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Articles by Marc A. Pitman
3 Ways a Board Member Can Help Raise More Money (Without Making the Ask Yourself)
Board Management April 24, 2026 | 6 min Read Do you ever feel like being on a nonprofit board automatically means you’re supposed to be asking your friends for money? You’re not alone. It’s one of the most consistent fears I hear from board members. “I didn’t think I was signing up to be a salesperson.” “I don’t want to make things uncomfortable with people I know.” “I have no idea what to say.” Here’s some good news: You don’t have to make the ask.
Are Your Employees Acting Like Cats?
As a nonprofit leader, does it ever feel like the people you hire to get work done are actually creating more work for you? That rather than simply doing what they were hired to do, they ask you a dizzying amount of questions first? And that they even see more problems than you ever knew existed but don’t seem to offer any solutions? I’ve experienced that. Here’s a story that helped me train my direct reports to stop doing it.
What You Can Learn From the Spice Girls About Nonprofit Leadership
The role of a nonprofit CEO or leader extends far beyond strategic oversight and financial stewardship. Many nonprofit leaders are surprised at how much they are required to nurture a culture of understanding, empathy and genuine human connection. Since leading a nonprofit takes so much time and involves so many moving targets, it can be easy to forget to build the people around you. Not just expecting them to be task-completers but actually helping them grow as individuals.
Granting Grace: The Next Step for Nonprofit Leaders
With increased expectations and shifting workplace norms, leadership within nonprofits has never been more challenging. One of the key strategies for modern leadership is fostering an environment of curiosity, using questions to build relationships and steer toward clear outcomes. However, for nonprofit leaders, there's another fundamental aspect that tends to get neglected — extending grace to yourself while tackling a plethora of responsibilities.
Is Curiosity the Secret Power for Nonprofit Leaders?
Today’s workforce is more educated, more aware of personal boundaries and more comfortable with discussing mental health than any time in recent memory. But so many nonprofit leaders haven’t adjusted. Many are still using the leadership strategies that worked years ago. Back when they were told, “Just do your job.” And many are just taking on more and more work of the people who were actually hired to do that work.
Three Steps for Leaders to Reach Fundraising Goals
Does it feel like 2023 is already flying by? January is usually spent thanking donors. So for many nonprofits, January is not a big fundraising month. If you’re like many nonprofit leaders, your January number can make it easy to get discouraged about your annual fundraising goals. Be encouraged though — the first quarter of the year isn’t even over yet. You still have lots of 2023 to go.
What Nonprofit Leaders Should Say to Employees to Help Them Grow
It can feel trite to say, “Nonprofit leadership is hard.” The organizational structures of nonprofits require that leadership is done in a form of community: the board and the executive director. Where a business owner has all of the responsibility and all of the authority to make decisions, the nonprofit executive director has all of the responsibility of decision-making but lacks all of the authority. That is hard.
What Is Your ‘Re-onboarding’ Plan?
Are you finding it hard to work with some of the staff you hired during the pandemic? For many nonprofit leaders, the people they hired during the early phase of the pandemic were a gift. They came on during an uncertain time. And they jumped in and started doing the work. But the work they started doing wasn’t the normal work of your organization. Many leaders were more intentional about focusing on team well-being and making sure people were staying safe.
Do You Think Retaining Employees Is Expensive?
As employees continue the wave some call “The Great Resignation,” nonprofit leaders are trying to figure out how to retain employees or at least retain the employees they want to keep. Employee retention: An expense or an investment? As many nonprofit leaders struggle to fill newly opened positions, professional development for their staff seems like a distraction. There is more work with fewer people. Who has the time to plan a staff training?
Are You Focused on All 3 Areas of Leadership?
Assuming a new nonprofit leadership role can be a bit bewildering. One of the surprises new leaders have is that leadership requires a broader view than most leaders give to it. Many nonprofit leaders tend to think of leading as something they do to others. Of course, it is necessary to lead the people you have been promoted to oversee. But nonprofit leaders who only focus on the team find themselves caught off guard when challenges arise.
3 Commitments Nonprofit Leaders Can Make in Times of Great Uncertainty
As a leadership coach, I talk to hundreds of nonprofit executive directors and CEOs every year. Leading always has challenges. Many leaders feel overwhelmed. Some even feel ground down by the board-executive director organizational structure that makes them have the responsibility for running the nonprofit but without the overall authority to make change. The overwhelm can seem close to immobilizing. Leaders always need to make decisions.
Use Uncertainty to Become the Exceptional Leader You Are Meant to Be (video)
Some salespeople seem highly confident, but as human beings, we all have our doubts. Thus, in this Expert insight Interview, Marc Pitman discusses his new book: The Surprising Gift of Doubt: Use Uncertainty to Become the Exceptional Leader You Are Meant to Be. Marc Pitman is the Founder of The Concord Leadership Group, an executive coach, speaker, and author.
We're not selling t-shirts - We're connecting values
by Marc A. Pitman | Feb 15, 2021 | 3. Ask, Fundraising Secrets | Fundraising isn't just about raising money one time. If it were, we could sell t-shirts. Fundraising is about connecting values - the values of donors with the values of your cause. Sure, there are times when we just need the transactional. We need to pay the bills. But when all we do is transactional, we have to keep looking for new people to ask.
[Guest Post] 15 Fundraising Mistakes That Have Already Been Made for You
I'm glad to introduce you to Tom Harrison, the CEO of Russ Reid. Tom and I are members of the FundRaising Success Editorial Advisory Board and were able to present at a recent conference in Philadelphia. He has an amazing mind for nonprofits and a good sense of humor, as can be seen in this post. In this post, which originally appeared in FundRaising Success Magazine, he shares 15 fundraising mistakes your team doesn't have to make. #6 mystifies me.
Fundraising is farming, not Powerball
by Marc A. Pitman | Oct 6, 2013 | 1. Research, 2. Engage, 3. Ask, 4. Love (Stewardship), Fundraising Secrets | Nonprofits often mistake hiring professionals like fundraising coaches or consultants as buying the winning lottery ticket. No matter what they've been told, they think the professional will magically find them funding. Fortunately, that is actually great for nonprofits. Lottery winners typical have awful outcomes. They often live miserable lives.
How to Promote Your Blog With Social Media
Are you looking to use social media to promote your blog? Sharing your blog posts on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and even Tumblr can help your content gain significant exposure. But each social media platform is distinct with different benefits and abilities. You need a simple process to tailor your social sharing to generate as much engagement as you can on each of these platforms. Here’s a process you can use to ensure your posts get maximum mileage.
Do You Ask Donors to Donate on the First Date?
Hi, Marc … As the CEO of my nonprofit, I don’t like asking donors for a gift the first time I meet with them. I want to show them I respect them and am more interested in them than in their gift. But I’m finding it hard for my team to get me a second appointment. So the team is encouraging me to ask for a gift in the first meeting. For years, I’ve prided myself on not “asking on the first date.” I don’t want to come across as “pushy.” But our organization needs the revenue from donors.
3 Tweaks to Get Your Fundraising Back on Track
Dear Marc, I’m not reaching my fundraising goals. I have the list and feel like I’m doing all the work. But I’m not finding the connection with donors. They seem to think that my solicitation is a “take it or leave it” proposition rather an attempt to find the right gift level. Can you help? — Panicked in Pasadena Dear Panicked, I feel your pain. It can be awful doing the work, even having actual meetings with major donors, and still not have the fundraising results you expect.
You Know You Have to Make a Fundraising Ask but for How Much?
Dear Marc, How do you know what the right amount is to ask an individual, a foundation or a corporation? Is there some kind of formula based on past gifts received? And what if the donor is new? — Struggling in South Africa Dear Struggling, Alas, I know of no “magic” formulas. If such formulas exist, use them only as a part of your analysis. Wouldn’t it be great to have some objective way to mechanically ask new people for a gift? We could just “know” that we’re asking the right amount.
8 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Site With Google+
Would you like to drive more traffic to your website? With new enhancements from Google+, you can more easily accomplish just that! One of the biggest changes recently rolled out by Google might even be called a seismic shift in search. Google is somewhat clumsily calling it “Search, plus Your World.” You see, Google has years of experience in the search engine business.
Is there plenty of room on your fundraising island? - 101fundraising
A while back, Seth Godin wrote about there being plenty of room on the island. He observed that authors regularly recommend other authors even though an MBA program would call them “competitors.” It’s a great reminder that most of life is not a zero sum game. A new executive director I was coaching recently told me she’d been called by a potential donor. As she listened to the impact he wanted his gift to have, she realized a different nonprofit existed that more directly fit the donor’s goals.
How to Fundraise and Better Allocate Your Time with Donors
The clock is consistently and constantly ticking – 86,400 times a day, to be exact. Despite the seemingly monumental amount of seconds, there never seems to be enough time in a day. Time is a precious resource for fundraisers. So when it comes to divvying up your time among donors, it’s crucial to maximize every second and every minute. There’s nothing worse than wasting precious time on a prospect that will never be fruitful.
3 things to do now that #GivingTuesday is over
If you've determined #GivingTuesday should be part of your fundraising calendar, start planning 2017. (It'll be on Tuesday, November 28.) Use Nancy Schwartz's guide to review the emails you received from other nonprofits over #GivingTuesday. And listen to the conversation I had with crowdfunding expert Dana Ostomel. She gives some amazing tips on how to best structure any giving day.
KNOWLEDGE: Blog digest July/August 2016
Each month, the Critical Fundraising blog presents a digest of the best fundraising-related blogs and articles that have adopted a critical fundraising mode of thought. Many people believe that overheads divert money from doing good. Curtis Klotz presents an alternative way to visualise the importance overhead costs for a sceptical public.
Review questions to help leaders assess their year
Whether you are starting your fiscal year or not, you are half way through the calendar year. Halfway points are great times for leaders to pause. To review their goals. To measure progress and, possibly, map mid-course corrections. My friend Jon Swanson shared a great list of review questions to help your assessment. He's given me permission to repost them here. You can also read them at: https://300wordsaday.com/2016/07/04/six-month-questions-2/ Here are a bunch of questions to help in that review.
Philanthropy Is a Leadership Issue
One of the things I love most about fundraising is that it is completely dependent on leadership. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world. In the recent Nonprofit Sector Leadership Report, leaders admitted that most of this isn’t happening at their nonprofits. Despite evidence that strategic plans make a nonprofit more effective at all levels, including the board level, a startling 49% of nonprofits are operating without one.
GivingUSA reports giving continues to grow
Fundraising in nonprofits can be an almost thankless task. At the end of each fiscal year, no matter how well you did, you start again at zero. It can feel like funds don't come in as quickly as you or your leaders would like. In fact, it's easy to start thinking that people aren't giving. That they're tired. So it's great to have the researchers at GivingUSA collect real data on giving. GivingUSA is the longest ongoing research on giving in the United States of America.
The nonprofittweeps Daily
The nonprofittweeps Daily, by Marc A. Pitman: updated automatically with a curated selection of articles, blog posts, videos and photos. Please enable Javascript to correctly display the content on Paper.li
One way to avoid a failed capital campaign
Recently, I've been getting a lot of questions about capital campaigns. Some nonprofits are going into them wisely, knowing that they have one-time additional costs to be able to better fulfill their mission. Others are looking at a campaign like a "Hail Mary" pass - a last ditch effort to raise needed funds to operate day-to-day. The first way of thinking is good; the latter isn't.
[GUEST POST] How Small Shops Can Overcome the Challenges of Fundraising Software
Marc A. Pitman is the CEO of The Concord Leadership Group, the author of Ask Without Fear! and director of The Nonprofit Academy. A coach to leaders around the world, Marc's expertise and enthusiasm engages audiences and has caught the attention of media organizations as diverse as Al Jazeera and Fox News. Marc’s experience also includes pastoring a Vineyard church, managing a gubernatorial campaign, and teaching internet marketing and fundraising at colleges and universities.
Why Nonprofit Stories are the Secret to Success
Marc Pitman is a guest contributor for Nonprofit Hub. helps leaders, especially in nonprofits, lead their teams with more effectiveness and less stress. The author of “Ask Without Fear!®,” he is the founder of The Concord Leadership Group and FundraisingCoach.com. He’s also the executive director of TheNonprofitAcademy.com and an Advisory Panel member of Rogare, a prestigious international fundraising think tank.
Strategic Planning for Nonprofits: 3 Ways It Improves Your Work
March 17, 2016 by Marc Pitman Donor Communication In the recently published Nonprofit Sector Leadership Report, we were surprised at how quickly the importance of basic strategic planning is for nonprofits. Of the more than 1000 people who took the survey, 49% were operating without a strategic plan or without a strategic plan in writing! The lack of strategic planning wasn’t reserved to smaller nonprofits.
PSA: Check your nonprofit's donation page NOW
Don't let this happen to you!Last night, my wife and I were doing some year-end giving. We went to a nonprofit we love and found this on their donation page:Where there should have been a giving form, there was just a line of code. No way to give online at all. Don't let this happen to you!This isn't the time of year to have a broken donation link!We did end up sending a check but that wasn't our preference. And we communicated with the organization and they've fixed the page.
[Guest Post] Communicate More Often to Renew More Donors
Today's guest post is by Dennis Fischman. Dennis is the creator of the Communicate! blog, dedicated to helping nonprofits win loyal friends and getting the support they need. In this post, he shows you how to use what you already have to communicate in multiple channels through the magic of repurposing. Dennis will be presenting the next Nonprofit Academy session called: Delight Your Donors With Better Communication (and Spend Less Time Doing It).
The Red Cross and Glass Houses
Last night, I was shocked and spellbound to hear NPR devote an entire half hour segment to the special report called: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief. NPR and Pro Publica's reporting seems fair, detailed, and well-balanced. Listening to is was like watching a train wreck: fascinating and painful.
Overhead isn't the issue - and it's not a fundraising tool
Last week, in my weekly email to Fundraising Kick subscribers, I told them to stop talking about what percent of their budget goes to "overhead." I won't go into the entire message I sent, but here's a summary. You need to know the percentage People are talking about the percentage of a nonprofit's budget that goes to "overhead." Here in the USA, they can easily look at a charities 990 which publicly announces how much came in in donations and how much fundraising cost.
6 Google+ Tips for Businesses
Has your business set up a Google+ page? Google+ is growing at an impressive rate. In less than one year, Google has reached over 90 million registered users—far exceeding expected growth rates. According to CNN's Mark Millan, it took Facebook about four years to grow to that many users. It took Twitter almost five years to grow to the same size. There's No Leap of Faith With Google+ You already know Google is important to your business. Just check your analytics.
How to Hold a Google+ Hangout and Why You Should
As Google's latest foray into social media, Google+ has brought some new tools to the digital table. My personal favorite is Hangouts. Google describes Hangouts as a “front porch.” Anyone can drop in and say “hi” just like anyone could drop by when you're on your porch. 3 Reasons to Consider a Google Hangout Your prospects are already here! Video conferencing has been available for a while, but Google+ Hangouts takes it to where people are.
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