Category: Operating

Flashback to the start of my career in 1990: there is no internet, no email, no VOIP, no online giving to speak of.  Printing is done off of film. You have a home phone number. These are the ancient days before the invention of avocado toast, in an era when newspapers are still relevant.   … Continue reading When life gives you lemons, maximize them!

Quickbooks, financial reports, audits… Oh my! Managing the financials for organizations of any size can be a daunting task, and stepping into that role is no easy chore. You never know what you are walking into (seriously, we have seen individuals who were previously managing these responsibilities essentially making their own rules for bookkeeping). We … Continue reading The Price You Pay for Bad Financial Management

This week’s blog post comes from author of The Nature of Investing, founder of Honeybee Capital and friend of DSA, Katherine Collins. Katherine previously worked in various capacities at Fidelity Management and Research Center. She is an alumna of Wellesley and Harvard Divinity School. As above, so below. As within, so without. As the universe, so … Continue reading It's all about perspective

In the modern work day, where many of us spend hours in front of a computer screen, technologies have adapted to share content faster, facilitate conversations, and improve collaboration. Here we outline Slack, Google Docs, WebEx and Trello; tech worth thinking about. SLACK Slack is a revolutionary tool for collaboration. We implemented Slack just over … Continue reading Revitalize your office with new technology

Going hand in hand with our prior post about the importance of mobile-friendly websites, this week we focus on a simple way to maximize online fundraising dollars.  Many of our donors are unaware of the cost associated with raising funds online- namely online donation processing fees. Percentages charged vary from 2.4% of the donation through … Continue reading How to save on donation processing fees

Nearly everyone working in nonprofit has had the revelation; “Hey, let’s have volunteers do x, y, and z.” They can do our books. They can help us fundraise They can run our programs. They can do our social media. They can manage all the overflow we are too short on paid staff to accomplish. Volunteers … Continue reading Volunteers: Everything in its place

Since I started working in the nonprofit sector, the number of people killed by buses decreased by 90% (my stat).  I don’t know anyone who has been hit by a bus in the recent past, and most of my clients don’t use public transportation, anyway. On a serious note, since entering the scene in 1990, … Continue reading Watch out for that bus! Succession Planning for your Nonprofit

We in the nonprofit field are beholden to Boards of Directors. Our boards are responsible for voting on major decisions that impact all of us; they are a key piece to the success of an organization. So why is it so hard to find board members who understand this?         Good boards … Continue reading The Challenges Board Members Face