Archive for the ‘Weblog’ Category

Millennial Fundraising Epic FAIL

Jun 1, 2011 Weblog

Typically, this time of year I see fundraising appeals from educational organizations, faith-based groups preparing for summer mission trips, and health-related (education/advocacy/research) groups that sponsor an athletic event (e.g. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team In Training). Over the past four months I’ve received about eight fundraising appeals representing five different organizations. Of these, five have been through social media or in electronic format and stand out in my mind, but not as best practice examples.

Social media and the viral fundraising campaign is highly lauded among large national organizations with high name recognition and stellar reputations. However, a major shortcoming of peer-based appeals is that the responsibility for relationship building is transferred from professional fundraisers to an inexperienced volunteer. A trend I’m seeing among the disappointing appeals is a lack of volunteer fundraising training by these well-respected organizations (or perhaps volunteers are ignoring their training).

The downside of this is that even if a person I know sends me an e-mail or Facebook message asking for my support for their upcoming mission trip or walk-a-thon, I’m unlikely to be receptive to the request if it’s the first time I’ve heard from that person in five years.

As Millennials seek to make a difference, it should be the responsibility of non-profits to engage their volunteers in training to make clear the importance of genuine cultivation and stewardship as a preface to effective asking and engagement. Volunteer training should not focus just on building endurance for the upcoming marathon, but should also spend some time educating on the strengths and weaknesses of permission marketing and their responsibilities as volunteer fundraisers.

Where should these volunteer training programs to start? I recommend the Donor Bill of Rights and the Code of Ethical Principles and Standards.

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Perspective on a Fundraiser’s Perspective

May 31, 2011 Weblog

I’m thankful to have Lilya Wagner as a mentor, colleague, and generous friend. She’s been an encouragement these past several weeks but has also been challenging me (in a good way) as we work together on a project. Recently Lilya forwarded me a link to an article relating to our project.

The article, Who are we to talk?, is written by Emily Cavan Lynch, a public health consultant and freelance writer. She poses the question, “would development aid be more effective if it was delivered by people whose life experiences are more similar to those of the supposed beneficiaries?” I find this question quite intriguing.

It has been several years since I took the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) exam but I vaguely recall one of the questions asking about the demographic profile of a board of trustees. This particular question related to the fact that one of the potential members under consideration to join the board represented, not wealth but, the perspectives of the non-profit’s beneficiaries (if memory serves me correctly, the potential board member represented a racial profile).

In my research of the culture of philanthropy in Ghana and my Ethiopian travels to work with an NGO located there I’ve learned that the best practices of the West don’t translate well to the circumstances of the cultures represented in these countries. I agree on the importance of making a priority to use cultural perspectives to inform the programmatic/strategic aspect of the NGO. The fundraising strategy is no exception to this and should also mirror the cultural characteristics of the native demographics… but how is this done?

Research can get you quite far, but it is no substitute for active listening and deep engagement with benefactors and beneficiaries that represent a different perspective. Let their experience and judgement help guide your work.

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“Good Things” File

Feb 17, 2011 Weblog

Two weeks ago I came across the “fundraiser’s daily affirmation” by Katya Andresen (if you’re not already following her weblog, you should). The timing couldn’t have been better. It prompted me to give thoughtful consideration about my chosen career and inspired me to print off her entry to add to my file of “good things” and to leave the following comment on her page:

Fund-raisers share a lot of similarities with Spider-man, the Wizard of Oz, and Red from Shawshank Redemption.

Like Spider-man we work between the silos. We thread together people, ideas, and facilitate connections within our organization. We weave a web of collaboration, communication, and inspiration. Since “great power comes with great responsibility,” humility is essential… lest our web become a Sir Walter Scott cautionary tale.

Like the Wizard of Oz, we work behind the scenes to give our case for support the best face and to transform words and ideas into a great show that inspires those around us to have Heart, show Courage, and think and reflect (Brain) on the transformational power of philanthropy.

Like Red, we are known and respected inside and outside our organization as the person that “knows how to get things.” We may be restricted by available resources or may have to work with difficult people in order to accomplish great things, but we press on and act as catalysts for action.

Our work as philanthropic facilitators is rarely formally recognized. Our names don’t appear in the press releases, we’re not in the photographs… by design we deflect accolades to the philanthropists that invest in our organizational mission and draw attention to the lives that are transformed because of their generosity.

Because of this, I thank you for the encouragement. I will print off your post and add to my “Good Things File” for when I need that extra boost.

The “good thing file,” or what I call the GTF for short, has been a great source of encouragement over the years. I’ve filled it with unexpected letters from benefactors and beneficiaries, e-mails and notes from co-workers, meaningful quotes, and news articles that help refocus my negative and selfish attention to the transformational effect of philanthropy.

Katya’s posting came at the perfect time. Just the evening before I learned that a fellow fundraisier had accepted a job out of state. In two-weeks time I would have to say goodbye to a respected co-worker, trusted confidante, and loyal friend. Today I was thumbing through the file and realized that my colleague has also been a consistent contributer to the GTF over the past four years.

Linda, I’ll miss seeing you every week… but I’m excited for the next chapter as you turn the page toward the future.

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Understanding Context for a Philanthropic Plan

May 5, 2010 Weblog

The opening segment of a philanthropic plan helps provide context that informs latter sections. If you are reviewing and revising your strategic plan on a three-year cycle, the context segment should serve as a general reference and typically only needs to be revised if the board decides to change the organizational mission or if historical changes have occurred that may affect the philanthropic landscape.

The “organizational context” section should include the organizational mission, vision, history, and values. These areas should be self-explanatory. A good resource for examples can be found in “Strategic fund development: Building profitable relationships that last”  by Simone P. Joyaux (2001). See the appendices (A through D) for chapter 6. These begin on page 285. I highly recommend purchasing this book, but you can also find the relevant material through Google Books (http://bit.ly/JoyauxSFD). In her book Joyaux uses mission and vision consistently, but uses an assortment of alternate headings for the remaining context section. These section headings include both overview and assumptions.

The context segment should be concise and should not go so far as a fundraising resource audit or SWOT analysis. These areas will be covered in the next segment highlighting the philanthropic environment effecting the organization’s development efforts.

Next: Philanthropic Environment

How to Build a Philanthropic Plan

May 2, 2010 Weblog

Over the past several months I have been participating in the mentoring program with my local chapter of AFP. The majority of the meetings with my mentee have focused on helping her articulate a case for support and building a philanthropic plan for the organization’s integrated strategic plan.

To extend the value of the work done with my mentee to others looking to improve their strategic planning skills, we will  spend the next several weeks breaking down the parts of a philanthropic plan. The philanthropic plan typically consists of five basic parts. These parts build on one another as your plan progresses to give your strategy clarity. The early sections give detail so that the latter sections can concentrate on providing a concise road-map of actionable items to achieve your development goals.

As with grammar, these parts are listed below to simply to provide structure and a general guideline, but rules are made to be broken (provided you understand the rules and the reason for them). These parts include:

  • Organizational Context – mission, vision, history, values
  • Philanthropic Environment – fundraising resource audit, SWOT analysis
  • Philanthropic Goals – strategic, financial, timetable
  • Philanthropic Strategy – cases for support (audience, case, and implementation)
  • Benchmarks – staff performance metrics, strategic, financial

Next: Organizational Context

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