
The Wave Report: Weekly innovation trends and ideas

Key to Sustainable Giving Growth – Justifying Ongoing Involvement
One of the most important things charities can do to grow sustainable giving is to create an ongoing value proposition.
This is something I write about in The Rise of Sustainable Giving and is one of the key differences between a one-time ask and an ask for ongoing recurring giving.
One of the mistakes I see charity leaders make is they take their best performing single gift offer – whatever works best to get one-off gifts, and they use that for their recurring giving program.
Unfortunately, the best offer that compels donors to give one-time is not the same as an offer that compels a donor to give continuously.
Why should the donor give to the cause on an ongoing basis?

Lessons at the Intersection of Purpose & Profit
It all started with a question – what are the surprising ideas at the intersection of causes and brands?
It’s hard to believe, but we’re coming up on four years since launching the Purpose & Profit Podcast.
I remember when my co-host, Carly, and I decided to do the show. We had known each other for several years. She knew I liked to connect charity leaders with guests and topics from outside the world of nonprofits to see what we could learn. A couple of years prior, she started pressing me, “Dave, you should do a podcast.”

10 Ways I’m Using AI Right Now (Part 1)
Artificial intelligence-based tools have become a tremendously helpful personal and professional asset in my life.
I use AI-based tools weekly in at least a dozen ways, big and small. They help me communicate more clearly, work more efficiently, make better decisions, and do things that would require staffing or skills I wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

The Intersection of Overconfidence and Self-Doubt
I remember the first nice camera I purchased. It was 2010, and our first child was on the way. Growing up, I had always enjoyed taking pictures, so I thought this would be the perfect excuse to upgrade to a real camera – a DSLR.
I remember getting it out of the box, a Canon Rebel T2i. I was in awe of the sleek black frame. The interchangeable lens. The weight of it in my hands.

Are We Teaching Generosity to Our Children?
Are we teaching our children to be generous?
I remember my earliest encounters with generosity, like the time my dad noticed a homeless man outside of McDonald’s. “Come with me, son.” We talked to the man, and my father offered to buy him a meal, which he gratefully accepted.

10 Recurring Giving Mistakes Every Leader Needs to AVOID
Charity leaders are leaving millions of dollars on the table and not realizing it.
Over the past twenty years, I have worked with, spoken to, or advised thousands of nonprofit leaders. One thing I’ve learned is that each area of fundraising is a deep rabbit hole. Major gift fundraising, grants and foundations, corporate or church relations, and single-gift and recurring giving are all sophisticated disciplines in their own right, and they benefit from deep expertise gained over time.

21 Lessons from 20 Years of Marriage
Would you mind if I'm a little vulnerable today?
Today's Wave Report is a personal one. Heather and I celebrated 20 years of marriage this year, so I thought I’d share some lessons we’ve learned along the way.
I understand that marriage can be a sensitive topic, so my hope is that if you read this article, you see it in the spirit in which it was written.

Should You Write a Book? My story…
Well, we did it – The Rise of Sustainable Giving is in the world, and the overwhelming reception has blown me away… So much so that the book hit #1 Best Seller in every category it was listed. 🤯🎉

8 Waves to Ride in 2025
This isn’t a prediction post. Each January, you can find plenty of predictions about the new year. Instead, I’m much more interested in what is happening now that leaders can put to good use.
So today I’m going to unpack eight trends I’ve been watching that I believe leaders like you can leverage in 2025.

What surfing can teach us about innovation 🏄
I’m so glad you’ve decided to join The Wave Report, my weekly column on the lessons leaders can use to grow – themselves, their leadership, and their organizations.
Some people have asked me why I call it "The Wave Report"? Are you a wannabe surfer or something? Well, actually, I am (aspiring, that is). But that's not why I called it The Wave Report. Let me tell you why...
I think we can learn several things from the world of surfing when it comes to innovation.

Why I Hate Change (but love resets)
I don’t like change.
I’ve never liked change. In 5th grade, I wore the same pair of olive green pants every day to school. And I don’t just mean that figuratively, as in most days. No, it was every. Single. Day. And we lived in Desert Hot Springs, where temperatures could soar above 120 degrees. We played soccer outside nearly every day at recess. It didn’t matter to this 10-year-old goalie, diving into the dirt to block a ball, green pants proudly on display.

Insights on Purpose & Profit in 2024
We are in the final stretch of Season 5 of the Purpose & Profit Podcast, so I thought I’d take this Wave Report to share some of the highlights from the podcast this past year.
If you are new to The Wave Report, you may not know that I co-founded and co-host the Purpose & Profit Podcast. The show explores the surprising ideas at the intersection of nonprofit causes and for-profit brands.

Announcing The Rise of Sustainable Giving
This day has been a long time coming, and I’m so glad it’s nearly here.
20 years of experience.
36 months of research.
438 hours of outlining, interviewing, writing, editing.
Plus, hundreds more of dreams, plans, sweat, and work.
I’m pleased to announce that my new book, The Rise of Sustainable Giving will be releasing in just a few weeks.

Top Waves of 2024
Happy New Year!
It’s common for authors to make predictions about the year to come at the beginning of each year. I’ve been known to take it a step further and write multiple articles on trends to pay attention to – waves to watch in the new year. (see what I did there? 👀🌊).

What’s Your Imago?
I hope you had a blessed Christmas and that in this in-between time before the new year, you can experience a sense of peace, rest, and reflection.
Today’s email is a short one. I want to leave you to consider just one question.
The word “Imago” comes from Latin. It’s a word that describes a future that will be but has not yet come to pass. It’s literally the image of a final form.

What the Christmas Story Can Teach Us About Innovation
We love watching Christmas movies. Christmas is such a busy season that we don’t get to watch very many, so we take turns picking the movie. Often, the pick is a Christmas classic - Elf, Home Alone, The Grinch (no, not Die Hard or The Christmas Story!).

Designing a Fulfilling and Fruitful New Year
Today is one of my favorite days of the year.
This morning, I’ll sit down in one of my favorite coffee shops and reflect on the year as it comes to a close.

Lessons from One Million Miles
As I write this, I've just crossed my one-millionth mile flown. 😱✈️🌎
I’m on a flight back to Seattle from D.C. after spending a few days at the NonProfit POWER Summit in Baltimore, where I previewed my upcoming book about how nonprofit leaders can tap into the subscription economy to grow recurring giving.

The Intersection of Gratitude and Generosity
Today’s Wave Report will be a reflective one – I hope it provides some perspective.
I believe that gratitude and generosity form a virtuous cycle. Each leads to the other, and they reinforce one another.
When I practice generosity, that leads to gratitude.

The Power of Invented Holidays
A record number of people plan to shop over the holiday stretch known as Cyber Five, from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday this year.
The National Retail Federation reports that a record 183.4 million people plan to shop in-store and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.
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