I’m thrilled to announce that registration is formally open for the 2012 Course in Exponential Fundraising at Harvard. Please go to http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hauser/cef/  for a more detailed description of the program. A Course in Exponential Fundraising is a year-long engagement during which I work with 20 visionary leaders from the nonprofit sector who want to both dramatically improve [...]

In four separate meetings over the past week I was in the audience as speakers leaned heavily on PowerPoint presentations. Each presentation consisted of slide after slide of bulleted text copy. They used this copy as a talking point guide. One presenter just stood and read each slide as if the audience was either blind or illiterate. [...]

Celebration builds community. I don’t mean just celebrating the end of a campaign or a transformational gift.  I’m talking about frequent celebrations with your whole team – your board, your philanthropic partners, your colleagues. Celebrations are a way for members of your community to come together to honor what you’ve done and where you are [...]

I started my Course in Exponential Fundraising at Harvard last week standing at a big white board, marker at the ready, and asked the class this simple question:  “What is fundraising?” The group shouted out answers like: directing resources to things that urgently need to be done on the planet; listening to people’s passions and [...]

Here’s a brief excerpt from a series of recommendations I made during a recent consulting assignment.  It applies to many organizations: The Board must be engaged in fundraising to leverage the many resources – not just financial – they can bring to the organization. Reinforce to them that being a Board member is a serious [...]

A man asked a Tibetan Lama, “My kid is a linebacker for his high school football team.  I find myself rooting for him to cream the opposing quarterback. Is there anything wrong with that?” “Of course not,” replied the Lama.  ”You love your son. You want his happiness. He’s happy when he beats the other team. This is [...]

The Quincy Jones MusiQ Consortium is an organization I co-founded that is bringing together nonprofits, corporations, foundations, philanthropists and musicians to ensure that all kids have access to music and music education. At our kickoff meeting, legendary musician and composer Herbie Hancock gave a spontaneous response to a question that moved me as if he [...]

Here’s a way to bring an instant and unlimited reserve of passion to your projects. At a recent Jeffersonian-style dinner, this simple question was posed to our group:  share a story of a teacher who impacted your life.  The common thread among the stories was that all great teachers bring an unwaivering passion to whatever they are [...]

The dates are set for the next Exponential Fundraising workshop:  May 5 and 6 in New York City. Since they are highly interactive and aimed at ensuring a rich and stimulating exchange of ideas among a diverse group of peers, only a small number of spaces are available (no more than 15 participants).  To contact [...]