We need more ideas, fewer opinions

Visit this post:One Idea Forward, Two Opinions Back on a great blog called Casual Fridays. It's about the difference between ideas and opinions.

This isn't strictly a fundraising issue, but I've noticed in my long association with nonprofits that opinions tend to rule -- to crush ideas, to stymie innovation, to slow progress. This isn't unique to nonprofits, of course, but opinion, group-think, caution, and fear are extraordinarily powerful in our sector.

Here are some of the differences between the two:

Ideas	Opinions
Give people purpose	Try to validate or invalidate purpose
Inspire	Conspire
Create	Critique
Can change the world	Can shrink your world
Reproduce	Conclude
Encourage	Incite
Persuade	Stall
Challenge the status quo	Challenge anything that challenges the status quo
Provoke opinion	Prevent ideas
Are a step forward	Are steps back

See what you can do to get these two forces into proper balance with each other. With a new era of fundraising and a new generation of donors bearing down on us, we need ideas!