Get pledges of allegiance to your NPO with these 3 tips

I attended an outdoor concert of a local symphony recently and the audience was asked to stand to recognize the pledge of allegiance as it was performed. While I hadn’t expected it, it got me thinking about how often it is a part of so many of the public gatherings we attend.

Be it a school assembly, government forum, or athletic event, practically all those in attendance dutifully rise, place their right hand over their hearts, lift their heads and speak in one voice their devotion to their country.

In what is turning out to be a head-scratching, nail biting U.S. presidential race, declarations by one party or another of their devotion to their country is on full display, just as they question same, one of the other. Beliefs about what that allegiance should look like and how it should be expressed are at the core of what political parties claim differentiates them and helps them attract legions of like-minded ideologues.

They compete for the hearts and minds of the voting populace, touting their particular philosophy and approach as the one that is most effective and appropriate for the trying times we live in.

Come November 8, those convinced of the best-made case will go to the polls and vote their conscience, and their allegiance. They also will be voting for what they believe is in their best interest. After all, that’s what it’s really all about.

For a nonprofit organization seeking to gain the unwavering allegiance of its stakeholders, that’s all that counts as well. Self-interest drives everything we do and expressing our philanthropy is no exception.

That expression is highly personal and steeped in allegiances, traditions and ideologies that as a nonprofit leader you need to know as much about as possible. Finding out what motivates your donors, boardmembers and other stakeholders, and making this a structured part of your donor cultivation, boardmember vetting and employee development process should be a standard practice.

But that may be putting the cart before the horse, especially if your organization hasn’t established and regularly expresses for all to hear and know:

• a clear mission and vision,

• the values that guide the way it executes its programs, treats its stakeholders and safeguards its legacy, and

• its culture of philanthropy

The expression of your vision, mission, values and culture of philanthropy affects the current levels of contribution in time, talent and treasure your organization is experiencing from its stakeholders. As nonprofit leader’s we’ve all done our share of belly-aching about lax board participation, disappointing fundraising outcomes or diminished employee morale. Every organization experiences its own challenges in these areas at one time or another. But if they’re happening all at once or for such a long period of time that it’s threatening your very existence, it’s safe to say that the elephant in the room is tired of waiting to be acknowledged.

Capturing and holding your stakeholders attention, imagination and allegiance is likely not all that different from how a country commands unwavering devotion from its citizens. The objective is to appeal to their nationalistic sensibilities; helping them see themselves as essential to your organization’s success (and by extension their own) as a pledged super-delegate to a political party’s presidential nominee.

Search your own feelings when you hear or recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I’d venture to say that its power to inspire patriotism and ignite passionate devotion in you rests in key areas that when applied to your nonprofit can have just as effective an impact:

Indoctrination through recitation – The Pledge is short, uses action words that conjure visions that connect to a particular feeling, and is easy to say repeatedly and commit to memory. Use this same approach to develop or rework your vision and mission statements so they are easy to recite.

Then make sure it becomes a living, breathing part of everything you do, from opening every board meeting and fundraising event to every closing call on a donor or site visit with a foundation. Everyone you encounter should know why you exist and what you’re about.

Pride by association – People want to be affiliated with success. Your organization’s ability to endure challenges, institute innovative practices that advance its outcomes and perhaps be recognized for its achievements, especially among its peers, sets your stakeholders up as smart, savvy philanthropic investors who belong to an exclusive club.

One way to thank them for hanging in there with you is to make sure you keep them in the communication’s loop via electronic, snail mail or social media, newsletters, videos, webinars —and a plain old phone call every once in a while. Let them know what your organization is working on or has accomplished and how they are helping move the mission forward.

Legacy building—Focusing on how your work has and can endure with the participation of new and varied voices, ensures that the foundation you build today is one that is responsive, expansive and inclusive. New stakeholders who bring different cultural, ethnic, racial, gender and age-specific perspectives can establish your organization as an open and welcoming expression of the ideal its vision should embody.

Capturing and holding your stakeholders allegiance by taking every opportunity to help them see their own reflections in your mission, vision, values and philanthropic culture will make them eager contributors to your organization in every way you need them to. Once you effectively demonstrate they are essential to your existence, their bond, and your organization’s future, is set.

What are some ways your organization is building allegiances with its stakeholders?

Build a bridge to capacity with this formula

$70,000. That’s what my ED told me was needed to fill an unexpected funding gap—three months before the end of the fiscal year. How on earth were we going to raise that kind of money so quickly? Whatever remaining grant proposal awards we were waiting to hear about certainly wouldn’t cover that, should we get them. I did have one more newsletter mailing to send out. But with the likely response percentage, it wasn’t like it would make much of an impact.

It was the year we’d expanded our programs three-fold and so went the budget as well. With a gap that big, it should have been anticipated. But why wasn’t it? And what are we going to do now?

As an organization, we responded to the shortfall by asking board members to pitch in even more than many of them had already. I also sent some letters to a few donors who hadn’t given yet, explaining our situation and asking for their help. Scary and embarrassing.

There was probably a good reason the organization was caught unaware. Thing is, I couldn’t say for sure what it was because I was never included in budgeting conversations. Not long before that I’d been at another organization that found itself in similar straits but in that case our government funder told us about it 18 months in advance, giving us enough time to strategize and implement a response.

Thing is, stuff happens and when it does it often leaves nonprofits on the brink of something—and it’s often a fall, not a rise. The ability to respond from a position of strength usually lies with how much financial hemorrhaging can be slowed or at least contained. This is dependent upon the types of scenarios it can reasonably plan for, the resources it has in place to mitigate losses and strategies it can employ to secure itself once disaster has been averted.

Crisis fundraising is the standard practice deployed in response to so-called natural disaster emergencies while crisis fundraising is often the preferred practice employed in response to the daily life urgencies facing nonprofits themselves.

Using this as a mode of business is devastating for your constituents and your community. They expect that your organization has asked the questions, anticipated the situations and created the strategies that will keep the doors open and your services going under most any circumstances. They’re having crises of their own. Where is yours going to leave them?

Grantspace.org defines nonprofit capacity building as a “broad term that encompasses ‘actions that improve nonprofit effectiveness’, in terms of organizational and financial stability, program quality, and growth.” In its application to nonprofit resource development and fundraising, it promotes the notion that the third sector must proactively secure its financial sustainability. The status quo of passively accepting what comes its way in the form of charity, gives way to self-determining actions that chart a course of longevity and empowerment.

Admittedly, I’ve spent much of my career in organizations that seemed always to be playing financial beat-the-clock; and a couple were straight up out of time. In my opinion, that’s clearly fostered from a culture that practices just-in-time fundraising based on a charity mindset. It’s a belief that organizations, especially grassroots community initiatives, don’t deserve more.

I never really understood this, much less accepted it. As standard-bearers of civil society, nonprofit organizations of every ilk should always seek to exemplify the very best in and of humanity. They fill the gaps between what business and government can, and in some cases won’t do. Settling for subpar outcomes in any area is unconscionable.

No, there is no room for scarcity mindsets of any kind when you’re busy saving the world. Nonprofit organizations were created to span gulfs by building bridges. That can only happen by elevating to a kind of stakeholder engagement that presents opportunities to invest in transformational philanthropy, not debilitating charity.

Don’t think your organization can move to philanthropy from charity? I’d bet you’re wrong.

Find at least ten to 15 people your organization can invite to a one-hour gathering. Give them some impressive facts and dispel some myths about your organization or field of work. Let them hear compelling stories from your clients on the impact your programs are having on their lives. Then ask for their feedback on what they saw and heard and meaningfully engage them over the next several months in activities that help them deepen their understanding and commitment to your work.

That is the formula for building a stakeholder engagement process that can exponentially expand your fans and your fundraising—that is transformational philanthropy.

You see, research already shows that upwards of 80 percent of people who volunteer are donors, even if the organization at which they volunteer isn’t the same one to which they donate. The point is they give, time or money or both, because they are engaged in some meaningful, deeply satisfying way, with the organization’s mission. Their commitment to this mission is appreciated and likely in some way recognized.

The capacity of your organization to elevate its expectations of its volunteers, staff, board and donors beyond mere supporters to investors, expands the level of engagement and results in exponential rewards that ultimately sustain the organization through good times and bad.

Your nonprofit does have the capacity to build bridges to philanthropy as well as any other gulf that needs spanning. Are you ready to talk with your stakeholders and start architecting those plans?

How philanthropic are you, to yours?

Time. Talent. Treasure. The fundraising trifecta. When a donor prospect has been identified as expressing enough interest in an organization to give their time, to share their talents in advocating the mission, and their treasure to finance it, that organization has made a rare find indeed.

Curious thing is, seeking that perfection does not instinctively extend to the development team itself – the very people responsible for identifying such star alignments to begin with.

Why is that?

Why is it assumed that the executive director, development director and to varying degrees the board of directors, will always be faithfully energized and motivated to maximize and leverage their time, talent and treasure, and that the way they exercise same will be in a manner that is always suitable and comfortable for them?

The sobering thought about this is that it is largely the members of this entity that are most at fault for building such a dismissive environment to begin with.

I’ve held a number of nonprofit staff management positions in my career and expectations were that I execute my duties with a willing spirit and hope-filled intent.

It went without saying that I would give my time (often beyond the hours I was paid for), my talent (much of which came naturally but largely augmented by self-financed training) and treasure (when I could find it to spare) to further the organization’s mission by any means necessary.

For many who work in the nonprofit field, having the capacity to be philanthropic is the reason why we do what we do, under the conditions we do it in and for as long as we do it.

Expanding the notion of philanthropic capacity to include those Yeomen who work tirelessly to create and facilitate the channels through which all others can also demonstrate their love of humanity is essential in building strong associations between and among all organization stakeholders.

Opening the way to recognizing this capacity can begin with a sincere conversation. As should already be done with your board, start with this simple question to your executive director and development director:

“How can this organization acknowledge your contributions in a way that genuinely demonstrates the appreciation we have for you?”

Then really listen. Make it clear you’re open to and ready for some venting— shouldn’t be a surprise if you already know where the organization has fallen short. Recognizing that this may be the first of many conversations, the exercise is essential in building trust and respect, foundational elements in creating a responsive work culture.

Along with this, establish some traditions or practices that you can maintain that will meaningfully reinforce the connection you’re beginning to build.

Find simple but impactful ways to recognize your ED, development director and board collective. Here are a few ideas to jump-start your brainstorming:

• Designated parking

• One-on-one lunch

• Profiles in your newsletters, brochures, website content

• Nominate them for awards given by major community associations

• Time off…with pay!

• Make eye contact — show genuine interest in how they’re doing

• Feature their expertise during an in-service training

• Acknowledge personal events in their families’ lives

As the saying goes, charity philanthropy begins at home. Building a philanthropic culture begins by modeling it. Regardless of the role you currently play in your organization, make it your personal responsibility to get the ball rolling.

What are other ways you would like your philanthropic capacity to be recognized?

To know thy donor’s capacity, give thy donor context

I heard an account the other day of an executive director who reluctantly assumed the position after having filled in where needed in positions of increasing responsibility within the organization over a number of years. I marveled at how she was able to take on so much during that time, especially as a single mother with small children.

“When did you sleep?”, I asked, seriously doubting that she did.

She shared that because she was working at an agency that sheltered women and their children who are homeless, when she would sleep eventually worked itself out, as for a period of time she found herself spending the night alongside her clients when the night shelter manager eventually left the organization.

Now, obviously she saw her decision to do that as a necessity. In light of the fact that she had children of her own whom she had to leave with sitters, I’d call that sacrifice. Others may call it dedication. Regardless of how you look at it, she demonstrated a remarkable capacity of something, for sure. But it is not in mine or anyone else’s eyes as beholders to name. It is in hers to know.

Like any vessel, we are presumed to have our personal limits, topping-off point, level of capacity. But is that limit strict or fluid? Is it strict in the sense that we’ve put a predetermined cap on how much we will give of ourselves or fluid in the sense that we can comfortably expand or contract that vessel according to the situation?

When I first became a development professional, donor forecasting methods that utilized research tools to determine a prospects capacity to give based on profession, residential zip code, employer and the like were not only common, but best practice. These tactics were used, for the most part, to find people who were not already involved in the organization.

On the occasion that they were, these methods were employed to see how much more we could ask of them (usually financially) during the next campaign cycle.

To me it often seemed rather surgical and impersonal.

In my estimation, what was missing was context. Beyond the reasoning that needs increase each year, I often I didn’t know what the objective was in asking a current donor to increase their contribution this year, or in seeking new, wealthy donors. I wasn’t included in the conversations about the “why” of all this, so it left me feeling displaced and uneasy.

It seemed the thinking was that our mission and vision should be explanation enough. And I’m not saying it wasn’t, or in your case, it’s not. But perhaps you can contextualize the need for the donor prospect in a manner that facilitates conversations that help them “craft a relationship with your organization so they may determine, maximize and leverage their time, talent and treasure in a manner that is suitable and comfortable for them.”

For instance, just because one of your board members with a background in finance has always accepted the nomination to the finance committee doesn’t mean a nomination to the special events committee won’t be a good use of their talents.

Or just because your volunteer receptionist lost a parent to Alzheimer’s disease doesn’t mean they wouldn’t welcome the opportunity to spearhead a campaign to fund a memory garden. Or just because you heard that a longtime donor received a prestigious appointment with a new employer doesn’t mean a comparable increase in contribution is assured.

There are contexts for each of these scenarios, but you can only know them if you ask.

It could well be that your board member would welcome an opportunity to use skill sets they don’t use at work. It could well be that your volunteer receptionist would find fundraising for a memory garden the ideal activity to lift their spirits and commemorate their parent.

It could well be that the good fortune that came to your longtime donor could mean their contributions have to go to another organization in satisfying the new corporate politics this prestigious appointment fosters.

You shouldn’t assume what your donors want, need or can do any more than you want them doing that with you.

To ask your donors is to know your donors. And once you know your donors you can then illustrate for them how to live their love for humanity through your organizations by letting the what, why and how of what you do give context to how they engage with you, guiding them to challenge their own assumptions about what their limits are in expressing that philanthropy.

You need to create environments where they can see themselves as integral to the successful realization of your mission and vision, an essential part of how you demonstrate your beliefs about the work you do and the way you operate as an organization.

Philanthropic capacity is in the eye of the donor. But what you show them that can expand or contract that capacity is up to you.

Plug-in to bridge philanthropy

Like a lot of people, I have a love-hate relationship with technology. When it’s working right, I feel like the most intelligent, invincible person.

But when it’s not, and I can’t figure out what’s going on, my intelligence and my very right to be allowed within striking distance of a keyboard is called into question – at least that’s what it feels like when I call the help desk and find out it’s something seemingly minor, like a de-activated plug-in on my website.

I didn’t understand what that was until I started blogging and had to remember to go into my dashboard and update them periodically. You see, a plug-in is programming code that fixes or updates software to improve performance or conduct new functions.

Unbeknownst to me, there was a function on my blog that wouldn’t work because this plug-in wasn’t downloaded or activated. Took me forever to discover that and a lot of headache too. Thankfully it didn’t take my site down and all of the work I’d done with it.

Connecting and cultivating new donor prospects to your organization’s mission is as important to the existence of your organization as a plug-in is to enhancing the performance of a website. Creating a program that continually brings in new people to engage with your organization so they can live their philanthropy is an essential bridge-building action.

In my free eBook, “Fundraising in Primary Colors: The RYB Framework to Nonprofit Sustainability,” I describe three essential components of resource development in nonprofit organizations. The first “Roots” the organization’s efforts in a solid mission and vision that anchors its culture of philanthropy.

The second identifies the “Yeomen”—the board, executive director and development director – that work together as a team to advance the organization’s fundraising priorities. The third is the process by which the first two integrate to “Build Bridges” to financial sustainability for the organization and for its prospects to exercise their philanthropy.

This “Build Bridges” component has four phases:

1. Fundraising Readiness – Resource Development Office formation and management

2. Program Design and Development, Marketing and Evaluation

3. Resource Development Plan Implementation

4. Resource Development Plan Outcomes Evaluation

The third phase, Resource Development Plan Implementation, is where two questions are asked that particularly address the first two C’s of philanthropy, namely,

• Whom do we approach and how?

• What research do we need to do?

In my January post, I referenced the 4 C’s of philanthropy. Here’s what I said about connection and cultivation:

Connection:

• If you have donors and volunteers, determine how they got connected with your organization. In the case of staff, ask them why they stay.

• If you don’t have donors or volunteers, determine how your board members got connected. Ask them what benefits they’ve gotten from being involved and to invite people in their circles of influence for the opportunity to experience those benefits as well.

Cultivation:

• Develop values-based communication approaches and engagement activities that help your donors and donor prospects get an in-depth understanding of the issues your organization addresses through its programs and particularly how their involvement with your organization can improve program outcomes.

• Create opportunities for donors and donor prospects to see themselves as vested in your vision and mission through asking them to serve on committees or volunteer at events.

The ability to answer the questions posed during Phase 3 of the Builds Bridges component will depend upon how well you’ve used the plug-ins of connection and cultivation with your current and prospective philanthropists to improve the performance of your organization and embark on new endeavors.

What specific activities does your nonprofit use to connect and cultivate in order to build bridges to philanthropy?

Sand, molasses and your development team

The church I attended on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, The Cathedral Church of All Saints, is one of the most unique structures on the island as it was built by enslaved Africans in celebration of the abolition of slavery in 1848.

I remember the interior of the stone walls seeming to glisten, almost sparkle like sequins, and wondered if they really did taste like the sand and molasses from which they were made. Though some said they did indeed, I never had the nerve to take a taste for myself.

Beyond the literally sweet irony of sitting within a structure built in celebration of the end of such a dehumanizing and barbaric period in our history, I marveled at the incredible strength, skill, planning and teamwork it took to accomplish such a feat.

Somehow my ancestors had to figure out how to pull the stones from the hills, break them up, transport them and mix together just the right amount of sand and molasses to create a mortar that could hold those stones in place through the test of time, weather and other such assaults, virtually unscathed.

I don’t know how long it took to build, or if there were no, few or many attempts at getting it right but whatever it took, they dedicated themselves to making it happen. This was a labor of love—a mutual love for each other, their shared bond and their people.

While there was no love for humanity afforded them in their past, their legacy of the Cathedral, gifted in perpetuity from a resilient and proud lineage, was their love for humanity to come.

Sand and molasses. Imagine. Simple ingredients combined in the right way made the cement of their day, holding together structures of massive weight and girth.  On the earth’s sure footing.

It’s a recipe too, I think, for building a strong resource development team. In my RYB model, my ancestors would be represented by the executive director, board of directors and development director, or the yeomen (Y).

The sand and molasses would be the skills, talents and disposition they bring to their roles. The structures would be the nonprofit organizations they serve, and the sure footing in this case would be the vision, mission, values and culture of philanthropy the organization stands on.

In my eBook, “Fundraising in Primary Colors: The RYB Framework to Nonprofit Sustainability,” I position the yeomen as the mortar between an organization’s stated ideal and its manifested reality.

“Much in the spirit of yeomen this team works in dedicated service to the organization’s stakeholders, taking care to always stay knowledgeable, responsive and proactive in addressing their needs as partners in the organizations’ success. Aware of the weight they bear, they must delicately balance mutual responsibility, power and influence and professional regard in order to attain and maintain relevance and effectiveness.”

These yeomen, with focused and collaborative teamwork, use their combined roles and contributions to cement bonds with their organization’s “philanthropists in the waiting”, otherwise known as donor prospects.

Described briefly, each development team category consists of:

 It is commonly said that “People give to people, not causes,” and known that “It’s the relationships, stupid!” that enable giving. In our organizations, we need to be the people we give to first; we need to build the relationships with each other that facilitate giving. In our organizations, philanthropy needs to begin at home.

When we look at the path to philanthropy – connection, cultivation, capacity and contribution – it is paved from a development team that holds its roles and contributions in high regard and with mutual respect. It functions with an eye towards the future, proud to build a legacy not only as regards what it accomplishes with its programs but as regards its accomplishments in its own growth and development as people.

In exhibiting the best of who we are, philanthropy, as a demonstrative love of humanity, is actionable and tangible; quantifiable and visible.

How does your organization demonstrate philanthropy through its yeomen?

Beyond fundraising: 4 steps on the path to philanthropy

Several years ago a very dear friend of mine loaned me a book by Deepak Chopra entitled, “Path to Love”. The title intrigued me because it seemed like kind of a pronouncement, like it was a new discovery that Dr. Chopra had made and that the rest of us had better get acquainted with.

I mean didn’t everyone recognize that if love started somewhere, love could end somewhere and thus the stuff that happened in between could be considered resembling a path?

Or maybe I was being too presumptuous. I am a pretty deliberate person and think through most things very carefully before I proceed (though obviously not as much as I should have in the case of relationships, thus the fascination with the book).

Obviously, there was something I was missing about this love-path thing. Dr. Chopra identifies romance as having four distinct phases. It begins with attraction, is followed by infatuation then courtship and ends with intimacy.

He states that most of us go through these without much thought because these phases are spiritual constructs, not subject to conscious control. Hmm, I thought. Don’t most of us recognize this too?

Suffice to say, as I continued to read, I found that many of his points, while seemingly intuitive, held deeper inferences that revealed how much I really didn’t know or understand about “the path”. Was it his expertise that made his perspective so unique, yet so seemingly obvious?

When I first entered the field of nonprofit resource development, I sought to learn everything I could to meet my organization’s expectations. I was driven by the mission and the responsibility of raising my respective portion of the budget.

I knew that to a degree, I wasn’t regarded any differently than a performance artist, or an athlete – only as good as my last win.

Pressure was high all the time. My days were filled with strategizing what to say and do to get what our organization needed. And there was always need. Unending need. I even got to calling myself a professional beggar. 

My approach to relationships with donor prospects seen and unseen was based on trying to convince them how much need we had and but no specific explanation of why we chose them to ask to fill it. We gave them stories and numbers to substantiate our need, and took them on tours to show what we were doing with what we had but how much more we could do if only we had more.

Then one day I attended a workshop on philanthropy. Admittedly, my thought about the term was its use to describe folks who had a lot – a lot of position, a lot of money, a lot of power. Philanthropists were the select group of people who had their names on buildings and roads and prestigious awards.

Philanthropists were affiliated with universities and hospitals and museums. Philanthropists, I thought, didn’t affiliate with organizations like the ones for which I worked.

During that workshop I learned about the four distinct phases of philanthropy. It begins with connection is followed by cultivation and assessing capacity and ends with contribution. The presenter explained this as a consciously constructed path that positions an organization to expand from self-centeredness to donor centeredness.

Keeping the donor front and center as regards their role in helping the organization achieve its mission was a revolutionary perspective, but it shouldn’t have been. Why didn’t it seem obvious to me that when appealing to a donor for their specific involvement in a project, it be because we see the why of their involvement?

Yes, there was much inferred from that presentation that helped me see that philanthropy follows something of an inspired path as well. 

Previously, I had been seeing the four C’s of philanthropy strictly from the eyes of a fundraiser. It was about creating strategies that were consciously focused on getting the organization what it needed without much consideration for how a donor’s involvement with us fulfilled their needs.

Philanthropy simply put is a demonstrative love of humanity. Philanthropists are the people who demonstrate this love of humanity through their time, talent and treasure, regardless of how much power or money or position they have.

Your organization’s stakeholders need you to make the case as to why you need them to demonstrate their love of humanity through your organization. Here’s a thoughtful approach on how you can do that using the 4 C’s path to philanthropy:

Connection:

If you have donors and volunteers, determine how they got connected with your organization. In the case of staff, ask them why they stay.

If you don’t have donors or volunteers, determine how your board members got connected. Ask them what benefits they’ve gotten from being involved and to invite people in their circles of influence for the opportunity to experience those benefits as well.

Cultivation:

Develop values-based communication approaches and engagement activities that help your donors and donor prospects get an in-depth understanding of the issues your organization addresses through its programs and particularly how their involvement with your organization can improve program outcomes.

Create opportunities for donors and donor prospects to see themselves as vested in your vision and mission through asking them to serve on committees or volunteer at events.

Capacity:

Facilitate conversations that help your stakeholders craft a relationship with your organization that helps them determine, maximize and leverage their time, talent and treasure in a manner that is suitable and comfortable for them. 

Contribution:

Present viable options through which stakeholders can contribute on levels that help them feel invested and meaningfully engaged in accomplishing organization objectives now and in the future.

Is your organization on a path to philanthropy? Please share any insight you have on your journey below.

From donor disclosures to wage disparity: My 2015 nonprofit news round-up

Seasons’ greetings loyal Ankhacia Rising readers! This is my last blogpost of 2015. It’s truly been a blessing sharing insights and information with you this year and I hope you’ve found them helpful in your work. As your most avid cheerleader, I thank you for all the lives you’ve positively impacted this year.

I know it’s not been easy, as you’ve had the welfare of your organization as well as yourself and your family to juggle.

For this post I thought I’d recap all the stories that appeared this year in “News from the 3rd Sectorsphere”, a feature of my RDsquaRD Connect newsletter. I know it’s difficult to keep up with all the ever-flowing information that is and can affect your NPO so I do it for you by scanning the nonprofit horizon and selecting stories that I feel you need to know about. Issues are released twice a month and I hope you make it mustreading. Here’s where you can sign up to get on the mailing list.

I’ve segmented the entries into categories to make it easier to read.

Governance

The personal cost of director inattentiveness is made painfully clear in an important federal appeals court decision. The court determined that directors were aware of the mismanagement yet took no action. This breach of care led to $2,250,000 in joint and several compensatory damages.

IRS and Federal Government

President Obama’s 2015 SOTU: Your NPO’s template for action? Here’s one perspective on what he said and didn’t say and how it could affect your organization.

Protect your NPO from unreasonable search and seizure by government charity officials by invoking your Fourth Amendment rights. This organization did.

Donors who want to contribute to your NPO’s long-term needs through their IRA’s without incurring penalties got a little encouragement that their chance to do may be reinstated by Congress through a bill introduced on May 1 to make rollovers permanent.

The Postal Regulatory Commission concluded that the statutory exception allowing higher rates when needed to respond to extraordinary financial circumstances, should only continue as long as those circumstances remained extraordinary.

An early transcript of the recent Senate Budget Committee hearing on social impact bonds or pay-for-success programs reveals plenty of nuggets for nonprofits and social enterprises to ponder.

The IRS is asking for your input on a potentially harmful proposal that could leave your NPO open to hackers and impede your ability to fundraise.

Fundraising and donor management

Would you sell access to your NPO’s data for profit? Venture philanthropy can provide a unique stream of income, but what conflicts, moral or otherwise, can it present?

California appeals court ruling supporting donor disclosure: could it be a statement on Citizens United and other PAC donor-financed nonprofits?

Labor and Employment

The movement to no longer require job applicants to reveal whether or not they have been convicted of a crime, is growing among municipal, state and private entities, and is supported by a myriad of foundations, the EEOC and President Obama.

The National Labor Relations Board highlights that notwithstanding apparent and intended separateness, two separate legal entities may be found to be joint employers of certain employees if the entities “share orco-determine” matters governing the essential terms and conditions of employment for the employees.

Health and Human Services

Is your NPO advocating for or (by your own business practices) contributing to the plight of low-wage workers in the U.S.? This article offers some powerful points of fact on the matter.

Atlanta tops the list of big cities with the greatest income inequality for two years running…and the gap is growing.

Strong statistical evidence suggests Western NGOs play a continued non-diverse, paternalistic and often contradictory role in purporting to aid the world’s most vulnerable populations.

It is completely understandable that in this day and age of severe financial challenges and “tax exhaustion,” local governments are looking for revenue wherever they can. Are hospitals now under attack?

Add Oregon and Colorado to the list of states whose nonprofit consumer oriented health insurance cooperatives have shut down. Find out how this decision is affecting NPOs.

Georgia is among more than half the states rejecting the resettlement of Syrian refugees. Is it enforceable? Some nonprofits say no and are standing up against the edicts.

I really enjoy providing this service to you and hope you enjoy receiving it. If you have any suggestions for categories you’d like to see included in RDsquaRD Connect, or if you have feedback of any kind, please add your comments below. You can also reach out to me here.

Happy New Year and let’s keep Building Purpose Fully in 2016!

Frostbite and your “hope fundraising” program

RYB Framework: Build Bridges-Phase 3, Resource Development Plan Implementation

It’s officially fall, ya’ll! I’m grateful to have made it through another summer in Atlanta. My seventeenth actually (this go round). Hmph, I remember when I first came to Atlanta to attend Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) back in the 80’s. I was one of a handful of Caribbean students; the culture shock around the language and the food was somewhat manageable, but the weather….

Now, that I should have been more than prepared for. I was actually an island transplant, having been born in New York. I’d lived in the cold for six years before moving to the balmy Virgin Islands. Surely, my bones should have retained some memory of those winters.

My mom had taken me shopping just before the semester started. I got a few sweaters, a couple pairs of jeans and wool skirts, a pair of boots and a Navy blue pea coat. Hadn’t dressed like that since I was way little; back then I’d wear an undershirt, top, cardigan, scarf, heavy coat, hat, boots, and mittens.

Wish I’d remembered all that when Old Man Winter rolled through Atlanta—especially about the mittens. I did have a cheap pair of knit gloves, but because they kept my fingers separated, the cold went right through them.

They stayed blistered, cracked and painful for many weeks. Mittens would have been a much better option. My hands and fingers would have been kept warmer. Thinking back on it I can’t explain why I had not thought about getting a pair. All that needless suffering.

When I think about nonprofits this time of year, I’m taken back to that experience decades ago. Some NPOs approach their year-end solicitation programs much like I approached getting ready for my first winter in Atlanta.

They look at the calendar, realize that fall is here and that it’s the “asking season”. They order some letterhead, write a form letter addressed to “Dear Friend” with a few sentences about how much they need financial help especially this time of year.

Then pull together a list of names and addresses from random places – their Rolodex, last year’s Christmas card list, and old volunteer sign-in sheets. Then print, stamp, stuff, mail and hope the checks start rolling in.

There isn’t much thought that goes into the process, either because they’re satisfied doing it that way or never thought they could do better. They have no idea that they could improve their funding results all year long by creating a relationship-building process that gradually warms their shivering and neglected donor prospects. What they need is to switch from cheap knit gloves to thermal mittens.

This process of relationship-building is called resource development. Fundraising is an activity within that process. It’s not something you engage in once a year—when the leaves start falling from the trees. You’ve got to sustain it year round. You’ve got to keep your prospects warm to your mission by connecting with them regularly. And not just to ask for money. But for advice, suggestions, expertise, introductions, etc.

But even if you hadn’t done any of that this year, you can start warming them properly right now. Especially if you have a strong program, with enviable outcomes, dedicated volunteers and engaged staff and board.

How, you ask? By learning who they are, how they got connected to your organization and why, and telling them what they need to know about what you do and how you do it, in a way that makes them see themselves in your narrative and as invested in your outcomes as you are.

Sounds like quite a task, I know. But you can get started by signing up to receive registration info on my October webinar “Build Your Individual Donor Base through Year-End fundraising.” The webinar will cover how to create a fundraising plan for your individual donor prospects as well as how weaving effective storytelling into your messaging can move them from dear friends to raving fans.

So I’m curious to know how you have or would develop individual prospects into raving fans. Please share your ideas below.

Dough to donuts: Tools to use to create the budgets you need

I’m curious… did that Max Planck quote in last month’s blogpost have you excited for your next finance committee meeting? I know that now, with your enhanced appreciation for the benefit budgeting can play in the sustainability of your organization, you’ll look at the task with at least a bit less disdain right?

Well even if you weren’t gazing in curious fascination at your organization’s Excel worksheets, hopefully it did prompt you to at least investigate making a conscious attempt at beginning or revamping your budgeting process.

Yes, it is a process. One with several steps and it is cyclical. But the beautiful thing about it is getting started because once you do, you’ll be giving your organization an amazing gift—a financial history that can be built up, down and any way necessary to reflect changing needs.

So, this month as promised, I’ve included a myriad of tools, including templates, checklists and guides you can use to get your organization building the financial risk management a sound budget can give.

Let’s start with examples. Grantspace by Candid includes a link to a free budgeting course as well as info on different types of nonprofit budgets.

Got specific questions on budget creation, like what type of budget you need or whether or not you can make a profit? The Council on Nonprofits has gathered a number of resources you can use to answer those questions as well, including scenario planning and specific guidance on financial planning for executive directors.

The approach to creating budgets is pretty basic but there are some particular considerations when planning for fundraising, program and capital or expansion projects.

Disclaimer: While there are references to a number of vendor products in this post, by no means is this a direct or implied endorsement of any product, method or service, nor am I receiving any compensation for doing so.

Fundraising

The Chronicle of Philanthropy is a great source of reference information on the topic. This article mentions several resources under their premium plan. I sprung for these two for you: Budgeting for Fundraising Growth: Where to Start, and Creating a Budget That Helps Increase Contributions.

Download the fundraising event sample budget on this site as a ready-to-use spreadsheet to plan your next event.

The Nonprofit Kit for Dummies, from the for Dummies series has great basic information on fundraising budgeting, and budgeting for events.

The Wallace Foundation has a downloadable budget-building template and accompanying video you can use to develop a budget for your programs.

Programs

In this Harvard Business Review article, the author assesses program budgeting through first explaining how the establishment of a planning and accounting system resulted in much improved costing and planning for one particular organization. Though written more than 40 years ago, the salient points are not only still relevant today but serve as a reminder to organizations of how far nonprofit “business” has come.

Capital and Expansion

The Moran Company offers this checklist for consideration when creating a capital campaign budget.

There’s more to consider in brick and mortar expansion than construction, furnishings and equipment as this Charity Channel Press article advises.

As you can see, there are plenty of resources you an use as you begin your organization’s budgeting process journey. Wherever you are in your budgeting education, how have you experienced the process at your organization? What can you share that made for an inclusive, team-focused practice?

Budgeting: Your nonprofit sustainability insurance policy

I was going to start off this post on budgeting with a quote, then reasoned that no matter how quirky or serious it was, it may distract from the message I wanted to convey.

But then I started to wonder—exactly what message should I convey. I mean, not many of us have as avid an affinity for numbers as accountants, bookkeepers and others in the financial management realm. Even as I pursued a degree in business administration, I had my confidence in my financial acumen tested.

So I asked myself: should I cheer you on, give you lots of encouragement to face your fears, learn what you can, then just get something down on paper: “It’s clearly a budget. It’s got a lot of numbers in it.”— George W. Bush

Or should I just assume that most NPO leaders view this responsibility as a necessary evil. Should I admonish you and take you to task for your reluctant participation in the financial accountancy portion of your role?

Should I tell you that there’s more to running an organization than training volunteers and hosting open houses? “The budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations.” –Jacob Lew

The truth is many of us, as nonprofit EDs, board members and staff have or will at some point in time come face-to-face with the inevitable and unenviable task of making an accounting for money, and there is no denying that it can scare the you-know-what out of us: “Budget: A mathematical confirmation of your suspicions” –A.A. Latimer

This is a really sobering notion given the levity of the responsibilities we assume at our organizations: a fundraiser’s primary role is to conduct activities that attract money; a board member’s primary role is to develop policies that secure and protect that money and an executive director’s primary role is to develop and manage the systems that account for that money.

We want to enjoy our roles, most certainly in terms of the level of competency we feel in performing them. Nobody should approach these roles in fear and trepidation. It goes without saying that you should invest in whatever training you, your staff and your leadership needs as regards financial management. Any blind person can see the rationale in that.

And any blind or sighted person, for that matter will also see that perspective can often facilitate how subtly some see what is blindingly obvious to others.

This came to mind recently when I read something about budgeting that positioned it as a form of risk management. I’d never thought of it like that before and it occurred to me that perhaps neither have many of you.

Risk management (in business) is a form of financial planning where assessments are made to determine how likely it is that your organization will meet with an untimely and devastating financial encounter, in concert with determining what actions you need to take to avoid or minimize the resulting impact.

To protect against life’s eventualities, we purchase insurance. Using this premise, we are employing risk management when we “insure” the solvency of our mission through budgeting. Making sure we are receiving and spending the money entrusted to us in a respectful, responsible manner can be viewed as a form of sustainability “insurance”.

To me it stood to reason then, that if we changed the way we looked and budgeting and its role in nonprofit sustainability, then maybe we could alleviate a lot of the angst we have around all or many of the finance-related activities we have to perform as a part of our organizational responsibilities.

Giving that perspective some thought, I surmised that there are two overarching reasons your organization needs this sustainability “insurance”, or budgeting. One, to enable discipline and the other, to disable obsolescence.

To enable discipline: “A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t keep us from buying it.” ― William Feather

That’s right. Only discipline does that. Discipline is freedom, I once heard.

While we may loathe the experience the first time around, creating a realistic budget gives us peace of mind and the ability to pursue only expenditures and activities that add value to our NPO’s bottom line or mission.

To disable obsolescence: “A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” –Dave Ramsey

Imagine.

No more exhaustive discussions battling the kind stagnant thinking that keeps your NPO stuck recycling ineffective programs, plodding through low or no-yielding fundraising activities and losing organization market positioning to outmoded business models. With every succeeding year your budget, supported by other data, will speak more loudly with numbers the need for change than you ever could with words.

So I guess the message I want to convey about your torrid relationship with budgeting is, “When you change the way you look at things, and the things you look at, change”—Max Planck.

Bring a fresh perspective, considering it as you would any other risk management strategy you employ.

This organization is YOUR responsibility. Its continued viability is on you and the community of people you have enlisted to steward its progress. People are counting on you to be there for the long haul and that can only happen if your move aggressively to set it on a course of financial health, beginning with sustainability “insurance”.

(oh, and I don’t think a few well-placed quotes took too much away from my message …. do you?)

Next month: Tips and tools to create a realistic budget.

Want More? Get Coached!

Who are you, what do you want and how do you know?

When last have you challenged yourself in any way? Pushed beyond your comfort zone and defied your preset assumptions of who and what you can be?

Back when I was in my mid-twenties, at a time when I was already in over my head as young single mother, full-time employee and a sporadic part-time student, I made a pact with myself to learn something new that would challenge me and take me out of my comfort zone.

For three years straight, I faced my fears (real and imagined) and did things I’d never dreamed of a short time earlier. The first one was learning to swim.

Though I’d grown up on an island and went to the beach fairly regularly, I was deathly afraid of the ocean. There was something about open water, its unpredictability and immense power that overwhelmed me.

The beach and I had a love-hate relationship; I loved the warmth of the sand under my feet but hated how much of it always wanted to hitch a ride home with me. I loved the therapeutic properties of the salt water but hated the burning sensation it left in my eyes.

But I was determined to conquer my fear and learn to swim so I signed up for lessons one summer. Every Saturday morning for four weeks me and an intrepid group of adults of varying ages and backgrounds faced our fears head-on. At the end of the course I was swimming—well, for the most part.

For some reason that I can’t recall right now, I missed the last class, where I was to have learned how to swim with my face in the water. So to this day, I guess I doggie paddle more so than swim, which will hopefully be enough to save my own life if I had to.

Besides, as a sistah with natural hair, it’s probably just as well since I don’t want the headache of trying to wash all that pesky sand out!

In any case, I learned then that even facing possible physical harm, if I followed the instructor’s recognized framework for teaching adults to swim, stayed open to growth and the immense satisfaction of expanding my possibilities, I could let the experience transform me and acquire a skill I’d have for life.

I had another such life-changing experience last week in San Jose, California when I trained to became one of only 300 Certified High Performance Coaches in the world!

It was an amazing five days of education and introspection, role play and fellowship with people from a myriad of ethnicities and nationalities—one as far away as Malaysia—who came to challenge their own assumptions of who they are and could be, while they learned how to exponentially raise the personal development expectations of others.

I’d never fancied myself a coach of any kind, maybe except to my two girls (who actually may characterize me as a drill sergeant). But I do spend a lot of time, joyously so, giving counsel to others, in both my professional and personal life.

Now, with this specialized distinction I’ll be able to do so with an ear towards challenging them to create heightened and sustained levels of clarity, energy, courage, productivity and influence, elevating them beyond mediocrity.

I learned that while everyone wants more of life’s good things, high performers prepare themselves to receive and maintain those things through mastering their psychology, physiology, productivity and persuasion.

The High Performance coaching framework teaches that these four energy states, as I call them are anchored by one’s presence in the moment and an awareness that their life has purpose, even though they may not yet know what that purpose is.

The High Performance Institute, defines high performance as “succeeding beyond standard norms consistently over the long-term. It is the feeling of full engagement, joy and confidence that comes from consistently living from and into our full potential.”

The Institute’s framework prepares coaches to guide their clients to their own outcomes, utilize direct questions and education to add value to the coaching engagement and effectively transition the client from one concept to another, building learning and progress into each coaching session.

What I know for sure is we need help getting the most out of our lives. And high performers know they can’t do it alone.

So, high performer, how’d you do on answering my opening question? If you need some help with it, start here.

Ahoy and adrift? Prevent a failure to launch with these 3 documents

I recently saw a humorous definition of the word “ahoy” that got me to thinking about how similarly related some aspects of boating are to nonprofit management. It read: “The first in a series of four letter words commonly exchanged by skippers as their boats approach one another.”

The connection is illusive a first blush, I admit. And I am prone to making interesting analogies. But when I consider how solitary some nonprofit endeavors can be, especially in the beginning, I couldn’t help but reference the all too common “lone-ship-in-the-night” feeling leadership can develop.

The greeting signals to others in the vicinity that another vessel is nearby, in hopes of being not only courteous in acknowledging its presence and kindred nautical spirit, but proactive in diverting a collision.

The suggestion of discord in the definition could be attributed to the insinuation that one vessel believes it has the right of way over another. But for us landlubbers, that would seem ridiculous, right? I mean, it’s a big, wide (ocean, lake, river …). Shouldn’t there be enough space for both to make their way around each other without much effort?

But what if the “four letter word” reference denotes not discord, but a sense of camaraderie, vision and purpose? What if it highlighted the help, need and role each could provide and fulfill for the other, especially in terms of guidance in navigating the sometimes rough seas of the nonprofit sector.

The fact of the matter is that many nonprofit leaders fall victim to the often self-imposed assumption that they should already know everything they need to know in order to lead their organizations effectively. Like osmosis, once they receive their nonprofit status and begin to administer programs, it’s expected that they instinctively know what to do, how to do it and when to do it.

This, of course, is a fallacy.

As unlikely as it may seem though, oftentimes the best models for learning can be found among your own nonprofit peers. The help they can provide, the needs they can fill and the role they each can play in modeling best practice can be essential in gaining the skills needed to set your organization on the right course.

Now, I know how territorial we NPO leaders can be—I’m not suggesting sharing or trying to obtain trade secrets, though an argument could be made in favor of that as well.

No, I’m referring to something more basic and functional in nature that speaks to the crafting of three foundational documents every NPO needs to function effectively: bylaws, policies and procedures and the strategic plan.

Developing the rules that your NPO will live by, establishing a framework within which to conduct business, and charting the long-term goals you are trying to reach with your programs are cornerstones that the most management-proficient organizations have mastered, and their experiences can be tapped to help your NPO.

And if yours is one of the organizations whose documents can be modeled, sharing your expertise can only make you stronger.

These three documents are essential in keeping you accountable to yourself and the people you serve in the broader community. Sustainability refers to much more than finances. It indicates that you have put a structure in place that will ensure the organization as a whole can fulfill its mission in a manner that shows its fiduciary responsibility in protecting its reputation, its work and its stakeholders.

Isn’t it worth getting (or sharing) some guidance on how to create them, building community, best practice and a sure course to peak performance in the process?

Chances are those documents already contain solutions to many of the challenges your organization is facing right now; from the dismissal of an inactive board member to determining whether or not you should have double signatures on checks over certain amount, to whether it’s time to expand a program.

Right after evaluating the rudders of your ship (board and your ED) and implementing the adjustments needed to enhance leadership capabilities, the next order of business should be ensuring that your sea rules of the road (by laws), compass (policies and procedures) and nautical chart (strategic plan) are contributing to smooth sailing for your NPO.

What’s that you say? You don’t know when last you’ve looked at your bylaws? You don’t have a policies and procedures manual? You don’t know where your strategic plan is?

Well if you don’t have a seafaring mate at another nonprofit to glean some guidance from, using the links above can be the start to getting your organization back on course.

So, do you have a knowledge base on these documents that you’d like to share?

Help Wanted: Young, passionate voices for the cause

My family is eagerly anticipating my youngest daughter’s graduation from college this spring. While it’s inherently an exciting time—the culmination of four years of sacrifice into a stamp of approval that’s become routine and even expected in the U.S.—we’re admittedly a little nervous for her too.

After all, despite the talk of economic recovery, her prospects for living-wage employment are questionable.

She’s long been socially-conscious and community focused and has expressed an interest in using her communications degree in the nonprofit sector. Of course I’m supportive of whatever she decides to do after college.

But admittedly, given my experiences I have cautioned her to temper her idealistic enthusiasm with realistic expectations of life as a nonprofit professional: long hours, crazy deadlines, limited resources, challenging personalities.

“Do what you love and the money will come,” I’ve always told her and her older sister. Your passion and work ethic will be recognized and rewarded—even if primarily in personal satisfaction.

The trend in what I call the “greening” of the nonprofit sector seems to bear out that perspective. The sector is seeing a noticeable increase in the involvement of younger people in every role, from jobs to volunteerism to donors.

What’s causing the influx, especially when these primarily twentysomethings are often pegged as self-absorbed with a sense of entitlement?

Sacrifices like the ones many of us made back in the day would deflate today’s young-uns, right?

The jury is still out on that and it may not even matter, as their motivations are likely as individual as they are.

However, it would be wise for the elder stateswomen (and men) among us to encourage, support and duplicate some of the general attributes they bring and are willing to share:

Enthusiasm—It takes hopefulness and energy to maintain individual motivation and collective morale in light of continuing challenging times for this sector; something that many of us are struggling with at this very moment.

This millennial generation, in spite of all that’s wrong around them, recognizes their individual and collective power to make change (most notably seen during the first election of Pres. Obama), and are transmitting that across all platforms. They are pushing past the naysayers and their boundaries, intent on making lasting change for the causes they care about.

Tech savvy-ness—Their language, largely visual, is almost reminiscent of Egyptian hieroglyphics but instead of being etched on walls, emoticons and abbreviated phrases fly around us beamed through devices that can often be confounding for us graying foxes to understand. They’re creating and using expansive innovations in technology to build new styles of community in communicating, branding and fundraising.

Advocacy—The lines of division based on ethnicity, economic status, race, sexual orientation, disability and the like are becoming less distinctive for these young people, as they are living diversity, more so than giving lip service to a term that first surfaced when many of them were just infants.

Seventy-percent of young people consider themselves social activists and from busy neighboring cities to far-away lands across the globe these rebels with causes are banding together, armed with an intimate knowledge of the issues as well as solutions, if we’d listen.

We, and our organizations, need what they’ve got. Let’s find ways to help give them a voice and a seat at the table with the respect, room and remuneration they need to usher us into areas we’ve long feared (or forgot how to) tread.

Have you welcomed young people and their special added value to your organization? Tell us in what capacity and how it is—or isn’t—working out.

Thankful for the Ankhacia in YOU

When people first hear the name of my company, Ankhacia Enterprises, they note how unusual it is, then ask what it means. I explain that it’s a fusion of two ideals—life and endurance –ideals that I want to represent in my work and that I want the nonprofits I work with to represent to their stakeholders.

Though it may sound contrived to some, ankhacia came to me quite intuitively. I didn’t do any polls, surveys or contests. I didn’t use the Yellow Pages alphabetical rankings technique, or research popular branding trends.

No, it was constructed from a career full of awe-inspiring experiences with mission-driven visionaries who braved the naysayers and put their passion where their mouths are.

It reflects and projects what is and what can be for every nonprofit I encounter because to me ankhacia is more than the name of my company; it is a state of mind and being that I believe nonprofits need in order to eclipse the confines of their circumstances and truly realize their missions.

So, as we’re in the season of thankfulness and giving, I appreciate and acknowledge the ankhacia in your:

Spirit. Without exception, every effective and exceptional nonprofit leader I have ever met possesses the kind of warrior spirit that takes them to places lesser men fear to tread. I don’t mean to wax poetic, nor sound abrasive but you already know the war zones within which you live and work.

You’re fighting not only the symptoms of the neglect that led you down the down the path to a third sector solution, but the misguided and ill-informed “powers that be” that believe those symptoms will either fix themselves, aren’t as serious as even a blind man can see they are or are flat out non-issues (in their world anyway).

To nurture ankhacia, take some time right now to: Rest some, play some and plan some. Your spirit needs care and feeding. Help strengthen it to fight another day.

Service. I am inspired and moved by all the stories you’ve shared with me this year about your decisions to begin to, or get more involved in being the change you want to see in your communities. You stopped looking around and waiting from someone else to say “I’ll do it” and figured out how to get it done yourself. You made the commitment and brought others along because you knew you’d be stronger working together.

While you may wish you were further along in accomplishing your mission this year, you are motivated by what more there is to achieve in 2015.

To empower ankhacia, take some time right now to: Inventory your leadership skills, reaffirm your resolve and strategize your next moves. Do this service for yourself as well as your organization.

Sacrifice. Standing on the courage of your convictions is not for the faint of heart. I know there were many mornings this year that you woke up excited yet petrified by what you’ve gotten yourself into with this “nonprofit thing”. While you’re making a world of difference with your work, there’s an opportunity cost to your time, relationships and money.

Lots of it, perhaps. On the good days your see these sacrifices as “challenges”; on bad days, they’re just straight-up trouble.

To leverage ankhacia, take some time right now to: Review your finances and make a budget for yourself as well as your nonprofit, review your calendar and schedule critical 2015 activities (vacation time, doctor appointments and professional development opportunities), and call dear friends and family to say, “Hey, thank you for supporting me this year. Let’s get together (date and time).”

To the fearless nonprofit leaders that trusted the ankhacia in you to manifest some incredible feats this year, many thanks. I’m so proud of your achievements and am honored that you allowed me to witness your elevation.

Create your funding strategy with these 3 ingredients

Gareth Blackstock is a character in one my favorite British comedies, “Chef”. Verbally explosive, quick-witted and a definite food snob (think Gordon Ramsey of Hell’s Kitchen), he often leaves his boss, staff and the occasional unsuspecting diner quaking after one of his tirades, predicated by the most innocent, albeit French foodie-ignorant comments. I must admit these are the most entertaining moments of the show.

Gareth fashions himself as a temperamental “artiste” surrounded by unsophisticated palates who can’t possibly appreciate the mastery that epitomizes the 80 covers of gastronomic delight he creates daily at Chateau Anglais.

However, there are moments in between the raining expletives where Gareth does sprinkle some sage cooking advice on his over-wrought kitchen staff.

In one episode he barks, “What’s the most important thing in cooking?!” Before they can respond, he answers his own question:

“Ingredients!”

Of course, there are other important things (like timing, which he mentions in another episode) but within the context of his teaching moment, he chooses what fits best.

As in cooking, there are a number of essential “ingredients” in creating a financially sustainable nonprofit organization. Among those ingredients is a viable, transformative mission. The other is a donor base willing to fund it.

How to best formulate these ingredients so that none loses its significance sometimes depends on the size of the organization; finding and fine-tuning a formula can be evolutionary.

For instance, we know that most nonprofits are focused on attracting any funding they can from whomever they can, because the main objective is to keep the doors open in order to serve clients.

However, appropriately matching funding with the nonprofit’s mission must always be top of mind to prevent interruptions or elimination in programs—or perhaps even the failure of launching. It will also ensure there will be no chaotic fundraising scrambling going on.

In the for-profit world, leaders develop a method or strategy within which they operate in order to clearly chart how they will make their money. The strategy, also known as a business model, can be so well defined that it can be explained in just a few words—” low cost provider”, “big-box retailer,”etc.

Nonprofit organizations don’t tend to identify with any type of business model to describe their long-term funding strategy to potential donors. This leaves a chasm that can hinder clear and succinct communications between donor and NPO and indicate a fuzzy understanding on the part of the organization as to how best to create achievable resource development goals.

To address this deficit, the Stanford Social Innovation Review devised 10 funding models based on research conducted by the Bridgespan Group. That research revealed that as NPOs grow larger, their funding streams become less diversified, resulting in them raising most of their revenue from one or two sources that matched their missions most favorably, and catering much of their organizational operations to managing that particular type of funding.

Characteristics of funding models

These 10 models are grouped into five categories of dominant funder—many individual donations, single donor or few donors or foundations, government, corporate and diverse. I’ll leave you to read through the categories at your leisure as the point of this post is geared to the small grassroots organizations that I work with and on behalf of; that point being that it is important that your leadership start now creating development programs positioned for sustainability first, then growth.

While it is suggested that organizations with revenues in excess of $3 million could benefit most from developing a funding model, the authors, in a followup article identified, three characteristics of funding models (page 40), which should provide a great starting point for small nonprofits to begin building tailored donor prospect approaches to grow on. They are:

Types of funding: The model typically revolves around a single type of funding such as government or an individual, which constitutes the majority of the organization’s revenue and which the organization invests disproportionately in developing. Other smaller sources often play complimentary supporting roles, but are not the focus of investment.

Ingredient for growth: Know thyself—In the case of a founder-funded organization or one that serves constituents or missions evidenced as best performed in partnership with a government agency, small organizations that know their constituents, know their needs, know the environment within which they operate, know their competition and know what they do best should be successful in attracting attention of the right funding partners that over time can help the organization achieve positive recognition and sustainability.

Funding decision maker: Within that principle source of funding, the model focuses on a particular type of decision maker –perhaps the government administrator or a few wealthy individuals.

Ingredient for growth: Get up close and personal—build their interest (and eventually longevity) in your organization by engaging them in conversations around their current and future organizational or personal visions, missions and objectives. Show how investment in your organization puts you both on the same trajectory.

Funder motivation: A funding model takes advantage of the natural matches that exist between funder motivations and a nonprofit’s mission and beneficiaries. These motivations range from altruism and collective interest to self-interest.

Ingredient for growth: Find your tribe—a 1994 social science study analyzed the motivations of individuals in relation to their support of nonprofit organizations and categorized these motivations into seven distinct groups or faces. The Seven Faces of Philanthropy is a definitive indicator for melding mission with motivation and small nonprofits would do well to develop a system of donor relations using this tool that will get them more familiar with not only their current donors, but facilitate future cultivation activities.

Now, in the oftentimes long and challenging moment in an organization’s life cycle that is organizational infancy, “the most important thing” for growth is a diversified funding mix. Once an organization has grounded itself in its community, established a formidable track record with its mission, and gained leverage with and as a result of its stakeholders, then developing a funding model may well be the most important thing. Growth is a measured process and, as in French cuisine, must incorporate a number of most important things.

What are your thoughts? Is your NPO already using a funding model or do you think it’s even relevant?

SoCal weather and your NPO

What ever happened to Christmas Club accounts?

I read somewhere that mostly credit unions offer them now. Honestly, I haven’t had one since the early 80’s. It sure was a good feeling, going into my bank every payday and making my $25 deposit. The interest was negligible, if at all, but the peace of mind it gave me, knowing my money would be tucked away from me, albeit at least until just before Thanksgiving, made me feel empowered, grownup…. responsible.

Now, I’m not a spendthrift—it’s against my frugal nature. So it’s not like I needed a Christmas Club account to financially discipline myself. I had a savings account as well. But there was something about planning for a specific financial occasion that made me better able to deal with the unexpectedness of life.

My youngest daughter had an encounter with just such an experience recently. She’d planned a trip out of state to attend a scholastic conference and while much of the trip was not at her expense, she was growing weary of my constant questions about her ability to meet the financial surprises that inevitably pop up, especially when you’re far from home.

I went through the standard checklist with her: travel (check), accommodations (check), meals (check), ground transportation (check), spending money (check).

Even with that, I thought she should have a few extra dollars on her to cover whatever we’d inadvertently left off the checklist. She thought I was being my usual worrywart self (sometimes accurate), but I thought I was sufficiently justified, since she hadn’t traveled out of state by herself before.

Well lo and behold, as she was checking in, the hotel clerk advised her that a $50 fee for “incidentals” would be charged against her card for each of the days she would be a guest. This would accrue to $150 in total, way over the amount of money she’d allotted for such unexpectedness.

By the time she told them the hardship it would cause, the card company had already put a hold on her card, so for the next week she’d be without her funds. Ever the resourceful one, she worked out some way to survive the deficit nonetheless and I’m sure as many things are with twenty-somethings, this will all be a fleeting memory by the time the funds show back up on her account.

If only such “incidentals” could be so easily overcome in the worlds many of us live in, especially the nonprofit ones. Okay, okay, I already hear what you’re thinking: “We can barely find money to fund today’s needs, much less tomorrow’s,” right? But isn’t that all the more reason to make a conscious, deliberate effort—even policy—to do just that?

The first people in your organization that need to be convinced of this are members of the board. Operating reserves—unrestricted, liquid surplus funds available for use in the case of unexpected cash-flow shortfalls—need to be planned for. While 3 to 6 months in reserve funds is the common rule of thumb, the more accurate assessment is probably one that your organization devises for its own unique situation.

Your organization’s leadership must have the collective will to create and enforce written policy that requires that at least a portion of an annual surplus of operating funds be created and allotted for reserves and be allowed to grow over time. This funding will most reliably come from a disciplined approach to annual budgeting; waiting for money from an unexpected windfall or property sale doesn’t put control in your hands.

Worse yet, consciously deciding that planning for an unforeseen inevitability is something you just can’t afford flies directly in the face of the fiduciary responsibility the board holds to ensure your organization’s financial future.

Look, even the folks in Southern California know that contrary to singers Albert Hammond and Tony! Toni! Tone’! it does rain there, so trust and believe, they carry umbrellas, just like the rest of us.

Get and stay prepared for your impending rainy days by learning more about operating reserves through these resources, “Nonprofit Operating Reserves Initiative (NORI)” and “Operating Reserves for Nonprofits”, then share your thoughts and suggestions on how your organization can or has started its operating reserves fund.

Board dysfunction: What’s “type” got to do with it?

June 27, 2014

Didn’t know yours had a type? Well it does, whether you planned it that way or not. What’s truly sobering though is that that “type” is most likely at the crux of what’s been hindering your NPO’s functions all this time.

Who’d have thunk it?

I’d been following a discussion in a nonprofit group forum I’m a member of on the dysfunction of nonprofit boards, when I read a comment that got me thinking. The contributor, noting the many varied reasons offered to explain the issue, observed that regardless of how small or large an organization is, “dysfunction in the boardroom is not a requirement, but it is a well-known phenomena (sp).

Given how many boards are plagued by dysfunction, I think the reasons for it are as varied as the boards and nonprofits themselves.”

Knowing what I do about boards the contributor was right. Board development is not often a conscious effort to meld personalities and skills sets in order to meet predetermined leadership and organizational outcomes.

It’s more often simply a collection of individuals with varied organization allegiances and purposes for serving. So couldn’t it stand to reason that collectively, these entities take on a persona of their own, based on their relationship with the ED, the culture of the organization and the spoken or unspoken expectations of them? And couldn’t this persona be at the center of an unintended clash between the organization’s ability to achieve its outcomes and the board’s perceived role in achieving those outcomes?

Which are you?

I suddenly felt compelled to find out so, baited by my own question, I began down the rabbit hole of online research and discovered one source excerpted from “Governing for Results: A Director’s Guide to Good Governance” by Mel.

D. Gill that identifies nine different formulations of boards. Among the more commonly known are fundraising boards and advisory boards, whose roles are pretty self-explanatory, leaving not much opportunity for dysfunction, at least as regards their relationship to the other types of boards an organization may have—and yes, there can be several.

More to the point of the forum discussion, though, are those boards charged with management, operations, constituent interests, governance and decision-making in their organizations—the sticky wickets that in the absence of consensus can blur ED/board roles and result in conflicts, inertia and threats to mission accomplishment and organizational stability.

Taking a broad, long-term view on how your organization’s mission and its resulting outcomes should best be realized is one of the first activities that should be undertaken in determining what type of board is needed, what role it should play and how it should work with the ED, if there is one.

Does your board have exclusive responsibility for program implementation and organization management, one or the other, or does it accept limited assistance from a staff coordinator?

Does your board establish committees only for special projects or to provide overall program and organization management oversight?

Does your board give considerable responsibility for policy-making to the ED or is just limited to how those policies are enacted?

Is your board appointed or elected from outside the organization or is selection done by the ED and/or board membership themselves?

All these considerations play a crucial role in creating your board’s persona and way of functioning, and are paramount in setting the stage for your organization’s ability to realize its mission.

Mirror, mirror

I learned from experience how critical this is when the organization I served for as ED had a difficult time transitioning from collective rubber-stamping to collective leadership. They weren’t cultivated to be decision-makers, because the outgoing ED had practically handpicked all the members and given them very little incentive to offer divergent points of view.

They had no orientation and thus were unaware of exactly how best to govern, especially for the types of challenges they were about to face once the ED left.

By the time I came on board all manner of change within the organization was desperately needed, as they readily admitted at the outset, but what they knew in theory and were willing to do in practice were two different things. They did not have the skills sets, training and thus confidence to lead the change, failing to see why the first and most difficult entity in need of change was themselves.

Self-reflection is a difficult exercise but must be practiced regularly in order to detect internal and external changes that could affect how the relationship between the board, ED and mission begin, evolve and mature over time and how those varying states affect the organization’s business.

A vigilant organization could conceivably cycle through a number of the nine types of board formations within their lifespan, in response to what is in the best interest of the organization and its mission. This vigilance could head off dysfunction before it becomes an accepted phenomenon, and in the cases where it does exist, be named and claimed by both the ED and board, with each willingly accepting responsibility for its repair.

Any idea what type of board your NPO is and if that type is helping or hurting its ability to meet mission outcomes? See if you see yours here, check out this blog post for tips on building and maintaining a strong board and share your thoughts below.

Root your NPO with a sustainable vision, mission and CoP

RYB Blog Post Series: R stands for Rooted

Whenever I tell people that I help nonprofits raise money for their missions, many inevitably ask, “Really? I (or fill in the blank with the requisite friend or relative) am starting a nonprofit. Can you write a grant?

When I tell them that it’s unlikely they’d get an award since it’s not the practice of most foundations to fund organizations with less than 2-3 years of active, consistent programming and outcomes, they look crestfallen.

After chatting with them further they’d realize that they have a ways to go to be “fundraising ready” and I’d advise that an investment in some nonprofit management and resource development training would be the best use of their time and money right now.

Getting rooted in the right training

Online training has exploded in recent years and a quick internet search can garner a myriad of sources on nonprofit resource development and fundraising. But how do you choose training that will suit the needs of a new nonprofit leader?  Or a seasoned leader looking for a better approach in reestablishing their fundraising program?

Because I know how easy it is to get discouraged when your enthusiasm and passion for a new endeavor is clouded by information overload and the accompanying challenge of determining what specifically it is you need to learn to truly move forward, I decided to take a different approach to resource development training for nonprofit leaders than that I’d seen from others in this space.

There are seven learning styles developed by the famed Swiss Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist Carl Jung. The learning style I most identify with is that of a “thinking” or “logical or mathematical” learner, which means I most naturally process information and assess the function of objects when it is presented with a logical structure and rational focus.

Having to start in the middle somewhere and piece together a reasoning that will get me to the end, while in some respects can be an excellent test of mental agility, can leave me flustered in other respects, particularly when learning complex concepts.

And because for many nonprofit leaders, the concept of attracting the funding and other resources required to sustain their programs long-term is a complex concept indeed, I created the Rooted Yeomen Build Bridges (RYB) framework, introduced in my free eBook Fundraising in Primary Colors: The RYB Framework to Nonprofit Sustainability

Though written from the perspective of a thinking learner, the approach should be manageable for all learning types as it follows a logic that starts with a strong premise that supports the inputs necessary to conduct processes that build and reinforce organizational sustainability. It is a great primer for setting or resetting the nonprofit leader’s mindset to consider the act of fundraising as a function within the resource development process.

When I refer to “leader” I am speaking of anyone in the organization with the responsibility of establishing, managing and executing the organization’s vision through its mission, the reason the organization exists.

The vision and mission, supporting a definitive culture of philanthropy (CoP) is at the root of any sustainable organization and is the foundational element upon which the Rooted Yeomen Build Bridges (RYB) framework is built. Some tips on each of these follow.

In values there is vision, then mission

A passage from the eBook describes the vision as “developed during the strategic planning process…speaks to the future your organization wishes to create for the community and stakeholders impacted by your programs.”

It later states, “It inspires support with a unifying goal that keeps all stakeholders engaged.” A statement of (on average) 15 inspirational, clear, memorable and concise words is best.

Answering these two questions can help you assess your NPO’s vision:

• What are the values or beliefs that inform your work?

• What would you ultimately hope to accomplish as a result of your efforts?

In positioning mission in relation to vision, another passage states,” …mission describes how its vision will be demonstrated through the daily work of its programs. The mission states the reason for the organization’s existence and putting that mission into a statement of just a few sentences…is essential in stating and reminding your leadership, staff, volunteers and the broader community of who you serve and how.”

Using radiant words that create dynamic, visual images and motivate realistic achievable action with each word meaning something, is most advisable. I’d once heard the average length should be 27 words. Two of the several questions in the eBook that can help you create your mission include:

• What is the need you hope to address through your NPOs programs?

• What roles do you and your employees play?

Philanthropy –the culture of your nonprofit business

Growing in familiarity, and hopefully in practice, is the thinking that everyone in your organization should feel they have a vested interest in building a thriving organization.

Peter Drucker, considered by many to be the father of modern business management, said in his book Managing the Nonprofit Organization: Principles and Practices, “…a donor doesn’t automatically understand what the organization is trying to do. …you have to educate(them) so they can recognize and accept (program) results.”

So after creating your vision and mission statements and communicating them organization wide, a deliberate effort is needed to include donors and other stakeholders—staff included—in understanding what you’re doing.

Vision and mission ground the culture of philanthropy, enabling the creation of, as Drucker describes, a “long-term constituency, people who remember, who are not giving simply because someone rings a doorbell. They see the support of the institution as self-fulfillment. That is the ultimate goal of fund development.”

It is also the essence of creating a culture of philanthropy in your organization.

So what does all this look like in practice? Refer to the “Red stands for Rooted” section of the eBook to learn more then look out for upcoming training content on how to implement it in your NPO. Defining your organization’s vision, mission and culture of philanthropy is essential in setting the strong foundation necessary to support the remaining components of the framework.

If you’ve crafted a vision or mission statement for your organization, see how it measures up to the ideas outlined in the eBook, why not share it below?

Four R’s to a great board development process

Milk. It does a body good.

Before "Got Milk", this was the tagline back in the 80's.

Well, I'm taking creative license with the term to suggest that: "Development. It does a B-o-D good", as in board of directors. Okay, maybe I need that license revoked but it's as succinct as I can put such an essential activity.

Over the years I've gotten the sense that the culture of many boards can be classified to range from a collective Wizard of Oz, expected to perform fantastical feats of "magic" (read: income generation), to a herded clowder of cats.

It's not an easy thing, bringing together a group of divergent talents, skills, philosophies, experiences and socio-economic realities to cohesively strategize, oversee and finance the direction, activities and affairs of an entity that can change reality for the constituents it serves. They must function as one unit, all while having sometimes very different orientations as to what should happen and how.

Come to think of it, I've heard it said that boards are the only teams that don't get to practice. So when they choose to act, however thoughtful, there are often no do-overs.

Board service is a very serious commitment. If time is taken to adequately vet a candidate, explain the requirements and train them to do the job exceptionally, their service to your NPO can be transformational.

Board training is ongoing and should be built into your organization's board development activities; yet not too many people understand the truth of what it takes to do it well.

This may be because many executive directors start off with a pretty cavalier attitude about the whole thing even before their organization has been officially sanctioned.  How familiar does this scenario sound to you: ED, discovering they can't file any paperwork without them, makes a few calls to some close friends or family to ask their permission to be listed on the organization's articles of incorporation and 501c3 tax exemption application to the IRS.

These folks willingly oblige, expecting their role is complete, because there may well be little to no discussion as to their involvement with the organization beyond this.  A meeting at some point, maybe, but the details remain undefined--sometimes for way too long.

In my eBook, "Fundraising in Primary Colors: The RYB Framework to Nonprofit Sustainability", I outline the critically important role these "yeomen" (represented in the yellow triangle of the RYB model) perform in promoting, protecting and supporting their organizations.

As dynamic as an organization's evolution needs to be to respond to the ever-changing needs of its constituency, the board must be ahead of the curve, understanding there will always be change and proactively preparing to respond. To do this, they must be groomed; developed; made ready for success:

Recruit well

• Develop a recruitment packet—includes financial information, calendar of important events, commitment letter, orientation schedule, etc.

• Create a nominating committee—this is the most important committee of the board. It works year-round and is chair by a senior level board member to answer the following questions: 1) What is needed to successfully fulfill the NPO's mission, 2) When are the skills needed and 3) Who can fill those needs. The committee includes the ED and community members and is designated to develop a board member recruitment plan, involve prospective members in committees to assess performance.

• Draft job descriptions, commitment letters and conflict of interest statements.

Retain well

• Conduct an orientation- create a "get acquainted" opportunity for the full board, as not only a chance for them to get to know each other but to get to know (or in some cases reinforce) important points about organization, its programs and culture, as well as the board's role and its collective and individual member expectations.

• Host an annual planning retreat— this can include training and work sessions around preparing for how best to achieve and execute strategic plan goals; actions should be assessed at every board meeting to stay on task through the year.

• Develop an effective committee structure—determine what committees are needed based on the board composition, who should chair them, how often they should meet and how to approach work assigned, and what inputs are needed achieve objectives.

• Conduct effective meetings—start and end on time, send agenda in advance, delegate committee work to committees, etc.

• Maintain high performance expectations—check in with members once a year to determine their level of engagement and reward outstanding service

• Establish and adhere to service term limits—as there is a beginning there should be an pre-determined end to board service to encourage participation and keep ideas and energy fresh.

• Clarify board and staff responsibilities—as mentioned earlier, the board sets policy; Staff carries out policy in executing day to day activities.

• Encourage ongoing board training, either in-house or self-initiated.

Reward well

• Show appreciation regularly. Say thank you in a timely and meaningful (to the board member) manner.

Reflect well

Selecting individuals for board service, training them and giving them what they need to work effectively are executive leadership-driven activities, especially with a brand-new organization.

However, once they're in place and functioning (some schools of thought say it takes three years to recruit and build a strong board) and have been guided by an astute ED who knows, appreciates and leverages their individual and collective value, then comes the hard part—reflection and introspection to assess their own performance and level of engagement.

Blazing that trail calls for expanded thinking, focused on the organization's mission and how each individual board member's personal motivations and collective consciousness is reflected in it.

The energy and momentum for this effort can only come from an engaged board, acting deliberately, boldly, thoughtfully and strategically because they know who they are, what their role is and how best to function to meet the outcomes they set for themselves.

If your organization's board is ready to hold that mirror up, there are a number of tools they can use, including this one from the Council of Nonprofits.

Has your organization used a variation of the four R's in its board development process? If so, please share below the tools used and the results you achieved. They could really be helpful.