urgency - moss + ross

Real-Time Choices that Matter

By Susan Ross. With clients, we often talk about making critical decisions in real time. Every one of us is living this challenge with the COVID-19 pandemic. The world says STOP but some can’t, particularly those working directly with at-risk populations like seniors or cancer patients. And those who provide food and shelter face increased demand now. Even those who could take a “pause” know it comes with huge financial risk to already tight nonprofit budgets. These real-time decisions about fundraising mailings and events could lead to service interruptions and unmet payroll in the coming months. moss+ross has always been a virtual office environment, so we are just as available to you as ever. Call any of us if you need a thinking partner for your real-time decisions. Here is our best advice for how to navigate: [...]

Creating Urgency for Your Giving Programs

By Susan Ross. Like many of you, I celebrated June 30th again this year. It has been many years since I was Director of the Duke Annual Fund, but I am still tuned in to the importance of this particular day on the calendar, and the hard work with LYBUNTs that leads up to it. I’d bet anyone whose resume includes annual giving shares my feeling. Of course, our donors may or may not be attuned to the fiscal year-end importance of a random day in mid-summer, focused as they are on the IRS-provided December 31 timeframe. But we development folks know it is about more than just a budget. There is value in giving donors a deadline. People need a reason to make a decision in a timely fashion, and good development officers can help close gifts [...]