If you haven’t heard the phrase “the Internet of Things,” you’re not alone: according to a study by Accenture, most Americans (87%) are unfamiliar with it. But most of us use IoT-enabled devices every day. It’s an increasingly hot topic, and its implications already have major impact on all of our lives, even in nonprofits, even in fundraising and research. [Read more…]
If money were no object
On vacation this summer a friend asked me this 
question: What would you do if money were no object?
Take a second and think about that for yourself.
What was your first instinct? To travel the world? Buy several new somethings? Become a philanthropist? Solve a world problem?
What if we could change up the question, and apply it to our profession?
What tool or app or resource would you map out or build for a better future for our industry if money were no object? Big or small, incremental or game-changing; how would this investment take our profession to the next level? [Read more…]
Creating calm within the storm
This week I’m delighted to feature HBG Senior Researcher Jennifer Turner as guest blogger. I’ve always admired Jen’s ability to be organized and calm in the midst of a flurry of activity. Here she shares some of the secrets she’s discovered…
Ping! Another email. Pong! An instant message from a coworker asking for advice on evaluating hedge fund compensation. Bzzz. The sound of a new text message. Your 2:00 meeting is running behind and you’ll be late for your 3:30 meeting. [Read more…]
Shaping Change
At the APRA Prospect Development Conference in New Orleans last month, the three TEDx-style APRA Talks concentrated on change. Two things struck me as common themes:
No matter how much you plan for it, change happens as a slow drip and a sideswipe – sometimes simultaneously.
No matter how much you plan, the future reality is always going to be different from your plan.
As a consultant, I work with clients every day who are dealing with change. Some of the change is welcome, like when we’re hired to do a training. Or when we provide an extra pair of hands to help with a big screening project, or to just be there for the duration of a campaign.
Sometimes, though, it becomes evident that the change I’m bringing was imposed on the people I’ve been called in to work with. Maybe that’s happened to you? You were stuck working with a consultant or vendor you hadn’t asked for. [Read more…]
Prospect Research Training Event of the Year!
If you’re a fundraiser with a brand-new prospect research position to fill, where do you go to find the best candidates? Perhaps you are someone who was recently hired as a researcher, prospect manager, or who will be doing fundraising analytics or overseeing research – where are your peeps? [Read more…]
Five critical actions to make your fundraising database work better for you
HBG Researcher Heather Hoke shares some great words of advice on making the most of our organizations’ most valuable assets in this week’s feature article.
“Don’t gather data first and think about how to use it later!”
I was talking on the phone in April with Tommy Tavenner, Data Strategy Lead at the National Wildlife Federation, to get his perspective on data integrity when he said that. After I hung up the phone and for a few days later, his words kept resonating in my mind. [Read more…]
Are you ready for analytics?
If you’re a regular reader, you know that each month we feature special guests writing about their favorite topics. This month we welcome HBG Senior Researcher and member of the HBG Analytics team, Tara McMullen to share her thoughts about one of her favorite subjects!
Sometimes it’s hard to get started with a new program or type of technology because we don’t know what its power is. We don’t know what it can DO, so we stick with the old familiar way of doing things. But these days, doing things the same old way can leave your progress lagging and your program looking a little old-fashioned.
Sometimes the basic principles are good, they just need a little updating.
Maybe you are thinking about undertaking a campaign and aren’t sure if you have the critical mass or the right prospects to meet your goal.
Or maybe you are looking to create a prospect management system, and want a way to sort prospects into various stages in the pipeline.
Or maybe you are trying to find new potential volunteers for your board. [Read more…]
Using Analytics to Pull Away From the Pack
How are top-performing organizations pulling away from their peers? In many cases, it’s through an understanding and clever usage of analytics. This week we welcome HBG Senior Researcher and analytics student and practitioner, Heather Willis, to The Intelligent Edge. Heather shares some of the latest studies with tips on the most important things organizations should do to take advantage of the data available to them.
So: are you a Pacesetter or a Dabbler? What do I mean by that? As you probably already know, we are in the midst of significant change in how we deal with and use the massive amount of data that is being created and collected each day. [Read more…]
Five tips: spring cleaning and rev-ups for your browser
Last week I got a brand-new computer. I had put it off for several months a couple of years because it would mean that I needed to clean out my old one and decide what to keep and what to trash. [Read more…]
Coming Out (Again)
As you may recall, March is Prospect Research Pride Month.
It’s also Development Services Pride, Operations Pride, Relationship Management Pride, and Analytics Pride Month. It’s a time to celebrate each of us who work behind the scenes every day as part of Team Overhead to ensure our nonprofits’ fundraising successes.
Why?
Because there are still misguided folks out there who actually believe that the business of creating a better world can be done with donated chewing gum, dental floss and duct tape. MacGyver may have used that amalgam to fashion an escape from a sticky situation, but you never saw him pulling a million refugees over a border with them. [Read more…]