by Barbara Barron | Posted November 8th, 2023 | Subscribe to this newsletter Having a niche is both cool and challenging. Mine happens to be independent school advancement. I don’t work with other non-profits. Just schools. Very defined. But it is a small world. When I decided to begin a consulting practice almost 7 years ago, the answer to the …
Why Do We Need a Feasibility Study Before We Start Our Capital Campaign?
by Barbara Barron | Posted October 25th, 2023 | Subscribe to this newsletter “Do we need a feasibility study before we start a capital campaign?” Understandable question. Particularly coming from a small organization with limited resources. Here’s what I imagine is the conversation around the boardroom table: “Seriously!? We need to spend $40k+ for a consultant to test our project …
Is Technology a Crutch?
by Barbara Barron | Posted October 11th, 2023 | Subscribe to this newsletter Recently I was working with a client school on the community appeal for their capital campaign. Like most appeals, this one was electronic, and it required the need for thoughtful customized segments. As I’ve often written, when we write a generic appeal, we’re speaking to no one …
Why Participation is Not Worth Fighting For
by Barbara Barron | Posted September 6th, 2023 | Subscribe to this newsletter Years ago, my team and I set out to put the then-popular 80/20 rule into practice. I posed this challenge: since 80% of our support comes from 20% of our donors, should we not deploy 80% of our time, resources, energy, and love on that loyal, generous …
How Can We Set Priorities that Serve Us and Our Programs?
by Barbara Barron | Posted August 16th, 2023 | Subscribe to this newsletter A new school year. A new chance to get off on the right foot. If you’re like me, after a needed refresh over the summer, you’re ready to take it on again — but maybe with some new thinking. A new set of practices to keep us …
The Four Summer Projects That Are Worth Your Time
Why not make this a fruitful summer? Why not take on some projects that will help you start the new school year with energy, focus, and some new ideas?
How Can You Make Sure Your School is Ready for the New Millennial Super Donor?
This is a huge cohort of philanthropic-minded people who are already generous and engaged, many are already very wealthy, and most are about to become very, very wealthy.
How to Create a “Guide to Giving and Getting Involved” for New Parents
How can we begin what might be a 10+ year relationship with a new family that sets the right tone and creates a lunching pad for great things down the road?
Should We Plan for Our Own Succession?
If the research is to be believed, and close to half of our leaders are going to leave their jobs in the near term, and virtually no organization has a succession plan for their top leaders, never mind our positions, we clearly have a ticking time bomb here.
How to Build a Great Advancement Committee
Here are some tasks you can set before this group, starting in August when you first convene. These are actions that actually help. They build connections with families. They extend the cultivation and stewardship work your team is doing.