Clear-eyed analysis of why nonprofit fundraising succeeds, why it fails, and who’s responsible.
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The Belonging Economy
The nonprofit sector broadcasts belonging instead of building it. It lost a decade of donors that way, and now sells the same performance back to the fundraisers. Somewhere in the last ten years, “community” stopped being something you build and became something you broadcast. That broadcast is a business. There is now an industry built…
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The Hot Take Economy
The sector keeps rediscovering the same findings and calling it insight. Here’s how to tell the difference. This week, somewhere on LinkedIn, a consultant posted a hot take. It doesn’t matter which week. It is always this week. “Hot take: keeping the donors you already have matters more than chasing new ones.” Four hundred likes.…
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Magical Thinking
The high cost of expecting miracles – and who pays the bill The sector just hit a record $617 billion in charitable giving. Donor participation fell again. Both of those things are true, yet most nonprofit leaders are paying attention to only one of them. That’s not an accident. That’s a choice. The Setup I’ve…
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What’s in the Box?
The box has never been the problem The problem is the development director who hasn’t made a thank-you call in three weeks because she spent the afternoon in a meeting about a tool that costs more than her stewardship budget — a meeting she was in because her executive director wanted to know why they…
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I Made Six Predictions for 2025. Here’s My Score — and What’s Coming Next
At the start of 2025, I made six predictions about where the nonprofit sector was headed. Now, halfway through 2026, it’s time to hold myself accountable — and tell you what I see coming for the rest Original article here: https://foundryfundraising.com/2025/01/03/what-i-am-watching-2025/ Nobody in this sector likes to be wrong. And I REALLY don’t like it.…
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You Approved the License. You Didn’t Approve the Work
It is June. For most organizations operating on a calendar fiscal year, that means one thing: the gap has arrived. Not the gap between what was planned and what was possible. That one has always been there. The gap between what the board approved in January and what the organization actually needed to make it…
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Growth Is a Symptom. Durability Is the Strategy.
The nonprofit sector has been using a word for decades as a substitute for thinking. The word is sustainability Ask a board member what it means. Diverse revenue. Ask a funder. Reducing reliance on grants. Ask an executive director working her third straight weekend because payroll is three weeks away. She won’t have an answer…
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The Parking Lot Conversation
A quick note before we start: this is the third piece in a series. The first two — Well-Being Theatre and The Sector Has a Language Problem — It’s Just Not the One You Think. This one says the things people have been waiting to argue with. There is a conversation happening in this sector…