Some Nerve

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It turns out that my last post, “Deluge,” really hit a nerve. I received triple my usual number of blog hits, four times the usual number of on-line comments, and…
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Deluge

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The bad news about commercial donor-advised funds is getting worse. As my loyal readers know, I’ve been giving attention here and in national journals to the negative impact that the…
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Not My Type

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Management would be pretty simple, if there were no people involved. You can never underestimate how challenging it is to lead a team, whether in a business or a nonprofit.…
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Healthy Tension

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There are some things that people love to complain about. Dealing with difficult relatives around the holidays. Drivers weaving in and out of traffic. The slow line at Motor Vehicles.…
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Simple Deduction

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Given that I am neither a policy analyst nor an economist, I am surprised by the number of people who ask me (as though I possess some special knowledge) about…
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Free Pass

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Do nonprofits give their donors a little too much credit? I’m not asking if nonprofits give their donors too much recognition. It’s fine to carve donors’ names into bricks, put…
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Big News — But Not Good News

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[Note: This commentary is cross-posted in the November 15, 2012 edition of the  Chronicle of Philanthropy.] Today it’s my duty to point out a disturbing trend for America’s charities. Each…
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Endowments, Pro and Con

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OK. I admit it. Sometimes I go a bit overboard to prove a point. A friend of mine made me realize this the other day. She chided me: “You’re always…
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Perfect Match

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There’s something about a fundraising challenge grant that gets the juices flowing. The nonprofit announces, “If we manage to raise X dollars by such and such a date, then the…
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