Jack and I are close friends with a married couple we affectionately call “The Bickersons.” Regardless of who initiates and is telling a story, inevitably, the other spouse will jump into the middle of it to protest: “but it didn’t happen quite that way. It was more like this….” This phenomenon always fascinates me.  It’s [...]

I’m thrilled to announce that registration is now formally open for my new program at Harvard:  A Course in Exponential Fundraising.  For more information on the program, go here. It’s a year-long engagement where I will be personally working with 20 visionary leaders from the nonprofit sector who want to both dramatically improve their organization’s [...]

Like most kids, my stepson, Jake,  goes through intense phases of things he’s into. When he was 3, it was Thomas the Tank Engine. He wanted every single Thomas item on the market and put a lot energy into getting each of them. Later, it was Transformers. Then Pokemon. Recently, it’s Beyblade.  And we’re seeing a Hexbug in [...]

First, remember that right now at least 25% of your prospective partners are ready to be solicited.  If you are not asking them formally to join you, consider what’s stopping you. More often than not, it’s simple fear of rejection.  If you’ve laid the groundwork and been open and clear, the solicitation is a natural step in the relationship. [...]

You can’t build a relationship with someone unless there is a commitment.  Relationship is different than an encounter. We have all had both.  We have had wonderful encounters with people, over lunch or a cup of coffee, where we exchange our stories and even share some moments of pure connection. But unless we agree to [...]

At the recent Millennium Development Goals summit held at the United Nations, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Thinley, invited the participants to include a 9th MDG: “Happiness.”  Bhutan is famous for its “Gross Domestic Happiness” index and everyone I know who has visited Bhutan have returned with stories of its profound natural beauty and the [...]

Last week, Haegwan Kim interviewed me for his blog “Law of Success.”  He’s doing a cool project based on Napoleon Hill’s classic publication from 1925 where Mr Hill interviewed the likes of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, John Rockelfeller and 115 more on their secrets to success.  Mr. Kim is talking to people across all industries [...]

Last week, I had a fascinating lunch with Dan Pallotta. Dan is the author of the book “Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential.” He also has a weekly blog post at the Harvard Business Review (http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/) and is an outspoken and articulate thought-leader on the subject of nonprofits having access to capital in [...]

Remember “Encyclopedia Brown”?  We read these detective stories with Jake and Abby, my 9-year-old stepkids, before bed.  They get a logic-rush attempting to solve the 
latest “Case of the Missing Thingamajig.” 
As a kid, I loved to read mystery novels too. They were thrilling, 
especially if I solved them myself instead of sneaking a peek at the [...]