Resolving to do things different in 2014 at your non-profit

January 29, 2014 erik Board development, Board governance, Fundraising, leadership, organizational development, Planning

5 Things Non Profits can Strengthen in 2014

By Dani Robbins
Re-published with permission from nonprofit evolution blog
2014 resolutions As I’m sure you aware by now, I like to reflect back on things that have occurred and create a plan to avoid their reoccurrence. As such, I’ve been thinking about things our field can do to be stronger.
1. Build Better Boards
You’ve seen me write it before and it’s still true, everything flows from the board. Weak boards hire weak leaders who manage weak agencies. Sometimes it goes the other way, weak boards hire strong leaders who do whatever they want because the board is asleep at the wheel. Neither contributes to effectively governed agencies.
Strong boards hire strong leaders who build strong agencies.
For more information on building strong boards, please see previous posts on board development.
2. Create Succession Plans
Agencies that have great leaders need to plan for that leader’s transition as much as agencies with weak leaders. In fact, and among other things, one of the signs of a great leader is the strength of the agency once they’re gone.
Whether your exec gets fired, wins the lottery and moves to Jamaica, or retires after decades of excellent service, your board will need a plan to hire a new leader.
The Anne E. Casey Foundation’s Building Leaderful Organizations and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Nonprofit Executive Succession Planning Toolkit, offer a comprehensive look at planning. Each may be much broader than you need, but both can help you figure out what you need.
3. Build Capacity
Most agencies and most leaders, even and especially the ones that are great, can continue to build their capacity. Whether you have experienced tremendous growth, have a new leader, have downsized and now want to rebuild or if you just want to increase your strength, capacity building is the way to go.
Some larger national organizations have proprietary capacity building tools. If you are a part of a national organization, ask if such a thing has been created. If it has, use it. If it hasn’t, suggest it is.
For those of you who are standing alone, The Marguerite Casey Foundation’s Organizational Capacity Assessment tool is the best and most comprehensive I have seen. “It is a self-assessment instrument that helps nonprofits identify capacity strengths and challenges and establish capacity building goals. It is primarily a diagnostic and learning tool” that was designed to help agencies serving low income communities. Even if your agency has nothing to do with that community, this tool can help your agency be stronger.
4. Consider Mergers
There are lots and lots of organizations out there, some doing very similar work with very similar values. If your agency is struggling, is strong or you have a leadership transition, it might be a good time for your board to consider merging with another organization. The decision may be no, but it is an option worth putting on the table.
Again, some larger national organizations have merger tools. If you are a part of a national organization, ask if such a thing has been created. If it has, use it. If it hasn’t, suggest it is.
For those of you who are standing alone, I encourage you to reach out to your local community foundation or local nonprofit resource center for assistance. Here are a few links for your consideration:
Bridgespan’s Nonprofit M&A: More Than a Tool for Tough Times
Wilder Research’s What do we know about nonprofit mergers
And from the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a report with the same title What do we know about nonprofit mergers.
The larger our field grows, the more we will compete for limited resources. Can we be stronger together?
5 Get Better at Communicating with Donors
I am consistently surprised by the way some non profits communicate with their donors, or don’t, as the case may be. Here are some questions for you to assess your donor communication practices:

Do donors receive a formal thank you note, on letterhead, that includes the amount of their gift within 48 hours of your receipt of their gift, regardless of the gift amount?
Does it include the appropriate IRS language?
Does someone call to say thank you to your largest donors?
Does your Exec or a member of your board call those donors periodically to update them on the agency’s activities?
Do you have a gift acceptance policy?
Do you have a development plan?

If the answers is no to any of these questions, that is a great place to ramp up your practices.
For more information on resource development, please see previous development posts and Donor Dreams, for which I also blog.
The non profits in my community and communities across the country and the world are moving the needle on the issues they exist to impact. With on-going assessment, the implementation of best practices and constantly striving to be better and do better we can continue to make our world better.
How do you think we can best strengthen our field? As always, I welcome your insight, feedback and experience. Please share your ideas or suggestions for blog topics and consider hitting the follow button to enter your email. A rising tide raises all boats.

Are your meetings attended by Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody?

January 28, 2014 erik Uncategorized

nobody Sometimes you just got nothing. It is late at night, and I have to catch a plane in the early morning. If there is going to be a Tuesday morning DonorDreams blog, then it has to happen right now. Sigh … sometimes you just got nothing! So, during times like this, I look for real experiences to share. So, I thought I’d share a conversation I had last week with a fundraising professional in New Mexico.
Let me set the stage . . .
We were talking after an annual campaign meeting about the importance of making meetings “actionable” and “how people have a tendency to hide in groups“. Going into a meeting without a plan can result in lots of great discussion and content being shared, but very little action and lots of wasted time.
To avoid this, we talked about all sorts of ideas, tools, and strategies such as:

Recruiting the right volunteer chairperson (heck … recruiting the right kind of committee volunteers)
Collaboratively developing agendas
Using meeting notes and action items memos
Developing dashboards and scorecards
Using goals to create urgency
Not doing something in a group (e.g. recruiting a volunteer or asking for money) that is best done individually

As the conversation wound down, this fundraising professional said: “It sounds like the story about Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.”
I had no idea what she was talking about … so, she sent me an email with this short, cute little story by which every non-profit professional should live his/her life.
I have no idea to whom attribute this story. If you or someone you know is the author, please let me know and I am happy to attribute it. Here it is:

Here is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
A job had to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, Nobody did it. Somebody got mad about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it and that Somebody would do it.
Nobody realized that Everybody thought Somebody would do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

How do you live your life according to the moral of this story? What tips or tricks can you share with you fellow non-profit professionals on how to keep meetings action-oriented and productive? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment box below.
Please excuse me, but I need to run off and catch a plane soon. I hope this short post inspired you to think twice before asking for anything from a group or going into a meeting without a strategy on how to keep things actionable. 😉
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Online videos offer endless opportunities to non-profits

January 27, 2014 erik technology

Mission in Motion

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger

It was years into my role as Executive Director at a youth serving agency that it became crystal clear to me that helping people see could help them believe. Hands down, I encouraged board members to bring people in for tours, which often ended in an ask for an investment in our mission.

There is no argument that a story rich in description — sharing colors, smells, and sights — is gripping and engaging. There are countless opportunities for our beloved elevator speeches, and organization overviews, but there is no doubt, when you can provide someone the first hand look at the mission in motion, your sales pitch gets much easier.

This is the concept of Chapter 10 — “Got Video? (Video Sharing)” — in Lon Safko’s book, The Social Media Bible.

It is very easy nowadays to capture your “Mission in Motion” through various strategies. Consider utilizing some of these:

Client Testimonials
Board Member Orientation & Engagement
Donor Highlights
Organization Overview

It is sometimes difficult to get prospects for a tour or even to an event. So, why not utilize a short video via e-mail to share your mission and introduce them to your services? One of my favorite stories is a video that was made especially for a donor that highlighted a youth of the program thanking them for their investments.

How impactful!

Another great one was another youth agency that featured youth inviting guests to attend a benefit event through a short video invite.

Another great way to stand out to supporters!

Of course, the most simple online video is the simple case for support message like the one you see in the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) video about stopping the ivory trade and supporting their efforts to save the elephant population. Click here or on the video below to check-out this example.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FB2doKRl94&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PL0WSjIIFKH_gUaKCS6M1jfMP8PE1q0H_t]

In addition to reading Lon Safko’s book, here are a few additional links you might find helpful in developing your agency’s “picture” to share with prospects and donors:

4Good.org: “How to use you Home Video Camera to Film Nonprofit Testimonials“
YouTube’s CitizenTube: “Secrets to making a great nonprofit video“
The Case Foundation: “How to Shoot a Video Testimonial — 5 DIY Tips“

So how can you capture your mission to share your story best? How have you used video to engage donors or volunteers?

What should your agency start, stop or continue doing?

January 24, 2014 erik organizational development

The Cow Path

By John Greco
Originally published on May 29, 2012
Re-posted with permission from johnponders blog
One day thru the primeval wood
A calf walked home, as good calves should,
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail, as all calves do.
Since then three hundred years have fled,
And I infer, the calf is dead;
But still behind he left his trail,
And thereon hangs my mortal tale.
The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way,
And then a wise bell-weather sheep
Sliding into a rut now deep,
Pursued that trail over hill and glade
Thru those old woods a path was made.
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
and uttered words of righteous wrath
Because “twas such a crooked path”
But still they follow-do not laugh-
The first migrations of that calf.
The forest became a lane
That bent and turned and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road
where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.
The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The village road became a street,
And this, before the men were aware,
A city’s crowded thoroughfare.
And soon a central street was this
In a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Followed the wanderings of this calf.
Each day a hundred thousand strong
Followed this zigzag calf along;
And over his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one poor calf, three centuries dead.
For just such reverence is lent
To well established precedent.
A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach.
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf paths of the mind;
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
Poem by Samuel Walter Foss (1895)

We often tackle problems with action planning. Well what are we going to do? What’s the plan? What should we commit to doing in the next 30 days? Who should do what?
Do … do … do …
What about considering what we shouldn’t do? What about considering what we are doing that we should stop doing?
There’s a rather standard OD exercise that I have facilitated with regularity over many years — Stop, Start, Continue. What processes, procedures, tasks, behaviors should we implement? What current ones should we discontinue? What ones are still relevant and useful that we should continue doing?
Invariably, the “stop” list is not as populated as the other two.
Hard to stop.
I blame it on those cows.
But my blame is misdirected. We’re to blame.
It is relatively easy to start doing new things; if we’re committed, we’ll find the time. And starting new things has such promise! And doesn’t it show that we’re creative; innovative; and isn’t taking action often recognized and rewarded independent of whether the activity actually generates results?
And, easier yet, is to continue; it quite clearly is the path of least resistance.
But to stop doing things we’ve always been doing takes making a decision that breaks from the well established modus operandi. It takes a willingness to take responsibility. It means taking a chance of a different sort. Where is that cow? and how will that cow feel about us going a different route? And heaven forbid if that cow is sacred!
So we keep doing what we’ve always done.
For just such reverence is lent to well established precedent.
And now we know: such reverence is cow dung.

Robbins on Pallotta on The Overhead Myth

January 22, 2014 erik Fundraising, organizational development

Dan Pallotta, Dreams, Overhead and Accounting

By Dani Robbins
Re-published with permission from nonprofit evolution blog

Have you seen Dan Pallotta’s TED Talk entitled “The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong?” It challenges us to question the way the public thinks about nonprofits and also the way we think of ourselves.
He says the right question is to ask “about a nonprofit’s dreams.” The wrong question is to ask about a charity’s overhead. Overhead is not the enemy.
Overhead including part of the CEO’s salary, the fundraising & support staff, the facility, utilities and the equipment in the administrative offices supports the provision of programming.
Organizations that have minimal overhead also have minimal capacity. Overhead is a part of growth, and challenging a non-profit’s ability to increase overhead comprises their ability to grow program services.
I’d also add that non-profits, like the rest of the world, get what they pay for.
While many nonprofit leaders are exceptional at getting goods and services pro-bono (read: free), it is hard to find excellent leaders to work for free. Some have the financial luxury to be able to do that – and that is wonderful – but most of us don’t. As such, I love Pallotta’s point about our society not wanting to pay a lot of money for people who are helping other people, but having no problem at all with people making a lot of money not helping people.
The other part of the overhead issue is this: It’s sometimes an accounting choice.
I used to have a Board member who said “There’s cash and there’s accounting.”
If you have a non-profit who books their CEO’s salary across the programs (based on a time study that reflects how much time they actually dedicate to programming) it will look like appreciably less overhead than the one who doesn’t. Even though the first CEO probably makes more than the second.
If you ask the question about overhead and don’t ask any follow up questions, you won’t get the right information. And any question that doesn’t get you the information you seek isn’t the right question.
Pallotta’s illustration of someone who really cares about hunger yet chooses against becoming a non-profit leader and ‘takes a huge salary working for a for-profit company and then gives $100,000 to a hunger charity, becomes a celebrated philanthropist and Board member of that charity supervising the person who became the CEO, while still making multiples of that CEO’s salary’ is brilliant!
He goes on to challenge us to “ask about the scale of their dreams; how they measure their progress toward those dreams and the resources they need to make those dreams come true.” Also brilliant!
I once heard someone say that to raise a million dollars you need to have million dollar dreams. The guardian angels who will fund your agency in full, no questions asked, are far and few between. As such, some questions for your consideration:

Do you have million dollar dreams?
Does your non-profit have a generous, or even reasonable, compensation package for the staff?
Can you communicate your organization’s impact?
Do you challenge the status quo?

For Board members and community leaders: Are your expectations for non-profit staff different than your expectations for your own staff?
Culture change is hard and so is changing the world. Let’s start asking the right questions, getting the right answers and allowing our non-profits to dream. Let’s fund the dreams that improve our communities!
As always, I welcome your experience and insight.

The most important non-profit board responsibility

January 21, 2014 erik Board development, Board governance

questions Over the last few months, I’ve found myself doing a lot of boardroom trainings on the subject of “Board Roles & Responsibilities“. When facilitating this training, there are two different slides talking about the board’s collective responsibilities and the other illustrates individual board members’ responsibilities. Listed on both slides at the top of the list is the responsibility of “asking questions“.
At the end of tonight’s training, I went out for a nice steak dinner, but one thing stuck in my head and nagged me all night.

Is the list of roles/responsibilities in a particular order? If so, could it be that ‘asking questions’ is the most important of the responsibilities?

So, I tried to think of other responsibilities that might be more important:

Fundraising & securing resources
Connecting others to the agency’s mission
Advocating and talking about the agency throughout the community
Making sure laws and regulations are followed
Planning

While these aren’t all of the responsibilities of a non-profit board volunteer, it certainly is a good number of them. In the final analysis, all of these roles/responsibilities are important, but I honestly don’t see any of them as important as asking questions.
questions2 Of course, we aren’t talking about asking questions that lend themselves to micro-management of staff. Here are just a few important questions that good boards ask:

Where is this agency going? What will it look like in 5-years? 10-years? 15-years? 20-years?
Is our organizational mission still relevant? What should it be?
What are our shared values?
What are our goals?
What are the community’s needs and gaps that the agency strives to address?
Are we using donor dollars in the manner we promised?
Is the agency achieving the program outcomes it promised to donors?
Is the organization structured in such a way to achieve what it needs to achieve?
Why are we doing what we’re doing? Is there a better way?
Do I have a conflict of interest? What should I do to mitigate my conflict?
Is this ethical? Is it legal? Even if it is, will supporters view it as otherwise?

rubber stamp2 I tried to picture what a non-profit board might look like if it didn’t ask questions, and these words all came to mind:

rubber stamp
disengaged
Enron
WorldCom
Tyco

Over the years of writing this blog, I’ve tackled this subject from a number of different angles. Here are just a few posts I’ve written on the subject of asking questions:

I dunno! What do you think? Are some non-profit board responsibilities weighted more heavily than others? If so, where does “asking questions” rank?
If board members need to collectively and individually get better at asking questions, how do you train for that? Or is it something you recruit for?
Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Is your non-profit using podcasts to engage others?

January 20, 2014 erik technology

Podcasts can engage you, your volunteers & your donors

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
Any time you can increase engagement with volunteers and donors it is a win. Today, we will continue down the path of reading Lon Safko’s book “The Social Media Bible” and review chapter nine. We will dicsuss a common tool you can use to uniquely engage, education and develop board members and volunteers.
A few weeks ago I presented blogs, and talked about how blogs could be used both for personal development as well as provide engagement opportunities for donors and volunteers. In this next chapter, Safko covers utilizing podcasts as a marketing tool. Again, here is a tool that can both benefit you in your professional development and utilized to cover topics to engage your volunteers or donors.
Creating a podcast is pretty simple. Follow these steps to create the best product:

Planning
Recording
Editing
Publishing

podcast These steps are pretty obvious and easy to follow. Because of the growing popularity of podcasts, it is often included in various software publishing wizards. You can also utilize tools like Liberated Syndication to publish your podcast.
Sometimes you don’t have to reinvent the wheel and you can utilize current podcasts to share with your donors, volunteers and board members. Below are some great resources to start exploring.
Fundraising is Beautiful – This resource is dedicated to donor engagement and donor centered approaches to fundraising.
Grant Whisperer – This radio show features grant writing tips, secrets and strategies for raising funds for your organization.
Board Star –This resource offers numerous podcasts and articles for board members and executive leadership.
These are just a few possibilities to explore. I encourage you to find more that are relevant to you, and please share your favorites using the comment box below!
Additionally, please consider how you could use a podcast to engage donors, train volunteers or board members. Share those ideas, too.
How have you utilized podcasts? What are the biggest opportunities or challenges you see in using podcasts?
Oh by the way, Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everyone. In addition to some volunteer work, I hope everyone takes a moment to reflect upon how social media and podcasting might have impacted Dr. King’s message (both good or not-so-good). I just think it is a fun thing to contemplate on a day like today.

Is your non-profit designed for performance?

January 17, 2014 erik organizational development

Fighting the Physics

By John Greco
Originally published on April 9, 2012
Re-posted with permission from johnponders blog
performance7 “Grab a piece of paper. Make your best paper airplane.”
And the management workshop immediately takes off!
“Okay, let ‘em fly!”
Some take flight spectacularly. Others not so much. This usually causes some guffaws, and some good natured ribbing. I generally pick one of the more “flight-challenged” ones —
“Okay, Bill, come on up to the front of the room. Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to fly your plane right down the center of the room. Aim right for Debbie, right at her! and have it land on the table right in front of her. Can you picture that? Be positive. You can do it! Okay, keep the vision of that flight in your mind, and let it fly.”
The airplane generally goes anywhere but down the center of the room. Debbie is momentarily relieved.
“Bill; let’s try again. You can do this! I believe in you. Remember the vision? Right down the center of the room, right at Debbie. But this time, let me give you a quick training lesson. Hold your airplane a third of the way from the point, between your thumb and forefinger. Flex your elbow, pull it back, envision the flight, and then advance your arm and release. Okay, try it.”
The airplane again goes anywhere but down the center of the room. Debbie starts to realize she has nothing to fear.
“Okay, Bill, let’s get serious. I’ve got twenty dollars here (as I pull a twenty out of my pocket) and it is all yours if you simply fly your plane down the center of the room, right at Debbie, and have it land right in front of her. Envision the flight, use the technique I showed you, and think of that twenty. Okay, go!”
The airplane now goes … not down the center. And not by Debbie; she’s pretty relaxed and smiling now…
“Alright Bill. (My tone has changed.) “Bill, I told you I believe in you, and still do, but this is your plane to fly. I asked you to envision your plane flying down the center, to Debbie. I trained you. I even motivated you with a twenty in cash. I’m running out of patience. I need you to fly your plane down the center of the room at Debbie. Or else. Do it.”
Nothing different; no improvement whatsoever.
“I don’t understand. I believed in you Bill. I helped you envision success. I trained you. I motivated you. And then I threatened you. And now I need to fire you…”
performance8 Often in these sessions, after one or two unsuccessful flights I see the “pilot” start adjusting the paper plane: a different fold there, a bending of the wings, sharper folds at the point… When I see this, I react —“Whoa!” What are you doing?”
“Adjusting the plane so it will fly better.”
Hmmm. Yes indeed. Adjusting the plane to fly better.
Paper planes — and organizations — fly as they are designed. Their performance is fundamentally by design.
And when we want a certain type or level of performance from a paper plane or organization that is not designed to produce that performance, we are in fact “fighting the physics.”
Fighting the physics is what we do when we expect results from a system that has not been designed to produce those results. It reflects an ignorance of cause and effect; it points fingers and places blame on the people in the system instead of the design of the system.

We fight the physics when we expect teamwork while rewarding individual achievement.
We fight the physics when we encourage innovation while emphasizing sacred cows, third rails, and CLMs (career-limiting moves).
We fight the physics when we expect speed and responsiveness in customer service while structuring multiple layers, enforcing centralized decision making and requiring formal communication channels.
We fight the physics when we expect efficiency while not investing in repeatable processes and enabling technology.

Now; there’s nothing wrong with positive thinking; research supports the benefits of a positive mental attitude. Research also supports how envisioning an outcome can help actualize the vision. No doubt that when we have a skill or knowledge gap, training makes a difference. Incentives, be they monetary or otherwise, certainly do get our attention. As do threats.
But if the ~~organization~~ plane was not designed to fly down the center of the room and land in front of Debbie, no amount of positive thinking, envisioning, training, motivation, and threats will fundamentally and substantially improve it’s performance.
Fighting the physics always results in the physics winning.
Debbie is safe.
We are not.
john greco sig

Is your board of directors exceptional?

January 16, 2014 erik Board development, Board governance

On Tuesday evening I found myself sitting in front of a group of board volunteers as well as prospects who were contemplating joining the board. What started off as a routine training about basic board roles and responsibilities morphed into a discussion about what makes an exceptional board.
According to BoardSource and other non-profit experts, the following principles go into making exceptions boards:

Effective partnership between the board and its executive director
Asking questions and engaging in respectful debates and discussions
Strategic thinking and vision-focused discussions integrated into board meetings
Mission-focused and driven with the agency’s mission infused throughout everything it does including fundraising, decision-making, etc
Transparency in everything the board does with the community understanding all of its decisions
Independent minded with conflicts of interest constantly being identified and mitigated
Measuring the agency’s impact and ensuring that outcomes are achieved
Life-long learners sit around the boardroom table and relish evaluation opportunities and want to learn how to do things better
Focused on how to engage all board volunteers in securing more resources and linking the organization’s strategic plan to its budget
Intentional in all of its actions including establishing the size of the board, committee structure, and other various governance questions
Integrity rooted in an ethics policy, oversight and audit
Planned turnover in the boardroom supported by thoughtful recruitment efforts

Do you think these things define an exceptional board? Is anything missing? What are the more difficult things to achieve on this laundry list?
Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

The case for developing your agency's Gift Acceptance Policies

January 15, 2014 erik Fundraising

With whom is your non-profit in bed?

By Dani Robbins
Re-published with permission from nonprofit evolution blog
bedfellows1 Politics — and non-profit fundraising — make strange bed fellows. Most non-profits look for donosr and sponsors. At some point, there will be a conflict between the mission of the non-profit and the reputation (earned or unfair) of the potential sponsor. Some donors and sponsors will be better for your mission than others. A Gift Acceptance Policy can help you determine what’s best for your organization.
When I used to run local Boys & Girls Clubs, the national organization — Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) — held a workshop encouraging board members and executive staff to talk through potential gift acceptance liabilities. The scenario they offered was this:

“A local restaurant, known for well endowed waitresses in skimpy uniforms, who’s owner is the friend of a Board member, wants to donate $10,000 and conduct a public media blitz connecting the two organizations.”

bedfellows4 Of course, my brain immediately went to the possibility of a billboard with two scantily clad waitresses in low cut very tight Boy & Girls Clubs tee-shirts. (Note: Boys & Girls Clubs, among many other amazing and life changing programs, have self esteem programs for young women as well as a similar program for boys teaching them what it means to be a man.)
BGCA offered the question “Do you accept the gift?”
The two Board members with whom I attended immediately said, “Yes!” My reply was “Over my dead body!”
bedfellows2 BGCA encourages its local Club leadership to talk about such things, and Clubs across the country are better for it. Since I opened my consulting firm, I have found that this to be the exception, not the rule.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation, in addition to the incredibly negative press it received in 2012 for its decision to defund and then re-fund Planned Parenthood, was also cited on NPR.org for its “2010 ‘Buckets for the Cure’ campaign with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Some studies have linked fatty foods to a higher risk of cancer.”
According to the documentary philanthropy.com, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) got in trouble with some of its supporters for accepting a large gift from Coca Cola. At the time, Coke was accused of sucking up (literally) the limited drinking water supply from the very poor in India to support a local bottling plant. Some WWF supporters claimed that Coke was only supporting the WWF to buy its way back into love.
Is there a similar PR problem in your non-profit’s future? Does your organization have a gift acceptance policy?
Polices, like plans, allow you to frame and respond to the question at hand. Do you know — and like — with whom your non-profit is in bed? Could you defend it publically? As Komen, the World Wildlife Fund and others have learned, the day might come when you have to.