SWAN (Strategic Workforce & Arts Network) Blog

I have had so many joint reconstruction surgeries that the next one would be old enough to drink, although hopefully wise enough to know better. That's not a metaphor. [ NOTE:  Yes, that is an actual photo of the X-rays from several of my more complicated surgeries. ] At this point, I have an impressive collection of orthopedic hardware, scars, and X-rays that look considerably more science fiction than medical science. Both shoulders have been reconstructed. My wrists have been rebuilt. My feet have enough assorted screws, plates, pins, and other hardware that when somebody looks at the X-rays, there is usually a moment of silence followed by some version of, “Wow.” Over the years, more than one person has called me the Bionic Woman . People of a certain age will immediately hear the sound effect. I didn’t come up with the nickname myself, but I can’t exactly argue with the evidence. Put a few of my X-rays together, and I begin to look less like a patient and more like somebody’s ...

Spooky season is upon us, so it seems like a good time to confess that I am truly afraid of only three things: heights, big spiders, and math. I haven't made much progress with the first two, but I have forced myself to get more comfortable with numbers. At the end of the day, doing good requires money. Nonprofit funding does not grow on trees, much as we might wish it did. If I want to help organizations raise money and make sound decisions, I need to be able to look at budgets, giving histories, and fundraising results without hoping someone else will do the math for me. I still wouldn't call it my favorite activity, but I've learned that the numbers can tell us something useful when we are willing to look. I often say that I haven't been bored since I was 16. Following my curiosity has led me into some *interesting* situations, including plenty where I did not feel entirely prepared. Sometimes I went because I knew I had something to offer. Other times, I went becaus...

Funding Friday is arriving on Saturday, and I owe you an apology. Consistency matters when you ask people to make room for your work each week. I missed Friday because I had just returned from the 2026 PANO Collaborative Conference , and I needed a little time to take it all in before writing about it. The conference was phenomenal. PANO put together a fantastic, inclusive gathering, and I’m grateful I had the opportunity to attend. I met people from across the nonprofit sector who brought different experiences and perspectives to a shared concern: how we can better serve the public good. If you were there and we didn’t meet, I missed out. I was the person with the very bouncy ringlets wearing the chicken shirt on the first day, in case that helps you place me. I hope we get another chance. I expect I’ll write more about the conversations and ideas I brought home. Today, I want to focus on the biggest takeaway: I need to go home and listen to the people I serve. Nonprofit work gives us...

I could probably write an entire blog post about why The Jerk is a nearly perfect movie, and maybe someday I will. But for now, I want to talk about Navin Johnson and his “special purpose.” If you haven't seen The Jerk , Navin, played by Steve Martin, is one of the great characters in American comedy. He is naive beyond reason. He misunderstands almost everything. He wanders into situations for which he is spectacularly unprepared and somehow remains convinced everything will work out. And yet, beneath all the absurdity, Navin is an extraordinarily good person. He is curious. He is enthusiastic. He loves without much reservation. He believes people. He wants to help. When good fortune finally finds him, one of his first instincts is to share it. Even his disastrous inventions begin with the idea that he has figured out something that might make somebody's life a little better. The world repeatedly gives Navin reasons to become cynical, and somehow he doesn't. I think that ...

I have an upper respiratory infection. I know this because, after being sick for nearly a week, I finally went to a doctor. And by “went,” I mean I had a virtual appointment. From the moment I finally decided that I needed medical attention to the time I had seen a doctor and picked up prescriptions for antibiotics and Flonase, less than an hour had passed. Nearly a week of feeling miserable. Less than an hour to do something about it. There is probably a Funding Friday lesson in there somewhere. Small and mid-sized nonprofits can be remarkably resistant to asking for help. We convince ourselves that we can figure it out. We can get through this grant cycle. We can fix the bookkeeping problem. We can straighten out the board. We can develop a fundraising strategy later. We can update the website ourselves. We can deal with the database eventually. Sometimes we do figure it out. Sometimes we spend six months struggling with something that someone else could have helped us address in an ...

Last week, I had a conversation in which I was asked to talk about my professional background. People sometimes describe me as someone who wears a lot of hats. Frankly, I do not love that description. If you know me at all, you know that I am not particularly fond of hats. I rarely wear them. I do wear a lot of shoes, and I like that metaphor much better. Shoes are active. They take us places. They allow us to move between different environments and assume different responsibilities. Hats can be attractive, but for the most part, they sit there looking pretty. I prefer to think of myself as someone with an active mind and imagination, even when my body is not always interested in cooperating. When I say that I have worn a lot of shoes, I mean that I have done a little bit of everything during my professional career. One part of that history may surprise people who know me primarily through my nonprofit, fundraising, teaching, or writing work. I designed websites. I worked my way throug...

Two of the nonprofits I serve participated in WCCF Gives this week, and I was gratified to see both organizations raise meaningful support for their work. The results mattered, but what struck me most was that both organizations are governed by all-volunteer boards, and every board member at both organizations contributed financially. That is significant. These individuals already contribute their time, knowledge, energy, and personal resources. During WCCF Gives, they also demonstrated their commitment financially. Their participation sent a clear message to others: We believe enough in these organizations to support them ourselves. All-volunteer nonprofits tend to operate with smaller budgets and fewer resources. However, people who understand the nonprofit sector know that a smaller budget does not necessarily equate to less impact on the community. Some of the most important work happens through small organizations that know their communities, recognize unmet needs, and stretch eve...

A Labor Day weekend edition from SWAN This week, our usual Monday Matters post is taking a holiday. In its place, we are offering something a little longer for the long Labor Day weekend, something that can be read now, returned to later, and considered after the last picnic plate has been cleared away. Schools are back in session, fall is approaching, and what many people consider the last real holiday weekend of summer is taking place as we speak. That combination led us to consider some very different schools: the schools of fundraising. These are not formal academic theories, although anyone who has spent time around nonprofit fundraising will probably recognize them. They are collections of assumptions about why people give, what donors want, and what an organization must do to attract support. Most nonprofits attend more than one of these schools, and some seem to change schools every semester. Each school understands something important about fundraising. Each also creates probl...

Earlier this week, I shared a little about my favorite album by my favorite band, The Alan Parsons Project, and how Vulture Culture has influenced how I have approached building  SWAN  and deciding what it to become. Apparently, this is the week when more of my favorite cultural references are finding their way into conversations about professional development than usual. Today, it's The West Wing . There is a moment in the series when Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn says, “Education is the silver bullet.” That idea has stayed with me for a long time, probably because education was my profession for many years before SWAN , the CFRE, and much of my current nonprofit work entered the picture. I spent years in classrooms teaching writing, communication, public speaking, and other subjects. My professional path has changed considerably since then, but I still consider myself an educator, and I suspect I always will. I also still believe in the basic philosophy behin...

SWAN founder Carla E. Anderton serves as the volunteer vice president of the Mon Valley Academy for the Arts, a nonprofit organization providing affordable, high-quality music education and performance opportunities throughout the Mon Valley. In recent weeks, much of our work has focused on preparing for WCCF Gives 2026 , the Washington County Community Foundation’s annual day of giving. SWAN helped develop and implement MVAA’s campaign, including its messaging, outreach, and donor communications. We also helped MVAA create a short video to raise awareness of its work and encourage community support. A fundraising campaign needs more than repeated donation requests. It needs a clear story that helps people understand the organization, the people it serves, and what their contributions can make possible. Watch MVAA’s WCCF Gives video on YouTube WCCF Gives will take place online on Thursday, September 10, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Every contribution through the campaign supports MVAA’s work ...

Today, 9/1, I have a little less than six months until I turn 50, and apparently having a milestone like that looming on the horizon tends to put you in a reflective state about where you've been and, perhaps more importantly, where you're going. I've been thinking about that in relation to SWAN . From the beginning, I haven't wanted  SWAN  to be about me. I want it to be about what I can do with the experience, education, skills, relationships, and lessons I've accumulated over the years and, more importantly, whether any of that can help organizations doing important work. As I survey the situation facing nonprofits right now, three things keep striking me. First, we are operating in a time of tremendous uncertainty. Funding is changing. Costs are rising. Organizations are being asked to do more, often with fewer resources, while the communities they serve are facing greater needs. Second, uncertainty creates a market for answers. Some very knowledgeable people ar...