaleidescope Consulting in delivering a combinaton of development and communcations services to the YWCA of Greater Portland.  We are currently in the final phase of polishing up our plans.  

I recently wrapped up a three month project working with the Earth Law Center  to plan for major donor fundraising and refine their marketing positioning.

I am in the process of launching a project with the Xerces Society to address issues related to board governance and effectiveness. 

On May 6th at noon, I'll be leading a one-hour workshop entitled Effective Board Recruitment at the Hatch in Portland.

Check out my website for a complete list of all my clients.
Recent Blog Entries

Note: I am actively looking for Guest Blog submissions.  If you have some thoughts to share on any aspect of organizational development, shoot me an email and we can discuss length, timing, etc.

Science Fiction and my Call to Service

The Power of Asking Good Questions

The BIggest Barrier to Effective Major Donor Fundraising

Guest Blog: How to Become a Thought Leader

Guest Blog:  How to Refresh your Brand

No Magic Words, but Themes Matter

A Goal is not an Activity

To Follow your Dreams, Learn to Say No

The Science behind Storytelling

Why you Lead Matters

A Blog about a Frog on a Log - Updated

Looking for one of my past blog entries on a particular topic?   I have now categorized my past blog entries.  Just go to my website and hover over the "blog" link on the navigation bar and you can see the topics and choose from among them. 
Contact Information
Jonathan Poisner Strategic Consulting
jonathan@poisner.com
phone: 503-490-1234
http://www.poisner.com


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