Grow Leaders Across All Levels

Grow Leaders Across All Levels. Here’s How.

by with No Comment The Content Cove
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Let’s face it: centralized decision-making can feel safe, but it’s actually a roadblock. Relying on a small group to make every call slows your work, crushes innovation, and contributes to turnover as people feel ineffective.

What if you could spread that decision-making power across your team instead?

That’s where distributed leadership steps in. It’s about empowering your entire organization to lead.

The result? A nonprofit that’s more agile, more creative, and ultimately more impactful.

Here’s how to make it happen:

1. Let People Own Their Work

When people feel ownership, they don’t just work harder—they work smarter. Give your team control over decisions and watch as engagement accelerates progress.

Tactic: Assign Project Leads
Designate a team member to lead every project. Let them own the goals and give them the freedom to decide how to achieve them.

Tactic: Debrief Ownership
After a project wraps, have the lead conduct a debrief. Let them share what worked, what didn’t, and why they made the decisions they did.

Tactic: Focus on Outcomes
Don’t just assign tasks—assign outcomes. Let your team members figure out the “how,” but hold them accountable for delivering results.

2. Equip Your Team to Make Smart Decisions

You can’t expect effective decisions from people who haven’t been trained to make them. Invest in decision-making skills.

Tactic: Host Decision-Making Workshops
Provide training on frameworks like risk assessment and scenario analysis. This gives your team tools they can use immediately.

Tactic: Mentorship Matters
Pair up less experienced staff with mentors who’ve made effective decisions. It’s a great way to grow confidence and ability.

Tactic: Provide Data Access
Don’t leave your team in the dark. Make sure they have all the info they need—like financial updates or progress reports—to make informed choices.

3. Leverage Cross-Functional Teams

Bring together people from different parts of your organization to spark fresh ideas and better decisions.

Tactic: Form Special Task Forces
For big projects, create temporary teams with members from different departments. They’ll bring unique perspectives that can result in better decision-making.

Tactic: Create Cross-Functional Learning Sessions
Set up regular exchanges where team members from different departments can share what they know, helping the entire team collaborate more effectively.

Tactic: Launch a Project Incubation Lab
Create a space for cross-functional teams to experiment with new ideas, free from day-to-day constraints. This promotes creativity and collaborative decision-making.

4. Empower Your Middle Managers

Your middle managers are a goldmine of insights, but they’re often excluded from decision-making. Give them a voice, and you’ll see faster decisions and improved talent retention.

Tactic: Develop Leadership Tracks
Set up a formal development program that hones leadership, decision-making, and communication skills.

Tactic: Delegate Strategic Projects
Assign high-impact projects that align with organizational goals, giving people the chance to prove their decision-making skills.

Tactic: Give Budget Control
Let managers manage their budget. Whether by department or group. It’s a great way to build financial responsibility and improve informed decision-making.

5. Foster Open Communication

For distributed leadership to work, your communication must be transparent and consistent. Open dialogue keeps everyone aligned and results in more informed and effective decisions.

Tactic: Organize Roundtable Discussions
Bring together team members from different departments to discuss projects, ideas, and challenges. These discussions spark innovation and alignment.

Tactic: Create Office Hours with Senior Leaders
Regularly set aside time when senior leaders are available for casual chats. This fosters direct communication without the need for formal meetings.

Tactic: Keep a Decision Log
Record and share significant decisions with the whole team. This transparency builds trust and helps everyone stay on the same page.

6. Align Decisions with Your Big Picture

Every decision your team makes should align with your nonprofit’s mission and goals. This keeps everyone moving in the right direction.

Tactic: Create a Decision Framework
Develop a simple framework that helps team members evaluate decisions based on your mission and resources. I share one I like to use in The Cove.

Tactic: Set Clear Objectives
Make sure every team’s goals connect to your larger strategic objectives. This provides direction while letting your people figure out how to get there.

Tactic: Use OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
Encourage teams to set OKRs that connect to the organization’s mission, giving them direction while allowing them to decide how to achieve these results.

You can launch an effective distributed leadership plan by using one of the tactics from each of the six steps.

Distributed leadership isn’t just about delegation. It’s about empowering your team to make meaningful decisions that move your organization forward. By giving people ownership, providing decision-making tools, fostering cross-functional teams, empowering middle managers, opening up communication, and aligning decisions with your mission—you’ll create a stronger, more agile nonprofit.

And significantly greater impact for the people/cause you serve.

Control Your Calendar Cut Time-Wasting Meetings

Control Your Calendar: Cut Time-Wasting Meetings

by with No Comment The Content Cove
Reading Time: 3 minutes

That weekly Tuesday catchup meeting? It might be a morale, flexibility, and time-killer trifecta.

What starts with good intentions can become a time-sucking routine no one finds valuable.

If you hold meetings that seem to go nowhere, you can make a change.

Why Delete a Recurring Meeting?

  • Meetings Lose Focus: The original purpose fades, and you’re left with a meeting that feels more like a box-checking exercise than a productive session.
  • They’re Inefficient: Recurring meetings often involve too many people, last too long, and achieve too little.
  • Flexibility is Lost: Sticking rigidly to the same meeting schedule makes it harder to support flexibility in the workplace.  

How? Start With That One Meeting You Dread

  1. Evaluate the Meeting’s Purpose

Ask yourself: What’s this meeting really for? If the purpose is unclear, or if it’s no longer aligned with your goals, why is the meeting on your calendar?

2. Get Input from the Team

Ask your team how they feel about the meeting. Are they finding it valuable, or is it just another item on their to-do list? Gather feedback through surveys or direct conversations to get the real scoop.

3. Explore Alternatives

One-Pagers: Instead of status meetings, try a simple weekly summary where everyone shares key updates. It’s quicker, clearer, and no meeting required.

Asynchronous Updates: Use project management tools for updates. This keeps everyone in the loop without needing a real-time gathering. Did you know Slack is free for nonprofits with up to 250 users and deeply discounted if more than 250?

Walking Meetings: If a meeting is more about social cohesion, try a walking meeting. It’s a great way to spark creativity and have open conversations while getting some steps in.

Test and Tweak

Implement your new format and see how it goes. Keep an eye on how well it’s working and be ready to make adjustments. The goal is to improve, not just change for the sake of change.

Routinely Reassess

Start by assessing one meeting. And then, make it a habit to review all your recurring meetings regularly. Ask if they’re still necessary and if they’re delivering value. If not, make changes before they become a drag.

By swapping out just one recurring meeting for something more effective, you’ll free up time, keep your team engaged, and create a more flexible work environment.

Turn Giving Tuesday into a Donor Magnet

Turn Giving Tuesday Into a Donor Magnet

by with No Comment The Content Cove
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Love it or not, Giving Tuesday is a potential goldmine of donor acquisition.

To help reduce overload, here’s how to build your Giving Tuesday plan in just 3 easy steps.

I’ve put together a set of strategies + tactics built upon insights from the most recent Giving Pulse Q1 2024 report. So you can quickly align and launch Giving Tuesday 2024 within your current fundraising plan.

Why? “Giving Tuesday generates more traffic than any other day, it results in the largest influx of new donors.”

This year, that’s December 3rd.

Let’s dive in.

  1. Make It Personal. The Giving Pulse survey found that campaigns with a clear, specific goal—like funding a local project—brought in 35% more new donors.

Tactic: Create a “Project Countdown.” Launch a daily social media series leading up to Giving Tuesday, revealing compelling facts about your project.

Tactic: Utilize an existing story to show the need for the project.

Tactic: Take a recent local news headline and tie your project to the solution.

2. Donors like to give locally. 65% of respondents indicated their most recent act of generosity was intended to help their own community.

Tactic: Create a “Local Impact Showcase” to show how donations directly benefit the community.

Tactic: Incorporate well-known local landmarks or popular community spots into your campaign visuals.

Tactic: Organize a community event or volunteer opportunity alongside your Giving Tuesday campaign. Bonus: volunteers remain your most consistent donors.

3. New Donors like Social Proof. The survey says 43% of new donors were influenced by testimonials from other donors or beneficiaries.

Tactic: Add a special “Donor Stories” area to your Giving Tuesday webpage. Feature stories and testimonials from a variety of donors.

Tactic: Share a series of short and real video testimonials from both donors and people who have benefited from your organization. Post these videos on your social media in the days leading up to and during Giving Tuesday.

Tactic: Ask your current donors to share their stories on social media using a specific hashtag for your campaign. Give them a template or prompt to help them quickly join in.

4. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising. The report noted peer-to-peer as one of the most effective ways to attract new donors, with ambassadors bringing in an average of 10 new donors each.

Tactic: Equip ambassadors with ready-to-use resources like personalized fundraising pages and social media templates.

Tactic: Pair new ambassadors with experienced ones to provide guidance, share best practices, and foster community.

Tactic: Share shoutouts and links to each of your ambassadors’ campaigns.

5. Convert and Retain. Donor retention drives long-term sustainability. We know new donors are more likely to give again if they get a personalized thank-you within 48 hours. The auto-reply acknowledgment does not count.

Tactic: Form a dedicated committee within your board to oversee and implement a robust thank-you call strategy. Each new donor gets a thank you call within 48 hours. Voice mail counts. Bonus: lovely way for your board to engage in fundraising without an ask.

Tactic: Create a “New Donor Welcome Series” – a sequence of tailored communications over the first three weeks post-Giving Tuesday. Include impact stories, volunteer opportunities, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content to deepen their connection to your cause.

Tactic: Set up an automated system to recognize donors on the one-day and the one-month anniversary of their Giving Tuesday gift. Use this touchpoint to showcase the impact of their donation.

Which tactics best align with your current fundraising plans and capacity?

Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to create and build lasting relationships with new donors. But you don’t have to add to your overload to make it successful.

Here’s your 2024 Giving Tuesday plan – in just three easy steps.

  1. Your Goal: Giving Tuesday is a donor acquisition event for our organization.
  2. Your one clear, specific, and local project.
  3. Pick one tactic from each of the five strategies.

Congratulations! You now have your 2024 Giving Tuesday Strategy and Plan.

Improv Beats Brainstorming

Improv Beats Brainstorming 

by with No Comment The Content Cove
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Want a more effective way to generate ideas? Take a page out of improv. While brainstorming is a  known technique for idea generation, it often falls flat because 

1. Groupthink: Participants might conform to dominant ideas, suppressing unique  perspectives and innovative solutions. 

2. Dominant Voices: Louder or more assertive individuals may overshadow quieter  participants, leading to an unbalanced contribution of ideas.  

3. Evaluation Anxiety: Fear of judgment can inhibit participants from sharing unconventional  or “out-there” ideas, limiting creativity. 

If you’re looking for fresh ideas to problem solving, take a cue from improv and do this instead.  

Break your group into tables of 6-8 people, depending on the number of people participating. More  than 8 people per table makes it difficult to iterate. I find 6 is a sweet spot. If your group is 7 or less  people, don’t break it up. Go with one group.  

1. Briefly discuss with your group the problem with which you’d like help.  

2. Give each person a 5 x 8 notecard.  

3. Give people 3-4 minutes to think about the problem.  

4. Each person writes down one solution to the problem, in two sentences or less.  5. Each person then passes their own notecard to their left.  

6. Next to each solution offered, each person now writes Yes, and + 1 refining detail to  strengthen that idea.  

Repeat until everyone gets their original notecard back. 

Weekends prevent Burnout

Weekends – Your Burnout Prevention Goldmine

by with No Comment The Content Cove
Reading Time: 3 minutes

We all know the feeling of dragging ourselves through the week, living for the weekend, and finding  those precious days slipping away in a blur of chores and catch-up work.  

Then, we pin our hopes on that two-week vacation that requires us to work like mad before we leave  and again when we get back to “catch up.” But what if there was a better way? 

What if I told you that the secret to avoiding burnout and enhancing your overall wellbeing lies not in  the sporadic two-week vacation, but in the consistent and intentional use of your weekends? 

The breakdown:  

A typical two-week vacation gives you 336 hours (14 days x 24 hours).  

Compare that to the 52 weekends we get each year. Each weekend offers 48 hours (2 days x 24  hours), totaling a whopping 2,496 hours annually (52 weekends x 48 hours).  

That’s over seven times the amount of time you get from a two-week vacation! And how can you get more out of your weekend? 

Prioritize and Have a Plan 

1. Make a list of your weekly chores and tasks. Divy up those chores across your week in a way  that works best for you and your schedule. Ask yourself some questions. What can be  automated (bill paying)? What can be combined (laundry and meal prep)? What can be  outsourced (Grocery curbside pickup)? 

Make a plan each quarter for how you’ll spend your weekends. Without an advance plan of  where and how you want to spend your weekend, it is really easy for that wonderful time to  slip away , and suddenly it is Monday. 

What gives you energy, makes you happy? Do more of that. Take a nap on Saturday. Take a  weekend trip to a new-to-you town. Chat with your partner over a morning coffee. Go for a  run with your friends. Take your kids for an ice cream after a blast at the playground.  

It may take you awhile to get into the routine of utilizing your weekends for fun and recharge, but the  reward is starting Monday recharged.  

What can you do with 2,496 hours? #banishburnout

How to Increase Your Nonprofit’s Visibility by Spotlighting Other Nonprofits Read Time 4 Minutes

How to Increase Your Nonprofit’s Visibility by Spotlighting Other Nonprofits

by with No Comment The Content Cove
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Have you ever said/thought, “we’re a best kept secret?”


I hear it all the time and it is a heartbreaker because I know that means the people and foundations that want to support that work won’t find those nonprofit organizations.


Visibility for your nonprofit organization is vital so that funders, supporters, and connectors know who you are and what you help make happen.


But many nonprofits overlook easy opportunities to gain visibility. They’re tunneled into communicating what they do. And because of that often view other nonprofits as competitors rather than complementors.


But get this.


One of the easiest ways to raise your visibility is to lift up the work of complimentary nonprofits.


What?


I’m not suggesting you just hop online every day and “like” the work of other nonprofits.


I’m suggesting you be strategic in highlighting nonprofits that work in complimentary ways to your organization.


And is this issue I show you how to grow your visibility by lifting up the work of other nonprofits.


Let’s jump in.

  1. Which nonprofits work to solve the same problem as you, but from a different starting point?

Say you’re a nonprofit that helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities get and maintain a job. Natural complementors for you are your local, regional, state, and national disability advocacy organizations.

  1. Spotlight Your Complementors

Instead of only writing about your work, highlight and spotlight the work of your complimentary nonprofits, explaining how what they do means you can do more of what you do.

This is a super easy way to grow your visibility.

And when you do this consistently, the other nonprofits will often return the favor. You’ve helped them show the impact of their work as well. Which can lead to new followers and supporters for you. And more opportunities for the people or cause you serve.

Win/Win/Win

Key Point: Be consistent. This isn’t a one and done proposition. Build a strategic once a month nonprofit spotlight into your communications. But keep it simple. Use a template, and then fill in the blank. Doesn’t need to be fancy but does need to be consistent.

Here’s an example. Feel free to copy, paste with your customized fill in the blanks.

Shout out to <<Nonprofit Organization Name>> Their work on _________________ means people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can ______________________.

Create the template that works for you and then repeat, repeat.

  1. Be a Connector

In addition to highlighting a complementor, connect your strategic complementors.  Look for ways to amplify their work by connecting your complementors to each other as well. 

When you’re known as a connector, you are viewed as a thought leader, helpful, and valuable. All which help raise your visibility.

Final Thoughts

What many nonprofit leaders don’t realize is that growing your supporters is about more than grinding out 3 posts a week on your activities. That is isolating and insular.

Supporting your complementors on their journey doesn’t take away from your visibility. It actually amplifies it by broadening your network, expanding your audience, and strengthening your relationships.

Strategically highlight other nonprofits and watch your visibility skyrocket.