Tom Peterson’s new book: Want to Change the World? Accelerate Your Nonprofit or Cause
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
1y ago
    New book from Tom Peterson Stakeholder Press $16.99   Click HERE to Order   Democracy at risk. Last chance to save the world. Enormous gap between the ultra-rich and billions of struggling people. Huge needs in every community. In Want to Change the World Tom Peterson celebrates the giant Movement that is taking on these challenges. But to meet the urgency of the day, he says, we all need to be more audacious. Here are Peterson’s “things to think about” if you want to change the world: The call for audacity. The power of a bold goal. How ideas emerg ..read more
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People of Heart
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
      By Tom Peterson Just as our most-important muscle, the heart, pumps oxygen and nutrients to the cells in our body, another heart supplies life to our communities. You see this heart in what a people do, especially how they treat others. Acts of heart are often unnoticed: speaking kind words to a lonely person, picking up a piece of litter when no one is looking, or planting a few bushes to help feed migrating butterflies. But sometimes heart must march in the street or speak at a rally through a megaphone to help right a great wrong. Your cause is nothing without peo ..read more
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Can 26 lead soldiers conquer the world?
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
  “Give me twenty-six lead soldiers and I will conquer the world.”   By Tom Peterson What is the most powerful human force? Some say it’s reason, some say love, some say cooperation. They all depend on communication. So does your cause. Having a great message is not enough, you also need a way to get that message to your audience. “Give me twenty-six lead soldiers and I will conquer the world.” Referring to the lead type of bygone days, this quote about power of the printed word has been attributed to both Benjamin Franklin and Karl Marx. And through their writing each of them has m ..read more
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The Power of Stories
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
          By Tom Peterson Storytelling is an ancient art. It’s what makes us human. And stories are the building blocks of culture. Because they speak to our emotions they are the heart of an effective message. They resonate. Get to know the power of stories. They can move the rest of us to support your cause. Successful businesses often have a great founding story to tell: a high-tech company starts with a couple of geeks tinkering in a suburban garage, here’s what happened… The same is true for nonprofits. Heifer International began when volunteer Dan West, an India ..read more
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Marketing Mix: the 4 P’s
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
        By Tom Peterson Not too long ago many nonprofits looked askance at the idea of marketing. In the mid-nineties, an organization I worked with was raising about $3 million a year from what we would today call marketing. Some colleagues—particularly Michael Cervino, who had helped grow Habitat for Humanity—and I had created a marketing plan, based on the results we already had from direct mail tests. It mapped how we could grow the annual revenue to $20 million in five years. I was excited to share this good news with the board of directors. I walked them through the ..read more
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Positive deviance can reveal extraordinary solutions
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
              By Tom Peterson Maybe there are a few oddballs doing something right. And maybe they can point the way for the rest of us. In facing a tough social challenge positive deviance tells us to look for any outliers who may be like everyone else but who found a solution through their successful behavior. The Positive Deviance Collaborative defines these positive deviants as “individuals, groups, or entities who are the least likely to prevent or overcome a widely shared problem but are successful despite facing the same or worse challenges and b ..read more
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This campaign to save a library in Troy, Michigan
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
    The post This campaign to save a library in Troy, Michigan appeared first on Thunderhead Works ..read more
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Find and keep talent, avoid “normal” people
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
By Tom Peterson If you happen to be in a role of hiring staff, key volunteers or outside vendors consider that every position you get is a precious gift. A cause’s most valuable asset is its collection of people, so a leader’s top job is find and keep the most insanely talented folks possible. Most nonprofits are on tight budgets and staff is often the largest expense, so it’s doubly important that you bring on not good but great talent. Yes experience, college degrees and résumés matter, but pay special attention to attitude and energy. All of us fall somewhere along an energy spectrum with ..read more
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What Insanity? The Urgency of World Change
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
By Tom Peterson Every year Oxfam reports on the massive gap between the world’s super-rich and the poor. In 2017 the report named just eight men—Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Michael Bloomberg—who have more wealth than the poorest half of people on earth. Some of the names change each year but not this insane concentration of wealth that mucks up our world and breeds all kinds of social ills. And those who suggest a more equitable taxing of the super wealthy are demonized and called names: socialist, anti-capitali ..read more
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The many hats of world changers
Thunderhead Works
by Tom Peterson
2y ago
  By Tom Peterson Do you see yourself in here? You are needed. No matter who you are you have some gifts, some talents, some skills to lend to some cause. Look for yourself in the following list: The one with ideas, with creativity. The one who can borrow an idea they saw somewhere else. The encourager. The impatient person who wants to speed things up or to take it to a new level. The one willing to be the boots on the ground. The synthesizer. The one who can get the word out, grow the tribe. The rainmaker who can find funds. The one who connects people. The one who convenes, hosts, gath ..read more
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