‘Tis the day for mid-week news and notes… And let us know if you have anything to share with the CFP crowd!

How to Find Generous Donors — Just before 2011, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported on three new giving studies, conducted by Blackbaud, Network for Good, and the Daily Beast. Their findings? Our area stacks up quite well! In the Blackbaud study, DC and Maryland ranked #1 and #2 respectively for the number of donors with incomes over $100K. And Network for Good reported that DC is #1 and Virginia #8 in average giving per household.

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Welcome to Wednesday, Washingtonians!

“Are There Limits to Collaborations?” — this post over at Deep Social Impact definitely caught my eye. First, I wrote a quick post on the resurgence of an ethic of collaboration among disparate organizations. Second, on an intra-organization level, “collaboration” has certainly become a buzzword in recent years. But is collaboration always in the best interest of our mission and operations? As Cynthia Gibson writes, “What I — and others — are starting to see, however, is that there can be a tendency for organizations to see collaboration as an end unto itself, rather than a process, management style, or approach that’s a means to an end.”

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… For astute leaders looking to grow, treat every day like election day — a new opportunity to learn, to build trust, to forge commitment, and to get out the vote in support of your organization’s better tomorrows. It’s not easy, but over time it’s a leadership journey many will sign on to.

Yesterday, I linked to this On Leadership page from the Post website. Just to re-cap, the Post asked its panel what the first thing that President Obama, or any “military or non-profit leader,” should do when confronted with an “unambiguously negative evaluation” of their performance or their organization. And I am seriously digging this brief, yet incisive answer from Susan Peters, VP of executive development and chief learning officer of GE.

Is an election equivalent to an evaluation? I’m not so sure. And can we say definitively that the radical re-shuffling of Congress was an “evaluation” of the President and not, say, Congress? I’m not sure about that one either. But I think that Peters’ point still stands. A good “leadership journey” does not (and should not) entail a biannual self-assessment, but a daily one. Maybe even an hourly one. A constant one.

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