By Mark Belcher, Partner In the immortal words of our founder, Mrs. Leonard (Be) Haas, “every organization needs a good case, strong leadership and a winning strategy.”  Simple, right?  Well it would seem that those three items are a given and many organizations have some combination of the “Key 3”. It’s not surprising that the […]

By: David Shufflebarger, Senior Partner One of the joys of our work in development is the opportunity to get to know some extraordinary philanthropists who define what I mean when I say ‘good people.’ Another is working with exceptional colleagues. I was reminded of that when I learned that Kathy Costello died March 20. She […]

By: Jerry W. Henry, Partner Revolving doors are helpful….except when they are not! In the winter, revolving doors enable us to get inside the warmth of a building lobby in a fairly quick fashion without letting the blustery cold air blow through behind us.  But, there are times when I’m either carrying a large briefcase […]

By: David T. Shufflebarger, Senior Partner We know from the good work done by the Giving USA Foundation that giving tends to correlate most strongly with the stock market, that the market is off to its worst January start since 2008, and that its January performance, known as the ‘January effect,’ often correlates to how […]

By: Heather H. Thornton, Project Manager The holidays tend to bring out my more magnanimous side, and I made a donation to a couple of charities in December.  The organizations to which I gave are lesser known, and I chose them based on how the work they are doing resonated with me and my values. […]

By: Elizabeth Smith, Project Coordinator This summer, Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” became the anthem of so many women across the country. The song empowers women to stand up and fight whatever is going on in their lives and to be strong. This summer, I had the honor to fight for something – Sweet Briar College. […]

By: W. Milton Key, Jr., Partner In case it didn’t make it on your New Year’s resolutions list and you still have an open slot, add this one: make board membership more meaningful by helping them better understand the fundraising part of their role.   As fundraising professionals and nonprofit leaders, we are revenue drivers, related […]

By:  Nancy E. Peterman, Partner The first weeks of January have most likely been focused on ensuring that activities such as gift entry and acknowledgment letters are current. Now that the first two weeks of the year are behind us, it is a great time to tackle the following: Evaluate your year-end and holiday operations.  […]