This month's Guest Blogger is Craig Stephenson. Craig is Executive Vice President of Cary Oil Co., Inc. and serves as director of the Cary Oil Foundation. He has served on a number of non-profit boards.

About a week ago my generally healthy Dad was rushed to the ER. On the very same day, one of our teenaged sons faced a challenging life lesson of his own that he never saw coming.

Successful fundraising is based on five Fundraising I’s of the donor cycle: Identify, Investigate, Inform, Involve and Invest. It is important that a prospective donor be taken through the entire cycle before a solicitation is made.

We have lots of reminders about what has to happen before we achieve desired responses.

Our region stands tall on the foundation of great leadership from visionaries who were able to go after what they dreamed of for the Triangle, and build it for future generations.

In the book Just Six Numbers by renowned astrophysicist Martin Rees, the genesis of the universe is explained in a simple theory based on just six numbers.

An interesting new report, "Fundraising Bright Spots - Strategies and Inspiration from Social Change Organizations Raising Money from Individual Donors", was recently published by the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr.

Non-profit funding has been increasingly tied to measurable outcomes. This trend is positive. Understanding the hoped for impact of a program or service is an important part of the donor decision to fund an organization.

In recent months my team at Armstrong McGuire has been helping some terrific organizations across North Carolina navigate change – transitions in executive leadership; the loss of long time staff members and volunteers; changes in vision