As a fundraising professional one of the only assets you truly have is your reputation.  So what would you do if you learned that your married boss, the chief development officer (CDO), was having an …

Lilya Wagner continues, in this column with Patrice Hieb, her series on handling fundraisers’ leadership nightmares.

This is the concluding installment on the recent column that advised fundraisers on dealing with executives who don’t really understand what it is that development professionals do. On this topic, I’ve asked colleagues to help …

This is the latest installment in Dr. Lilya Wagner’s series, Fundraising Nightmares.
Megan eagerly looked forward to her interview at the International Outreach to Africa organization, where she had applied for the Vice-President for Advancement position.  …

Patrick often conducted workshops or training sessions for various types of practitioners.  He did this as part of his affiliation with an educational institution and also as a consultant.  This was an …

Was the fundraising program in danger of being downsized? Was he not needed anymore? Normally an upbeat person, David couldn’t fight the dejection and depression that hit him, and hard. Clearly, he was being marginalized. Maybe it was time to bow out rather than fight unworkable situations.

Last month we followed the saga of the ISRE organization and the case of the board which was asleep on the watch. Over the period of time that it took for ISRE to fade away …

Joe thought he had approached his new job carefully. He weighed each of the points that seemed mildly alarming or of serious concern, considering whether these presented routine challenges in fundraising, or if they were cause for alarm. Remembering what his mentor had told him about “smoke alarm” situations–the warning signs of a no-win job, of challenging or impossible situations camouflaged as opportunities–he didn’t rush into the job but took his time in discovering as much as he could about what he would face if he accepted the position.