Today was a hard day.

Today I am not writing about nonprofit leadership. Today was a particularly challenging day for me because I said goodby to my cat Prince--he was only 2 years old. Prince became sick about 3 months ago and although we tried to help him, the move was to much for him to handle and he became really sick when he stopped eating altogether. Today was a hard day. I miss him, and our other cat Alex misses him.

Blog Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants!

I am excited to be hosting the blog Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants for the first time on this blog! There were some great posts this week!

Here are some marketing and fundraising tips.

1. Jeff Brooks of the Donor Power blog writes in his post why most fundraising doesn't work.

2. Katya Andresen of the Nonprofit Marketing blog explains about using the "Puppy Factor" in nonprofit marketing and fundraising.

3. Paul Jones writes about offering exclusivity for cause related marketing sponsorships in his Cause-Related Marketing blog post.

4. In Kivi Miller's post, she explains the importance of obtaining a model release before using photographs in your nonprofit's newsletter.

5. Michael Stein (west coast) writes a post about how Mal Warwick a well known fundraising consultant, answers 500 fundraising questions on his (Mal's) website.

And the buzz continues about the leadership transition in the nonprofit sector.

6. Alvaro Fernandez of the Brain Fitness blog talks about the importance of, "Training the Aging Workforce."

7. And I wrote a post about how I think the leadership gap has to do with lack of succession planning in nonprofits.

Happy blogging this week! Michele Martin of the Bamboo Project blog hosts the next blog Carnival.


Blog Carnival Feed

Let's state the real problem--lack of succession planning

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend NP2020 conference like I wanted to because I was moving to San Diego right during the conference, however I have been reading notes from the conference wiki and blog posts about the conference here, here, here, here, here and here. Ok, so I know there is a lot of research about the impending leadership gap, however I tend to take the position--I'll believe it when I see it. My opinion is the gap is inferred by some baby boomers in positions of power right now because they haven't conducted succession planning.

I've worked for some amazing Executive Directors, however not one of them has thought about succession planning or how to set the organization up so it can succeed and run without them. I guess that is why I am so adamant about preparing for and training my replacement. Also, it is important to think about succession planning not in terms of finding a replacement exactly like yourself, however finding someone who has different skills than you. This allows them to maintain the components that you built up in the organization, but also build up the areas of the organization that were your "weak" areas. Let's please be honest about who we are as leaders and put our egos aside (myself included) and prevent this leadership gap from turning into a reality.

Consequently, I noticed many notes from the NP2020 conference state they want more mentoring and professional development. This is great however as a note to Gen X and Gen Y, I've said in a previous post--I've had folks want to "mentor" me--but not in the ways that I wanted to be mentored. In other words, they wanted to turn me into them. My suggestions would be approach people you look up to and build an informal mentoring relationship with them. That has worked well for me. Also, many nonprofits don't have the money or put the money aside to offer professional development opportunities, and if they won't budge--my motto is, "forge your own way." I've been known to take vacation time to go to nonprofit conferences so I can get the professional development I want and network with new people.

I've Been Tagged- Here are my 8 Random Facts

I'm back in the Bay Area this week and training my replacement here at Aspiration.

I have been so busy I didn't notice I got "tagged" by Rosetta Thurman on August 1. Now I'm supposed to share 8 random facts about me. Here are the rules, these are taken straight from Rosetta's tag post.

"1) Post these rules before you give your facts
2) List 8 random facts about yourself
3) At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them
4) Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they've been tagged"

Here it goes.

1. I love to scrapbook.

2. I'm 8th generation Californian--my family was here before California was a state.

3. I'm an airline brat--my dad works for United and my husband is now an airline pilot so you can probably guess I love to travel.

4. I'm super close to both my family and my husband's family and we usually have joint holiday celebrations.

5. I love any sport that has to do with the water, and I would live in the water if I could.

6. My husband is a veteran and deployed twice to the middle east during the second Gulf War.

7. I am one of the few people who wishes she were older or at least look older. I guess its because I always get comments from people about how young I look.

8. I am going to change the world by helping nonprofits run more effectively!

It seems like all the blogs I read have already been tagged, so I am breaking the rules--oh no. I would like to see all bloggers write 8 ways they are going to change the world--for the better I hope :).

Did you read my Nonprofit Management and Operations Blog?

I recently got accepted to present at a nonprofit research conference about my previous blog the Nonprofit Management and Operations Blog, as well as the Nonprofit Operations Wiki and Nonprofit Operations Brown Bag Lunch discussions as being collaborative learning and professional development tools for nonprofit managers.

If you read the Nonprofit Management and Operations blog or participated in a brown bag lunch discussion--please take a few minutes to provide me your feedback and let me know whether or not these devices were beneficial to your professional development.

Click Here to take survey

Tips for Moving To A New City

I'm sitting in my new diggs in San Diego!! The movers delivered all our stuff yesterday and I am currently taking a break from unpacking. I am thinking about the ways that I am going to network and meet other nonprofit folks in this fabulous new city. For those of you who are also moving to a new city or trying to transition into the nonprofit sector in your area, here are some networking steps I am taking.

1. Before I moved here I contacted some large nonprofits and foundations in the area and asked them if there are any location specific nonprofit listservs I should join.

2. I checked to see if there is a Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) chapter in my new city.

3. I contacted the local volunteer center to sign up for one-day or half-day volunteer opportunities to meet new people.

4. I am in the process of signing up for boardnet USA a free board matching service so I can serve on the board of a local nonprofit.

5. I'm planning to attend the local Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) chapter meeting, the local nonprofit association meeting and a Volunteer Managers meeting.

6. I'm going to sign up for a workshop at the local nonprofit training center.

7. I'm trying not to overdo it and making time for play like signing up for a scrapbooking class and joining a new bell choir.