A parent and a nonprofit founder have many things in common. They are both passionate about (and sometimes passionately annoyed with) the thing they have “created.” It is exhilarating (and exhausting!) to be in charge of its growth. They are also both concerned with...

I had the great honor to attend a lecture last week given by Dr. Susannah Heschel, professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, friend and confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Her lecture marked the kickoff of...

It has been an exciting year at Pathways to Growth! In 2018, we expanded our grant writing and management team, served 44 clients through grant writing and capacity building, taught grant writing to 50 students, and helped organizations from 8 states and 3 countries to find funding to sustain and grow their work.

The end of the year is rapidly approaching. For most nonprofit staff with development responsibilities, that means two things – year end giving appeals and year end grant reports.

One of the most important questions for a nonprofit to be able to answer well is, “What is the impact of your organization?” While stories about individual clients served may tug at the heartstrings, most organizations are finding that individual stories are no longer sufficient to generate dollars.

In April, Blackbaud Institute for Philanthropic Impact released their study on the Next Generation of American Giving detailing the giving habits of each generation from the Greatest Generation (they call them “Matures”) to Generation Z. This was the third in a series...

As we near the giving season, I have seen several blog posts and news articles on how to “give smarter” or comparing the “best and worst charities.” In these days of analytics, there are many ways that nonprofit organizations are compared to one another as donors try...

Pathways to Growth client Faith Action Ministry Alliance (FAMA) board members at a Board Development and Strategic Planning meeting facilitated by Julé Colvin. How often have you heard non-profit staff members or leadership complain that their board members don’t...