Executive Director Archives

Grateful for 18 gifts in 18 years of Nonprofit Consulting

December 10, 2024 by Sara Jane Lowry

When I began nonprofit coaching 18 years ago, I had no idea how transformative the journey would be—not only for the organizations I would work with but also for myself. Over nearly two decades of coaching leaders, working with boards, strategizing with passionate teams, and learning from the challenges of nonprofits, I’ve accumulated these nonprofit leadership insights that have shaped my approach and perspective. I am grateful for these 18 gifts.

Whether you’re a new nonprofit leader or an experienced one, I hope these insights help guide you in your work.

Mission Clarity is Everything

Without a clear and compelling mission, it’s nearly impossible to maintain momentum. A strong mission statement serves as the North Star for the entire organization, from your staff to your donors. It should be the heartbeat of your strategy, communications, and fundraising.

Relationships Matter More Than You Think

Nonprofits are built on relationships—whether with staff, volunteers, donors, or community partners. Strong, authentic connections create trust, which is essential for long-term success. Invest time in building meaningful relationships both internally and externally.

Leadership is About Service, Not Power

Nonprofit leadership is not about being at the top. It’s about serving your team, your clients, and your mission. As a coach, I’ve seen that the most successful leaders are those who empower others, delegate effectively, and listen more than they talk.

Fail Forward

In the nonprofit world, failure is inevitable. But it’s not the failure itself that matters—it’s how you respond to it. Embrace a growth mindset. Learn from missteps, adapt, and move forward stronger than before. In 18 years, I’ve learned that if you’re keeping people informed along the way about the challenges, they generally think it was worthwhile even if the results weren’t stellar.

People Aren’t “Human Resources,” They’re Human Beings

This may sound simple, but it’s something I’ve had to remind many organizations of over 18 years. Every person is an individual with their own values, motivations, and challenges. They have lives outside of serving the mission. Treating staff and volunteers as people, not resources, fosters loyalty, creativity, and passion.

Burnout is Real!

Nonprofit work can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be exhausting. Leaders must recognize the signs of burnout in themselves and their teams, and take proactive steps to prevent it. A healthy, balanced work culture doesn’t just benefit individuals—it benefits the organization. What example are you setting?

Resources Are Always Tight, But Creativity Can Fill the Gaps

While funding is often scarce in the nonprofit sector, the lack of resources doesn’t need to be a barrier to success. Creativity—whether in fundraising, problem-solving, or community engagement—can make all the difference. The best nonprofits know how to stretch limited resources and turn challenges into opportunities.

Data Can Be Your Best Friend

Nonprofits often make the mistake of running programs based on passion alone, without evaluating their effectiveness. Collecting and analyzing data helps you understand what works, what doesn’t, and where improvements can be made. Numbers provide clarity and help you make informed decisions. And funders require it. Just start measuring and evaluating.

Fundraising is About Relationships, Not Just Money

Many nonprofit leaders view fundraising solely as a financial transaction, but it’s actually about cultivating relationships. People give because they believe in your mission, and they give to people they trust. Over the 18 years, I remember all the donors I built a relationship with who care deeply about helping others and am grateful to have been part of their life’s purpose. Fundraising should be about connection, not just a call for a check. Pick up the phone. Take them to lunch. Write a personal note. Show you care about their goals.

You Can’t Do It All Yourself

No leader can do it all. Delegation isn’t just a strategy—it’s a necessity. Surround yourself with a team that complements your skills and shares your vision. The more you trust and empower your team, the more your organization will thrive. If you’re having trouble delegating, hire a coach to help you think it through, and what your organization’s org chart should look like.

Sustainability Is Key

Nonprofits often focus on short-term goals, but without long-term sustainability, their impact will be limited. Developing a sustainable model—whether through diversified funding streams, building an endowment, or focusing on programmatic efficiency—ensures that your organization can make an enduring impact. Talk about it with your board, your staff, and your donors. Consider partners.

The Power of Storytelling

People connect with stories, not statistics. Whether you’re making an appeal to a donor or inspiring your team, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Tell the stories of the people you serve, the impact you’re making, and the journey you’ve been on. Help your board and staff to know the stories so they can be better ambassadors.

The Best Ideas Can Come from Anywhere

One of the most exciting things about nonprofits is the diversity of thought and experience within them. Whether you’re a CEO or a volunteer, every person has a valuable perspective. Nonprofit leadership insights includes the lesson I’ve learned that the best ideas often come from the most unexpected places.

Your Organizational Culture Matters

An organization’s culture is its backbone. It shapes how staff, volunteers, and stakeholders interact and influence how productive and healthy your work environment will be. Building a culture based on trust, transparency, and respect leads to a more engaged team and better outcomes.

Adaptability is Critical

The nonprofit sector is constantly evolving—whether through shifts in funding, changes in government policies, or new social challenges. Organizations that thrive are the ones that remain adaptable. Being able to pivot, whether it’s in response to an external change or internal need, is essential for survival and growth. Resilience is a power word.

Celebrate Small Wins

Nonprofits often work on big, long-term goals, but it’s important to celebrate the small wins along the way. Acknowledging progress—whether it’s reaching a fundraising goal, improving a program, or simply keeping a team motivated—keeps morale high and reminds everyone that their hard work is paying off. This is one of the most ignored insights I can give you.

It’s Okay to Ask for Help

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a nonprofit coach is that it’s okay to ask for help. Many leaders feel the weight of the world on their shoulders, but no one should go it alone. Whether it’s seeking out a coach, asking for mentoring, or getting professional advice, reaching out to others can be a game-changer.

The Work You Do Matters

Lastly, after 18 years, this is the most important lesson I’ve learned: the work you do in the nonprofit sector truly matters. Every hour, every conversation, every piece of advice, and every donation helps create positive change in the world. Never underestimate the impact you’re making.
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Looking back on these 18 years, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve nonprofit leaders and organizations. The lessons have been hard-won, and I continue to learn from every experience. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a seasoned leader, I hope these nonprofit leadership insights will help you navigate the challenges and triumphs of nonprofit leadership. Here’s to the next 18 years of growth, impact, and transformation!

3rd party fundraiser: should you accept the offer?

August 27, 2017 by Sara Jane Lowry

two hands holding a dollar bill so back side is showing with caption how do you respond when someone wants to do a 3rd party fundraiser for your organization in order to promote their business?

3rd party fundraiser events are common today. That doesn’t mean you should accept one. So should you accept an offer of a business to do a fundraiser for your organization?

The answer is: it depends.

On the surface, it seems like a wonderful idea doesn’t it? Wow, someone wants to raise money for you?

But it’s not that simple.

First, it’s your reputation, so choose the company wisely – do your own research and vetting. What if the business isn’t aligned with your mission? And, what’s the likelihood of the event being successful?

Second, what do they want from you? It might truly be something where they do all the work with no involvement from you, and they just send the check for the proceeds. But in many cases, they only want to give you a percentage of the proceeds (as low as 10%).

Red flag the offer if these are part of the 3rd party fundraiser request

They want to:

use your social media to broadcast the event to your followers (or even worse, want you to use your staff’s time to promote the event, create and send emails, postings, and fliers.)
use your staff and volunteers on the day of the event to manage activities.
send thank yous and receipts to everyone who participates financially. (if you’re a small staff, this is particularly challenging).
use your liability insurance for the event.
get you to invite all of your supporters to the event – if you’ve been busy cultivating your donors and their engagement, imagine what a confusing message this sends!

Will they sign a 3rd party fundraising agreement?

This is a board-approved document that outlines:

the permissions to use organizational materials, logo, or any indication of affiliation only for this event including a point about not altering the logo for their purposes, or not.
your discretion as to whether you are able and or willing to post the 3rd party fundraiser on official organization social channels and website.
how charitable receipts will be handled. For example, cash must be accompanied with the identifying donor’s information, address, etc. And, that donations must be given to the organization within 30 days of the end of the event. Or, that you will not provide receipts, and the dollars raised cannot be considered a charitable donation for individuals but only to the business.
most importantly, that your organization will not be held liable for any issues, injuries, damages to persons or property, or any other incidents that arise during your 3rd party fundraiser event.
get it signed in advance of the event. And make sure your board approves the event.

Third party fundraiser events can be a wonderful thing if the business really has the charity’s best interests in mind. But the charity must weigh the “cost” in time, staff, and donor engagement/confusion before acceptance. If it seems too good to be true, it just might be.

Hiring a development director won’t relieve you of fundraising

July 20, 2017 by Sara Jane Lowry

Before hiring a development director on top of a grove of trees in sunlight

Recently I was talking with a board member of a nonprofit who was considering hiring a development director. This board member has been on several nonprofit boards, and worked on some capital campaigns as well. So, imagine my surprise when he said:

“Our executive director is wonderful but doesn’t have a background in fundraising. Or much time to focus on it. Most of the board don’t have friends with money. Most of them are uncomfortable with fundraising. So, we need to hire a first-rate fundraiser. But we don’t have a lot of money to hire one.”

Sure, there is plenty of evidence that small nonprofits have a hard time finding and keeping skilled development directors. Why? They say it’s because they don’t have the money to pay competitive salaries.

But is the issue salary?

No, the issue is that they need:

a fundraising plan
to hire a development coordinator first that can ASSIST the executive and board with the activities that support fundraising.
a fundraising consultant to help them think through the strategy they need through a two-year plan tied to the strategic plan.
a budget for some software tools, and creation of donor materials.

Unfortunately, the Executive Director and Board often don’t see it as bringing on expertise to help them get better at their role in fundraising: they see hiring a development director as a way to avoid or minimize their involvement even further.

Many Executive Directors are program experts and either loathe fundraising or simply avoid it other than grants. That’s an attitude problem that is indefensible. If you are passionate about your mission, you’re eager to talk with donors and funders about how you’re achieving it.

In our conversation, I learned that this same executive director is willing to write grants, but sees the Board as the one who should be doing individual fundraising. Based on what? Is there a plan? A donor list and giving history? Donor communication pieces? A case for support?

My advice to this board member was this:

Put together a job description for the development coordinator (or associate). Hint: You need realistic performance expectations on the part of the executive director and board as what can reasonably happen if it’s a one-person development office.
Hire a fundraising consultant to help create a plan.
Get a commitment from the executive director to grow skills in this vital area.
Give the development consultant permission to have input on budgets and fundraising goals. The consultant will be more reasonable on what is possible to raise over time and based on the organization’s strategic plan.
Invest in software systems and infrastructure to support fundraising. And you might need time to get all that giving history changed over from a spreadsheet or a database.

silhouette of heads and gears working together as a team Most importantly, you need an understanding among all staff (and that includes program people) that fundraising and relationship building are part of everyone’s job! It’s not the responsibility of one person. Fundraising is important programmatic work.

Newsflash: hiring a development director still won’t relieve you of fundraising

Even at small organizations with budgets around $600,000, hiring a development director won’t relieve the board and ED of fundraising. If you already have a development coordinator, a good development director will be able to create more opportunities for board engagement in fundraising, rather than lessening the board’s involvement. What I see is that too many executive directors and boards have unrealistic expectations about what a development director could accomplish without a team and the right tools in place.

If the following things are in place, a development director can be successful:

· compelling mission and a strong strategic plan

· the leadership, vision, and skill of the executive director;

· an engaged, committed, and high-functioning board

· development tools that are effective and efficient to use

· support staff that can manage the details (fundraising is all about the details)

· a strong working partnership between the board and the executive director.

Be smart. Start small and grow. Prepare for bringing on a development director. And when you do, know that the fundraising work you do will really begin to pay dividends that lead to greater impact.

Do you want to raise more money? You need a fundraising plan. [Part 1]

July 14, 2017 by Sara Jane Lowry

white dandelions in field: want to raise more money? Fundraising plan.

A fundraising plan takes your income from wishing to reality. Is this you?

You do the same things you did before and expect different results
Your fundraising is “from afar” without meetings with donors and funders
You’ve been getting by (for years) with only government or foundation funding
A a few major donors are keeping you afloat
You are one or two funding rejections away from disaster
You can’t grow or meet more needs

If this sounds like you, you have lost your way in building a robust and diversified fundraising program. One that’s more than a wish and will sustain you in tough times. One that will help you grow to achieve more mission.

Now is the time to create a fundraising plan. And, you can start today.

A fundraising plan includes not just institutional support. That means it considers the full spectrum of resources available. According to the Reliability-Autonomy Matrix, there are three levels of income reliability:

High reliability: United Way support, rental income, advertising, small-medium sized individual contributions (especially sustaining donors), endowments, memberships.

Medium reliability: Ongoing government contracts, third-party reimbursements, major individual contributions, fees for services, corporate charitable contributions.

Low reliability: Government project grants, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships

I work with many nonprofits that don’t have a plan. The bulk of their funding comes from the Low Reliability level. Small nonprofits scale up using foundation grants and neglect to build other revenue streams.

So, where are you today, and where do you need/want to be?

You and your board should be asking these questions:

What percentage of your ongoing costs are covered by reliable funding sources (as referenced above)?
How many decision makers are in control of revenue sources? In other words, having a greater number of consistent funders increases the likelihood that revenue will continue even if one funder chooses to exit.
What restrictions have donors have placed on their funding? When donors restrict funding to certain programs, organizations are not free to allocate money where they need it most.
How many types of funding do you have?
Do you have a cash reserve (3 months minimum)? How liquid is it or is it reserved for program?

Why is this important?

Piktochart showing 12 elements of nonprofit management with Resource Development (Fundraising) highlighted — Click on image to see it larger

Because when you have a wider base of support, you can absorb funding losses more easily. And when you build a cash reserve, you can weather funding delays.

But how do you get there?

Commit. Commit (money + time) to earn a financial return. In other words, invest in your future.

All nonprofits are in two “businesses”—one related to their program activities and the other related to raising charitable “subsidies” or philanthropy.

You can do this! You already know how to create logic models. And, you already invest in strategic planning and program pilots. So, create your funding model. Invest time and money on your “business side.” That means funding diversification, marketing, and communication.

Also, there’s no one-size-fits-all fundraising plan. Each nonprofit has unique opportunities. But most benefit from development strategies that fit in the three levels of funding reliability listed above. Therefore, grants require a strategy plan. Fee-for-service/earned revenue requires a strategy plan. And individual donors/major gift giving requires a strategy plan.

Fundraising planning includes building systems to address:

Communication – how and how often will you communicate with donors. Do you nvite them to join your cause or celebrate what they’ve made possible with support? What I often see is that it’s not seen as a priority so it’s inconsistent and not intentional. And it focuses on what you did, not what the donor did.
Staffing – is your executive director is the only one focused on fundraising? If so, your focus is most likely on low level funding reliability areas like foundations and corporate sponsorships. Why? Because you are not prioritizing revenue generation. No business can operate this way. Or you have no staff and the board is acting as staff and are not trained in fundraising and their focus is on events.
Record keeping – how will you discover who your best donors are if you keep your donor records in spreadsheets? And if you have a donor system, recordkeeping is spotty so you don’t have the full picture. Do you know how to leverage the information in your database for planning? Or, have you cleaned the database of lapsed donors, or looked at characteristics of your primary donors that help you understand your “donor avatar” to acquire new donors to replace those who have dropped off? Do you have a list of your top 20 donors on your desk?

If this sounds like you, please know you are not alone. And you can change it with an investment of time and money. [Click here to read Part 2 on how to get more focused in donor-based fundraising.]

Fresh start: It’s time to awaken to our potential to live authentically

May 8, 2017 by Sara Jane Lowry

circular stairs highest potential We need a fresh start and conscious awakening. If you’re like me, your lives are flooded with information from every direction. And we have become very good at selecting the information we choose to let in, to affect us, to learn from, to judge others and ourselves by, and to believe. We filter that information by choice on how it fits our beliefs, our experiences, our worldview, and our desires. Inevitably, we reject the information that doesn’t seem to directly fit. Thus, if we find ourselves reacting to the content of information and it makes us feel uncomfortable, or afraid, or helpless, we reject it, or get angry, or pretend we didn’t see it.

Dead or alive?

As we are all connected on a deeper human level, we can’t pretend we didn’t consume it. Unfortunately, that information remains inside of us and shows up as an unconscious worry, doubt, anxiety and depression. Or, we experience feelings that bubble up related to that information, but don’t know why. Most of all, we just want to stop feeling that way. We feel brittle, ghost-like. So, we try to ignore the feelings: we eat, drink, anaesthetize ourselves with medication, with shopping or trips, with mindless entertainment. Or it shows up as anger, lack of compassion, lack of focus. In ways that matter, we begin to deaden ourselves. It’s as if we will ourselves into stressful, reactionary, unhappy and frantic lives. As Sigmund Freud said, “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” And as we suffer, so do our families, our colleagues, and our communities. When that happens, we become less than our true selves. We no longer are living our highest potential.

It’s time for a fresh start – to awaken

When you go through a conscious awakening, you undergo a period of intense change and revelation in your fresh start awakening life.

If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing. – Gail Sheehy

Conscious awakening doesn’t mean that you shut out the information, the news, the situations we face. So, it requires that we take a step back for a moment and find a breath of distance. A breath of distance is when we stop and breathe and focus fully on what we are seeing, hearing, reading. Perhaps, we listen fully to the person who is speaking. Since the breath allows us to find clarity, we can make a choice on how we want to respond. When we choose a breath of distance, we move past the urge to complain – complaining is a negative release of energy that disempowers us. Or it releases stress, anxiety, and anger.

Consciousness leads t0 intuitively and creatively taking action

Christof Koch, Chief Scientific Officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, tells us: “Consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe. Wherever there is integrated information, there is experience.” The more we move to being conscious, the more we understand ourselves and the world. A conscious awakening begins with a quiet moment as we go inside to question our beliefs and reactions. Here you find answers to your suffering and can make peace within moments of silence. Most importantly, this is where you will recognize your spirit, your purpose, and your ability to choose. What reflects your highest potential? As we begin to figure out whether we can change something and how, we can take conscious action. Or, sometimes we choose to surrender to the situation within ourselves. A fresh start might mean walking away in order to go within, or working with a coach on mindfulness.

All humans connect through consciousness. So, how we think, act, react, and believe ripples out from us into the world and affects others. Consequently, we have a responsibility to one another to respond to the world from a place of consciousness.

Today is a new day. Fresh start, begins now. awaken fresh start