Category: philanthropy

Will your non-profit be a 'winner' or 'loser' during Trump era?

Fundraising, philanthropy

Two days ago, I published a post titled “What will Trump’s impact be on the non-profit sector?” and I followed it up yesterday with “How is Trump ushering in renaissance for non-profit sector?” Today, I’ll end this series by talking about your non-profit and sharing a few readiness tips for your consideration.
President Trump is famous for talking about “winner” and “losers.” He is also a self-described conservative who campaigned on shrinking the size of the federal government. In the administration’s first budget to Congress, there are a number of programs he proposed reducing or eliminating that has a direct impact on non-profit organizations. In just the last few days, I’ve heard my clients chattering about the following few proposed cuts:

  • 21st Community Learning Centers
  • Meals on Wheels
  • Community Development Block Grants

As our society enters a new era where government starts tightening its belt, those non-profit organizations that are heavily government funded and have little experience with private sector philanthropy will likely be “losers” in my estimation.
Similarly, if your organization has strong relationships with individual donors, then I believe you are well positioned to be a “winner.” I believe this is especially true because of the reasons I provided in yesterday’s blog post.
However, you may want to start changing the way you speak to your donors in this new era. As Tom Ahern is famous for saying, properly utilizing the right emotional triggers will be your key to success. You won’t simply be able to get a away with shouting the word “Trump” and sitting back to watch the money roll in.
The following few sections are just a few thoughts I’ve had on how you can start tapping into a new generation of engaged donors.
Increase your non-solicitation communications to donors
Donors want to know how those you serve are being impacted by the changing world around us. So, help them see it.
Doing an informal audit of your last few newsletters is a great place to start. Pull those communications tools out of that dusty archive file and ask yourself:

  • How much of your content is about your organization (e.g. upcoming fundraisers, your organization’s needs, etc)?
  • How many times are you using the word “WE” and “US” versus “YOU”?
  • Do your stories focus on how your donors are heros? Or do they talk about your successes?
  • Is your content focused on seeing the world through your clients eyes or your eyes?

If you are talking more about your organization, then you want to change that practice and figure out how to make your donors the hero and reasons for those successes.
More importantly, check to see how many of your donor communication pieces are solicitation oriented compared to cultivation and stewardship oriented. You will want to change that ratio to lean more towards sending more cultivation and stewardship pieces (with small hints here and there about where the donor can contribute).
Talk about client needs and not about Trump
It is easy to point at Trump and blame everything on him. It is “shorthand” and he is an emotional conduit for some donors’ emotions. However, it is too easy for people to shrug their shoulders and say, “He’s the President. I’m just a little donor. I’ll try to make a difference in a few years when I go to the ballot box.”
It is a far better strategy to highlight the issues donors care passionately about and pull on those emotional heartstrings. Sure, feel free to point at policy changes being proposed that you feel will worsen the situation, but don’t rely on it as your case for support.
Explain how one donor’s contribution can and will make a difference in the lives of those you serve.
Pay more attention to small and mid-size donors
Over the last decade we’ve seen politicians prove this point. How much money did Obama, Sanders and even Trump fundraise in smaller donations of $25, $50 and $100 gifts? They talked about it constantly, and it is time non-profits start following suit.
After all, today’s small annual campaign donor is tomorrow’s lead gift in your capital or endowment campaign.
This means evolving your resource development plan. Don’t add more special events, which are labor intensive and costly. Look at peer-to-peer solicitation opportunities such as annual campaigns, monthly giving programs, a-thon style events, targeted mail and online peer-to-peer giving opportunities. These things don’t happen organically. They require thought and strategy. So, take the time to think it through on paper with your board members and fundraising volunteers.
Add more personal contact with donors
It is easy to send a piece of mail or an email to large groups of donors and potential supporters. However, there is a lot of that going on from many different organizations. Information overload is a real thing. So, tweak your approach to increase the effectiveness of your message.
Don’t stop sending mail and email. But think about adding some in-person opportunities. Here are just a few thoughts:

  • Host a series of town hall meetings focused on the issues your clients face
  • Host special (e.g. exclusive) donor receptions to meet those you serve and let them tell the story
  • Invite donors to periodic coffee meetings with your organization’s executive director to talk about the issues

Encourage donor advocacy
Remind your donors they can and will make a difference by contacting your local, state and federal legislators about issues impacting your clients. Send out periodic notes talking about proposed policy changes that directly effect your clients. Encourage them to attend meetings, pick-up the phone or write a letter. And make it easy for them to do so. (off-handedly mentioning that a contribution will also help might not be a bad idea, too)
A note to those non-profits who are heavily government funded
OK, your organization might not be experienced in doing these things. You might be one of those organizations I indicated earlier in this post that are heading for that “loser” label.
Don’t fret! It isn’t too late to change your approach.
Here are a few suggestions you might want to look at:

  • Gather your board members together and develop a short list of individuals who you think are like-minded and supporters of your issues
  • Pick one or two of the things I mentioned above and start executing those strategies. Start small and make adjustments as you go
  • With your volunteers, develop a small resource development plan that adds two or three small individual giving strategies. Start small and be realistic. It might be as simple as sending targeted mail to 50 individuals a few times a year and hosting a simple fundraising event. Dedicate yourself to growing it steadily over the years.

If you need help convincing board members, I suggest giving them a copy of the book Who Moved My Cheese, encouraging them to read it, and facilitate a boardroom discussion about what it means for your organization. There is wisdom in your boardroom. Trust me. All you need to do is tap into it.
Here’s to your healthy!
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

How is Trump ushering in renaissance for non-profit sector?

Fundraising, nonprofit, philanthropy, resource development

Yesterday, I published a post titled “What will Trump’s impact be on the non-profit sector?” and I ended with a cliffhanger with the following tease:

“The Trump Administration will mark the beginning of a renaissance for the non-profit sector!“

If you didn’t have a chance to read yesterday’s post, I encourage you to go back and do so. It wasn’t very long, but it helps set the stage for what you’re about to read.
As I explained yesterday, I had written a blog post a few days after the election about what Donald Trump’s election might mean to the non-profit sector. However, a funny thing happened on my way to clicking the “publish” button . . . my inner Jiminy Cricket started chirping. While I normally ignore my intuition because I don’t trust it, I’ve been working on developing this inferior function (yes, this is a geeky Myers-Briggs reference … LOL) over the last five years. And I think it paid off in this case.
In the days and weeks after the election, I started to sense a “drip-drip-drip” of non-profit news coverage. There were random stories in my Google feed in addition to what I heard on the radio and saw on television. Again, I didn’t put the bigger picture together right away, but it did give me pause and kept me away from my blog’s dreaded “publish” button.
Here are a few examples of the “drip-drip-drip” I was seeing:

At first I kind of dismissed this as something I would describe as: “My-Liberal-Friends-Are-Rallying-The-Troops” phenomenon. Of course, you are thinking the same thing, right? It must be because the headlines are full of non-profits that seen as “liberal causes” such as:

  • American Civil Liberties Union (e.g. fighting Trump on immigration issue)
  • Planned Parenthood (aka abortion issue)
  • International Rescue Committee (aka Syrian refugees)
  • Center for Public Integrity (aka investigative journalism)
  • The Marshall Project (aka criminal justice system issues)
  • NAACP (aka civil right)
  • Human Rights Campaign (aka LBGTQ issues)
  • Anti-Defamation League (aka addressing anti-Semitism)
  • Sierra Club (aka environmental issues)

Take a good look up and down this list. It is way to easy to buy into an explanation like “My-Liberal-Friends-Are-Rallying-The-Troops” phenomenon.” Right? And I almost did, but Jiminy Cricket was still wagging his finger at me (or maybe it was Trump). So, I held off on publishing my Trump blog post for a little longer.
And then it came to me . . .
I was at Bloomerang‘s Bloomcon conference in Orlando, FL on February 13, 2017. One of the many expert speakers that day was Tom Ahern. (He is one of my all-time FAVs) And he was on his favorite soapbox talking about his favorite things:

  • storytelling (e.g. make the donor the hero of your case for support)
  • emotional triggers (e.g. anger, exclusivity, fear, flattery, greed, guilt, salvation) and neuroscience
  • 13 most influential words in the English language (#1 on the list is the word ‘YOU’)

My ah-ha moment came to me like bricks falling from the sky. It occurred while Tom was waxing poetic about great non-profit stories having “good guys” and “bad guys.” And this is when things started making sense:

  • Who is the perceived ‘bad guy’?  President Trump
  • What is the problem?  The new administration will [fill in the blank with things like repeal the healthcare law, deport millions of people, etc]
  • Who is the ‘good guy’?  YOU … Mr. or Mrs. Donor who cares about these issues
  • What is the solution?  A trustworthy non-profit organization asking emotionally buzzed up donors to get involved (aka volunteer, sign a petition, call your legislator but definitely don’t forget to make a contribution)

So, put a check mark in the “Good Storytelling Material” box.
But what about the emotions at play in these donors’ philanthropic decisions? (hint: go back up to the bullet point where I list Tom’s favorite seven emotional triggers and quickly refresh your memory)
The following is what I believe is driving this wave of engaged donors:

  • ANGER — donor is upset about Trump victory, especially because it was a surprise and they might now have been emotionally prepared for it
  • FEAR — donor is confident that policies and programs they value will be dismantled and people will get hurt (and the 24/7 cable news networks certainly stoke this fire)
  • GUILT — donor feels guilty that maybe they should’ve done more to help Clinton campaign (e.g. could’ve donated, knocked on doors, volunteered, etc)

These three emotions are all powerful in and of themselves. However, there is synergy between these emotions, which I believe exponentially took people to a new place (I prefer to think of it as a philanthropic place set in technicolor).
For those readers, who are excited because it sounds like I am saying that fundraising is as easy as saying: “BOO! Donald Trump is President so won’t you please give to my organization?” . . . I encourage you to think again.
But, oh snap, look at the time. It is getting late. <yawn> And I am way past my maximum word count guideline. I guess you’ll need to come back tomorrow for another installment of this series of Trump-inspired posts. But I guess it is only fair to give you a little preview:

“Trump is like having a golden ticket’ to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory for those organizations who know how to fundraise. But those organizations who have been fat and sassy and accepting lots of government funding instead of fundraising are likely going to fail or merge with other organizations.”

Don’t worry. If your organization falls into the “fat and sassy government funding” category I just described, I’ll have a few tips for you tomorrow (or maybe the next day).   😉
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

You need to dance with the person who brought you – Part 2

Board governance, human resourses, organizational development, philanthropy

leadershipLast week in a post titled “You need to dance with the person who brought you,” I wrote about the difference between traits, characteristics, skills and experiences and specifically what combination of these go into making effective non-profit board leaders. Today, I’m looking at the same thing, but I want to turn this lens on the non-profit executive director position.
To recap . . .
The differences between traits, characteristics, skills and experiences (in my opinion) are:

  • A trait is something someone inherits or is born with
  • A characteristic (e.g. quality) is something that describes someone
  • A skill is something that someone has learned
  • An experience is something someone has experienced

With regards to traits and innate abilities, I started writing about this topic a few year ago in a post titled “Non-profit executive directors take the heat every day.” I shared with readers the following talents that Joe Lehr once shared in with non-profit professionals in an article he wrote. The following is a list of those talents:

  • Belief — passion, fire, and strength of conviction all stemming from organizational mission, vision and purpose.
  • Vision — an ability to see the organization’s future and getting others to see and believe in it, too.
  • Focus & clarity —  sorting through a lot of information, knowing what is most important, and getting others to see clearly see it.
  • Maximizer — a burning desire for greatness and an ability to act as a catalyst for all other stakeholders to reach for greatness (via accountability, transparency, urgency, etc).
  • Empathy — self-awareness, emotional intelligence, along with the intuition and ability to sense what others are feeling and thinking and use that to effectively communicate with others.

I generally agree with Joe and won’t spend more time and space discussing traits, and . . .
If you are a believer in the science of personality testing, there is much written on what inherent personality traits a great non-profit executive director should possess.
From a Myers-Briggs perspective, Paul Sohn speculated in his post titled “The Best Jobs For All 16 Myers-Briggs Personality Types In One Infographic” that ENFJ’s and ENTJ’s might be well-positioned for success.
In a study published by Dewey & Kaye titled “Nonprofit Leadership Development: A model for identifying and growing leaders within the nonprofit sector,” they found many non-profit leaders are rated highly as “High D’s.” This personality aspect is described as:

“Direct and Decisive. D’s are strong-willed, strong-minded people who like accepting challenges, taking action, and getting immediate results. People with a high D component like to take charge and are typically found in positions or power and authority.”

While the jury is out and the science isn’t precise (in my humble opinion), the fact is that boards can really stumble when hiring an executive director if they don’t try to wrap their collective heads around what a successful candidate innately needs to bring to the table.
As it relates to characteristics, I’ve seen successful executive directors features/qualities:

  • well-networked with a large circle of influence
  • organized and focused
  • an understanding of the complexities associated with organizational development
  • hard working and strong work ethic
  • unfazed by long work hours
  • servant leader at heart and joyful warrior
  • high integrity
  • role model who is a mentor to others
  • self-starter who works well in fuzzy supervisory environments
  • connection and personal story that connects them to the organization’s mission

Skills are learned as a result of life experiences, and the good execs seem to have honed the following skill sets:

  • resource development/fundraising
  • board development and supportive of board governance
  • great communicator
  • collaboration and partnership development
  • leadership
  • financial management
  • human resources
  • planning
  • volunteer management and engagement

From an experience perspective, non-profit executive directors who thrive seem to have:

  • worked at various levels of a non-profit (e.g. front line operations, fundraising and management)
  • had success at all levels of resource development and not just one aspect (e.g. individual giving, corporate philanthropy, grant writing, government funding, etc)
  • successfully provided guidance and leadership to teams of people
  • excelled in environments where they had limited real authority and succeeded because of their ability to influence outcomes

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with these categories and lists, the reality is that non-profit boards have a handful of roles/responsibilities they cannot shirk. One of those responsibilities is hiring and managing the organization’s executive director. Failure to take this seriously is a recipe for disaster.
How does your organization integrate the aforementioned traits, characteristics, skills and experiences into its executive director search process? What specific tools have you used that you found helpful? Are their any specific traits, characteristics, skills and experiences that I missed that you would add to the list?
Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences. We can all learn from each other.
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

Nonprofit Blog Carnival call for submissions: Advice to your younger-fundraising-self

Fundraising, nonprofit, philanthropy, resource development

blog carnivalIn a nutshell, the Nonprofit Blog Carnival is an online traveling show of non-profit bloggers. Each month one blogger hosts the carnival and asks their fellow non-profit bloggers to submit a published post from their blog focused on a particular topic. The benefit to this approach is that readers are able to get a large concentration of advice and resources from a variety of non-profit thought-leaders all in one place.
I am honored and privileged to be hosting the Nonprofit Blog Carnival for a fourth year in a row.
As has been the tradition ever since Kivi Leroux Miller founded the Carnival in 2006, the host publishes a “Call for submissions” at the beginning of the month. In that post, the following is explained:

  • theme
  • deadlines
  • fun or special rules in order to be considered for inclusion
  • deadlines
  • how and what to submit

In the space below, I will walk you through all of these things for the April 2016 Nonprofit Blog Carnival. Now please excuse me, while I step up to the online carnival main stage and proclaim to the world:

“Step right up! The April 2016 Nonprofit Blog Carnival is live and we’re gonna do the time warp again!“

If you are looking for a link to last month’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival hosted by Allyson Kapin at RAD Campaign, click here to read more about what the non-profit blogosphere had to say about “Reaching Millennials And Beyond“.
I hope you are ready for a fun Nonprofit Blog Carnival in April. If so, please keep reading to learn more.  😉

If you could go back in time and give your younger-fundraising-self one piece of advice, what would it be?

back to futureA few months ago I was onsite with a client and found myself working with a young fundraising professional. They hadn’t been on the job for long. In fact, their background wasn’t even in resource development. If my memory serves me well, then I think they had a college degree and an internship’s worth of experience in marketing or public relations.
My work with this organization was focused on a particular fundraising campaign, and the “issue of the hour” had to do with the level of engagement (or lack thereof) of their campaign volunteers. After spending a little time with this new fundraising professional, I discovered their love of email to communicate with volunteers. So, I spent much of my time talking about the value of report meetings, rallies, update reports and phone calls instead of a constant stream of emails.
back to future2Later that evening, I was working from the hotel room with the television chirping away in the background. One of the “Back to the Future” movies was the evening feature. Ignoring Michael J. Fox and focusing instead on my work from earlier in the day, I started thinking about all of the fundraising mistakes I had made (and hopefully learned from) when I was younger.
And then something spectacular happened both on the television set as well as in my head. Christopher Lloyd’s character, Dr. Emmett Brown, successfully completed one of his time travel experiments and I found myself thinking:

“If only time travel was possible. There are so many things I would tell my younger-fundraising-self!“

My very next thought was . . . “Holy cow! THAT would be an awesome topic for a Nonprofit Blog Carnival. I would LOVE to read what some of the blogosphere’s best non-profit bloggers (e.g. Pamela Grow, Marc Pitman, Jeff Brooks, Gail Perry, etc) would go back in time to tell their younger-fundraising-selves.”
So, there you have it bloggers!
The April 2016 Nonprofit Blog Carnival theme is all about:

“What one piece of advice would you give your younger-fundraising-self if time travel was possible?”

If you aren’t a fundraising blogger, you are welcome to adjust the theme to what one piece of advice would you give your younger-nonprofit-self”.
I encourage bloggers to be specific. Perhaps, you could consider telling us about a situation from your early days as a fundraiser or non-profit professional that was challenging and what you would travel back in time to tell yourself that would’ve made a difference.
Obviously, it is your blog and you may do whatever you please within the parameters of this month’s theme.
Special rules in place for April submissions
bill and tedLet’s have a little fun with this topic. It lends itself nicely to it. Right?  😉
It hasn’t been unusual for me in the past to get a ton of submissions for consideration. On a few occasions, I had to exclude some bloggers because there were too many posts from which to choose.
In order to stimulate a little creativity this month, I will give “special bonus points” to bloggers who include a reference to a time travel movie or build their entire post around such a motion picture.
terminator time travelThere are literally tons of movies from which you could choose. Here are just a few ideas:

  • Back to the Future
  • Terminator
  • Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures
  • Star Trek
  • Hot Tube Time Machine
  • Austin Powers

And this is just the tip of the iceberg!
Since this topic is very broad, I encourage you to focus on a time when you were young and working on a project such as writing a resource development plan, capital campaigns, annual campaigns, special events, planned giving, board development, marketing, program development/implementation, grant writing. Or you could drill even deeper by talking about micro-topics such as developing a case for support, prospect identification/evaluation, stewardship/retention, donor database selection, year-end board member evaluation, etc. Simply tell us about the project, your experience, the result and what you would choose to go back in a time machine and tell yourself in order to get a different result.
The sky is obviously the limit . . . so let’s get creative and have some fun!
Of course, if you aren’t into movies, that is fine. Please feel free to submit anything, and you have my assurance that I’ll include your post if there is space and if it is on topic.
How bloggers should submit their work for consideration?
austin powers time travelYou are welcome to write your blog post anytime during the month of May (or even submit a post you may have previously published); however, I must receive your submission by the end of the day on Monday, April 25, 2016:
How do you submit? Simply email the following information to nonprofitcarnival[at]gmail[dot]com:

  • Your name
  • The URL of your post
  • A two of three sentence summary of your post

We will publish the April 2016 Nonprofit Blog Carnival on Thursday, April 28, 2016 right here at DonorDreams blog.

Illinois budget crisis impacting non-profit organizations — Part 3

Board governance, Fundraising, leadership, organizational development, philanthropy

illinois budgetEarlier this week and last week, I started writing about the State of Illinois’ budget crisis and how it is impacting non-profit organizations. In Part 1 of this series, I shared survey results provided by United Way of Illinois along with other insights and perspectives . In Part 2, I talked to a non-profit executive director whose organization lost significant funding as a result of Illinois’ budget impasse and shared some surprising developments. Today, I have a suggestion for Illinois non-profit leaders to mull over as the crisis deepens (and there is lots here for non-profit leaders from other states to chew on, too).
Frog in boiling water
We’ve all heard the story about frogs and boiling pots of water. Right?
Assuming that some of you haven’t any clue of what I’m talking about, here is a nice summary from Wikipedia:

“The boiling frog is an anecdote describing a frog slowly being boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of threats that occur gradually.”

I have no clue what the origins of this old story are, but I do know this . . .

IT IS A MYTH!

boiling frog1Don’t want to take my word for it because you might have heard it from your grandfather or another beloved family member. No problem … I completely understand. Let me provide you with scientific proof. Simply click here, click here for more, and click here if you are in deep denial.  If you clicked all three links, I’m guessing you probably also believe a number of other grossly inaccurate things about other animals and suggest you the Snopes.com article titled “Critter Country: Wild Inaccuracies”
So, what does any of this silliness have to do with non-profits and the Illinois budget impasse?

Your organization is like a frog!

In other words, your non-profit should (and likely will) jump out of the boiling waters of government funding if things get too hot. It is a simple matter of survival.
Question #1: When?
I’ve lamented too often — right here on this blog — that too many non-profit boards operate poorly. They don’t understand (and sometimes reject) their legally defined fiduciary responsibilities, focus their meetings obsessively on monitoring rather than governance, micromanage the organization and its staff, rubber stamp things (oftentimes very important things) that staff put in front of them, and my list can go on and on.
If anything in the last paragraph describes your organization’s board of directors, please hear me clearly . . .

You’re at risk!

In other words, you might just be on the road to proving all of the scientists, who said in the last section that “the boiling frog story is an urban legend,” are liars.
boiling frog2Your board is likely made up of smart people. If they aren’t being used (at a minimum) as a “sounding board” on the issue of government funding and what to do about it, then my suggestions are:

  • Stop business as usual in your boardroom
  • Start adding a 45 minute “generative discussion” agenda item to every one of your monthly meetings for the foreseeable future
  • Focus your discussions around various aspects of your government funding situation
  • Bring in guest speakers who know more than you do about state funding and your grants
  • Pose open ended questions and facilitate an engaging dialog where everyone is encouraged to share their thoughts and feelings
  • Don’t just have theoretical conversations … also pose action oriented questions (e.g. what are our options? what should we be doing?)

If you and your board can make this adjustment in non-profit governance, I guarantee you that . . .

It will be clear when it is time to jump out of the boiling pot!

Question #2: What?
boiling frog3Of course, the more difficult question for most non-profit organizations is “What to do about it?”
If your organization isn’t reliant on government funding, the answer is easy . . . carry on and try not to gloat too much around your non-profit friends. For those of you who rely on modest (or perhaps significant) government money, then you want to keep reading.
If you and your board have decided the water is getting a little too hot, then here are a few suggestions:

  • Re-exam your non-profit revenue model
  • Explore other models (refer to previous section about generative discussions in the boardroom)
  • Make a group decision about which model (or hybrid model) is best for your organization at this time
  • Don’t try to turn the battleship all at once … choose one (or a few) things to “try on for size” and experiment with small aspects of your new revenue model (e.g. write a private sector foundation grant, engage a corporate partner, identify prospective individual donors and start a conversation with them; write a business plan for a potential social enterprise, etc)
  • Invest time, energy and effort in evaluation of every new thing you undertake and commit to nurturing a culture of improvement and excellence
  • Celebrate every success from top-to-bottom and side-to-side of your organization (no matter how big or small it may be)

If you got this far and still find yourself scratching your head over the idea of different non-profit revenue models, then you need to click-through and read a Bridgespan white paper titled “Ten Nonprofit Funding Models“. I also highly suggest clicking on and reading every hyperlink embedded in the white paper.
If you don’t believe your organization can do this without help, then I have some good news. There are countless non-profit consultants (myself included) who are available for hire.
Stop listening to stupid people
boiling frog4I’ve heard state funders (e.g. foundations, United Ways, etc) say loudly and clearly, “The state cannot expect funders to fill the gap created by the State“.
I do NOT believe foundation leaders and United Way professionals are “stupid people“. However . . .
I have heard some people (in fact some are even dear friends of mine), amplify the cautionary words of foundations and United Ways and then twist them by concluding “private sector philanthropy” cannot fill the gap. It is these folks to whom I urge you to please stop listening.
The reality is that foundations, corporations and United Ways only account for 20% of the $358 billion of charitable giving. The remainder of the pie (a huge whopping 80%) comes from individuals either directly or through bequests.
Moreover, charitable giving is only 2% of our country’s GDP.
The pie can be increased. There is room to expand and grow. Foundation leaders and United Way professionals never said private sector philanthropy couldn’t be the solution (or at least a big part of the solution). They were simply say that politicians need to stop telling voters their organizations will fill the gap.
Are you a doubting Thomas? If so, then I have a proposition for you . . .
Add this topic to your board agenda. I think it makes for an awesome generative discussion. If you’re an Illinois non-profit organization and you’re looking for someone to speak in your boardroom on this subject and facilitate a generative discussion, then please contact me because I would be willing to consider it.
Next up in this blog series?
I’ve sent emails to a handful of politicians and policymakers who I trust and respect. I’ve invited them to share their thoughts on this subject. If any of them respond, then I’ll publish those next week.
In the meantime, please use the comment box to share your thoughts and experiences on the Illinois budget impasse, the impact you’re seeing on the non-profit sector, your thoughts on what organizations should be doing about it, or anything else that is top of mind regarding the state of government funding (federal, state or local) and those trends. We can all learn from each other.
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

Donors are not minions and cannot be owned or posessed

Fundraising, philanthropy

slavery amendmentSlavery ended on December 6, 1865 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified. In a nutshell, this means that people cannot own people anymore. I have a hard time juxtaposing this fact with what I hear some non-profit professionals sometimes say, which is: “. . . that is my donor“.
I suspect many of you reading today’s post probably just had a strong reaction to what I said. You’re probably nodding your head and thinking “THOSE” people should know better. However, I suspect many more of us are guilty of trying to control our donors. The following are just a few examples of what I’ve recently seen and inspire this today’s blog post.
Collaborative fundraising
Collaborative fundraising is when two parties get together to raise money for a singular purpose. It could be jointly approaching one large donor (e.g. large multi-national corporation) as a statewide collaborative and asking them to support one program that everyone in the alliance runs. It could also be two separate entities approaching their separate donor lists to support a joint effort.
In my experience, this type of fundraising has become more common in recent years.
You may not be practicing donor-centered fundraising if you find yourself in one of these ventures and you catch yourself saying things like:

  • “My list“
  • “My donors“
  • “My money vs. your money“

Controlling opportunities
controlLet’s face it . . . non-profit organizations typically have many competing priorities and projects usually going on simultaneously (e.g. supporting the annual fund, building a new building, renovating an existing space, endowing a program, etc).
You may not be practicing donor-centered fundraising if you find yourself doing something like:

  • deciding for the donor which project you will won’t present to them as an opportunity because you need their money elsewhere
  • steering the donor away from certain projects
  • trying to change a donor’s mind when they come to you with an idea

I’m not suggesting that fundraising professionals shouldn’t use their best judgement. You know your donors, and you should know what they are passionate about. So, bringing opportunities that align with their interests and passions is very much donor centered. However, if you find yourself using “organizational needs” as a criteria to decide which funding opportunities are shared with a donor, then you might find yourself in the category of trying to “control donors“.
Donors as Minions movie characters
minionsI recently saw the Minions in the movie theater. It was in the middle of this relaxing diversion from my crazy work schedule that I came to believe some (perhaps many) non-profit organizations view their donors as these cute, little yellow characters.

  • Individually small
  • Collectively powerful and useful
  • Looking to serve and belong

Of course, if you follow the movie plot line, you quickly realize that Minions are not a mindless drone collective. They have ideas of their own and oftentimes find themselves sideways with the mission. Another common theme throughout this film and the Despicable Me movies is that the villain for whom the Minions work typically ends up failing at controlling this group of adorable yellow characters.
The bottom line for me is that donors are not minions. If you choose to treat them as such, you will likely end up with a big yellow mess on your hands.
What to do about this?
This post obviously leads one to ask the obvious question, which is “what should be done to avoid this behavior?”
I suggest you consider the following simple suggestions:

  1. Mind your language and try to stop using words like “mine” and “yours“
  2. Sit down with donors (especially major gift prospects) regularly and engage them in discussions about their philanthropic passions, wishes and dreams
  3. Develop a “menu of opportunities” for your major gifts initiative

Have you seen or experienced similar situations where donors were being controlled or manipulated? If so, what was the end result? How does your organization share funding opportunities with donors (e.g. menu of major gift opportunties)?
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com 
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
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http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Best practices for building non-profit partnerships and collaborations

philanthropy

Last week I decided to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Binghamton located in Binghamton, NY. The Club was celebrating construction of their Education Center (underwritten by donors like the Decker Foundation) and the future home of the Pejo Theater (a performing arts space underwritten by donors like board volunteer Dr. Samuel Pejo). So, I thought I’d share a few pictures as well as a number of best practices as it relates to creating collaborative partnerships.
ribbon1
In the picture above, you see clients, staff, board volunteers and donors officially cutting the ribbon for the new programming space.
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In the picture above, you see executive director Marybeth Smith amplifying the stewardship messages from the event to the community via news media.
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In the picture above, you see UnitedHealthcare distributing insurance information to the community outside of the Boys & Girls Club. Stated another way, you see the organization sharing its big day and the stage with another company for the benefit of families and neighbors.
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In the picture above, you see neighbors lining up for food from a local food bank affiliated with Feeding America. As with the previous picture, the Boys & Girls Club is sharing its big day with other non-profit organizations for the benefit of families and neighbors.

As I walked into the clubhouse and throughout the entire ribbon cutting ceremony, everywhere I turned I saw collaboration and partnership in motion. Having once worked on the front line of a Boys & Girls Club, I walked away from my time with this Club marveling at all the hard work they obviously put into building partnerships.
Collaboration is something that donors LOVE to see because:

  • they see it as proof that community support is being leveraged
  • it feels like “economies of scale” are being achieved
  • it is perhaps proof that services aren’t being duplicated and costs (at least efforts) are being shared

Of course, collaboration and partnership sounds easy, but in reality it never is. So, I thought I’d share a few best practices and links to resources to those of you wanting to replicate the successes you see in the pictures I’ve posted. Here are just a few suggestions:

  • Sit down with potential partners, talk through the issues and put the plan in writing
  • Formalize and codify your collaboration in a written “memorandum of understanding” that spells out who has agreed to do what
  • Maintain routine communication with each other after the planning phase
  • Involve as many stakeholders in the dialog before, during and after the collaboration/partnership (e.g. volunteers, board members, staff, clients, donors, etc)
  • Build into your partnership routine evaluation/assessment opportunities and commit to a continuous cycle of learning and self-improvement
  • Celebrate your successes — TOGETHER

Interested in reading much more about how to design and implement productive collaborative partnerships? Here are a few resources I found online and think are awesome:

Does your non-profit organization do a good job with identifying, framing, implementing and evaluating partnerships and collaborations with others (e.g. non-profits, for-profits, individuals, etc)? If so, what do they look like? What has worked for you and made these efforts successful in your opinion?
Please use the comment box below to share your thoughts and experiences. We can all learn from each other.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com 
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
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http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Make your special event fundraisers all about individuals

Fundraising, philanthropy

walkathonLast week I wrote a post titled “Philanthropy is all about individuals” and focused on the newest set of data in the Giving USA annual report. Not surprisingly, the report told us that individuals are responsible for more than three-quarters of charitable giving. Of course, not every non-profit organization asks individuals for their support in the same way, which is why I found the information in Software Advice’s report titled “Which Fundraising Event Is Best for Your Nonprofit? IndustryView | 2015” very interesting.
There are many ways to ask individuals for their charitable dollars and support:

  • special events
  • annual campaign pledge drives
  • direct mail
  • major gift proposals
  • capital campaigns
  • endowment appeals
  • any number of online giving strategies (e.g. personal pages, crowdfunding, social media appeals, website landing page, etc)

Savvy non-profits have a diverse approach and often include many of these strategies in their written resource development plan. Smaller organizations usually embrace fewer of these approaches simply because their organizational capacity doesn’t allow them to do everything.
The following statement from the Software Advice report caught my attention:

“According to the research group Nonprofit Research Collaborative, event fundraising is quite popular: 82 percent of nonprofits host galas, golf tournaments, competitive races and other types of events to amass contributions and raise awareness for causes.”

eventIn other words, most of us run at least one special event as part of our comprehensive resource development program. While this was foreseeable and expected, what was surprising to me was that different size non-profit organizations get more bang-for-their-buck from different types of events. And what floored me was that regardless of organizational size most respondents reported that “fun runs and walks” universally receive a high return on investment (ROI).
And then I remembered what I wrote last week . . .

Philanthropy is all about individuals

Of course, “fun runs / walks” get the most ROI when compared to other events. They engage a lotw of individuals both as volunteers and even more as donors who might have been asked to make pledge for every mile walked.
Janna Finch, who is a non-profit researcher for Software Advice summed it up best when she said:

“We found that fun runs and walks, a-thon events and competitions are best for small nonprofits—including athletic clubs, PTAs, booster clubs and similar—because they are budget-friendly and easy to plan no matter a person’s experience. The good news is many of those types of organizations already host such events and execute on planning them very well.” 

In addition to the report’s finding on”fun runs and walks,” the following are few additional key findings:

  • Small nonprofits are at a disadvantage compared to larger nonprofits: Respondents say the upfront investment for an event is a strain on resources.
  • On average, a-thon events have the lowest cost per dollar raised (CPDR), and thus are suitable for all nonprofits. Concerts have the highest CPDR, requiring a larger budget.
  • CPDR, number of new donors and number of attendees are the most popular metrics to measure event success, used by 83 percent, 80 percent and 75 percent of respondents, respectively.
  • Respondents say that software, including fundraising and event management applications, speeds up event performance analysis and improves experiences for both staff and attendees.

average-cpdr-by-event
The following is an awesome SlideShare document summary provided by Software Advice that nicely summarizes everything for those of you who don’t have time to read the entire report:

If you do have a little time, you really should click-through and read the report. It contains lots of interesting facts and findings that you and your fundraising volunteers will likely find thought provoking.
Does your organization run special events? How do you determine which ones are best for you, your volunteers, and your community? What data analytics do you track and how do you use it?
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