Perspectives

  New York Times “Corner Office” columnist and best-selling author Adam Bryant has interviewed hundreds of CEOs for his books on leadership.  His first book, The Corner Office; Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed, explores the essential qualities shared by many CEOs that ultimately landed them in the corner office.  Here, my take on three of those…

  Picking up where we left off with Adam Bryant’s interviews with CEOs and the qualities he identified in some 70 leaders, here are the D.  Simple Mind-Set: Be concise, get to the point and make it simple. Be practical. Be succinct. Drop the power point or keep it so very, very short. Give information ahead for others to read and then be prepared to enter the meeting and ready to answer key…

Interview with Carrie Collins, Chief Advancement Officer, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Book ending the conversation with Carrie on working with boards is the advice that it is of the utmost importance to forge good working relationships with each board member individually.

Amy, who oversees the talent management program for a staff of 200 including seventeen schools and colleges at Boston University, shares her insights into identifying the best candidates for a job, retaining talented staff, and how talent management strategies are changing.

Having started her career in Advancement Services in 1987, Deb Cunningham is well qualified to observe how AS has evolved over the years. When we spoke to her in 2014, she emphasized that data and the tools to interpret data had become major drivers of change in the profession.

A Conversation with Patricia (Trish) Jackson Vice President for Development, Brown University In early May, we reached out to longtime colleague Trish Jackson to talk about leadership. We started the conversation by asking her to describe any special attributes an aspiring leader in advancement should cultivate. As we talked, a theme that emerged was the concept of “fluency” and how that…

Cynthia Woolbright discusses the importance of board assessment and evaluation and offers tips for when and how it should be done

In this interview, President Fox shares his thoughts on relationships with key Board members, what he looks for in a CAO, the importance of board member engagement, and other presidential musings.

Shanna Hocking, Associate Vice President, Individual Giving, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Intrigued by a review of the recently published “Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent” by Sidney Finkelstein, author and Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, Shanna Hocking was “compelled” to read the book. The book has been…

This article was first published December 4, 2013. Rosheen Kavanagh and Katha Washburn share their strategies for building a donor loyalty pipeline for the future. Interview Transcript Cynthia Woolbright: So let’s start with the recent history of these programs: why you started them; how you developed your volunteer base; what sort of outcomes you’ve had and how long the programs have been…

This article was first published December 12, 2012. Interview Transcript Cynthia Woolbright: Alright, well, thank you very much for agreeing to talk with us. From your perspective as the head of school there at Buffalo Seminary, describe for us the impact of the last five years on fundraising and how that has played out and what you might expect going forward. Jody Douglass: Well, I arrived at…

Advancement professionals must learn to be agile, adaptable, and resourceful. That is certainly true when it comes to donor relations and stewardship. As Erin Moyer advises in this interview, “Embrace knowing that there will always be something you don’t know or were not prepared for…"

Cynthia Woolbright uses an example involving a coffee mug to illustrate “best practices” when it comes to donor relations.

In her video blog on donor relations and stewardship, Cynthia Woolbright uses an example involving a coffee mug to illustrate “best practices” when it comes to donor relations.

This article was first published July 8, 2014. The Woolbright Group invited Lisa Maizite to share her thoughts with our readers on the subject of forecasting major trends in securing major gifts over the next five to ten years.   "More than ever, the decision to make a philanthropic gift is not just made by an individual, or even a couple, but in many cases, the entire family is involved…

This article was first published January 3, 2015. A conversation with Linda Durant, Senior Vice President, University Advancement, Widener University   A Board of Trustees is the most important group of leaders on any campus. So how do we, as the Advancement team, most effectively engage them, encourage them, and bring them on board prepared to be confident and proactive fundraisers? We asked…