Sharp tools

Last weekend I helped my dad fix some plumbing at his house.

Got four blisters on my hands.
And took forever to cut that pipe.

Ran by the supply house to get some fittings.
Spent $3 on a new cutting wheel while I was there.

Blazed through the second half of the job.
The new wheel cut that pipe like butter.

Turns out, keeping your tools sharp helps a lot.

(Hint: The moral of this story isn't really about plumbing.)

All the best,
A.

Early warnings

Today I met with a coaching client who was having a very hard time applying CiviCRM's latest security update.

She kept getting fatal errors, with very uninformative messages.

Turns out, it was caused by an issue that CiviCRM had been warning everyone about -- in it's System Status warnings -- for a very long time.

She's not alone there.

In the past few days, I've fixed several sites with the same problem.

On the call today we worked through it together, and she's now fully upgraded -- yay!

But it reminded me:

Those little status messages CiviCRM pops up for you when you log in?

They're worth noticing.

Eventually, keeping up with them might just save you a lot of trouble.

Believe me, I know it's easy to let things slide when they don't seem urgent.

But eventually they can become urgent.

And you usually don’t get to pick when that will be.

All the best,
A.

One thing at a time

When multiple problems arise in your system, it’s tempting to think everything’s falling apart.
But it’s there’s often a more useful way to think about it.

---

Your check engine light has been showing, and your mechanic says the part you need won't be in for another week.

Now it's almost midnight and you're stranded at a gas station because your car won't start.

You turn the key and get nothing.
No clicks, no noises, no nothing.
You can't even roll up your open window.

So do you:

1. Assume that the pre-existing problem has finally made your car totally inoperable, and have it towed to your mechanic?

Or:

2. Consider other possibilities, and maybe avoid a 2-hour wait on the tow truck and the inconvenience of being without your car tomorrow?

My daughter called me late last night with this very situation.

We talked it through, and she very wisely decided to at least consider the two problems separately.

The essential question was:

If there had been no pre-existing problem, and my car suddenly behaved this way when I tried to start it,
what would be my first guess about the cause?

The answer was pretty clear:
“Dead battery.”

She got a jump from her friend, drove home, and went this morning to have a battery tested.
Yep, bad battery.

She bought a new one, and went on her way.

This illustrates some important points about complex systems:

1. Misbehaviors are not necessarily related just because they correspond closely in time.

2. Isolating the misbehaviors can allow us to solve some of them and avoid a lot of inconvenience.

It's true for your car, your laptop, your house,
and for your CRM, website, email systems, and all the rest.

When these systems misbehave, it's terribly frustrating and inconvenient.

But you don't have to let that force you into throwing up your hands.

Addressing each problem separately will very often put you back in control and save you a lot of trouble.

All the best,
A.

A gift

Ever try to buy a gift for someone you don't really know?
Yeah, it's hard.
That's why you got them a gift card.
Not the most thoughtful gift, but you can give it.

Now:

Ever get a gift from somoeone who's really been paying attention?
You didn't even know you wanted it, or that it existed.
But there it is, and it's perfect.

So:

How is it that someone can know you wanted that thing,
when you didn't even know yourself?
Without asking you to make them a list?

Because:

They listened.
They watched.
They saw through your eyes.

Here's the thing:

You're constantly in the business of giving things to people.
Opportunity.
Support.
Education.
Belonging.

If you can listen to them,
ask about their day-to-day,
pay attention to what moves them ...

You can give them something perfect,
without even emailing them another annoying survey.

Upgrade now for security: CiviCRM 6.12.1

CiviCRM has just released a security update, version 6.12.1

This update covers 17 security issues — which are now known to the public and to any bad guys who want to mess with you.

Security updates are important. You don’t want to let this slide.

If you’ll be handling this update yourself, now is the time to do it:

• Review the official documentation on upgrades, including the specifics for your CMS (Drupal, WordPress, Backdrop, etc), and make sure you understand it.

• Ensure you understand how to perform a full site backup — and how to restore your site from a backup if needed.

• If this is your first time, block out a couple of hours for the actual upgrade.

If you’re a subscriber to Joinery’s Operational Assurance plan for ongoing support, and/or a Joinery hosting subscriber, we’ll be handling this upgrade for you, including full pre-upgrade backups and post-upgrade verification.

If you need help performing this upgrade, consider booking a coaching call so we can walk through it together, or subscribing to the Operational Assurance plan. Or heck, just hit reply here and ask me a question about it.

Whatever you do, don’t put this off.

• A security release is a fix for issues you probably don’t even know you have.

• But just as importantly, it’s an announcement to the world that all un-upgraded sites have a specific set of security vulnerabilities. You don’t want to be one of those.

All the best,
A.

Feels like a swarm of bees

I've come to accept that "overwhelmed" is the default state of being for most non-profit leaders.

• You have more tasks to do than you can possibly take care of.

• Focusing on any one of them risks leaving the rest undone.

• It feels like you've got a swarm of bees buzzing around your head -- each one as troubling and elusive as the next.

A big part of my coaching work is helping to restore calm in situations like this.

Most people try to solve it with force of will:

• "I'll work harder."

• "I'll try to remember all the deadlines."

• "I just have to stay on top of things."

But this isn't a question of desire or commitment.
Beating yourself up won't fix it.

Among my coaching clients, the ones who make real progress have done one thing different:

They don't focus on trying harder.
They focus on adding structure.

• Noticing their todos are scattered all over the place …
  they commit to maintaining one central list.

• Acknowledging that not all tasks are equal …
  they set priorities and tackle the high-priority items above the rest.

• Admitting that the demands will always be greater than the available time …
  they allow the lower priority items to take a back seat.

That's it.

With a little practice, the noise subsides.

They regain their sanity, and learn to focus high-quality effort on high-value tasks.
And they start to see things actually getting done.

And it. Feels. Awesome.

Keeping one list.
Setting priorities.
Letting go of the small things.

When the bees are buzzing, there is a way through.

All the best,
A.

Could we …?

Yesterday a client asked a great question about their online member directory:

Is there a way we could let members create their directory profile in any language they wish, and then display our directory in all those languages?

Technically, the answer is: Yes, you could.

But "could we" is not usually the first question I like to ask.

The first question is:

Could you actually operate that system?

Who reviews those profiles?
Who checks the quality of the translations?
Who communicates with members if something needs to be fixed?
Who supports users submitting content in languages your staff may not read?

Here's the thing:

In software systems, it's easy to focus on whether or not something can be built.

But the real question is whether the organization can actually run it.

Often the best answer is the 80/20 one:

Instead of building a full multilingual data system, we can simply add automated translation to the site.

Not perfect.

But it gives members and visitors access to the information they need, without multiplying the complexity of managing the directory.

Because after all:

The goal isn't having the most sophisticated system.
The goal is a system your team can run.

All the best,
A.

“How to Pull This Door”

Sometimes I land on a page that clearly wants me to do something.

Donate.
Renew.
Subscribe.
Register.

And there are twelve paragraphs explaining how.

Apparently the theory is:
"If we explain it clearly enough, people will follow the instructions."

But let's face it:
The other day I pushed on a door that was clearly marked "PULL" -- in red capital letters.
A full-page poster labeled How to Pull This Door would not have helped.

Because most people don't read instructions.
They scan the page and look for the next step.

If that step is obvious, they move.
If it isn't, they stall.

So when something on your site isn't working --
isn't moving people to the next step --
the solution usually isn't another paragraph.

It's making the next step obvious.

Without adding words.

All the best,
A.

CiviCamp Toronto: May 25-31

CiviCRM is just one tool in your arsenal,
but it’s a pretty powerful one.

if you’d like to
make connections with other organizations who are using it,
get high-quality training on how it all works,
and hear the latest on new developments and creative use cases …

Then CiviCamp Toronto is worth considering. Better mark your calendar.

Here’s the announcement from today’s CiviCRM.org blog:

May 25-31, 2026 - downtown Toronto

We’re excited to announce that we'll be gathering in Toronto, Canada for seven days of training, sessions and a sprint focussed on improving the user experience of CiviCRM.

Join us for two days of Admin and Developer training, a conference/camp day with sessions for all skill levels, and four days of sprint where you will work together with peers and core team members.

Whether you're looking to build new skills, exchange knowledge, or contribute to sprint projects, this event will offer valuable opportunities to connect and make progress together.

When and where:

Admin training - Monday-Tuesday May 25-26
Developer training - Monday-Tuesday May 25-26
Conference with insightful talks and sessions on Wednesday May 27
Collaborative sprint days to build and improve together Thursday-Sunday May 28-31.

The event will be hosted at Victoria College downtown.

We'll have pricing and more information when registration opens on Thursday.

Mark your calendar—we look forward to seeing you there!

- A.

Brief

Wordy instructions and appeals
can seem effective when you write them.

But reading them
is hard.

Why use lot word when
few word do trick?

Few word do trick.

- A.

Be ready, March 18: CiviCRM Security Update

CiviCRM has announced a security update to be released on the evening of March 18.

Security updates are important. You don’t want to let this slide.

If you’ll be handling this update yourself, now would be a good time to prepare:

• Review the official documentation on upgrades, including the specifics for your CMS (Drupal, WordPress, Backdrop, etc), and make sure you understand it.

• Ensure you understand how to perform a full site backup — and how to restore your site from a backup if needed.

• If this is your first time, block out a couple of hours for the actual upgrade.

If you’re a subscriber to Joinery’s Operational Assurance plan for ongoing support, and/or a Joinery hosting subscriber, we’ll be handling this upgrade for you, including full pre-upgrade backups and post-upgrade verification.

If you need help preparing for or conducting the upgrade, consider booking a coaching call so we can discuss your particular situation and ensure you have a good plan in place.

Whatever you do, don’t put this off.

• A security release is a great fix for issues you probably don’t even know you have.

• But just as importantly, it’s an announcement to the world that all un-upgraded sites have a specific set of security vulnerabilities. You don’t want to be one of those.

All the best,
A.

It’s not a cliff jump

A client of mine is moving from Authorize.net to Stripe.

They have good reasons -- fees, flaky support, confusing web interfaces.

But the interesting story here isn't why they're doing it.
It's that they are doing it.

Because this decision didn't come without some concerns.

They have live recurring subscriptions.
And those are stored in Authorize.net's ARB profiles.
It's a big chunk of their income.
Real donors.
Real money.

At first, the idea itself felt indimidating and risky.

"What about the stored cards?"
"What if recurring gifts fail?"
"What if donors get billed twice?"
"What if we lose donors?"

This is how vendor lock-in happens.
Not technologically.
Psychologically.

The system feels permanent.

But of course, it isn't.

Tokens can be migrated.
Subscriptions can be retained.
The transition can happen without the donors even thinking about it.

Like any change, it's a project -- not a cliff jump.

And projects are manageable.

Here's the thing:

Sometimes calm doesn't come just from the improvements you make.
Sometimes it comes just from realizing you can.

All the best,
A.

Tell me their first names

When a coaching client told me last week,

"I think about 20 people aren’t receiving our emails,"

that got my attention.

Twenty is scary.
Twenty feels systemic.

But a one-sentence summary is not a diagnosis.

So I said, "Let's make a list. Tell me their first names."

She searched her notes, and we wrote them down.

Twelve names.
Not twenty. Twelve.

Already the problem is 40% smaller.

Then we made a grid.

One row per person.
One column per type of issue.

Kayla missed two newsletters -- because she wasn't subscribed.
Howard missed one special subscription email -- because his membership had expired.
Four people weren't reporting email problems at all -- we'd just mentally grouped them there.

By the end, we had three people with a real, unresolved issue.

Three is manageable. Three we can analyze with clear intent.

Here's the thing:

Vague problems stay big and scary.
Named problems shrink.

When you feel overwhelmed, the best question isn't: "What's wrong with our CRM?"

It's: "Who exactly? Which exactly? How many exactly?"

Naming the specifics brings clarity.

And clarity gives you space to move forward.

All the best,
A.

“Something big must be broken”

Last week a client told me she was overwhelmed,
with reports from members saying they weren't receiving emails.

Obviously, if you can't trust your CRM to deliver email, that's existential.
That's not a "small bug."
That's a system-level crisis.

And once two or three people say it, the story in your head becomes:
"Something big is broken."

It’s a very human response, and we do it for all kinds of things.

Your engine car makes funny a noise.
The left front tire keeps going low.
The seat belt doesn't retract smoothly.

Surely there's a single, mysterious, expensive root cause.
Will I just have to buy a new car?
Will I just have to live with this "broken" CRM?

But here’s the thing:

Often the mystery feels big and scary precisely because the story is wrong,
because it all feels connected but isn’t.

When problems cluster in time, it's easy to assume common causation.
Our brains are built for pattern recognition.
Correlation feels like proof.
And new problems are easily filed under "The Big Mysterious Problem”,
instead of being addressed one-by-one.

Before you give up on your car (or your CRM) --

Pause and ask:
Are these actually all the same problem?
Or are we just filing them in the same mental folder?

Often you'll find there are distinct, curable causes for each situation.

That's how it goes:
Most chaos shrinks when you separate it.

All the best,
A.

14,000 reasons

This morning I noticed that CiviCRM just crossed 14,000 active installs.

That's a historic high.

Now -- big numbers by themselves don't change your day.

But this one should reassure you.

It means more organizations are investing in the same platform you are:

More bugs getting fixed.
More extensions being built.
More developers improving features.
More organizations like yours having success with the platform.

In other words: momentum.

If you've ever worried, "Are we building on something stable?” -- this is your answer.

But here's the thing:

The real risk isn't that your CRM community is too small.

The real risk is never fully using the one you already have. That’s the place to focus.

And at 14,000 installs, you’re not alone.

All the best,
A.

Translating for the board

Your people -- board, executives, devlopment team -- think in stories:

• "Are we growing?"

• "Are renewals strong?"

• "Is engagement improving?"

Your CRM thinks in criteria.

• Status = "Current".

• Join date is "between X and Y".

• Activity type = "Renewal Reminder".

Stories and criteria are two different languages.

When reports feel hard to build, the challenge usually lies in the translation between story and criteria.

That translation work is leadership, and it's real.

Once you define the story precisely enough that the CRM can understand it, the reporting becomes easy.

But don't skip the translation.

That's where clarity lives.

All the best,
A.

When “new” isn’t

Ask three staff members what "new member" means.

You may get three answers -- or more.

Was a member 10 years ago, lapsed 2 years, and came back?
Upgraded membership level?
Renewed this year as they always do?
Changed from individual to organizational?

Words feel stable.

But they're not.
The truth is, definitions drift quietly over time.

Staff changes.
Boards change.
Assumptions pile up.

Here’s the thing:

Your CRM will faithfully enforce whatever criteria you set.
But it cannot protect you from vague language.

If you want stable reporting, you need stable definitions.

Clarity first. Configuration second.

Always in that order.

All the best,
A.

The most dangerous report

Being unable to pull solid reports from your CRM can be a real pain.

But the worst reporting outcome isn't, "we don't have that report."

It's this:

You have a beautiful, automated report.
Clean numbers.
Nice chart.

And it's quietly, obediently, answering the wrong question.

Maybe "new members" includes reinstatements -- or does it?
Maybe "renewal rate" ignores membership level changes -- but should it?
Maybe "non-renewed" quietly includes people who've died -- is that the intent?

No one bothers to ask. It's easier to assume.

For three years.

Here's the thing:

Bad numbers don't just waste time.

They shape decisions.

A missing report creates discomfort.
A misleading one creates false confidence.

The moral?

Be more wary of the wrong answer than of no answer at all.

All the best,
A.

What a coaching call looks like

Yesterday I had a great call with a coaching client. It started with a simple technical question, but moved pretty quickly into the more important underlying strategic concerns.

---

The technical question we opened with was:

“Is there a way to run three reports at once so I don’t have to click them individually to get them into a single spreadsheet?”

A practical, technical-efficiency question.

We unpacked the real workflow behind it:

• Multiple reports

• CSV exports

• Import into Google Sheets

• Downstream formatting automation

Then we evaluated:

• Is this minor friction?

• Or is this custom development?

• Is automation worth the build cost?

• Would no-code tools meaningfully reduce effort — or just relocate it?

Conclusion: possible, but not worth the engineering overhead.

That alone is valuable — knowing when not to build.

But that converstation surfaced a deeper concern:
Real-life events that could take the client away from this work for a long time.

Now the question wasn’t: “How do I click less?”
It became: “What happens if I’m not here?”

That led to:

• Identifying single-point-of-failure tasks.

• Recognizing recurring annual processes that only one person understands.

• Distinguishing evergreen workflows from time-relative info like “who’s on the board."

• Exploring lightweight documentation: short videos, structured folders, task-based training.

• Noticing which responsibilities already have partial delegation.

• Seeing where ownership exists — and where it doesn’t.

Then deeper:

• Why do team members stall when learning something new?

• Why do volunteers hit a block and go silent?

• Why does panic kill learning?

• How do you assign responsibility before someone feels ready?

• How do you build confidence instead of dependency?

The focus moved from software to human reality.

From “doing tasks” to:

• Domain ownership

• Clear assignment

• Feedback loops

• Personal recognition and validation

• Creating safety to ask for help

• Increasing the “bus number” (“How many people have to get hit by a bus before this breaks?” — Hint: “1” is not a great answer.)

By the end, the original technical question barely mattered.

The real outcome was this shift:

From: “I need to get this done.”
To: “How do I build a system that runs without me?”

Because coaching isn’t mere tutoring about which button to click.

It’s:

• Evaluating effort vs payoff.

• Reframing problems.

• Surfacing hidden risks.

• Placing strategy before tactics.

• Turning anxiety into a plan.

• Turning a technician into a leader.

And often, it starts with something as small as:
“Can I run three reports at once?”

All the best,
A.

Manual reporting

Sometimes the most advanced reporting move is ... Excel.

Export the list.
Sort it how you wish.
Scroll line by line.
Ask, "Does this person belong here? Why, or why not?"

It feels primitive.
Inefficient, even.

But it's not.

That tedious manual review is where you discover the outliers:

The lapsed-but-returned member.
The free trial.
The deceased contact who happened to meet the other criteria.

That manual review is not busywork.
It's definition work.

And until you've wrestled with those edge cases manually, you don't actually know what report you're trying to build.

Here's the thing:

The spreadsheet phase isn't a failure of your CRM -- or of your skills.

It's a critical step in clarifying what you actually want.

All the best,
A.