self-care - Nonprofit AF

self-care

Navigating the guilt of finding joy when the world feels like crap

Hi everyone, I spent the past three days working on one chapter of my new book, tentatively called “Catchy Phrase: Insert Intriguing Subtitle Here.” It’s about reimagining everything in our sector, from how we fundraise, to how we do capacity building and evaluation and hiring, and so on. An

humor

I'm back! Nonprofit OnlyFans, a book deal, and other news!

Hi everyone, I’m back from my break. I’ve missed you all, and I’ve missed ranting and shaking my fist about various things each week. Also, I need to get back to the grind, because my plan of starting a Nonprofit OnlyFans during the summer did not work

nonprofit

Nonprofit work and its toll on our physical health, and what we need to do about it

Hi everyone. It’s been four years since I left being a nonprofit executive director and became “Financially Untethered” (FU), and let me tell you, it’s been amazing. I sleep better, no longer waking up in the middle of the night, whimpering “I hope we can make payroll, I

nonprofit field

Hope and trust, and gratitude for our sector

Hi everyone, this is the last post of 2023. I’ll be back on January 2nd. Normally, I end the year with a lighter article, maybe something humorous. But humor has been hard to come by with everything taking place all around us. The genocide of Palestinians. The US’s

humor

The 50-Minute-Meeting Revolution and the End of Back-to-Back Meetings!

Hi everyone. Confession: I don’t hate most meetings. I mean, if you think about it, in our sector meetings often mean we get to spend time with usually awesome people to brainstorm ideas on how to make the world better. This is something our ancestors, who likely worked long

self-care

A guided meditation to start off 2023

Hi everyone, I know today is a rough day, since many of us are getting back to work after, hopefully, a decent few days off spending time with our family and/or watching White Lotus 2. That’s why I have (poorly and at the very last minute) written a

leadership

We must prioritize nonprofit leaders’ rest and healing, and here are some cool funders doing that

Hi everyone, it’s almost Halloween, and the NonprofitAF Scary Story Contest closes this Thursday! Write (or record) and submit a story of up to 250 words, by 11:59pm on 10/27. 10 winners will have their stories published here next week. If you need inspiration, here are some

leadership

Hyper-independence as a trauma response, and how it manifests in nonprofit leaders

It’s been nearly three years since I stopped being a nonprofit executive director. My skin looks healthier, my eyes less sunken and haunted, and I’ve started reverse-aging and now look like my kids’ father and not their grandfather. Best of all, I only wake up once or twice

self-care

It’s still the apocalypse, let’s give ourselves and one another some grace

Hi everyone. It is spring in the northern hemisphere. It’s my favorite season and love it as much as we all love MYGOD (multi-year general operating dollars). The days are getting longer and the crocuses and daffodils and tulips are popping up and the cherry blossoms will explode like

Personal

I love you, nonprofit colleagues. Please give yourselves a break.

Hi everyone, this will be the last post of 2021 (I’ll be back on January 3rd), and it might be a little more personal and disjointed than other posts, apologies in advance. As the year ends, I try to find time to reflect back on what happened these past

self-care

I’m taking some time off to recharge, and you should too

Happy Monday, everyone. It’s 100 degrees in Seattle (and may reach 110 today), so I am kind of loopy and not in the mood for editing. I want to let you know that I’ll be taking the entire month of July off from writing, most meetings, and most

Office Culture

We need to talk about our toxic obsession with productivity

At the beginning of the pandemic, I texted a friend, an executive director, to see how he was doing. “I share this in confidence,” he texted back, “current sitch, watching Frozen 2 in bed with [my daughter].” He sent over a picture of his TV, on which Anna was huddled