An empty road surrounded by trees with fog.

On a road to nowhere

Do you sometimes feel like you can never win—like no matter how hard you work, someone keeps moving the finish line? Growth-focused leaders often feel this way. As driven individuals, we tend to be overly critical about how things are going, or about the results that a certain project achieved. This is because aspirational people … Continued

Cross the Finish Line

Improve Donation Conversion with a Value Proposition Statement

Want to improve your donation conversions? Experience demonstrates that, for many organizations, adding some copy to your donation pages can improve your conversion rates. You see, unlike for-profit organizations, nonprofits have to battle friction throughout the donation process. The donor has to not only decide whether to give to your organization (rather than a different … Continued

RTNP EP 36 Keegan | College Skateboarders

Episode 36: Creating Experiences To Drive Donor Engagement With Keegan Guizard From College Skateboards

  How are you enriching your stakeholders’ experience? On this week’s episode of Relish This, we talk to Keegan Guizard. Keenan is on the Board of the College Skateboarding Educational Foundation, an organization that helps get skaters college scholarships. You’d be forgiven for thinking there was no real-world application for pushing your boundaries in competitive … Continued

A statue of a person with broken wing

Stakeholders Don’t Expect You To Be Perfect

We all strive for perfection. I think every one of us can remember spending hours in ideation, thinking of every “what if” scenario, focusing on the smallest and most trivial of things. But trying to achieve perfection isn’t in anyone’s best interest—not your stakeholders’, not yours. Real progress comes with consistent effort—perfect or not—that helps … Continued

RTNP 35 | Seaside Sustainability

Episode 35: Engaging Stakeholders By Addressing ALL Their Motivations With Eric Magers From Seaside Sustainability And STEM Honor Society

  My guest today is Eric Magers, the Executive Director of Seaside Sustainability and the Founder and CEO of the National STEM Honor Society. (I think it’s fair to say that he has A LOT going on.) Eric focuses on creating multiple ways for people to “get into” these organizations and give. By tapping into … Continued

Two men leaning in and engaging in a conversation

Lean in to difficult conversations

Difficult conversations are… Well, difficult. But dancing around the elephant in the room doesn’t make it go away. Yesterday, I was approached by a client with a humdinger of a challenge. They’d been working on a site with another vendor for a year. A deadline was looming and there were still a LOT of problems … Continued

RTNP 34 | Meaningful Relationships

Episode 34: Creating meaningful relationships with Elaine Brewer from the Humble Warrior

  Good marketing is all about relationship-building, isn’t it? On today’s episode, I had the opportunity to talk to Elaine Brewer, one of the founders of Humble Warrior Wellness Center, who reminded me that’s exactly what marketing is about. The Wellness Center helps veterans and first responders with their mental and physical health, by offering … Continued

A man recreating a frame using his hand.

Framing The “Donation Conversation”

Many nonprofits accept product donations to help fuel their mission. Donors love them. After all, what’s not to love about buying a gift for a kid in need, or off-loading a can or two of beans from the pantry? However, some organizations have built partnerships that enable them to stretch cash donations a LOT farther … Continued

RTNP 33 | First Descents

Episode 33: Getting Creative With Ryan O’Donoghue From 1st Descents And Stoke Broker

  Today’s guest today is Ryan O’Donoghue, CEO of both the nonprofit First Descents and the for-profit company Stoke Broker. First Descents provides life-changing outdoor adventures for young adults impacted by cancer and other serious health conditions. Stoke Broker takes the wealth of expertise First Descents has developed over the past 20 years and applies … Continued

A squirrel hiding in the bushes

Shiny Squirrel Syndrome: Eliminate distractions for peak performance

I suffer from what I call “shiny squirrel syndrome.” My ability to become distracted is something I’ve come to grips with. And I go to great lengths to make sure I can stay focused. Removing distractions (or at least minimizing them) is part of my daily routine. For example, (thanks to advice from Townsend Wardlaw) … Continued

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