Year-End Fundraising Isn’t Really About Asking for Money
As nonprofits, we’ve created a culture that places an enormous emphasis on giving in November and December. We also know that donors are creatures of habit, and we’re suddenly locked in to cramming so much development activity into the last few months of the year that we need an extra week off in January just to catch up on sleep! But I also think we may be leaving money on the table.
From Burnout to Belonging: The Supervisor’s Role in Staff Retention
At its best, supervision is more than a place to review task lists and deadlines. It’s a regular opportunity to connect, learn, problem-solve, and strengthen relationships.
Mindful Change and Intentional Transitions
Unexpected staffing changes are hard. As organizational leaders, we routinely navigate these types of big decisions. We are the managers of change, after all. We are also the stewards of transition. While change is external and situational, transition is internal and psychological. As leaders, we are responsible for both.
“Just One More Thing” Is One Too Many
As an Executive Director (ED) or team leader, you have the power — and the responsibility — to create the structural changes necessary to reduce your team’s workload. Your role is pivotal in guiding the organization toward realistic expectations, balanced workloads, and a culture that values both productivity and well-being.
Who’s the Boss Here? (A Candid Guide to Nonprofit Board vs. Staff Roles)
One of the most persistent challenges in nonprofit governance is confusion about the respective roles of boards and staff. Who is advising? Who is deciding? Who is responsible for doing the work?
Strategy That Moves the Work—and Cares for the People Doing It
Campaigning is the art of using what we have to get what we want. At its core, effective campaigning requires clarity: clear goals, defined outcomes, the right partners, and meaningful inclusion of the people affected by the changes we aim to create.
The upper limit of any strategic decision is your team’s capacity
We’re living through an intentionally stunning and erratic period of governance in North America that is having ripple effects across the world. Trying to plan through this can be challenging, and differences of opinion among leaders can make key decisions feel shaky. No matter what decisions or plans you make, your efforts will be limited by your team’s capacity.
Stronger Together
As we face the unexpected, the imperative to move collectively is stronger than ever. Transactional alliances are not powerful enough to challenge the deep alignment between corporate interests and government officials who desire extractive privatization and the destruction of wildlife and wildlands for development and profit. In order to build successful movements, we need to develop broad coalitions and relationships and partnerships durable enough to withstand difference of opinions, conflict, and the desire for a variety of tactics.
Above the Line: Choosing Creative Leadership in Liminal Times
January often feels like a threshold month. It asks us to stretch one foot into the new while the other is still planted in the familiar. It’s the ultimate liminal space: a period of the “in-between.” In these in-between spaces, the standard leadership playbook can feel insufficient. What’s needed instead is a different kind of leadership capacity, one that is internal as much as external. A way of leading that helps us stay grounded, creative, and connected even as the world shifts under our feet.
Leveraging the Year’s End to Rest, Reflect, and Reimagine
As we approach the year’s end, we are leading with deep gratitude. The TREC team got together to compile and offer you some reflections as well as a myriad of resources to help with three practices: Rest, Reflect, and Reimagine.