How to Build a Monthly Giving System That Scales Issue #023 This week's strategic brief (5-minute read) Hi Reader, 95% of nonprofits never crack $1M in recurring giving revenue. It’s not because of bad messaging, but because they treat monthly giving like a side hustle. I recently peeked at our CRM and uncovered the truth: We had scattered recurring gifts but no real system. Donors opted in sporadically, our annual fund manager juggled it, and we only spotted failed payments when finance...
7 days ago • 3 min read
The Unseen Cost of Absorbing Everyone's Budget Anxiety Issue #022 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hi Reader, On Monday, your CFO asked, “Will we hit budget?” By Thursday, your CEO, board chair, and program VP had asked the same question—in four different ways. You’re managing revenue. But you’re also managing everyone’s budget anxiety. I learned I had become the office anxiety absorber. That emotional labor cost me about $100,000 of strategic time each year. The Anxiety You're...
14 days ago • 2 min read
The 10-Minute CEO Briefing Formula Issue #021 This week's strategic brief (5-minute read) Hi Reader, I used to walk into CEO briefings with detailed slides and quarterly dashboards. My CEO would glaze over by minute three. Then I realized: CEOs don't need fundraising briefings. They need intelligence that helps them make decisions. Here's the formula that transformed those conversations from "fundraising updates" to "strategic partner briefings." When 10 Minutes Changed Everything Our 100th...
21 days ago • 3 min read
How to Pressure-Test Big Ideas Issue #020 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hi Reader, Today marks twenty issues of Chief Fundraiser Weekly. What began as a short Sunday experiment has turned into a community of sharp, generous nonprofit leaders helping each other grow from $10M to $25M and beyond. If you’ve found these weekly briefs helpful, I’d love your feedback. It takes less than two minutes and helps more fundraising executives discover Chief Fundraiser Weekly. 👉 Share your...
28 days ago • 3 min read
From Sponsors to Partners: Making the Leap Issue #019 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hi Reader, We know that partnerships beat sponsorships. The challenge is getting your organization to commit to your vision to convert your corporate relations to this high-value ROI strategy. I've seen bold plans stall because of internal pushback. The Sticking Point: Organizational Inertia At $10M and beyond, sponsorship models hit their ceiling. Switching to partnerships means changing your...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Board That Builds Millions Issue #018 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hi Reader, Imagine you're at a board meeting and the directors are debating email open rates while potential million-dollar donors sit untouched. They're interested. It’s likely that they just aren’t sure how to apply their energy effectively. The difference between these two is huge. We're talking millions of dollars in annual revenue. The Value Gap Your board members joined because they believe in your...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The CEO Transition Survival Guide: Leading When Your Leader Leaves Issue #017 This week's strategic brief (3-minute read) Hi Reader, Your board chair just dropped a bombshell: the CEO is leaving. Things are going to get crazy. Emergency meetings are being set up. Staff are asking questions you can't answer. You're in a tough spot. You need to keep your operation on track. Meanwhile, leadership above you is uncertain, and oversight below you is intensifying. I've been there twice. One...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
From Crisis to System: Turning Problems into Permanent Capacity Issue #016 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hello Reader, Every chief fundraiser hits this moment: you set a budget in January, and by September the world has changed. Federal policy shifts. Vaccine confidence challenges. Donor priorities reshuffled. Corporate partners distracted. Suddenly, the assumptions that built your plan no longer hold—and neither does your strategy. The instinct? Panic, recalc, and scramble. The...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
The Board Report That Cuts Through the Noise Issue #015 This week's strategic brief (4-minute read) Hello Reader, Your brilliant strategy might be sitting unread on page 47 of a 75-page board book. You’ll get 12 minutes of presentation time once a year, maybe twice. The rest of the time, your written words must do the heavy lifting. That reality demands a completely different approach than the chief fundraisers who present monthly. I learned this when a board member told me: “I read your...
2 months ago • 3 min read