Not long ago I attended a Women in Development of Greater Boston (WID) event, Passé or Sans Pareil? The State of Special Fundraising Events. The focus of the discussion was the question: “Are galas in or out?” The event drew quite a crowd and was even sold-out! (Insert applause track here). The panel included: Jude Goldman, Executive Director of the Lenny Zakim Fund, Julie A. Lima, Director...

How do you make sure someone on your team is reaching their full potential? Is there any way to be certain that everyone feels a part of the team? Are there ways to make sure that people don't fall between the cracks? These are some difficult questions that are not always top of mind. Lou Bergholz the founder of Edgework Consulting and his team are changing the conversation and "are dedicated...

Lights. Camera. ACTION! Filming a video can be a lot of fun. However, there are a number of technical questions that may leave you scratching your head. Never fear! Reflection Films is here to help relieve some of that confusion. Today, we're providing a couple of tips to keep in mind if you are filming a video. We hope with this advice, it will make your video production experience much more...

  Last week I attended the annual meeting of Women in Development of Greater Boston and had the chance to hear Helen Drinan, the President of Simmons College, share leadership lessons from her personal experience. Below are a few of her key points.   Business Acumen In order to understand your organization, you need to have a command of basic financial literacy. She recommends...

I recently attended an event on net neutrality hosted by the Roosevelt Institute of Boston.  The speaker was Daniel Lyons, a Boston College law professor, who was presenting on the subject of net neutrality. According to the FCC, net neutrality "means consumers can go where they want, when they want" on the internet. What does this mean? Here is what I gleaned from Lyons...recognizing that he got into...

I had the pleasure of giving a presentation on video storytelling at Third Sector New England last week and thought I would share a snippet of Q&A from the event: Your relationship with your video producer One participant asked about how to strike a balance when working with a video producer.   When do you weigh in on what video content should be used?  When do you allow the producer to make...

Summertime is right around the corner! Many people tend to slow things down a bit to soak up some sun and grab some R&R. Many organizations take this "slower" season to really take a look at their organization: What have been our achievements? Where can we improve? The change in seasons can be an opportunity to consider new branding and marketing strategies. But watch-out: there are common...

A little while back, we interviewed Lily Robles from Opus Design, and she had a few thoughts on ways nonprofits can promote their events. Because we have fully entered the gala season, we thought this a propos. Here is an article too, from the Boston Globe, on the ups and downs of hosting a charity event. Rachel: So what are a few tips that you can offer to folks who are considering creating...

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a Women in Development of Greater Boston meeting while Rachel and Geoff were filming in DC. The topic of discussion focused on building a healthy relationship with your board in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the work of your organization. The panelists included Sherif Nada, who represented “The Board,” Rita Fuerst Adams from the viewpoint...

Are you a thrill-seeker? Someone who would go bungee jumping or scale a steep rock face? If you're like me, then you wouldn't do any of these crazy stunts without ensuring that your decisions will have a positive (and non-life threatening) outcome. Even though this is an extreme example, the idea of assuring a good result translates into your work life as well. As a follow-up to our video post...