Ideas in Motion: A New Space for Nonprofit Leadership, Strategy, and Impact

For more than three decades, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside nonprofit leaders, board members, fundraisers, philanthropists, volunteers, and community partners who are trying to do something that sounds simple but rarely is: make a meaningful difference.

Along the way, I’ve learned that some of the most valuable ideas don’t necessarily come from a conference keynote, a strategic planning retreat, or a carefully prepared presentation.

Sometimes they come from a conversation after the meeting.

A question someone asks during a workshop.

Something a board member says that makes everyone stop and think.

A problem an executive director has been wrestling with for months.

Or even a thought that occurs to me while I’m driving between meetings.

That last one is actually how Mission in Motion began.

Mission in Motion

Mission in Motion is my short-form video series built around a simple idea: nonprofit leadership doesn’t always need another hour-long webinar, 50-page report, or complicated framework.

Sometimes we just need one idea worth thinking about.

A question.

An observation.

A challenge.

A practical strategy that might help us look at our organization—or our leadership—a little differently.

Mission in Motion gives me a way to share those ideas quickly and informally, often in just a couple of minutes. And it reflects something I believe deeply about this work: our missions may be inspiring, but impact requires movement.

We have to turn ideas into decisions.

Decisions into action.

And action into results.

Why This Blog—and Why Now?

The nonprofit sector is navigating an extraordinary period of change.

Funding models are shifting. Donor expectations are evolving. Boards are being asked to govern increasingly complex organizations. Leaders are dealing with workforce challenges, financial pressure, changing technology, increased demand for services, and communities whose needs aren't getting any simpler.

At the same time, organizations are being asked to demonstrate greater impact, stronger accountability, clearer strategy, and more sustainable approaches to their work.

There are no shortage of opinions about what nonprofit organizations should be doing.

I'm much more interested in exploring how we actually do it.

How do we create strategic plans that become tools for decision-making rather than documents sitting on a shelf?

How do we build boards that understand the difference between governance and management?

How do we develop fundraising strategies rooted in relationships rather than transactions?

How do we create organizations capable of adapting when circumstances change?

How do leaders build trust, develop people, navigate difficult conversations, and still keep an organization moving forward?

And perhaps most importantly:

How do we make sure the work we're doing is actually advancing the mission we care so much about?

Those are the kinds of questions I want to explore here.

More Than One Place to Have the Conversation

This blog will be one part of a larger conversation.

I'll continue sharing ideas through LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, and Mission in Motion, because different platforms allow for different kinds of conversations.

Sometimes an idea needs a two-minute video.

Sometimes it needs a short post and a provocative question.

And sometimes it deserves a deeper examination—which is where this blog comes in.

I'll write about strategic planning, organizational performance, leadership, philanthropy and fundraising, boards, organizational culture, facilitation, change, and the challenges I see nonprofit leaders confronting every day.

I'll also share lessons from my own experience—the things I've seen work, the things I've seen fail, and occasionally the things I've gotten wrong.

Because after more than 30 years in this sector, one thing I'm certain of is that none of us has all the answers.

But we can ask better questions.

This Is Meant to Be a Conversation

I don't want this to simply be a place where I publish articles.

I want it to be a place where ideas start conversations.

If something I write or say makes you think differently, tell me.

If you disagree with me, tell me that too.

If your organization is wrestling with a challenge you think other nonprofit leaders are experiencing, send it my way. It might become a future article, Mission in Motion video, workshop discussion, or LinkedIn conversation.

And if something resonates with you, share it with someone else who might benefit from the conversation.

That's how ideas move.

That's how organizations learn.

And ultimately, that's how missions move forward.

So consider this the beginning.

There will be more ideas, more questions, more videos, more conversations—and undoubtedly a few opinions along the way.

After all, a mission without movement is just an aspiration.

Let's put some ideas in motion.