The Most Precious Gift of All
I’ll never forget the sound of those bells. It was late one evening, and I was finishing up after a long day as director of the Children’s Cancer Center at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. It was mid-December and our annual Holiday Card Project—which raised $350,000 a year—was in full swing. My colleague Robert and I had […]
Fundraising Under a Cloud
Have you ever faced a major personal crisis, which distracted you from your work and caused you to lose focus? I’m convinced that we all have.
Making the Ask… at Work
As part of his onboarding for a new staff job for a community nonprofit, Aaron attended a presentation about the organization’s staff-giving initiative. Employees could designate a certain number of dollars per paycheck as a donation back to the nonprofit. At 29, Aaron was struggling to establish financial equilibrium — a stretch on his modest […]
‘Vacation Conversion’: How One Star Performer Learned How to Take Time off
A frightening near-tragedy served as a wake-up call and made one workaholic overachiever prioritize vacation time. In this original blog for Crouch and Associates, performance consultant Scott Koskoski shows why vacations matter and urges you to pack your bags and head for the beach!
Cultivating a Culture of Self-Care
In 1988, the feminist poet and activist Audre Lorde wrote, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation.” Thirty years later, Lorde’s framing of self-care is instructive for those of us working in the nonprofit sector. If we are to continue the long work of healing the world, we must first do the work of healing ourselves.
Unpacking the Beliefs That Lead to Burnout
I have the privilege of working with nonprofit leaders around the country and lately have noticed a common theme. They each embrace a version of this belief: The work is too important for me to slow down. This high-minded ideal is inspiring and can lead to remarkable work, but it can also lead to burnout.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: How to Make it Work for You
On a donor call early in my career, the sheer power of peer-to-peer fundraising was driven home to me. It’s a lesson I’ve never forgotten.
Being in the Present
I recently attended a transformative conference — Wisdom 2.0 conference — and one of my main takeaways was about the importance of being present–not distracted–when you’re with people who are important to you.
Life is Short. Celebrate often.
By definition, a celebration is the act of marking one’s pleasure at an important event or occasion. Most often, we think of celebrations for major milestones like birthdays, weddings, promotions or retirements. Don’t get me wrong, these are noteworthy and momentous, but why stop there?
