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.

Will you know when it is your time to leave and how to do so gracefully?

October 25, 2013 erik leadership, organizational development, Planning

Welcome to O.D. Fridays at DonorDreams blog. For the last few years, we’ve looked at posts from John Greco’s blog called “johnponders ~ about life at work, mostly” and applied his organizational development messages to the non-profit community. For the foreseeable future, John is taking a break from blogging and our Friday organizational development blog series will morph into something else. Stay tuned!

In this week’s post titled “Your Stage Now,” John announces to the world that he needs a break from blogging. He simply tells us that he is going on hiatus, and he isn’t sure if and when he will start-up again. In the meantime, he invites everyone to use his blog platform to share their organizational development stories.

After shaking off the suddenness of this announcement, John’s post reminded me of a time when I was an executive director working for a local non-profit organization. During that time, it wasn’t uncommon for the following three questions to visit me like the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future:

Will this board meeting be my last? Is this the meeting when my board will ask me to leave?
Will I know when it is time for me to go? Will I be able to leave or will I be asked to leave?
When it is my time to go, will I be able to fade from the stage with grace?

Yes, those six years of my life were filled with anxiety and stress. No, I was not fired. In fact, I like to think I did a nice job. I did leave on my terms, and I think I left gracefully.

John’s post this morning brought all of those memories flooding back mostly because he exited the stage with class, dignity and grace. His post also reminded me of how many non-profit professionals (and even board volunteers) I’ve seen throughout the years who are completely and utterly unprepared for this moment. It is as if they never contemplated the possibility and it crept up on them like a stealthy cat.

the end2 Here are just a few examples of what those situations looked like:

The board terminating their executive director due to performance issues.
The non-profit professional deciding it was time for a change, which usually meant they were leaving for greener pastures (or so they thought).
The executive director resigning because a BIG issue was about to bite them in the butt, and they would rather pull the pin on the grenade instead of being shot by the board.
The fundraising professional being squeezed out as a result of a new boss being hired with new priorities in the middle of a re-org and shake-up.
A non-profit professional suddenly realizing that it is time to retire and move into their golden years.
A board president quitting suddenly because their child is no longer involved in the agency.

Upon leaving the stage, I’ve seen lots of good and lots of bad. I’m sure you have, too, Sometimes people just run away and hide. Other times, I’ve seen the big hook used to pull that person off of the stage. The following are just a few things that I’ve seen and heard that make me cringe:

I’ve heard executive directors and fundraising professionals assuring donors, volunteers and board members that everything will be OK after they leave. (This feels pretentious and always leaves me wondering if they have doubts that everything is going to actually be OK.)
I’ve heard bad mouthing and airing of grievances. (This looks cowardly and spiteful.)
I’ve seen people simply take their hands off of the wheel in their final days and weeks on the job. (This looks reckless.)

You’re probably thinking that in these situations those were “bad people“. The reality is that I’ve seen both poor professionals and iconic professionals do things like this. I’ve also seen volunteers who I revere accidentally step into some of these pitfalls.

the end3 The definition of the word “grace” according to a Google search is: “simple elegance or refinement of movement“.

The previous bullet points are not good examples of “grace“. However, when I think about myself, I know that I am not a naturally graceful person, which is probably why I obsessed about “the end” and felt the need to think through and plan my exit. (Yes, I recognize that I have control issues and I am working with my counselor to address this. LOL!)

While I encourage you to not obsess (like I did) over what the end will look like, I think it is healthy to contemplate it from time-to-time. And when the end does finally come, I think it is responsible to put a thoughtful plan in place to ensure a graceful exit with a smooth transition.

The following are just a variety of different links and resource that I think you might find useful:

Key Corporate Services blog: “How to Resign From a Job With Grace“
Personal Branding Blog: “5 Steps To Quitting Your Job With Grace“
Foundation Center: “Succession Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A Resource List“
The Annie E. Casey Foundation: “Building Leaderful Organizations: Succession Planning For Nonprofits“

Do you have any tips or tricks for how to exit the big stage with grace? Do you have a story about a fellow co-worker or board volunteer who left in a less than perfect way? If so, what could they have done differently to make it a better departure? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences. We can all learn from each other.

On a personal note, I want to thank John Greco for providing the DonorDreams blog readers with countless “Organizational Development Fridays” over the years. I wish him a restful break and hope he comes back to the blogosphere when he is ready because the world is better place when he is blogging and sharing his perspective on how to grow our organizational capacity and manage change.

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

Larkin Center evolves for 117 years, and then it ceases to exist

October 18, 2013 erik leadership, organizational development

Welcome to O.D. Fridays at DonorDreams blog. Every Friday for the foreseeable future we will be looking at posts from John Greco’s blog called “johnponders ~ about life at work, mostly” and applying his organizational development messages to the non-profit community.

In a post titled “Survival Is Not Mandatory,” John talks about how change is occurring all around us all of the time. Organizations need to make the decision to adapt to those changes or risk going out of business.

On Wednesday afternoon, I received the following email in my inbox from a local non-profit organization with whom I’ve worked with and supported over the last 13 years.

A Farewell Thank You to Larkin Center Supporters

The Larkin Center has been a valuable part of the Elgin area for over 117 years. Unfortunately, the Center has experienced financial challenges at a time when demand for its services has increased. We have been in discussions with several strategic partners over the last 18 months to secure the long-term future of the Center.

As of last Friday, the effort collapsed and we are working with appropriate state agencies to transfer contracts and transition our clients as a result, it saddens us to announce that the Center will no longer be able to sustain itself after Friday, October 18, 2013.

The Larkin Center clients and staff would like to thank the many individuals and organizations that have supported our mission throughout the years and have truly made a difference in the lives of our clients.

Larkin Center has adapted to all of the changes throughout the years. They were founded more than 100 years ago as an orphanage. Over the course of time, orphanages disappeared from our communities, and Larkin Center evolved into an agency offering residential services to children who had trouble surviving in a state-run foster care system.

larkin4 As the years passed, Larkin Center added more services including a school for children struggling with behavior disorders and counseling services for adults.

It is obvious to me that Larkin Center’s staff and board understood that “survival is not mandatory,” which is why they kept evolving and changing with the times. I think it is this realization that makes this closure so difficult to swallow.

Is it possible that there comes a time when adapting to change and evolving is not possible? Do organizations have a life span much like human beings?

The sadness of this moment makes it impossible for me to go down this road and contemplate the answers to these questions.

Instead, I want to celebrate. That’s right. You heard me correctly.

larkin1 There will be lots of news coverage about the “failure“. Many people will weigh-in with what they think went wrong and what could’ve and should’ve been done differently. There might even be a victory lap taken by a few Elgin city council members who openly fought with Larkin Center because they didn’t think “those kids” belonged in our community.

I won’t touch any of these topics with a ten foot pole. At least not today.

Instead, I urge all of you to take a moment to think about the heroes who fought to the very end to save Larkin Center.

When I think about the countless number of volunteer hours invested in strategic planning and exploring merger possibilities over the last 18 months, I want to honor those efforts.

When I think about the Larkin Center staff who persevered through furloughs and late paychecks because they believed in saving this agency’s mission, I want to honor those efforts.

larkin3 When I think about the donors who invested in efforts to save this organization in the final months and years of its life, I want to honor those efforts.

When I think about the tens of thousands of children and adults (if not more), whose lives were touched and changed by Larkin Center, I want to honor those efforts.

There will be plenty of time to dissect what happened and learn lessons from Larkin Center, but please join me in honoring the accomplishments and hard work of so many people.

Sigh! As always, John is right . . . “Survival is not mandatory.” But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate 117 years of evolution and the will to survive.

You can join me in remembering Larkin Center and honoring the organization, its accomplishments and its volunteers and staff members by recalling a memory and sharing it in the comment box below.

Here’s to your health (and continued evolution)!

Dear board volunteer . . . A few questions first.

May 16, 2013 erik Board development, Board governance, leadership, nonprofit, volunteers

DonorDreams blog is honored to be hosting the May 2013 Nonprofit Blog Carnival. The theme this month is “Dear board volunteer . . .” and the idea is “If you could write an anonymous letter to a nonprofit board about something they do that drives you crazy, what would that letter look like and what suggested solutions would you include?” If you are a blogger and would like more information on how to participate and submit a post for consideration, please click here to learn more.

I wanted to expand the Nonprofit Blog Carnival concept in May. So, I reached out to real non-profit people and asked them to also write an anonymous letter to their board volunteers. These folks are executive directors, fundraising professionals, board members, donors, community volunteers, consultants and front line staff. I promised everyone anonymity in exchange for their submissions.

We will celebrate May’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival on Wednesday, May 29, 2013. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this real look at real issues that our community deals with on a daily basis.

Here is today’s letter:

Dear Board Members,

The Board Development Committee has presented three potential board members for your consideration at the next meeting. Each of the candidates lives/works within our service area and brings particular experience/expertise to the board. Each of them has been recommended by one or more of you. But before the vote is taken, I would like you to consider the questions I believe need to be asked of potential board members and should be asked periodically of all board members.

1. Why do you want to be on our board? Looks good on your resume’? Want to ‘give back’ to the community? Know someone who needs our services? Used our services? All of these are good reasons but, I really want you to turn your initial reason into an informed commitment. Be honest with yourself and with us about the level of your interest and your commitment.

2. Are you willing to ASK? Let’s be honest—are your willing to use your contacts for the good of the organization? ASK your friends, family, and business partners to share their time, energy and money to benefit this organization just as you do? If you are shy about ASKing…..will you share the info so that others can make the contacts?

3. Can you take the HEAT? Board members are ultimately responsible for the stability and success of the organization. Will you devote the time necessary to hiring and evaluating a qualified Director? Will you be involved in and responsible for all financial policies/decisions and evaluate how well the organization is meeting the service needs of the community? And, if trouble should come, are you prepared to stand by and speak up on behalf of the organization?

4. Are you prepared to JUST DO IT? Decide what you can do –serve on a committee—attend meetings—participate in the discussion—contribute to fundraising and friendraising. And if and when you decide you cannot fulfill a particular commitment let the board president know as soon as possible.

We depend on you to do what you say you are going to do.

Sincerely,
Your number one fan and biggest supporter

If you have some advice for the author of our anonymous letter, please share it in the comment box at the bottom of this post in a respectful manner. If you want to submit an anonymous letter for consideration this month, please email it to me at the address in your signature block below. If you are a blogger looking to participate in this month’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival and want to learn more, then please click here.

Here’s to your health!

Where will your fundraising journey take you?

March 29, 2013 erik Fundraising, leadership, organizational development

In a post titled “Ultimate Conquest,” John talks about the concept of conquering ourselves and our quest for self actualization. He starts by sharing a story about a king and his three sons. The king sends these three princes out into the world to “conquer dragons, maidens and black-hearted knights.” Each of princes returns to the kingdom having had a different experience. I won’t ruin the story for you, and I encourage you to click over and read it for yourself.

As I read John’s post, I realized that inside my fundraising soul I have many of the same experiences as the three princes.

When I worked for the Boy Scouts, it really was the first time I had serious fundraising goals and expectations. I learned so much from that job. All of my inexperience contributed to fear, and the way I conquered my fear was to approach fundraising as a competition. I am very proud of those years. I excelled and built an annual campaign that doubled in size over a three-year period. I received many accolades and recognition for my work. What I didn’t realize was that it was simply the first phase of my journey because I had only learned that donors were something to conquer.

The next leg of my journey brought me to Boys & Girls Club of Elgin as the executive director. I was a young executive director, and I thought that I had “made it.” LOL If I only knew then what I know now.

During my years at Boys & Girls Club of Elgin, I honed my skills as a fundraising professional. I was no longer afraid of donors, and I was adding more and more fundraising experiences to my repertoire. I was no longer the knight of annual campaigns, but I was writing grants, developing direct mail appeals, organizing special events, and building capacity with a capital campaign in mind. Much like the second prince in John’s post, I worked on becoming more nuanced and polished.

I remember thinking at the end of my tenure at Boys & Girls Club of Elgin that I had finally made it. LOL Again, if I only knew then what I know now. That experience was only one leg of my journey.

When I accepted an internal consulting job at Boys & Girls Clubs of America, my view of fundraising expanded yet again. I no longer wanted to conquer donors or nuance contributions out of them. The amazing team of individuals with whom I worked helped me see that there is a difference between “fundraising” and “resource development”. Whoa! They also exposed me to the difference between “transactional fundraising” and “donor-centered fundraising”. I also started to understand the difference between “resource development” and “philanthropy”. Huh!

As I look back over the better part of two decades, I understand that hindsight in 20/20. More importantly, I see three very distinct experiences, but I understand that they are three legs of the same journey.

I am not naive enough to believe I am at the apex of this mountain that I am climbing. However, I do feel confident enough now to say I recognize that I am on a fundraising journey. While I cannot see very far down the path in front of me, I am excited about my new realization that the non-profit world is my playground and this voyage is going to take a lifetime.

Have you had a similar experience with your fundraising career path? Where are you at? What have you learned? Where do you want to go? Did John Greco’s post trigger any great thoughts about you or our profession? Please scroll down and share some of your thoughts in the comment box.

Here’s to your health!

Fundraising is broken. Fix it.

February 7, 2013 erik Fundraising, leadership

Good morning, DonorDreams blog subscribers. I thought I’d give you another day off from my random non-profit and fundraising thoughts by offering you an awesome article about DONOR COMMUNICATION, STEWARDSHIP AND RETENTION from a guest blogger. This guest post is from Nathan Hand, who is a fundraising professional in Central Indiana. Check out his blog posts at NonprofitNate.com. Enjoy!

It happened again. And I’ve had it up to here (*as he raises his hand 2 inches above his head*).

This post may get me in trouble but this is important.

I was visiting with a community business leader yesterday. He told me that he and his wife had supported an organization several times over the years,but he hadn’t heard from them in 14 months. The communication he received yesterday was a solicitation for a significant gift. Done via email. Out of the blue.

If that doesn’t surprise and horify you, it should, but surely this will. He politely declined. In his words, he and his wife had understandably ‘moved on’. In return, he immediately received a ranting email from the fundraiser calling him out for his lack of support.

Ho.Lee.Cow. Stop it already!

What happened? Where did this go wrong? It’s an epidemic racing across the country and affecting every cause. It’s destroying the field of fundraising and the nonprofit sector. And I don’t blame the fundraiser (entirely). For those unaware, data released recently from Compasspoint should have fundraisers and nonprofit CEOs more-than concerned. (Download and read the full report)

Simone Joyeaux summarized politely:

“In summary, here’s the scoop: Development officers quit. Bosses fire development officers. Boards don’t play. Organizations don’t get it. This vicious cycle threatens financing of the sector. And, this has been going on for years and we aren’t really fixing it.”

Why?

I think it’s a lack of patience and focusing on true philanthropy. Organizations are spread too thin (few staff, barely funded), causing the organization to put undue pressure on their fundraisers who then pressure donors and send clear signals of desperation (cue the story above) and have completely unrealistic expectations on top of it. It destroys any hope of a positive relationship and future with those donors. No wonder half of all donors don’t renew!?! We’re waisting an incredible amount of time and money recruiting/aquiring folks only to treat them horribly and then we have the nerve to wonder why they don’t stick around!?!?

Phew. Enough ranting. What’s the solution?

CEOs – Realize that donors want and expect to hear from you. Fundraising should be YOUR priority, not something you hire someone to take care of. Be intimately involved in the process, in the hiring and for goodness sake, pay a competitive salary to attract and retain talent in a relationship-based position. Understand that the development director’s job is to pull levers and orchestrate you, the board and other major advocates in engaging your network to build support for the organization. Until they’ve been a part of the team for several years, they won’t have the relational credibility to be successful. Like sales, financial advisors and other relationship-based business, the first few years are establishing repor and won’t bear fruit for some time.

Development pros – You’re more to blame than CEOs. Yes, I said it. This is YOUR profession. It doesn’t mean you should do it alone but OWN this issue. Fix it for yourself, then your organization, then help others do the same. Do your homework before taking a position. Then do it again. A strong relationship is imperative with the CEO. Spend some time with them. If you don’t get more than an hour or two – that should be a clear sign that they don’t understand the magnitude of hiring a development pro. Meet with the Board Chair. Talk about these issues. Push them on their fundraising philosophy and how they and the board have been involved thus far and how willing they’ll be in the future. Make sure they understand there’s no money-printing press in the back. And look in the mirror! It’s easy to point fingers but make sure you have the patience to do this work, understand how to navigate the involvement of others and balance the slow, relationship-based part with being strategically assertive and making asks when appropriate.

It’s not a big deal. It’s just the future of the entire sector we’re talking about…

What do you think? Do you struggle with this? Is there a different problem we should be zooming in on?

‘Tis the season to put your non-profit organization’s shared values to use

December 4, 2012 erik leadership, volunteers

values1 For the last few weeks, I’ve found myself in a number of non-profit boardrooms talking to board volunteers about a variety of difficult subjects. These difficult conversations covered the following areas uncomfortable areas: staff reduction, re-organization, service reduction, radical revenue enhancement, board transformation, and so on. In each instance, it felt like a “soul-searching” discussion . . . very big and very weighty. I found myself wishing for a magic pill that I could dispense that would make their path forward a little less difficult.

As I poured my morning cup of coffee and wondered what I should blog about today, my mind wandered back to this same question, but this time it wasn’t a “magic pill” for which my sleepy head wished and dreamed. This time is was a tool that I could hand them. Something like a compass?!?! And then it came to me like a bolt of lightning.

A year ago, I wrote a post titled “Does your non-profit have a soul?” It was all about the importance of engaging your board, staff, clients, donors, volunteers and stakeholders in a “shared values” exercise. One of the quotes in that post that jumped back out at me this morning after my revelation at the coffee pot was from Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner who stated the following in their book “The Leadership Challenge“:

“Shared values make an enormous difference to organizational and personal vitality. Research confirms that firms with strong corporate culture based on a foundation of shared values outperform other firms by a huge margin. Their revenue grew 4-times fast; their rate of job creation was 7-times higher; their stock price grew 12-times faster; and their profit performance was 750-percent higher.”

values2 So, one organizations might find some comfort in their shared values of:

Care
Empathy
Sustainability
Success
Respect

While exercising these values when talking about difficult subject matter won’t make those issues disappear, it will likely bring clarity to the boardroom and help people relate better to each other. Right?

Another one of the organizations I am thinking of has the following values posted on the walls around their facility:

Believe
Inspire
Lead
Innovate

I close my eyes and imagine a boardroom discussion focused on questions such as “Where are we going to raise more money next year?” and “What short-term cuts can/should we make to balance the budget?” Those discussions look different when I overlay their values on those conversations. Right?

‘Tis the season for giving and charity. It is also that time of the year when non-profit boards struggle with big, weighty issues like budget and revenue strategies for next year. My best advice to all non-profit boards is to take another peek under the tree and unwrap that tiny present you placed there years ago when you went through your strategic planning process.

Contained in that small package is your agency’s shared values. Use them as they were intended . . . as a tool to frame discussions and a backdrop to make tough decisions.

It might be the best gift that you’ve given yourself in a very long time.

What are your organization’s shared values? How do you use them? Can you recall an instance when your values helped with a difficult discussion or decision? Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts.

Here’s to your health!

Answers to yesterday’s fundraising pop quiz questions

November 2, 2012 erik Board development, Fundraising, leadership, nonprofit

This is my second post of the day. The first one was the traditional “O.D. Fridays at DonorDreams blog” where we focus on an organizational development concept generated by John Greco’s blog “johnponders ~ about life at work, mostly”. Today, we talked about non-profit competition. I hope you got a chance to read it because we took off in some interesting and unexpected directions.

This second post is simply a follow-up to yesterday’s post titled “Do you understand your resource development roles and responsibilities“. There were pop quiz questions in yesterday’s post, and I promised you the answers today.

The following are answers to yesterday’s poll questions along with brief explanations:

Question #1: “Who officially signs grant agreements?” Two-thirds of respondents answered this question correctly when they said it is the board president who signs grant agreements. While it is true that overall board approval may be necessary to execute some agreements, the actual signature comes from the board president. The reason it shouldn’t be the executive director is: 1) this is a contract committing your agency to doing something and 2) think of it as a system of “checks-and-balances” that guarantee staff can’t commit the organization to things without the board agreeing to it.
Question #2: “Who is the most effective at building relationships and providing stewardship with donors?” Thank goodness we have 100% consensus that the answer to this question is “The Full Board”. Personal stewardship visits by board members with your agency’s top donors is effective in promoting donor loyalty especially if those board volunteers are talking about how the donor’s charitable contribution made a difference. However, please note that staff play a major role in this process, too. They support board members in making these visits. This sometimes means providing materials and stories. It also means managing the process and reminding board members when it is time to pick-up the phone. It also might mean going along for a ride and visiting the donor together.
Question #3: “Who is responsible for raising the operating budget?” Again, we achieved 100% consensus around the correct answer that it is “The Entire Board” who is responsible for raising the money and ensuring the budget is achieved. Again, there is a BIG BUT here . . . the board hires staff to assist and support their efforts. So, any executive director or fundraising professional who thinks that falling short on fundraising goals won’t get them in trouble is delusional.

How do you keep your non-profit board from becoming “unaligned” when it comes to clarity around board-staff roles & responsibilities in the area of fundraising? Do you use certain tools (e.g. an annual board re-commitment pledge, etc)? Can you share those ideas and tools with your fellow readers? Are there particular strategies that you use (e.g. resource development planning process, etc)?

Please scroll down to the comment section and share your thoughts, tools, and approaches with your fellow non-profit professionals. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Does your non-profit agency pass “The Marshmallow Test”?

October 26, 2012 erik Board development, Fundraising, leadership, organizational development, Planning

Welcome to O.D. Fridays at DonorDreams blog. Every Friday for the foreseeable future we will be looking more closely at a recent post from John Greco’s blog called “johnponders ~ about life at work, mostly” and applying his organizational development messages to the non-profit community.

In a recent post, John talked about something called The Marshmallow Test, which is a real life academic study related to impulse control. You probably know this by other names and expressions such as “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush“.

John poses the question, “What happens when the environment is perceived to shift a bit?” Both he and the academic study conclude, “The promise of a second marshmallow holds no sway, if the promise is perceived as unreliable.”

So, I thought I’d ask a very simple question on this Friday morning . . . Does your non-profit agency pass “The Marshmallow Test”?

Confused? Let me give you a few examples to get you started:

If your organization doesn’t invest in and value professional development (e.g. very little training, no professional development plans embedded in performance management plans, few promotion opportunities, etc), then how does that impact your employees’ behavior in the workplace? Do they still strive for improvement or do they settle into the status quo?
If your organization doesn’t measure the impact of its programming, then how does that impact donor behavior? Does it influence how your fundraising professionals do their jobs?
If your organization doesn’t value the importance of planning and fails to involve board volunteers in strategic planning, then will that have a “disengaging” effect on board members? Does it impact what they’re willing to do on behalf of your mission?

Yes, today was intentionally a short post because John’s Marshmallow Test post really said it all, and I wanted to provoke you to think about your specific non-profit agency rather than share a fun non-profit story from my past.

So, have you given this question any thought? Does your agency pass the test? On what level were you considering this question (e.g. operations, human resources, resource development, etc)? Is your organizational structure designed to engage employees, volunteers and donors and result in them having some impulse control?

Please scroll down and use the comment box to share your answer. If you still don’t have an answer, please weigh-in on any thoughts this might have spurred. We can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!

Do non-profit board volunteers of a feather really flock together?

October 17, 2012 erik Board development, leadership, volunteers

My mind has been stuck in a board development rut lately, and I can’t stop thinking about whether it is possible for a weak board to get itself out of the ditch. Author Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” talks about the importance of getting the right people on the bus and in the right seats. Cross apply Collins best practice with that old expression “Birds of a feather, flock together” and that is where I get stuck.

So, the picture to the right of you screen represents a very traditional board development process for the average non-profit organization. I found this particular board development cycle in old materials from my last job, and is was apparently adapted from “The Board Building Cycle: Nine Steps to Finding, Recruiting, and Engaging Nonprofit Board Members”, Second Edition by Berit M. Lakey (BoardSource, 2007).

Have you ever sat in a non-profit board room, looked around the table, and saw a bunch of people with big hearts, small checkbooks, and very little influence?

How many times have you seen a group of people fitting that description try to transform their boardroom? I have seen it too often, and in each instance they toss out the names of the “Whose Who” in your community. Yet, at the end of the board development process, none of those names seem to be occupying seats around the table.

Every time I start to focus on this phenomenon, the expression “Birds of a feather, flock together” comes to mind.

Sure, sometimes I see “Average Joe” and “Average CEO” sitting around a boardroom table talking about governance, fundraising, mission, and all things non-profit. However, it is the exception and definitely not the rule.

This all leads me back to where I started this post. Is there a different process that non-profits should use to transform their board of directors into a group of highly influential people?

I’ve recently been speaking with an old friend who emphatically says “YES” to this question.

His process is external to the board. It involves recruiting one board recruitment champion who: 1) is not a board member and 2) has so much influence that it is virtually impossible to say “NO” when s/he comes knocking on your door. There is more to his process, but in the final analysis the boardroom is transformed with most of the old board members finding different seats on the bus and the new board volunteers being highly influential, effective and engaged.

Has anyone out there every seen a non-profit board transform itself? What did that process look like? How did it unfold? What role (if any) did the existing board play? Please use the comment box below to share your observations because we can all learn from each other.

Here’s to your health!