Two Hebrew phrases help explain why Jewish giving is so high. Two women pass a beggar on the street. Both women have the exact same income and expenses. The first weeps at the suffering of the beggar and gives him $5 out of the goodness of her heart. The second notices but rushes past. Later […]

Once upon a time in a market far, far away, I worked at FORTUNE Magazine. In retrospect, selling advertising in FORTUNE had a lot of similarities to fundraising. It was a great magazine with a specific editorial mission that competed for dollars with a lot of other fine magazines and newspapers. During my time there, […]

Donors typically support ten charities a year, with most of their giving focused on about four. Now I’ve never had the good fortune to work for somebody’s “favorite” charity. I really couldn’t afford to have that scarcity mentality, where a fundraiser thinks that the entire donor’s giving just has to go to their organization. I […]

It’s well-known that I value productivity. In fact, I’m a little obsessed with it. So much so, that I’m frequently asked, “Viken, how do you get so much done in a day?” (Sometimes, when I look back over the things I was able to accomplish, it’s a question I even ask myself.) But the truth […]