by Jeff Smith | Dec 1, 2025 | System Improvement
Most nonprofits think carefully about how to ask for donations. The appeal letter gets reviewed by multiple people, the donation page gets tested, and the Giving Tuesday email gets workshopped until every word feels right. But here’s the question almost no one...
by Jeff Smith | Oct 17, 2025 | LEGO® Serious Play®
“Wait, You Want Me to Bring LEGO Bricks to a Board Meeting?” What would you think if I told you that I facilitate strategic planning sessions with LEGO bricks? “Isn’t that for kids?” Or maybe, “Are we really going to...
by Jeff Smith | Oct 13, 2025 | Nonprofits and AI
Of 100 first-time donors, only 20 will give again the following year. That’s according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, and it’s a stat that should make every nonprofit leader wince. But is that a retention problem? Or a relationship problem?...
by Jeff Smith | Oct 10, 2025 | Nonprofits and AI
A development director spends her Tuesday afternoon stuffing envelopes. She has a stack of 200 appeal letters that need to go out by end of week, and the board decided that outsourcing to a print shop wasn’t in the budget. So there she is, folding, stuffing,...
by Jeff Smith | Oct 6, 2025 | Nonprofits and AI
You’ve spent six hours on a grant report. You’ve carefully described your program activities, documented your outcomes, explained any budget variances, and crafted language that makes everything sound like it went according to plan (even the parts that...
