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Notes from inside the sector.

Written for one audience and one problem at a time. If you arrived from a search, the answer is in the first paragraph.

12 NOV 2026 · GRANT-MAKERS

Forecasting around Ramadan: why the Gulf giving year moves

Ramadan 2027 runs from 7 February to 7 March.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
10 NOV 2026 · AI & DATA

Who is accountable when the AI gets it wrong

Most nonprofit AI policies cover what staff may use and what data may go in.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
29 OCT 2026 · FUNDRAISING

The second gift is the one that matters

A first gift tells you somebody responded.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
14 OCT 2026 · BOARDS

Funder concentration: the risk boards notice too late

If your three largest funders provide more than half your income, you do not have a funding strategy.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
7 OCT 2026 · IMPACT

A number is not evidence

Funders increasingly reject impact reports full of numbers.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
24 SEP 2026 · AI & DATA

Questions to ask an AI vendor before you sign

Nonprofit AI procurement tends to involve a demonstration, an enthusiastic programme lead and a contract.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
18 SEP 2026 · AI & DATA

Where AI actually pays off first in a nonprofit

The highest-return first use of AI in most nonprofits is not fundraising.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
9 SEP 2026 · FUNDRAISING

Your December appeal is decided in September

By the time most organisations start writing the December appeal, the decisions that determine its result have already been made or missed.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
27 AUG 2026 · IMPACT

When you cannot measure what matters

Every organisation has an outcome that matters enormously and cannot be measured directly.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
21 AUG 2026 · GRANT-MAKERS

Grantee due diligence: proportionate checks that do not slow giving

Running the same due diligence on a five-thousand-dollar grant as on a five-hundred-thousand-dollar grant is not caution.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
6 AUG 2026 · AI & DATA

What AI cannot do with your impact data

AI is genuinely useful on impact data: the assembling, the sorting, the drafting.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
10 JUL 2026 · AI & DATA

Can nonprofits use AI with donor data? A plain-language answer

Yes, with one design rule: identifiable donor records should never leave your systems.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
5 JUN 2026 · AI & DATA

What should be in a nonprofit AI policy

A nonprofit AI policy needs seven sections, should run to about three pages, and must be readable by a trustee who has never used an AI tool.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
16 APR 2026 · IMPACT

From activity lists to outcomes: what funders are actually asking for

"We ran 42 workshops" is effort.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
19 FEB 2026 · BOARDS

Forty pages in, one page out: rebuilding the board pack

The forty-page board pack is not a sign of rigour.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
3 DEC 2025 · FUNDRAISING

What a good donor retention rate actually looks like

The honest answer is that your organisation-wide retention rate is almost useless as a management number.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
8 OCT 2025 · GRANT-MAKERS

Why your payout position should be visible in March, not at filing

If the first time your foundation knows its disbursement position is when the accountant prepares the return, you have removed every useful option you had.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
12 AUG 2025 · GRANT-MAKERS

How to design an efficient grant-making system for a foundation

An efficient grant-making system is seven written components, built in order.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read
24 JUN 2025 · GRANT-MAKERS

What makes a good grant management system

A good grant management system answers three questions on demand: what have we committed, what have we actually paid, and what is overdue.

Junaid Habib · 3 min read

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Most of these started as a question somebody asked on a call.