Strengthening Our Nonprofit Community

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susan ross

Creating Great Chemistry

By Susan Ross, Founding Partner. Maybe it is because Lessons in Chemistry is on nearly every book list this year (and it is a great read), but I have been thinking lately about CHEMISTRY and how it plays a role in successful relationships of all kinds. It is not AP Chem I am thinking about, but what is defined as “the complex emotional or psychological interactions among people.” This goes beyond marriages and friendships and includes other kinds of associations, like those between nonprofits and their volunteers and donors or Executive Directors and their staffs. At moss+ross, we take very seriously the chemistry involved in our professional relationships with clients. We work with all kinds of nonprofits and all kinds of people. Well over half of our 257 clients have hired us for multiple engagements over the past [...]

2023-09-19T10:17:03-04:00September 19th, 2023|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Staffing, Strategic Planning, Team Expertise|
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Next Gen Board: Recruiting for a New Day

By Susan Ross, Founding Partner. If your Board nominees look like mirror images of your current board, perhaps it’s time to try a new approach. Most of our nonprofit clients are actively seeking ways to embrace Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. A stated commitment to DEIB is a good step, but it needs to be followed by actions and outcomes. Nonprofit leaders need board members to be their trusted advisors on strategic questions. If your whole board has the same perspective or the same skillset, you won’t get the best guidance. Board members play important roles as ambassadors and outside eyes, for which you need multiple networks represented. Our clients tell us that they know their boards need new blood, but they don’t know how to find new people. Great candidates are all around us, but it [...]

2022-11-06T09:43:56-05:00October 26th, 2022|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter|
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Local Firm, National Reach

By Susan Ross, Founding Partner. “Shopping local” doesn’t exactly mean the mom-and-pop store on the corner when it comes to choosing strategic counsel. moss+ross takes a community-centric approach to meeting the needs of nonprofits in our region of North Carolina. Clients tell us that the extensive community knowledge and context we bring to our work equip their teams to compete for philanthropic dollars and hire great talent from national as well as local sources. We regularly compete with national fundraising consulting and executive search firms, and we believe moss+ross is a better choice for most nonprofits. Being your local firm is a distinct business advantage – for all of us. Our clients see the impact of our work across sectors and the region. They appreciate having us nearby and nimble, and they are happy not to pay [...]

2022-07-27T12:34:19-04:00July 27th, 2022|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter|
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Our Firm is Expanding

By Mary Moss and Susan Ross, Co-founders. moss+ross celebrated its 13th anniversary just a few days ago. Our firm has grown tremendously over these years, fueled by the increased demand for our extensive suite of services. In response, as of January 1, we named three longtime senior associates as partners. Joining us as senior managers will be Kim Glenn, President; Lizzy Mottern, Vice President of Talent; and Kate Hearne, Vice President of Corporate Services. Please join us in congratulating them on these new roles. We set a goal when we founded the firm to focus on relationships, not jobs. This deep caring for our community in which we both were born has been rewarded with continued year-over-year growth. As we look toward the future, we reflect on how moss+ross has grown its footprint in many important ways. 220 [...]

2022-01-25T09:48:44-05:00January 25th, 2022|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Team Updates|
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Talent Makes it Happen

By Susan Ross, Partner. The media is calling it a “resignation revolution,” but when it happens in your shop it’s just painful. Executive Directors, Directors of Development, and other nonprofit staff leaders play an integral role in a team’s ability to deliver the services clients expect, and stay true to the promises made to donors. In both large and small environments, a vacancy or two can wreak havoc on the remaining staff’s ability to perform as they scramble to keep up with an increased workload. We have seen a huge uptick in clients needing executive search services this fall, and no signs of it slowing down. Whether or not this is related to the pandemic, the need for experienced, mission-focused leaders is very real. At moss+ross, we are poised to help with interim professional placement to keep [...]

2021-11-04T15:34:06-04:00November 4th, 2021|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Staffing, Team Expertise|
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Welcome Normal Days

By Susan Ross, Partner. I’ve kept a newspaper column for many years called “Learning to be grateful for life’s normal days.” Encouraging us not to overlook their beauty, Donna Britt writes in the Washington Post of their “magnificent mediocrity” and says “those are days worth loving.” Never was that more true than during the 2020-21 pandemic-related upheaval of our normalcy. Nonprofits did what they could. Some hunkered down while others geared up, and most of those who continued fundraising just closed one of their best years ever. Our advice, shared through every Zoom call and e-newsletter over the last year, was not to wait it out but instead to continue to do the hard work of asking people to support the mission. So now as you begin to plan your 2021-22 fiscal year, how do you account [...]

2021-07-29T14:51:11-04:00July 29th, 2021|All Posts, From The Partners, Fundraising Counsel, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Team Expertise|
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Building Great Partnerships

By Susan Ross, Partner. Last month I loved being a volunteer faculty member for AFP’s three-day intensive Fundamentals of Fundraising course. My portion of the training used 46 slides and two hours to reinforce one critical point: “Building and maintaining relationships is at the core of successful fundraising.” What does that mean for you and your nonprofit? Based on a dozen years leading moss+ross and three decades of fundraising for Duke, my experience says that building great working relationships with good people interested in your cause starts with valuing them beyond their gifts. Take time to hear their stories and learn from them. Seek their input and make sure they hear important information directly from you. As you bring them closer to the work you are doing, you may see them invest in a bigger way and become your organization’s biggest [...]

2021-07-26T20:59:39-04:00March 19th, 2021|All Posts, Campaign Counsel, From The Partners, Fundraising Counsel|
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Time to Put it in DRIVE!

By Susan Ross. Now that Election Day has passed, the calendar shows just eight weeks left to hit your year-end goals. Now is the time to get your message out and bring in the gifts you need for your nonprofit. Here is where to start: 1)   Set a goal and get to work. Analyze your data and budget - how much money do you need by 12/31? Look up what you usually raise this time of year. You may have some catching up to do -- you need to get out there and ask. Enlist your colleagues and Board members to help you bring in gifts. 2)   Get your 2020 message right. Last year’s recycled message points just won’t do it. Take the time to uncover and tell new stories that are relevant to donors making a 2020 decision. Donors want [...]

2020-11-11T03:39:41-05:00November 11th, 2020|All Posts, From The Partners, Fundraising Counsel|
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What Help Looks Like

By Mary Moss and Susan Ross. One week ago, we joined the nation in witnessing yet another atrocity -- the murder of an unarmed Black man captured on video. What happened that day has left another image burned in our memory of what systemic racism looks like. The image of George Floyd joins those of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others. We grieve their unnecessary and untimely deaths, and we also grieve the violence that has erupted in response to these events. This is our home, and everyone who works with our moss+ross team loves it dearly. We grew up in Durham, went to college in Chapel Hill, raised our families in Durham and Raleigh, and built our company in the Triangle. Our mission statement: impact that matters in a place we love, is built on our stated core belief [...]

2020-08-11T20:15:26-04:00June 2nd, 2020|All Posts, From The Partners, Special Topics|
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Phasing in Your Fundraising

By Susan Ross. Now that North Carolina has begun its phased reopening, you may be looking at how this applies to your fundraising efforts. The nonprofit community has responded in extraordinary ways during this time, with dedicated staff and volunteers doing all they could to serve clients, maintain programs, and raise money when able. In the process, nonprofits realized which services were most critical to clients, and many were able to pivot when they saw a service gap that they could fill. Going forward, this pandemic-induced clarity is an opportunity for change as nonprofits review missions, collaborations, and impact in the community. Importantly, whether or not you have been actively fundraising during the past few months, you need to start getting back up to speed soon. Like everything else in our lives, fundraising activity will fall into [...]

2020-05-21T20:19:03-04:00May 21st, 2020|All Posts, From The Partners, Fundraising Counsel|
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