 How should a board of directors best participate in fundraising? This revised chapter addresses the role of the board and the role of individual board members in fundraising
The book is now available at Amazon.com and Wiley.com. In a guest blog for the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO), Stephanie shares her advice.
Click here to read the full post. This article appeared in the April 2023 issue of Advancing Philanthropy magazine.
Click here to access a PDF of the article. Stephanie shares her tips on getting started in planned giving with Giving Tomorrow readers.
Click here to read the full article. Stephanie interviews a Gen X donor-advised fund holder for the readers of Giving Tomorrow.
Click here to read the full article. Stephanie shares what the research says on this topic with Giving Tomorrow.
Click here to read the full article.  Click on the image above to listen to the episode.
 Click on the link above to access the podcast.
Stephanie Shares Her "Membership Pro Tip" With Associations Now: Get Board Members on Board2/10/2022
Association staff often assume board members know how to be effective right out of the gate. That’s not always the case, which is why an orientation is a good idea.
A lot of times people join association boards because they are committed volunteers and passionate about the organization’s mission and goals. But, unless they specifically seek out governance education, “no one trains you how to be a board member in school,” said Stephanie Cory, principal at Stephanie Cory Consulting. “Sometimes they aren’t experts in board governance, and they aren’t familiar with the fiduciary responsibilities of tax-exempt organizations.” That’s where orientation that covers the board’s role and what it means to be a good board member comes in. Click here to read the article on Associations Now's site. Stephanie Shares Her Thoughts on Seven Ways Your Business Can Give Back During the Holidays12/10/2021
Many times during the holiday season, nonprofit organizations can be inundated by truckloads of well-intended but unneeded donations of stuff. If your business wants to give back during the holidays, adopt a nonprofit as a company and develop a relationship with that organization's staff.
Many nonprofits have wish lists of items — items that will actually help them accomplish their missions. Please encourage staff to purchase these specific items or make a monetary gift. If an organization has a mission that resonates with your business but not a published wish list, reach out to staff and ask. Few nonprofits will turn down the opportunity for a rewarding partnership. Click here to read the full blog. While most nonprofit organizations recognize the importance of hiring professionals with expertise in their area for program and development staff, this is not always the case for accounting functions. When nonprofits are small with limited staff, it’s not uncommon for these roles to be simply part of someone else’s job.
With software like QuickBooks, it is possible to know little about accounting to get the basics done. As organizations grow, needed attention to professionalize accounting is often not paid. Organizations with strong accounting departments see invoices paid on a more timely basis, receivables collected quicker, and cleaner audit opinions. These organizations also see stronger internal controls to reduce error and deter fraud. Click here to read the full article. Working in nonprofit consulting, Stephanie Cory's days are always different. The principal of her firm Stephanie Cory Consulting, she works exclusively with organizations in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland to help with training and technical assistance. Offering guidance on fundraising and executive job position searches are also part of her services. “I love the variety,” she says. “I love learning about different organizations and being able to help them solve their challenges.” Cory worried the COVID-19 pandemic would dry up her business, but it instead led to more creative thinking and helping organizations navigate uncharted territory with virtual event planning, new funding pathways and more.
Click here to read the full article. Stephanie shares her advice in the Association of Fundraising Professionals' AP Perspectives.
Looking for a new job is a time-consuming process, and it can be frustrating as so much is out of your control. Are you taking advantage of every opportunity to put your best foot forward to prospective employers? Some ways to stand out from the competition are simple, yet not often followed (at least by a majority of applicants for an executive director position for a statewide human services nonprofit). Many of these tips will sound familiar to anyone who has worked in fundraising. Click here to read the full article. How should a candidate effectively answer the “tell me about yourself” interview question?
To help you prepare for an interview, we asked recruiters and business professionals this question for their insights. From practicing your response to defining yourself in the role, there are several strategies to answer the “tell me about yourself” interview question. Connect the Dots This can be an intimidating question: what do you mention, and what do you not? Should you include personal details, or should you keep it focused on your professional experience? Be prepared for this question because it is not one you can pretend you have not heard before. This question can allow you to connect the dots if your career trajectory is not linear, explain how you majored in anthropology but are now an accountant, or how your passions are aligned with your prospective employer’s mission. Pay attention to the non-verbal feedback you are receiving. Do not ramble on and on. Stephanie Cory, Stephanie Cory Consulting Click here to read the entire article. Stephanie was featured as a guest columnist in the Delaware Business Times.
With changes to the federal tax code, economic uncertainty and a global pandemic, nonprofit board members and staff were justified in being pessimistic about fundraising in 2020. Surprisingly, however, total giving in the United States grew from $449.64 billion in 2019 to $471.44 billion in 2020, according to Giving USA. This just-released data is in line with ongoing year-over-year growth. Click here to read the full article. What should new (or new to fundraising) non-profits know about fundraising?
Fundraising doesn’t have to be intimidating. While the thought of asking someone for money can terrify people, it’s actually an opportunity you’re giving someone to make a difference. Read the full interview here. My tip is to stop comparing your business (or self for solopreneurs) to others in your industry. While it's helpful to see what the "competition" is up to, it's better to focus on your strengths than to keep tallying what clients, social media followings, speaking gigs, etc. others have.
Read the full blog post here (scroll to tip #48). Be authentic to yourself and don't try to copy someone else's presentation style. When I was a member of Toastmasters I received feedback that I did not move around the stage or gesture enough--I stood in one place and essentially moved my arms just from the elbows. To help overcome this, I paid close attention to other presenters who better commanded the stage and forced myself to stretch my movement comfort zone. I learned to take a few steps to emphasize a speaking point and to make my gestures more extreme than felt natural. I did not, however, emulate a fellow speaker who was praised by some for her overly dramatic stage presence and ridiculed by others for her use of Jazz hands while speaking about serious topics. Imitating her would have been inauthentic.
Read the full article here. Fast forward to nine minutes in to see Stephanie's tips.
 How should a board of directors best participate in fundraising? This chapter addresses the role of the board and the role of individual board members in fundraising...
Get full details in Stephanie's chapter on Fundraising Best Practices for Boards. The book is available at Amazon.com and Wiley.com beginning May 12, 2020. I was introduced to Canine Partners for Life (CPL) in 2013 when I was the executive director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Delaware and met the organization’s development director through the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Read the full article as it appeared in Giving Tomorrow magazine. This book review appeared in the Summer 2019 issue of Advancing Philanthropy magazine.
When a book wins an award for research, the reader expects it to be informative. What is not expected, is an easy read with real-world applicability. Sharna Goldseker and Michael Moody’s book is both informative and readable. The book’s tone is casual and conversational as evidenced by the frequent use of contractions. Vocabulary is kept simple and any technical terms or fundraising jargon are defined. The book reads much faster than the reader might expect of a research-based book. Click here to access a PDF of the article. Here’s a story that will make you cringe. In my role as a development director, I once received a call from a donor. Her husband had recently passed away, and her son made a gift in memory of him that he enclosed in a letter to the executive director. She was calling because it had been three months since the gift was made, and neither had her son’s gift hadn’t been acknowledged nor the check cashed. I immediately apologized for this and told the donor I’d look into it. I reached out to the executive director’s assistant to enlist her help in finding this letter with a donation in it. Rather than sort through piles on her boss’s desk, she asked if we could ask the donor to write another check.
Click here to read the full article from plannedgiving.com. |
