"Lessons From a Well-Worn Life"
vag·a·bond/ˈvaɡəˌbänd/noun – A person who wanders from place to place without a home or job. Yup, sounds about right! I’ll bet we’ve been talking about the prospect of living outside the U.S. for over 20 years and now it’s right around the corner. We’ve rented our house, sold all but one vehicle, packed up all…
Yesterday I took my first steps beyond the front porch in several days. With so much shut down and hourly news coverage of the Coronavirus Pandemic, I didn't want to go out, but I did anyway. With every touch, I sanitized. I didn't really talk to anyone and stayed in my lane. We needed supplies…
For hundreds of years people have flocked to the United States because of its fairness, opportunities, and individual freedoms. Are we still the land of the free and home of the brave? Our nation became great for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest reason is because of the growth of our middle class. The period…
On December 12, 2014 the Denver Post published "Evergreen fire adds fees for first response" by Josie Klemier. The article detailed The Evergreen Fire Protection District Board of Director's decision to approve a fee schedule for 2015 to charge nonresidents for response to motor vehicle accidents and other emergencies. The article created a bit of…
The original purpose of this site was to offer a fresh viewpoint on the topics of nonprofit leadership, holistic marketing, fundraising, and organizational development. I titled it Hip Tips and my goal was to present interesting and insightful information, ideas, and points of view that would stimulate and motivate nonprofit/NGO's to strive for excellence. After…
In my last post, I addressed the importance pictures play in an effective content marketing strategy that works to tell a compelling nonprofit story. We have often heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what's more important is that words and pictures can work in harmony with one another. There are so…
It's been over 20 years, but I think when one hears "Image is Everything" they almost always think of the Canon camera advertising campaign featuring Andre Agassi from the early 90's. The ad agency got it right, image is one of the most powerful communicators we can employ when working to engage our audience and…
According to Great Nonprofits, there are 6,978 nonprofit organizations in the Denver area; each is special in their own way. But, with that many organizations vying for attention, we must ask ourselves two important questions: 1) Do you want to blend in, or do you want to stand out? 2) Do you want to look "pretty"…
Over the years, I've run across examples of inertia among businesses and organizations that some might explain as a little nutty. The machine is not exactly humming along and things aren't going quite right. No one seems to know why, but they're not attempting to learn more, as they dig in and continue doing the…
I often feel like I'm walking on egg shells when using a term like competition. Language like it is often viewed as foreign in the nonprofit community. That's because collaboration, impact, and the common good are uppermost in all our minds. But, competition can be good; it pushes innovation and inspires progress, and competition can…