I've been using the Three Words planning & focus approach for about 6 or 7 years and I still can't help but hear the My Three Sons theme song every time I say it out loud. That's probably a terrible hook for a blog post, but if you've been here a minute you know that free association, random digressions, and obscure reminiscences are to be expected. (My Three Sons was a TV sitcom that ran from 1960-1972, about a widower (Fred MacMurray) raising his three sons, in case you

Over the last twelve days, instead of forecasting what fundraising might look like next year, this series focused on something more durable: skills fundraisers can actively develop, regardless of what the economy, technology, or donor behavior does next. Predictions change. Skills compound. This series was about strengthening the internal capacities that allow fundraisers to remain effective, ethical, human, and resilient — no matter what comes. Here’s the full list, with bri

Before we get into this discussion in full, let's just re-cap quickly. Today is January 5, the 12th Day of Christmas in the Christian liturgical calendar. For the last twelve days, rather than looking at projections or predictions for the new year, we've been looking at the skills fundraisers will need and can develop in the new year. Everything can and will change - and don't get me wrong, predictions and projections are very helpful. But by focusing on skills developmen

"Blessed are the flexible for the won't get bent out of shape." r I had a colleague who used to say this to me with some level of frequency; I thought it was wonderful. Until I realized she usually said it when I handed more work her way . . . We do tend to talk about Adaptability as a character trait, though, don't we? You either have it or you don't, and if you don't it's a persona flaw. "You need to be more adaptable." "Be comfortable with change." "PIVOT! Adaptability i

Maybe . . . Don't take everything - including yourself - so seriously.

Somewhere along the way, we decided that being “professional” meant being less human. We learned how to dress the part, how to sound the part, how to keep our emotions neatly folded away, like extra sweaters we might need later but definitely shouldn’t wear in the meeting. And to be clear, "professionalism" matters. Competence matters.Credibility and experience matter a lot. But when professionalism turns into performance, something else gets lost: Humanity. And yes, I’m

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Or, put another way, "Whew! We made it and won't even look at 2025 in the rearview . . . " I sat down to write this post and my Gen-X roots took over and I've got the Violent Femmes stuck in my head: "Eight, eight, I forget what eight was for . . . " But did you know that VF's "Blister in the Sun" is the perfect earworm eraser? It's true. Try it next time you get a song stuck in your head, start with "When I'm walkin' I strut my stuff . . . " It'll knock

In the inimitable words of Noel Fielding , "We're halfway frough!" (Can you tell I've spent part of this weird in-between timeless time bingeing the most recent season of Great British Bake Off , the source of all things pure and lovely and good in the world?) Halfway through our series on the 12 Skills Fundraisers Need for the New Year. Rather than projections of what fundraising might be in the new year, we're tackling skills you can develop to be prepared for what may com

Yes, yes — I know. Yesterday we talked about Systems Thinking , and today we’re talking about Thinking Upstream . That is a lot  of thinking in a row. Before anyone panics, this is not the kind of thinking where we sit around, stare thoughtfully into the middle distance, and say things like, “Hmmm,” while absolutely nothing changes. When I say thinking , I mean how we frame the situation before we act . Where we look first. What we assume is causing the problem. What story