The biggest barrier to effective major donor fundraising

March 25, 2015

Filed under: Fundraising — jonathanpoisner @ 11:21 am

What’s the biggest barrier to organizations launching an effective major donor program?

My three nominees are:

• Lack of connections
• Lack of time
• Lack of skills

Let’s discuss each in turn.

Connections: Most people I talk to feel their biggest barrier is lack of connections.  In my experience, this is not the case.  When run through an exercise to identify who they have as acquaintances, nearly everyone I’ve worked with discovers major donor prospects ($1,000+) in their midst.  More importantly, if conceived of as a program and not a one-time effort, everyone knows people who, in turn, know major donor prospects at even higher levels of potential.  Part of an effective major donor program is identifying the “connectors” you know, securing their donations (even if at lower dollar levels), and then enlisting them in the effort.

Skills:  Others come to me feeling their biggest barrier is lack of skills.  This is, of course, a real barrier.  Partly because lack of skills can lead you to use the wrong approach to meetings, leading to fewer and smaller gifts.  And partly because the lack of skills can sap you of the confidence necessary to build an effective program.  The good news: there are techniques anyone can use that will allow them to improve their success rate when talking to prospects.

Time: Lack of time is, in the end, the barrier that I find leads many organizations to fare poorly when it comes to launching an effective major donor fundraising program.  It takes time.  Especially at the start.  You can’t launch a major donor program with a stable staff without clearly identifying what you’re going to do less of because time is going into major donor cultivation and solicitation.  Even if you’re adding staff who will take the lead with major donors, you need to still identify the time needed by others in the organization and account for how it will be allocated — especially for Executive Directors who are essential to major donor fundraising.

Time is also a big challenge for programs that aim to take advantage of the board’s connections and passion.  The best board member on paper isn’t all that helpful if he or she lacks the time to commit to helping an organization.  This should be a major part of the conversation with potential board members in recruitment and organizations should overstate rather than understate the time requirements of serving on the board so as to maximize the number of new board members who can truly fulfill their role.

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Guest blog: How to become a thought leader

February 17, 2015

Filed under: Communications — jonathanpoisner @ 9:30 am

Guest blog by Liz Banse of Resource Media. 

Thought Leadership: More than just a TED talk and, yes, more than just a fad

Have you ever dreamed of giving a TED talk and selling your big idea to the same folks who gobbled up Bill Gates big vision of innovating to zero, learned that gaming can be good, or how schools kill creativity?

What you were dreaming about was becoming a world-famous thought leader. If there was a word or phrase of the year in the communications industry for 2014, it would be “thought leadership.” Finally, a new phrase has pushed “storytelling” to the side as the “it” thing.

At Resource Media, we have heard a lot of you articulate your dreams of getting your bold vision out to a wider circle. There’s nothing we love more than working with visionaries – who wouldn’t?!

But, with all the ideas and excitement about thought leadership, what is it really?

First of all, it’s disruptive. Take any current notion of how things can or should be done and offer a completely different approach to solving whatever problem you have identified, and you are well on your way to becoming your industry’s thought leader.

Thought leaders tend to upend the status quo with a bold vision.

Thought leadership is not about being the most knowledgeable person on your issue.

If you’ve checked this box, great. But, before you go out and make your mark on the world, make sure that your organization’s brand is strong, too.

As the leader of an organization, your thought leadership should come around to benefit your organization. And, vice versa. If you know your organization’s brand is strong, it can help catapult you to the forefront. If it is weak, work on that first, before you work on your thought leadership plan.

Check. Now, you are ready to go forth and conquer the world. Package your thought leadership with an interesting life story (trust us, everyone has one). People have thought leadership, not organizations.

Create a video or some other vehicle that will carry your idea to others when you are not able to do it in-person. Attend events and conferences with audiences who can help you test out your idea and hone it even further. Actively pursue media interviews with journalists who can help spread your ideas among other influencers. Play an active role on social media, engaging in conversations with other leaders.

Watch your influence meter rise.

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Guest Blog: How to Refresh your Brand

February 10, 2015

Filed under: Communications — jonathanpoisner @ 9:19 am

Guest Blog by Liz Banse of Resource Media

When was the last time you went to the doctor for a check-up? Hopefully, it was in the past year. But, what about your organization? Have you given it a check-up recently? Specifically, have you checked on the health of your organization’s brand?

Aw, we’re fine, you say. I know how to articulate my organization’s mission statement without even referring to the cheat sheet by my phone. But, do you know what other people are saying about you? And does that match how you describe who you are, what you do, and what makes you so unique?

At Resource Media, we like to say that your brand is what people say about you once you leave the room. If there is any sort of gap between how you describe yourself and how others describe you when you aren’t around, you have a brand disconnect. And a brand disconnect means you are not fulfilling your brand promise to your supporters.

That’s when you want to get back into alignment. A branding refresh is all about redefining and getting clear on what sets you apart from others in your field. It’s about finding the right words to communicate the value of the work that you do to the people who need to hear it most – whether they be donors, elected officials or community leaders, other organizational partners or anyone else you need on your side to realize your goals.

How does a typical branding process flow? Start with a discovery process where you interview people within the organization as well as those who interface with it from the outside (supporters, funders, policy makers, partner organizations, and others). Ideally, these interviews are conducted by a neutral third party with communications expertise so that you’re receiving candid views instead of people telling you what you want to hear. These in-depth interviews will give you the first clues as to the health of the brand.

Next, have someone outside of your organization review your organization’s materials – online and offline and write up what they perceive as your brand. Does their write up match what you had intended to convey?

You may also at this point want to do a broader online survey of organizational supporters.

Pull all the research generated together and hold a “workshop” at which you hopefully will generate some “a-ha” moments. The outcome of the workshop should be refreshed language about your organization’s core identity and some tactics for how to better communicate it.

Then, don’t forget to make sure everyone on staff (and possibly the board) is trained and any stock materials are overhauled. The result: Staff, volunteers, and those outside the organization will speak in one voice on how and what you do and, most importantly, why the work you do is important and unique.

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No magic words, but themes matter

January 29, 2015

Filed under: Fundraising — jonathanpoisner @ 5:04 pm

I was recently asked by a nonprofit leader whether there are certain words or phrases that the organization should be sure to utilize in major donor fundraising because they tend to be particularly effective.

The leader (at the urging of a board member) was thinking about major donor fundraising as a marketing exercise in which certain words hold special power, particularly if repeated over and over.

In my view, major donor fundraising is more analogous to sales if one wishes to make an analogy to business. While I have no doubt some words are particularly effective in sales, my experience is effective salespersons think more about what stories and themes to tell than what specific words to use.

I responded to the leader accordingly.  Don’t focus on what words to use.  Focus on what themes should show up in the stories you tell donors.

I highlighted three themes to her.

First, it’s critically important to focus any donor conversation first on values and only secondarily on the work of an organization, statistics, or public policy.  Connect with people emotionally by sharing your personal story and by speaking in values terms that resonate with them. Ask their story to understand what values motivate them. Only then are you likely to engage them in a conversation about your organization’s strategy and details in a way most likely to lead to major gifts.

Second, it’s very important that you both demonstrate there is a problem the donor wants to help you address and that they should have hope that your organization can be part of the solution. Don’t assume potential donors already get the problem and rush into talking about your programmatic work (which tends to be your solutions).

But that doesn’t mean the conversation can end with the problem. If all you demonstrate to donors is you’re working to address a problem, they are unlikely to dig deep. You need stories that demonstrate your capacity as an organization (and sometimes as an individual leading the organization) to address the problem. You need to leave them hopeful.

Third, donors increasingly need to simultaneously understand that your organization is uniquely positioned to make a difference and that it’s also not a “Lone Ranger.”  This can be a quandary. On the one hand, you need to stand out from the crowd. On the other hand, donors increasingly prize organizations that collaborate and who can articulate how their work dovetails with others. You should be able to tell the story of your work that navigates this challenge.

Do these themes match up with your own experience as a major donor fundraiser?  Are there other themes of equal relevance?

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A goal is not an activity

November 24, 2014

Filed under: Strategic Planning — jonathanpoisner @ 3:59 pm

Public service announcement: A goal is not an activity, it’s an outcome.

The activity of educating people is not a goal.

More educated people could be a goal, with educating people (or more specifically classes, workshops, publications, etc.) the strategy achieve it.

Another example: Advocacy/lobbying is not a goal. Better public policies could be a goal, with advocacy/lobbying being the strategy to achieve it.

It shocks me sometimes how often people confuse the outcome they are seeking (the goal) with the activity to get there (the strategy).

End of PSA/rant.

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To follow your dreams, learn to say no

Filed under: Leadership,Strategic Planning — jonathanpoisner @ 3:57 pm

Learning to say no is one of the most important skiils for any organizatonal leader or organization.

Oliver Bremerton recently wrote and illustrated a compelling explanation for how this plays at an individual level when it comes to following your personal dreams.

“Our brains behave like a beachball filled with bees. Hundreds of conflicting impulses, pushing us in different directions.”

Successful individuals (leaders, organizations, etc.) learn how to put aside the conflicing impulses and focus on the one, overriding “dream.”

Or in Bremerton’s words, “If you want to follow your dreams, you have to say no to all the alternatives.“

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The Science behind Storyelling

Filed under: Communications,Fundraising — jonathanpoisner @ 3:51 pm

Here’s a really quick, but useful read about the science that explains why fundraising via storytelling is more effective than relying on statistics to mak your case.

Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling.

 

 

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Why you Lead Matters

July 24, 2014

Filed under: Human Resources,Leadership — jonathanpoisner @ 1:43 pm

I recently came across a study published in Harvard Business Review that crystallized some of my own thinking about how to motivate leadership.

The article outlines the results of a study of 10,000 graduates of Westpoint (the U.S. Army officer training college) through their graduation and well into their careers.  The graduates were asked questions to determine what motivates their leadership.  In general, leadership motivations were classified as intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (instrumental).  An example of an intrinsic motivation is “improving people’s lives.”  An example of an extrinsic motivation is “more pay” or greater status from a position of more stature.  Many people demonstrated evidence of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.

I was not surprised that those who were intrinsically motivated had proven over time to be more successful leaders than those extrinsically motivated.  I previously posted a great video on this precise subject.

What surprised me about the study was that those who were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated also proved inferior in leadership success compared to those whose sole motivations are intrinsic.

In the words of the study author:

“Adding external motives didn’t make leaders perform better — additional motivations reduced the selection to top leadership by more than 20%.  Thus, external motivations, even atop strong internal motivations, were leadership poison.”

Personally, I’ve always been wary of organizations that consider using bonuses or other similar rewards as a means of improving employee performance.  This is especially true in cause-related organizations.  It creates a perverse incentive that can change how employees perceive their role.

Anecdotally, I’ve seen an organization go awry in this way.  A few years back, an organization I knew hired an Executive Director who insisted that the pay for his role be increased to match what they had been receiving at the job they were vacating, even though this higher pay would be dramatically more than the organization’s traditional pay scale.  In their words, they didn’t want to be taking a step backwards in pay.  It didn’t surprise me that the E.D. in question flamed out in 18 months.   They were more motivated by extrinsic factors (pay) than intrinsic (the desire to best fulfill the organization’s mission).

What implications does that have for nonprofits?  For those doing hiring, if a candidate says or does something suggesting their personal motivation is extrinsic, I suggest you think long and hard before going down that road.  Focus on candidates where the flame is burning on the inside to accomplish the mission.  Skills can be trained.  The fire inside cannot.

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A riddle about 5 frogs – updated

July 11, 2014

Filed under: Leadership,Strategic Planning — jonathanpoisner @ 3:31 pm

About 15 months ago I created a blog entry: 5 frogs sitting on a log. 

Here’s an updated version.

The riddle:

Five frogs are sitting on a log.  One decides to jump off.  How many frogs are left on the log?

The answer is five.  Deciding to jump off is not the same as jumping off, so all five are still on the log.

The five frogs are still sitting on a log.  One gets training on how to jump off.  How many frogs are left on the log?

Five, of course.  Being trained on somethings is no guarantee of action.

The five frogs are still sitting on a log.  One decides he’s a lily pad frog and not a tree frog, so he’ll jump off and onto a nearby lily pad.  He recently was trained on effective jumping.   He’ll jump at sundown.  He knows he’ll have been effective if he winds up on the lily pad.

In short, he knows who he is, where he wants to get to, how he’ll get there, and by when.

How many frogs are sitting on the log?

Of course, the answer is still 5.  But I’d venture to bet that the odds of it soon being four are very high indeed.

Although the parallels to nonprofit work are clear, I’ll hit you in the face with it:  An organizational strategic plan should answer who the organization is, where it wants to go, how it will get there, and how it will know if it’s successful.  In strategic planning terms, this is usually a combination of mission/vision, goals, strategies, and a timeline.

The best written strategic plan, even when combined with training, are no substitute for taking action.

But those who are trained and plan are far more likely to take action (and take it effectively) than those who are not.

 

 

 

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Should your nonprofit get a drone?

June 18, 2014

Filed under: Communications — jonathanpoisner @ 3:43 pm

Should your nonprofit get a drone?Drone tabling

Okay — never expected to ask that question.  And I’m only half serious.

But at the River Rally I attended a few weeks back, a vendor (Intelligent Unmanned Aerial Solutions) was tabling and the price of drones with cameras was shockingly inexpensive. They were pitching to river groups for taking aerial surveillance of polluters.

Are there other reasons a nonprofit may benefit from having a drone?

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