September 1, 2019 | Board Development
Field Guide, Quarterly Newsletter for Board Members, Land Trust Alliance: Sara Wilson’s article, Board Building: Inviting People with a Shared Vision, published in the Field Guide, the Land Trust Alliance’s board member newsletter, is available as a download on our Resources page. In the article, Sara shares her extensive expertise on recruiting board members for […]
August 13, 2019 | Coaching
Sara Wilson, CPCC | “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where–” said Alice “Then it doesn’t matter where you go,” said the Cat “–So long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice […]
August 7, 2019 | Julie Whelan Capell
Julie Whelan Capell | The next time you are driving around in your car or washing dishes, you might want to tune in to the Nomadtopia Radio podcast to hear about Julie’s adventures with location independence. Since late 2017, Julie has been experimenting with life as a digital nomad. For anyone not familiar with the […]
July 30, 2019 | Board Development
Sara Wilson, CPCC | During my 20+years of consulting, I have noticed one of the habits many high functioning nonprofit boards have in common is they routinely evaluate their performance through two lenses. First, as an entity, are we performing our responsibilities? And second, as individuals, are we fulfilling our job requirements and serving the organization as promised? Evaluating […]
July 16, 2019 | Organizational Development | Planning
Sara Wilson, CPCC | Mid-calendar year, a-l-r-e-a-d-y. I hope you’re enjoying summer cook-outs, Frisbee golf, and vacations to new and exciting places. I just got back from a wonderful week in Mexico! But summer isn’t all fun and travel. Maybe your kids are home and you are juggling their activities and schedules. Maybe yard work […]
June 25, 2019 | Coaching
Sara Wilson, CPCC | Life can become a series of absent-mindedly putting one foot in front of the other. In work, business and at home, we go through the motions because of expectations—our own, our manager’s, our family’s. Have you experienced this? Truth be told, I have and I didn’t even realize it until I […]
June 11, 2019 | Board Development
Sara Wilson, CPCC | According to the Business Dictionary, engagement is the emotional connection a person feels toward an organization, which tends to influence his or her behaviors and level of effort in work-related activities. This definition fits multiple contexts, including staff, volunteers and supporters. Today I want to specifically address the engagement of board […]
May 28, 2019 | Board Development | Organizational Development
Sara Wilson, CPCC | A concern many individuals I coach bring up is a lack of engagement on the part of employees, team members or board members. Understandably this is a challenge for every Leader. You depend on people being engaged in order to achieve strategic goals and to accomplish day-to-day tasks. If you want […]
January 30, 2019 | Fundraising | Planning
Julie Whelan Capell | While you’re updating your annual plan through a “possibilities” lens, try doing the same with your fund development plan. Try these ways of reframing the exercise: 1) Look at one or two organizations in your town that are very different from yours and see if there’s anything they’re doing that might […]
January 15, 2019 | Organizational Development | Planning
Sara Wilson, CPCC | I thought of calling this “Annual Planning in Times of Chaos” but realized times of turmoil can be times of great possibilities and growth. The trick is to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the uncertainty. One way to do this is to return to your annual plan. When was the last time […]