Uncategorized – Page 8 – The Healthy Non-Profit

Does your non-profit agency have an “Impact Plan”?

October 4, 2012 erik Uncategorized

This week I am at Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s (BGCA) Midwest Leadership Conference in Indianapolis working on a small conference planning contract. I just came from this morning’s general session and heard BGCA’s new CEO, Jim Clark, talk eloquently about how local affiliates should be focused on driving impact.

Of course “IMPACT” is the newest of non-profit buzzwords. Everywhere I go, all I see and hear are people talking about impact. I give the United Way lots of credit for providing lots of leadership around this very important subject.

During this morning’s general session, I found myself wondering:

I wonder how many organization are just talking-the-talk versus walking-the-walk when it comes to “IMPACT”?

As this question was settling on my brain, I saw this brochure on the table next to my coffee cup. The title of the document was “IMPACT PLAN”.

Inside this small, unassuming document was a ton of great stuff, including:

the organization’s impact vision
three key statistics focused on community need
a formula for impact
five impact related goals with measurable targets and strategies

I especially like the organization’s “formula for impact” because it really brings everything into focus much like a cookie recipe brings focus around what you need to do in the kitchen. Here is BGCA’s formula for impact:

The Impact Plan goals focus on implementation of the formula for impact, but a few of the goals focus on organization capacity building, too. After thinking about it for a moment, the reason for including capacity building goals in an impact plan is obvious. Your agency cannot create and drive community impact if it isn’t strong enough, positioned, and structured to do so. Right?

I appreciate the specificity and ability to measure progress and success. Sure, these things need to be boiled down into anecdotal stories and made fun for donors, but there’s an understanding that board and staff need to have their arms around quantitative data rather than the qualitative stuff non-profit decision-makers have relied too much upon for years.

Does your non-profit organization have an “IMPACT PLAN”? Does it stem from your agency’s strategic plan? What does it look like? How did you put it together? Do you have a “Formula for Impact”? If so, what are its components? How did you develop it?

Please scroll down and use the comment box to weigh-in on any and all of these questions and issues. 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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Building the Board of Directors

October 3, 2012 erik Uncategorized

Dani Robbins is the Founder & Principal Strategist at Non Profit Evolution located in Columbus, Ohio. I’ve invited my good friend and fellow non-profit consultant to the first Wednesday of each month about board development related topics. Dani also recently co-authored a book titled “Innovative Leadership Workbook for Nonprofit Executives” that you can find on Amazon.com.

Everything flows from a strong Board of Directors. That strength is developed by the Board Development Committee and the CEO. The Board Development Committee perpetuates, educates and evaluates the Board, and is the most powerful committee of the Board. It is the only committee that you (should) have to be invited to join.

The most important thing a Board does is hire a visionary and talented nonprofit leader, the CEO. I believe you need that CEO to (among many other things) build the board, and you need the board to (among other things) hire, support and evaluate the leader. It’s a bit like two sides of the same coin.

Strong CEOs build strong boards. As discussed in greater detail in the Innovative Leadership Workbook for Nonprofit Executives: “the CEO’s role in board development is to understand the work of the board and its processes, and support the implementation of each. CEOs play a primary role in building the board. As such, they have the opportunity to assemble a board that can take the organization to new heights.’ ‘The CEO assists in building the board to which she will ultimately report and also makes recommendations, staffs board committees, and supports the board’s success. CEOs do not have the authority to add board members.

In the case of board development, CEO’s should also:

Support the recruitment of potential board members; arrange and attend meetings with prospective board members and the board or committee chair, share the agency’s vision, mission, and board processes, including time, giving and getting expectations, and assess the capacity of the prospective member to fit on the team;
Manage the board development process, including spreadsheet of terms of office;
Ensure board training and evaluation.”

I didn’t understand that building the board was my job when I was hired to lead my first agency. I thought that since I reported to the Board, I should stay out of it. Boy, was I wrong! In addition to giving up the power to influence who would become the future leaders of my organizations, and as such, my future bosses, I also passed on the chance to educate my board about their governance responsibilities. I failed to use my position to strengthen the board and through them to strengthen my agency.

When I finally clued in (later in my career and leading a different agency) and began to participate in Board Development efforts, my agency benefited in spades; we created a vision that improved services to children, and the number of children receiving those services, we merged with another organization, did a capital campaign, built a new building, and renovated two more buildings. And the board of directors became the board of choice in the community.

Now that I am a consultant, I field calls from CEOs and Board members alike looking for board governance assistance and using words like “under-engaged, overstepping, self-serving, and in-fighting.” The solution is board development. Board development is an intentional process that includes strategic prospecting, recruiting, and orienting for new board members and educating, evaluating and recognizing our current board members, coupled with a strategic plan (that is being followed) and the introduction of generative discussions.

CEO’s get a lot done by sheer will. They can, have and will continue to move mountains with limited resources, less staff than they need and unprecedented numbers of service requests. But…and it’s big but….if they also work to build the boards our agencies need, we could do more – much more.

Strong boards coupled with strong leadership can impact a community in a way the neither could do alone; and that impacts the issue, moves the needle and changes the world. Isn’t that why we all do this work…to change the world?

What’s been your experience? How have you built your Board and what impact have you seen because of it?

Your donors aren’t letting you off the hook

July 31, 2012 erik Uncategorized

It has happened to all of us. A donor wags their finger and authoritatively tells us to stop wasting money by sending them acknowledgement letters or newsletters or stewardship pieces. They trust us. They don’t need that kind of attention. They want all of their money to go directly to our organization’s mission and its programs.

When this happens, you should not interpret it as “the donor is always right and I need to comply”.

In reality, the donor is not letting you off the hook. It may sound that way, but it is not the case. The first time you accidentally misuse their contribution or do something that doesn’t align with what that donor thinks you should be doing, they will be upset and you will hear about it.

So, what should you do when a donor instructs you to stop using a stewardship tool and best practices?

You need to double down and figure out how to best provide stewardship. Of course, you need to comply with the donor’s wishes. If they want to be removed from the newsletter list, you better do it or prepare to face their wrath. However, don’t stop there . . . engage those donors in a deeper conversation. Tell them why transparency is so important to your agency. Tell them why you’ve elected to employ certain stewardship tools with your donor pool. Most importantly, ask them how you can achieve the same stewardship objectives with their charitable contributions while still honoring their wishes.

It could be as simple as donor wanting to be taken off your newsletter list because they want less junk in their mailbox, but being OK with being added to your e-newsletter list. Or it could be complicated and involve periodic phone calls and a personal visit with your annual report in hand. While each donor will come up with different solutions, it is worth going through the trouble because it will save you potential grief and “gotcha moments” down the road.

Have you ever been faced with a donor like this? How did you handle it and still remain true to your non-profit organization’s values and stewardship principles? Please share your experiences in the comment box below.

Here’s to your health!

Why Nonprofits Should Use Skype

July 30, 2012 erik Mondays with Marissa, Uncategorized

Communication has come a long way since quill and parchment. Today information is sent through the air at high speeds and people can get what they need in a matter of seconds. Email is a standard in today’s communication arsenal, but today I’m going talk about voice calls. Talking is still faster than writing and today we are going to look at how Skype can help when it comes to communicating through voice.

Image representing Skype as depicted in CrunchBase — Image via CrunchBase

Skype is a powerful tool that can be a great benefit to any nonprofit organization. Skype can be used to make voice or video calls to people in your contact list. I know what you might be thinking, “we already have phones for this, Marissa”, but allow me to show you the flexibility of using Skype for calls.

Calls (voice or video) to users in your contact list who are also using Skype are free. That’s right, FREE. This can add up to big cell phone savings. How many times do you send an email knowing it’s going to take longer than you’d like to get the information you need just because everyone has a ton of email to go through? If everyone in your organization was on Skype if a person had a question, they could just Skype call them and get the information in a matter of seconds. Skype calls can be answered no matter where the person is logged in from, if that’s home, a cafe, or the cubicle next door.

By adding money to your Skype account, phone calls can be made to landlines. This is a nice feature to have if a person on your team is even found in a place with a wifi signal but no cell phone reception. Additionally, by adding money to your Skype account, you can make international calls at lower rates than you would if you used a landline phone.

Skype also allows users to attach a single phone number to their account to make it easy for calls, whether made from Skype or a landline, to be answered from anywhere. With a mobile app, Skype users are able to answer voice and video calls on the go.

Skype also comes with voicemail functionality. This can be a great tool for agencies. By simply creating an account with phone number attached to it, messages left in this voicemail box can be accessed by anyone who has access to the account; making returning calls a team effort.

One more feature of using Skype for voice calls is the ability to record phone calls. If your agency is having an important conference call, it can be easily recorded through Skype. This recording could the be posted for absent team members to listen to when they are available.

There is much more to Skype besides just making voice and video calls that can be helpful for your organization. When in a video call on Skype users have the ability to share their screens with people on the call. This feature could come in handy for Board Meetings being held online if not all of the Board Members could make it. Skype also comes with an instant messaging service that allows you to send quick messages to people in your contact list when a call is not needed. Through this chat system, documents can also be easily shared between team members.

Skype is a feature rich application that has a lot to offer a nonprofit organization. I have seen where using it has increased communication between team members just due to the pure flexibility that comes along with it. Do you think Skype is a good fit for your agency? Do you already use Skype? If so, what do you use it for the most? Let talk about it in the comments below!

The Philanthropy Phlog is here: Part 3

July 12, 2012 DonorDreams Uncategorized

Last week I was on vacation in Michigan, and I decided to test a theory that I’ve had for a long time. I believe that philanthropy is something that occurs all around us every day, and we’re usually way too busy to notice it. Sometimes, it is hard to put it in words, which makes it difficult to blog about. So, I decide that I would try to take pictures of “every day” philanthropy while I was on vacation and share it with you this week.

Today’s picture is obviously of a renovated old theater. If you look closely, you can see that they use the digital marquee to thank their major donors and sponsors. How many times have you walked right by a donor recognition wall or signage, and it blended right in to the background? I’m sure that it has been way too many times for me.

As I’ve been promising all week long, we have a big announcement today at DonorDreams blog. Drumroll, please?

Starting next week, we are launching DonorDreams2, which will be a “phlog”. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it is a photo blog (aka phlog). 🙂

DonorDreams2 will focus on capturing every day philanthropy in a photographic manner. Click here to preview the new phlog site (I’ve already posted a picture other there. Please go check out the difference in formating between DonorDreams blog and DonorDreams2 phlog.) Oh yeah . . . when you’re over there, please use the subscription widget to subscribe over there, too.

Since it would be boring just seeing pictures of philanthropy from Elgin, IL and wherever else I travel, we’re opening up the DonorDreams phlog to you. Please submit pictures of philanthropy in action from your hometown or your non-profit organization. Email me your pictures (my address can be found at the bottom of my blog and the phlog every day). Include your name, city/state, and a brief description of what we’re looking at.

Come on, folks . . . this can be fun! Dust off your camera phone and keep your eyes open for philanthropy. It might just broaden the way you see the world around you and open your mind to all sorts of new non-profit ideas.

Here’s to your health!

The Philanthropy Phlog is coming: Part 2

July 11, 2012 DonorDreams Uncategorized

Today’s picture is obviously of a blood drive poster. While bumming around the downtown square, we stepped into a coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up beverage. How many times have you busily zipped into such an establishment and didn’t take the time to read the event posters? So, many of those events are sponsored by non-profit organization.

As you have probably guessed, this week’s series of philanthropy pictures will lead up to an announcement tomorrow. Yes, it probably has something to do with something called a “phlog”. Stay tuned and please take a brief moment to enjoy what I consider the “every day pictures of philanthropy” this week.

Here’s to your health!

The Philanthropy Phlog is coming: Part 1

July 10, 2012 DonorDreams Uncategorized

Sometimes, it is hard to put it in words, which makes it difficult to blog about. So, I decide that I would try to take pictures of “every day” philanthropy while I was on vacation and share it with you this week.

Today’s picture is obviously of a flower bed. While many municipalities ask their public works department to plant and maintain flower beds, some communities partner with non-profit organizations to get the job done.

How many times have you busily zipped by such a public garden and didn’t take the time to appreciate the non-profit work put into its creation? I know that I have done so way too many times.

I wonder how much money it took to plant and maintain those flower beds? Hmmm . . . how many volunteers were recruited? How much enjoyment do residents reap from those efforts? Is there an impact on tourism and economic development?

As you have probably guessed, this week’s series of philanthropy pictures will lead up to an announcement on Thursday. Yes, it probably has something to do with something called a “phlog”. Stay tuned and please take a brief moment to enjoy what I consider the “every day pictures of philanthropy” this week.

Here’s to your health!

Excuse me, but I have a few questions

June 13, 2012 DonorDreams Uncategorized

If you are an executive director, fundraising professional or board volunteer of a non-profit agency, then you are a leader. There is no arguing this fact. It is a basic truism. As a non-profit consultant, I am always assessing the effectiveness of an organization’s leadership group, and one of the biggest things I look for inside the boardroom is “who is asking questions” and “what types of questions are being asked“.

Tony Stoltzfus wrote a book that is popular among many executive coaches — “Coaching Questions: A Coach’s Guide to Powerful Asking Questions“. At the very beginning of this book, he outlines some of the reasons why asking questions is more powerful than just talking and telling. The following are three of those reasons that I believe apply to your non-profit organization:

Asking empowers
Asking develops leadership capacity
Asking creates authenticity

Let’s zoom in and examine exactly what Tony says about the second reason . . . “asking develops leadership capacity”:

Leadership is the ability to take responsibility. A leader is someone who sees a problem, and says, “Hey — someone needs to do something about this! And I’m going to be that someone.” Simply asking, “What could you do about that?” moves people away from depending on you for answers, and toward taking leadership in the situation. Asking builds the responsibility muscle, and that develops leaders.

What questions do you ask yourself and others? What questions are board members asking often? What about donors . . . what are your donors asking you? Do the people who your agency serves ask questions. If so, what are they?

Today’s blog post is what I call a “springboard post” because it will serve as a launching pad for a series of future blogs. So, tomorrow’s post and next week’s posts will zoom in and look at powerful questions that different stakeholders typically ask and what you should do about it and how you should encourage it. So, stay tuned to DonorDreams blog, and in the meantime please share some of those powerful questions you’ve used or heard others use in the comment box below.

I think Rudyard Kipling stated it best, when he said:

I keep six honest serving-men,
They taught me all I knew;
Their names are What and Why and When,
And How and Where and Who.

Here’s to your health!

Are fundraising volunteers born or are they made?

April 11, 2012 DonorDreams Fundraising, Uncategorized, volunteers

I have often wondered if there is an answer to the question posed in the title of this blog post. I think it is almost as classic as the question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” However, unlike the chicken question, the fundraising volunteer question haunts fundraising and non-profit professionals every single day. However, I think I might have some good news after attending an annual campaign kickoff meeting a few weeks ago for one of my favorite non-profit organizations.

Before sharing the good news, I think it is important to start by looking at the question, “What traits and skill sets does a good fundraising volunteer possess?” While I probably could’ve developed this list from my 15 years experience of working with fundraising volunteers, I decided to be lazy this morning and found a great online article by Nikki Willoughby at eHow.com titled “The Job Description of a Fundraising Volunteer“. The following are a few traits and skill sets that Nikki pointed out:

Good communicator
Persuasive
Mission-focused
Keen understanding of the agency they are fundraising for
Computer skills and general understanding of how to use the telephone (I am not kidding . . . I encourage you to click the link and read the article for yourself)
Being an extrovert helps
Salesmanship skills
Goals-oriented and driven

I believe Nikki generally hit the nail on the head. The only thing I would add to her laundry list is that an effective volunteer fundraiser must value the ideas of “philanthropy” and “charity”. Most importantly, they need to be a current donor to the non-profit organization to which they are asking others to make a charitable gift.

Unfortunately, this list doesn’t help us answer the question “Are fundraising volunteers born or made?” because some of the skills and traits cannot be taught such as being an “extrovert”. (Note: I happen to know a number of “introverts” as defined by the Myers Briggs personality test who I consider good fundraising professionals. So, I’m not sure if being an extrovert belongs on Nikki’s list. However, since I am an extrovert, I’m going to pass on arguing the point) 😉

As promised in the introduction, I have some good news for those of you who think you can train anyone to be a good fundraising volunteer.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to serve as an annual campaign fundraising volunteer for one of the non-profit organizations in my community. At the kickoff meeting, I bumped into someone I first met 12 years ago. In an effort to “protect the innocent,” I will refer to her as “Jane”.

When I first met Jane in 2000, she was perhaps one of the most reluctant fundraising volunteers that I’ve ever met in my life. I must admit that she doesn’t even come close to fitting that description today.

As I approached the building where the kickoff meeting was being held, we accidentally bumped into each other, hugged and exchanged warm greetings. And then it happened . . . before I even knew what hit me, she launched into a fundraising pitch. The case for support wasn’t for the organization who was hosting the kickoff meeting. It was for a local church who was trying to raise enough money to buy a LCD projector for their sanctuary. (Note: this wasn’t even for the church she belongs to!!!)

Yep, you guessed it . . . in short order she had me signing a pledge card.

Fast forward through the meeting and training, and Jane proudly shared a story with me about a solicitation she made last year with a very reluctant donor. Without breaking confidences, let me just say: “she came, she saw, and she conquered”. She ended her story by sharing what she thought was the secret to her success:

Don’t take NO for an answer
and
Refuse to leave their office until you get the signed pledge card

I can only imagine how many of my fundraising friends who are reading this blog post right now are wincing. Please know that I’m not sharing this story as a “best practice”. Instead, I am point to it as PROOF . . . I am more convinced after seeing Jane’s transformation that fundraising volunteers are “made” and not “born”.

Twelve years ago, Jane had a tough time even thinking about asking others for a pledge to the annual campaign. Today, she is a grizzled fundraising veteran who won’t take NO for an answer.

I am one of Jane’s biggest fans! However, I need to remember to never invite her into my home office. LOL 😉

So, what do you think? Are fundraising volunteers born or made? Do you have any personal stories that you’d like to share that proves your point? Please scroll down and use the comment box.

Here’s to your health!

Technical glitch with today’s blog post — Sorry

April 3, 2012 DonorDreams Uncategorized

Dear DonorDreams blog subscriber:

My apologies. My fat little fingers slipped on the keyboard this morning and published today’s blog post before it was finished. 🙁 Sorry!

If you want to see the completed version of “Should “We the People” be allowed to place failing non-profit agencies into financial receivership?” please click here.

Thanks for your readership, and sorry about the hiccup this morning.

~Erik Anderson