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Sink or swim: the capital campaign steering committee

So, I have a niche somewhat of assisting smaller nonprofits with their capital campaigns.

This niche can be challenging because many of these groups have not had an ongoing, comprehensive fund Steering committee means campaign successdevelopment program in the past. However, working on these smaller campaigns can also be very satisfying because I can help them use this campaign to begin to develop these efforts.  I take those campaigns that a lot of other consultants won’t touch! Many while not having a sustainable donor base to build from, often needs a campaign without doing the preliminary feasibility study.  They need the money, and the campaign must go on.

In the process, there is one thing that I have come to realize.  The capital campaign steering committee is an absolute must.  And, for these smaller groups, it becomes the backbone of their campaign.  In forming this committee correctly, the group has the potential to propel the campaign forward.  Without this group, it may flounder.

And, this group can’t include just anyone.  It needs to include folks that can open doors to others have known networks, and believe in the cause.  They hold some of these smaller campaigns in the palm of their hand.

Without having a known, loyal donor base, this committee can introduce the campaign to a wider net of contacts who may be interested in learning more about the case.  They can leverage their networks to build relationships with, the can act as ambassadors for this campaign, and they can help, to ultimately build this organization’s future.

Not only that, this group can serve as a “feeder” system to the larger organization’s Board of Directors introducing them to a pool of prospective Board members who have deepened their engagement within the group.

Far too many smaller groups gloss over the importance of the who on this committee.  And, by glossing over the who, they are, in essence, glossing over what it takes to be successful in raising money for a capital campaign.  Let’s face it, without a loyal donor base, who else and how else are they going to get access to building one.

I purport that a committee group of connected individuals means success.  And, don’t settle for anyone who says less because they are just fooling you into believing that you can pull this stuff out of thin air.

Just saying, end of story!

 

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OORAH – What the Marines taught me about fundraising

This weekend I took a little vacation of sorts.  I ran a marathon.  The Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC.  Running a marathon is exhausting, but also, reflective.  For you see, you run for 26 miles.  That is a long time on your feet – sometimes, three, four, five, six, or even more hours.

Over the course over the weekend, there were approximately 3,000 marines – some of our countries finest armed service men and women.  And, as I reflected on my experience, I was reminded of how important it is to take care of our donors.  You see, the Marines took care of me while I was runMarine Corps Marathon and Fundraisingning.

They were there to welcome me when I arrived – how often do we welcome donors for their first gifts to us or even their second or third?

They directed me through the maze of marathon logistics – how often do we try to make our experience of being a donor easy for our donors?  Do we point them in the right direction?  Do we connect them with aspects of the charity that they care deeply?

And, then when I was running, those Marines were out there cheering me on as if I were the hero – how often do we cheer on our donors in their act of giving?  How often do we make them feel like the superheroes that they are?

When the going got tough, they were there for me, telling me that I could do – when things get tough for our donors, are we still behind them cheering for them?  Perhaps they can’t give us as much, do we abandon them as people?  Or do we still treat them the same, cultivating the relationship?

And, at the end of it all – they placed the medal on me and made me feel accomplished – “Congratulations, Maam” – do we treat our donors like they are the real heroes, even though we are doing the actual work?

Interesting questions.  I was awed and inspired by this display of honor at the marathon.  The Marine’s know how to put on a good race.  And, they also know a lot more about how to treat people.  There are lessons learned here on how we should go about treating our donors.

Giving is MORE like a marathon than a sprint.  It is about cultivating relationships with our donors over weeks, months, years – just like a marathon is about training for days, weeks, months, and years.

So, go out and run the race.  And, even though it is your organization that is doing the hard work, take some lessons from the Marines and treat your donors like the superheroes that they are.  After all, the Marines are making this sacrifice for our country, just as our donors are making another kind of sacrifice for our organizations.

OORAH!  Now get out there and train.

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Holy cow, fifty shades of fundraising consulting, which do you prefer?

Lately, I have been doing a lot of driving.  And, as a result, a lot of thinking.  I have clients all throughout the Northeast.  And, sometimes, yes, the driving does get “old.”  But, then I sit back and reflect.

You see, there are many different types of fundraising consultants.  And, lately, I have been hearing a great deal about “remote,” “outsourced” development professionals as opposed to the strategic “tell me what to do” consultants that produce a plan and then move onto to the next client.  I do consider myself one of these, in fact, all of these.

But, perhaps I am old-fashioned.  Or maybe I just have been working in the field too long.  I remember, long ago, when there were resident consultants who upped and moved to different parts of the country to live and work at a nonprofit and become immersed in their community.

And, while I don’t up and move, I do spend lots of time on the move.  I think – no, wait, I believe it is critical to the success of my client’s efforts.  Yes, many of the things that I do while sitting in their organization can be done quite easily from home.  But, it is not the same.

Two weeks ago on my blog, I noted how “culture of place” is such an important part of our work.  How can you get to know and understand that “culture of place” if you are working remotely?  Or for that measure, how can you understand the mission and culture of the nonprofit that you are working for if you never sit at a desk and be a part of all that happens on a day to day basis.  What does this have to do with fundraising?  A lot!

It makes a big difference to the quality of work.  When I am onsite, I am a strong reminder to the client that we need to focus and get work done.  So, a lot of work gets done.  When I am not directly onsite, and I work remotely, it seems like work moves at a snail’s pace.  Emails are not answered with urgency, and meetings are postponed.  I get it.  I fall to the bottom of the list.  Very different than having a living, breathing person taking up precious space/rent or whatever you call it in your office as a good reminder.

And, the kinds of things that I do go far beyond just providing advice. I do the work. I craft appeal letters; write newsletter content, solicit donors, write Case for Supports, write grants, work on board development, manage capital campaigns, conduct feasibility studies and audits, on and on and on.

So, when you are thinking about consultants – yes, personality is important – yes, credentials and experience are important, but, don’t overlook the consultant’s personal philosophy of service provision.  Will they go the distance, sometimes hundreds of miles at a time, to live in hotels, to get your work done and to understand the context, both internally and externally, in which your work happens?

We don’t expect our staff development professionals to be in the office behind their desks, so why would you expect the same of a fund development consultant?  They need to be building relationships with organizations to create impact – just as fundraising professionals must be with donors.  It is just another extension of this donor-centered relationship – creating results and positive outcomes for a mission.

While the old models of “in-residence, uproot you and your family” are not so available today, I believe that my unique model of in-residence consulting of a set number of days per week/month onsite is an excellent compromise.  And, hey while I toot my own horn, my model makes a huge difference to my clients and sets me apart from the rest of the bunch.

See you on I95 or maybe I89 or maybe Rt 66.  But, you can be sure of one thing, you won’t see me sitting at my desk at home.

P.S. – Yes, these are photos from my travel.  When I say I get immersed in a community that I am working in, I do.  On a recent stay in a client’s town, I did go to the “Cow Barn” for milk for breakfast.  And, that stretch of road is I91 heading into a client’s town in Vermont from another client located in the Stamford area of CT.

 

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Are all your fundraising systems in line?

Interestingly enough, I met with a wonderful and highly intelligent gentleman this past week. As we were eating lunch, we started talking about systems thinking. It reminded me of a mentor who once said that we needed to be reading people like Peter Senge.

I could never really make the correlation between Peter Senge’s highly complex writings and my practical work as a fundraiser. But, during this recent conversation, the dots began to connect.Systems thinking and fundraising

You see, Peter Senge outlines the whole concept of what systems thinking is and how to frame it within your work. It made me think of my clients.

Systems thinking, at its broadest level, believes in the interrelatedness of forces and seeing them as part of a collective process. Peter Senge notes that it was Professor Jay Forrester at MIT who outlined the nature of “system dynamics” or how complex feedback processes can generate problematic patterns of behavior within organizations and large-scale human systems. Think eco-systems, physical building systems, teams working together, etc.

For many organizations, they have the basic problem of not having enough. – enough resources, time, staffing, etc. For some reason or other, they just can’t seem to rise above the realities of this problem. They go on in endless circles always seeming to address the same issue. For many, the problem may be that they have been relying on grants and foundations to meet their budget, and they never seem to have enough, or a funding source suddenly stops funding them. For others, there fundraising has plateaued or even declined over the past few years. Others face continuing turnover in fundraising staff. I see these same problems over and over again in different organizations.

Truly, what we all must realize is that a fundraising problem is never really a fundraising problem. It is some other underlying organizational problem impacting how well an organization can conduct fundraising. We cannot begin to isolate a fundraising problem as just a fundraising problem. It is much more than that.

Organizations are living, breathing entities. One thing impacts the other which in turn impacts another. Everything in an organization is interrelated. So when, one is under stress, it has a direct bearing on the strength of the other. Nothing works in isolation.

Sometimes old models are kept in place far too long. Outdated and problematic mental models keep perpetuating cycles of behavior that impact the entire system.

Some systems that an organization should be looking at beyond fundraising itself:

  • The board of directors and its governance model.
  • Staffing patterns and their compensation and their incentives.
  • Deeply held organizational assumptions and beliefs.
  • Performance expectations both implicit and explicit.
  • Cultures within organizations.
  • Changing demographics within the community that an organization serves.
  • Demographic changes within populations of donors.
  • Marketing or lack of marketing efforts along with general overall perceptions of organization.
  • Physical conditions of facilities.
  • The overall financial and economic environment.

A savvy fundraiser and fundraising consultant will understand these dynamics. One knows in most cases that if a Board of Directors is managing the efforts of staff, then fundraising will be impacted. If employees are not given the tools or resources to be able to do their job, then fundraising is affected.   If expectations are unrealistic, fundraising is affected.

When clients present themselves to me with a fundraising problem, I often dig deep with questions. Because often and in most cases, the solutions that the client thinks they need are the ones not needed. The answer lies deep below the surface, and it takes someone versed in the language of systems thinking to be able to conduct an appropriate diagnosis and to outline a roadmap for making that systems change possible.

The consultant or fundraiser must be skilled at this work, for one should not make a change just because they see a leverage point. The amount of change, the type of change, and the scope of the modification proposed can either create the needed change or in some cases further exacerbate the problem.

So, for that gentleman who I was having lunch with, thank you! It behooves us all to have such strong mentors in our work from a multitude of disciples beyond fund development. Broadening our scope of resources allows us to care more holistically for the organizations that we steward.

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Governance, follow the leader?

So, who leads the governance process? Is it the Board? Is it the staff?

I wondered to what role does the staff or Board play in shifting a culture that is not longer useful? In fact, sometimes a management culture can be downright disruptive after an organization has reached a particular place in its life cycle.

Is it completely the Board or entirely the staff who need to make these adjustments? Where does governance fall? Who is responsible for the governance process? Who is responsible for being a change agent on the Board level?

Well, I propose that it is a combination of both. In many cases, the Board itself realizes that it needs to change how it has been operating. Other times, the Board chair comes into his or her term and wants to shift the culture of theNonprofit governance - follow the leader? Board. So, Board driven is an option.

Other times, it is the staff itself who must start this shift. How the heck does the staff even begin to change a culture on the Board. Well, I thought about it. And, I turned to the writings of Simone Joyaux, internationally known fundraising consultant. You see, many years ago, I remember reading Simone talking about the concept enabling. And, I believe this is how it all happens.

She purports that, “Enabling is one of the most critical functions within a philanthropic organization…It is the essential role of the chief executive and development officer.” Enabling is empowering others to take action.

All organizations face changing sets of circumstances. Simone notes that “Enablers know that roles may change, depending on the particular situation or its possible implications.” As organizations move from infancy to maturing, so does their Board move from management to governance.

The staff has the biggest responsibility to enable others. But, in a great many cases, don’t see or understand that. And, trouble begins. A CEO may not know why or how a Board is treating them such and throws up their hands in frustration without realizing that they can take an active part in leading their Board to greater understanding and acting. A Chief Development Officer decides to quit after the Executive Director places undue expectations on them without realizing they have a part in leading up with their manager to understand fund development.

We all know that many a development director or CEO have quit over lack of support or because of frustration in their jobs.

So, how do we get the Board to move from management to governance? Get them out of the minutia into the strategic?

So, how does staff enable the Board to understand and support a move towards governance at a higher level?

In essence, it is the CEO’s job to be a leader and as a result, they need to be an active enabler. The CEO and management team own culture. As a result, boards tend to give the issue of culture a wide berth, expecting the CEO to raise cultural issues when needed.

Well, as a CEO here are some steps that you can take:

  • Helping to adjust agenda’s with the Board chair to focus on more strategic issues rather than operational.
  • Managing Board meetings to keep the discussion focused on bigger picture items.
  • Changing Board committee structures are moving from volunteer tasks to governance concerns.
  • Provide thoughtful training and conversation on Board governance and what it is.
  • Enlist the support of Board members who understand and support a change to facilitate change amongst others on the Board level.
  • Assist in developing performance expectations and new job descriptions focused on Board governance.
  • Initiate a Board self-assessment governance survey and discussion.
  • Evaluate the composition of the Board and make recommendations to bring on Board members who will align with a new corporate culture.
  • Develop shared governance language or framework to discuss culture.

CEO’s need to be strong leaders. And, the hallmark of a strong leader is the ability to enable others to take action. CEO’s need to do this with their staff and with volunteers above and below them. They can’t hold up their hands in frustration and decide that corporate culture is not theirs to influence. In fact, in many cases, they are the only ones who can make those changes.

This need becomes an especially critical as the organization moves from infancy to maturity, and beyond in its life cycle. You need to have strong leadership who can navigate these tumultuous changes and foster a shared vision of the future; changing culture in an organization whether at the Board or staff level or even both is an action of a leader.

When seeking leadership, in particular for a growing organization, be sure that you identify at what stage your organization is in, what your particular organizational needs are, and the type of leader who can help you manage and transition the organization to its future.

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Love me or lose me – How donor communications can do both.

We often talk about banning jargon when we speak to others about our organization.  And, that is so needed.  But, I would like to take it one step further, and say that we are not here to “educate” our donors about what we do.

They don’t care about the specifics.

There, I said it.  Truly, your donors don’t.  Just think about your experiences.  When I call an electrician to fix an electrical problem in my house, I don’t want him to explain all of the mechanics of electricity or what is wrong with my particular situation.  Right?  Tell me basically what is wrong, how you are going to fix it, and how much it is going to cost.  Don’t share with me black to black, and red to red, and copper to copper, I don’t want to know.  It is actually beyond me.Simply what you say to a donor

So, when you have a particular project, do you think that donors want to know every little nitty gritty detail?  I hardly doubt so.  For the fact of the matter is, they should have a relationship with your organization before you even ask them to give and if they have a relationship with your organization, then they should TRUST you and TRUST that if they invest in you, you will know what to do with their investment.  In fact, they believe that you are the expert in whatever part of the sector your serving.  You can’t expect your donor to know all about the legalities surrounding domestic violence victims or child custody cases; they expect you to know and to do that.

So, when you are meeting with a donor and sharing a particular project or even your organization and what it does, spare them the details.  Give them the picture of why you, why now, and for what?  Otherwise, if you share too much, you will lose your donor in the process.

We get so carried away in our “internal” thinking that we fail to see a contributor as a donor as a person.  We talk as if they are supposed to know what we are referring to; we use language and jargon to paint portraits of projects, and we go and on and on sharing minutia with them.  It is time to stop and think about your experience with your mechanic, or your plumber, or your electrician, or any other expert that you have hired.  What do you need to know, what do you want to know, and what is it going to cost you.

The adage “keep it simple,” reigns true here.  Donors expect YOU to be the expert, not them.  So, don’t shroud them in jargon and details and minutia.  Just share with them what is wrong, how you are going to fix, and how much it is going to cost.  Simple.

 

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Governance and the Founder – a Crossroads at Your Nonprofit

The founder.  What does that mean to be a founder of an organization?  And, how does that impact the relationship with your Board of Directors?

Organizations have natural life cycles and founders play a unique role in the organization that the found.  There is growth and with growth comes pains.

For founders, what was once solely their creation, becomes something much bigger and larger.  And, then the organization grows up and beyond andFounders and Nonprofit Boards
needs structure and staffing.  The founder must give up something that was very personal to a bigger entity, a bigger dream.  Founders hire their first staff; they organize their first Boards, and then they even go on to leave the organization that they founded.

But, through this process, the founder must struggle with their identity and vice versa.  How much power and autonomy does the Board have with a founder who remains at the helm?  How much power and authority does a founder have to a new found Governance Board who now supervises this very person who founded the organization?  Can the Board make as many decisions as another Board with a non-founder CEO?  When does this dichotomy change?  And, how does it change?  At what point?

As the Board begins to professionalize and develop, the Founder plays a key role in ensuring this transition and establishing a Board that will live well beyond them.  This reality must be hard for founders as they grapple with creating an organization living beyond their control of it.  What was once their dream becomes something much more.  While awe-inspiring, on one hand, it can also be frightening on another.  And, they are now charged with putting in the structures and supports that will ensure that this continues well beyond them, a founder faces their mortality and lack of power on the other.  These same structures and supports i.e. Governance structures, professional staff, start to cause a separation in the identity of the founder.  The organization is changing in a way that separates and institutionalizes their role.

Is Governing the same in a nonprofit organization that is led by a founder as it is by a non-founder?  I say the structures and functions are the same, but the relationship is not.  This relationship needs time to “catch up” and transition.  The dynamics need to develop.  Decision-making is not as black and white.  The founder still has much invested in the direction of their organization, and only through time will this separation happen.   I wouldn’t advocate that a nonprofit Board takes a hard stance and decide that it is the “Boss” of the founder.  Nor would I advocate that the founder has free reign without the Board.  I wouldn’t advocate that the Board sit back and let the founder make all the decisions or nor would I advocate that the Board make all the decisions.  There is much more of a fine line when it comes to Board Governing in a founder-led organization.  The Governance model provides structure, and then the organization is charged with strategically dealing with the “Elephant in the Room” regarding Governing with a founder at the helm or not? Parameters need to be developed that outline what this unique relationship will look like and what is considered acceptable or not acceptable not just today, but as the organization continues to move forward into the future and the tension of Governance and management continues to evolve and change and go beyond the founder.

The organization must move towards professionalizing if it is going to continue beyond its founder.  And, in doing so, the growing pains that a founder and a Board go through are unlike any other.  But, as the Board continues to become more sophisticated in its functioning and as the organization begins to professionalize and hire staff, the founder must continually define his or her new role with increasingly less control and a willingness to divest themselves of ownership.  Likewise, the Board needs to navigate gingerly this transference of organizational equity to begin to take more control, ensure the overall effectiveness of the organization, continue the mission, and plan for succession of the founder and the resulting organizational shifts.  How an organization manages this change, happens over time.

But, all – both the Board and the founder, must be aware that unlike other organizations, they do face unique challenges and opportunities, and must ease each other into their new roles and organizational structures while honoring the past and preparing for the future.  This change in roles is a Governance question that if left unaddressed can cause great consternation and organizational dysfunction.  It is better to deal with the “Elephant” than to have it trample all over you.

Change management is hard work, but so is dealing with the aftermath of an organization that failed to identify its complexities and address them as they navigate the sea of change.  Lifeboats only help when the ship is sinking.  A rudder helps to steer the ship, and a compass guides it while in sail.

 

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From here to minutia…Board of Directors and their committees

Ah, Board committees. Now, we get knee deeper into confusion. So, keeping the Board focused on governance is challenging work. Keeping the committees focused on governance seems at times almost impossible.

A few observations from the field.

Just like with Board of Directors, Board committee’s need position descriptions and expectations. Now, I won’t recommend specific committees because each organization is different, but the basics such as Finance and Governance Committees are essential.Board Committees are all about governance

Why a position description for the committee? Well, far too often, I have seen committees want to take over management types of activities. You know, they think governance is at the Board collective level, and therefore, they can focus on getting things done. Yes, to some extent, but with specific parameters in place. A committee also needs to be engaging in governance regarding examining trends and their implications.

Take, for instance, a Development Committee. Where does the line end between helping to establish a philanthropic goal, approving a fundraising plan, and then actually implementing the work and sometimes even circumventing staff efforts? Ah, yes, this does happen. And, it happens more than we like to think. Once you get down to the committee level, management seems to creep in. So, a powerful committee position description will help to create appropriate boundaries.

Now, I say, in the case of Fund Development, members as part of this committee work to engage their fellow Board members in the process of fund development. So, they may call upon a Board member to chair an event, or to help solicit funds, or to introduce the organization to a significant prospect. This fact does not mean that the manage the fundraising process. And, this is not to say that they manage staff. That is up to staff. But, even in all-volunteer organizations, when Board members must manage, governance comes first. Heck, you can establish a special event committee of the Board that works on event logistics with both Board and non-Board members. Governance rules.

Moreover, committees in no way, shape, or form make decisions for the Board. No, way. You see, the only people that make decisions for the Board is the Board collective. Committees can wrestle with tough strategic, governance issues, and make recommendations for actions at the Board meeting, but in now way does the Committee make a decision that is not vetted and voted by the Board as a whole. Again, clearly outlined position descriptions and expectations create parameters for appropriate behavior.

I know, I know, governance in small nonprofits. Again, governance discussions come first. Operational issues can be done by a task force or other such components. The Finance Committee in a large or small organization needs to look at economic trends in the overall community both locally and globally and make sound fiscal decisions. That does not mean that they get into the minutia. Yes, Board members do need to do management kinds of things in small non-profits, but they can also engage their membership or volunteers to assist in getting things done. So, while a nature organization needs to discuss trail maintenance and who is going to do it, they most importantly need to discuss which trails where, why, and how much is going to cost. What are the environmental impacts of a trail system, etc. They can always appeal to their membership or the general community to help clear brush.

So, again, clear, written, articulated in advance, position descriptions for the Board as a collective, individual Board members and the committees of the Board themselves are needed to create parameters and boundaries around keeping the Board focused on its significant role in governance.

I have been known to point out, “Would you see a Board committee of Pepsi-Cola engaging in supervising staff other than the CEO, or working in the factory bottling soda pop?” Even small, family-owned businesses, need to talk about things like, “there is a new competitor in town, what does that mean for us?” or “Our chocolate sales hit rock bottom, what is our cash flow over the next year?”

No, so what makes us in nonprofits think that we need to operate any differently? Just because we are “non-profit” doesn’t imply that our Boards of Directors should operate any differently. The difference being that for-profit Boards report to stockholders and our Boards report to stakeholders. And, yes, my friend, we can offer our Board compensation if we wanted to go that far.

For more articles on your Board of Directors, start here!

P.S. – Are you ready to get started with your first large fundraising campaign?  And, you want it to be successful?  Get started with my FREE 7 Steps to a Majorly Successful Fundraising Campaign and use the EXACT same steps that I share with my clients.  Click here to download your FREE 7 Steps “Cheat Sheet” and start planning your fundraising campaign today.   I will share with you all the steps you need to be successful before launching your next campaign.

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Great expectations for Board Members

Last week, I noted how all-volunteer and small staffed organizations must engage iBoard members need position descriptionsn governance at the Board level.  I pointed out that one of the first steps is to secure commitment to change.  Some groups may not want to change and need to wrestle with the question of “what does not changing mean for our organization?”  You can read that article here.

Others on the other hand do.  So, after they gain consensus and commitment to changing, one of the next natural steps to creating this cultural shift on the board level is to look at the Board’s position descriptions.  Now, I must say, this is where the dialogue gets quiet for my me and my client.  For you see, I find that many have some form of a Board member expectation outline, simple as they may be, but lack a basic Board of Directors position description.

How can that be?  I am not sure. I think that sometimes, perhaps groups don’t understand the full role of the Board and therefore don’t design a position description outlining the roles and responsibilities of a Board.  On the other hand, some Boards by design, especially smaller nonprofit organizations, create Board positions to assist in getting the day-to-day organizational work complete, and the Board mainly functions as a management/volunteer rather than as a governance focused Board.

Just like in the “real” world, we wouldn’t expect to hire someone or to take a job that does not have a position description.  The case is the same here.  Why would we expect a Board member to come on Board without outlining for them their duties and responsibilities and sharing that with them?  The Board holds one of the largest, if not THE most important role within an organization.  In fact, the “buck” stops with the Board.  How do you assess and release Board members if they or you haven’t defined that role for them?

And, we wonder why Boards are not functioning the way we want or expect them to.  We haven’t begun to identify the parameters of what that work entails.  We expect Board members to come on board fully engaged and knowing of their responsibilities, and when they don’t, we get frustrated and upset with our Board’s performance.

So, after seeking consensus and commitment, an organization must move to defining what a Board member’s role is and formalize and adopt this position description outlining functions and responsibilities.  From there, you can design, based on the culture and needs of your organization, individual Board member expectations regarding their participation in a wide variety of organizational matters including, most importantly, fund development.

We all know that there is a difference between a Board of Directors as a collective unit and an individual Board member, right?

For more articles on your Board of Directors, start here!

 

P.S. – Are you ready to get started with your first large fundraising campaign?  And, you want it to be successful?  Get started with my FREE 7 Steps to a Majorly Successful Fundraising Campaign and use the EXACT same steps that I share with my clients.  Click here to download your FREE 7 Steps “Cheat Sheet” and start planning your fundraising campaign today.   I will share with you all the steps you need to be successful before launching your next campaign.

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Corporate Governance is a Must Even in Your Small Nonprofit

Board governance is challenging work.  It is especially difficult for smaller organizations.  Even more so in all volunteer organizations.

When organizations lack staff including an Executive Director, it is the Board of Directors who often fills in the “gap” of responsibility regarding getting the day to day activities of the organization done.  Board members may be out sweeping, cutting down trees, writing appeal letters, and providing critical direct services to clients.  So, doing Board governance is often last on a small Board’s list of things to do or to talk about at Board meetings.Board Governance in small nonprofits is challenging but necessary

What is Board governance? Board governance is the process whereby the Board operates as a collective unit to ensure the health of the organization through overseeing things such as legal and moral obligations and a relevant and impactful mission.  That is governance.  It is not the day to day oversight of an organization; that is management.

There is a distinction between the Board as a collective and the roles of individual Board members.  So, when the Board meets as a collective, it must focus on Corporate Governance.  However, that does not preclude individual Board members from wanting to do management kinds of things – within reason.

It doesn’t matter the size of the Board or the staff.  All Boards need to focus and act on Corporate Governance. They can’t be focused on management and expect to do a Board’s due diligence in terms of ensuring the health and sustainability of the organization.  Some have said to me, “We are an all volunteer organization, we don’t have staff.  These types of things don’t apply to us.”  A Board is a Board is a Board, and Boards exist to ensure the legal, moral, and ethical fabric of the organization and be the vanguard for its mission.

Board members should not be discussing whether or not the clients need more hours or that some gardens need planting.  That is not the realm of the Board.  The Board as a collective should be looking at things like what is on the horizon in terms of financial risks, how they should plan for the future strategically, do they have a leadership succession plan in place, what are the expectations of their Board members, and are they in compliance with federal and state mandates.

How does a small organization with limited staff or all volunteers make this transition from management to Corporate Governance?  It is not easy, but it can be done.  When any Board is thinking about moving towards a Board governance model, which they should, the most important first strategic questions they must ask themselves as a Board collective is “Do we even want change?”  “What will change mean for our organization?”  “What will happen if we don’t decide to change?” and “What will change look like for our Board?”

There must be consensus on these critical questions before moving forward towards a Corporate Governance model.  Before thinking about term-limits or financial risks, the Board of Directors must be committed to moving forward in a different, new way.  This will be the first exercise that the Board undertakes in its new Corporate Governance role. Without this commitment, Board Governance will not happen.

 

P.S. – Are you ready to get started with your first large fundraising campaign?  And, you want it to be successful?  Get started with my FREE 7 Steps to a Majorly Successful Fundraising Campaign and use the same EXACT steps that I share with my clients.  Click here to download your FREE 7 Steps “Cheat Sheet” and start planning your fundraising campaign today.   I will share with you all the steps you need to be successful before launching your next campaign.

 

 

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What running Mt. Washington taught me about fundraising

This past weekend, I embarked on an event that frightened me.  Literally and figuratively.

You see, several months ago, I entered a lottery.  And, the drawing was for a chance to run up Mt. Washington in the Mt. Washington Auto Road Race.  I got in. At the time, it seemed fabulous.  Then as reality dawned, I realized that I need to step up my training, if I were to tackle this 6,288-foot peak, and not hiking it, but running it.

IMG_1787So, many months ago, I set out and found a hill.  I went up and down that hill over and over again.  Then, searching online, I found mountain races.  And, I entered them.  And, I began running up to the summits of mountains.  First smaller ones, and then larger ones.  But, nothing greater than 3,000 or so feet.

When the week dawned, and I made my trek to New Hampshire, I began to have second thoughts about what I was doing. Most everyone in my life, asked me, “Do you know what you are  getting yourself into?”  Admittedly, I thought I did.  But, when the mountain physically appeared on the horizon, I began to wonder, if this is something I should attempt.

Race morning dawned, and I was feeling more than butterflies in my stomach.  This day was the moment given to me.  I had trained for it, and now it had arrived.  All my “new” mountain running friends told me that this was going to be the most difficult thing that I was going to do.  But, they all told me I could do it.  I wasn’t even sure of the weather conditions that I would encounter at the summit.  I packed a hat and gloves just in case.

The race cannon fired, and off we all went.  I had a strategy; I worked it.  Slowly but surely, I chipped away at the mountain and tenths of miles passed.  It got hard. No, it got downright painful.   As the 5,000-foot mark appeared,  my upper body felt like lead.  Then 6,000 feet.  And, I knew that if I kept going, I was going to do this.  Slowly but surely,run-walking all the way to the top.  When the summit appeared, one last obstacle presented itself.  A 22% percent grade in the road and then the finish line.  Nothing stopped me at that point.

What does all this have to do wIMG_1780ith fundraising?  Well, a great deal.  Courage.  I honestly believe that the most significant characteristic of a fundraiser is courage.  These exceptional individuals know that even in the most difficult times, perseverance is key, and that “this too shall pass.”  Courage to get a lot of “no’s” and to be able to ask for a gift without hesitation.  It is the ability to do this, with rumblings and butterflies floating around in your tummy.

I now know that I climb any mountain.  There is no project, no tasks, that I cannot do.  Courage is something that no everyone has, but surely, the best fundraisers do.

Someone remarked to me recently, “The thing I like about you is that you live life to the fullest.  You don’t live on the edge looking in.”  And, truly, that is what we should expect of all our fundraiser.  They are making the mission possible.  And, you can’t make an organization’s mission possible by looking in from the fringes.  You need to be in the field, each and every day, living life to the fullest, in the thick of it all.

While I did know that Mt. Washington would change my life, I didn’t realize that it would give such professional perspective and insight.  Courage. A life worth living for causes life-changing and life-saving.  Isn’t that the characteristic you want for your organization?

P.S. – Are you ready to get started with your first large fundraising campaign?  And, you want it to be successful?  Get started with my FREE 7 Steps to a Majorly Successful Fundraising Campaign and use the same EXACT steps that I share with my clients.  Click here to download your FREE 7 Steps “Cheat Sheet” and start planning your fundraising campaign today.   I will share with you all the steps you need to be successful before launching your next campaign.

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Reflecting on a career in fundraising; simpler times

Twenty-two years is an awfully long time.  I can’t believe it has gone by that quickly.  And, it all happened by pure chance or maybe little small choices all along the way.  Now, I find myself a CFRE and have my Masters in Fund Development and Philanthropy.Looking back

Years, years ago, I got my start as a community organizer for a small, grassroots social justice organization.  What
they failed to tell me, was that I needed to raise money.  Well, back in those days, many organizations had robust canvasses.  So, I hopped in a car full of others and headed off to a neighborhood where the lead canvasser dropped us off with a clipboard full of information, and a stack of index cards.

You see, back then, we didn’t have donor records in the sky or even donor databases, we had index cards with handwritten amounts on them.  We didn’t have fancy pitches or slick brochures; we had a clipboard with some mimeographed flyers.  We rang the doorbell; we waited for someone to answer the door, and when they did, we had about five seconds flat to state the case of why we were standing on their stoop and what we needed.  If they liked you, you may even be invited in off the stoop.  If they didn’t, you probably got the door slammed in your face.

I call this fundraising by fire.  Canvassing.  What a way to start.  But if I didn’t have that canvass experience each and every night, I think that I wouldn’t be as good a fundraiser as I am today.  For you see, it took the whole giving cycle and condensed it down into one doorbell ring, and a few seconds to make a pitch.  The rejection was nothing worse than having a door shut on you, leaving you standing there with your mouth agape.  But, you realized soon enough that you needed to move to the next index card, the next house, the next pitch, and do it all over again for three or more hours each evening of the week.

We had lots of fun our canvass team.  And, in the process, I learned everything I needed to know about fundraising –  without sophisticated wealth screening tools, fancy case statements or scripted pitches and even without a computer.  I was out from behind my desk, building relationships the old fashion way.

Twenty years – my so much has changed, particularly with fundraising.  But, sometimes things were so much simpler, even with that.  Perhaps we tend to complicate things too much, over think them, and stay behind our desks.  Back then, you grabbed a stack of cards, you went off to some neighborhood, rang a doorbell, stated the case, and shook a few hands.

Twenty-two years is an awfully long time.  So much learned and so many valuable lessons from a simpler, more laid back time.

P.S. – Are you ready to get started with your first large fundraising campaign?  And, you want it to be successful?  Get started with my FREE 7 Steps to a Majorly Successful Fundraising Campaign and use the same EXACT steps that I share with my clients.  Click here to download your FREE 7 Steps “Cheat Sheet” and start planning your fundraising campaign today.   I will share with you all the steps you need to be successful before launching your next campaign.

 

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