Major Means

On Playing Catch-Up

2011-07-05T19:58:00.005-05:00

A friend shared this recent video post created by the chiropractor supporting one of the American teams in the Tour de France, about the dangers of playing catch up -- even as he talks himself out of giving in to the tendency as he runs over a day late for duty.

His point: In sports as in life, any time we let ourselves make decisions from a place of fear, we're most likely to make fatal decisions that do more harm than good. Decisions we'd never make when we're calm and more considered. We try to cram in too much, too fast, thinking we can make up for lost time.

It's a great lesson for business, major gifts fundraising included. In this field, we have to believe in our careful plans to carry the day, but we all know that setbacks are just part of any large, meaningful endeavor. How we deal with them means everything.

Does Fundraising Mean Begging?

2011-04-10T20:16:00.007-05:00

Back when I worked at the Art Institute of Chicago, I guest lectured for a School of the Art Institute class and taught grant writing workshops for librarians a few times a year. These are dramatically different groups - SAIC looks like that bar scene at the beginning of Star Wars where we meet Han Solo and Chewie for the first time. Picture crowds of 20-year-old art students in bizarre outfits, converging from all corners of the globe to talk theory over cigarettes. My librarians, on the other hand, had mostly been running small public libraries in the suburbs for decades. Totally different species, but each brilliant in their way.

Despite the vast differences, I began my classes by asking exactly the same question: How many people here think that fundraising is the same as begging? About 75% of hands went up every single time. I think it's a basic misperception that prevents a lot of philanthropy from happening in the world. Despite the passion so many people have for a favorite cause, no one likes to beg. It's desperate and demeaning. No one likes feeling that way.

Which is entirely beside the point because good fundraising isn't the same as begging at all.

Imagine we're close friends having lunch and I tell you that I've just joined the board of a bunny orphanage in dire straits. "Please," I say, "you've have to help me help these desperate bunnies." I tell you how we're dreadfully low on bunny food. No staff to clean the dens. Few volunteers to help with the adoption drives. I show you a picture of a sad, mangy, homeless bunny. You're moved. You write me a generous check; I convey deep thanks, and assure you that this will make a huge difference to our plight.

Six months later, we go to lunch again... and it's the same story. Dire straits. Low food. No staff. Mangy bunny picture. What's your response? I'm guessing it's most likely something like, "Now wait just a darn minute." And you would be totally right.

Beyond disaster relief efforts, urgent pleas for help don't go far. There's simply nothing sustainable or effective in the long-run about begging for support. The real work of any fundraiser is to inspire trust and confidence in the organization. Yes, eradicating bunny homelessness is a huge, daunting job that could take millions or even billions for our nation to ultimately achieve. But at the very least a donor expects the organization to operate well in addressing its mission, and most of them are actually quite good at doing that. There are tens of thousands of other nonprofits out there competing for the same support. Any solicitor's job is to inspire trust in their organization's plan to deliver solutions.

So the fundraising role is a lot more like PR and communications than panhandling. Plenty of people can do it very well, whether they're an art student considering a professional career, the manager of a library looking to fund a great program idea, or the new member of a board.

My students' response to this was always a sigh of relief. Many perked up considerably for the rest of the class. The librarians? Probably the most naturally gifted pool of grant writing talent on the planet. The art students? A few became interns in my office and have even gone on to ungodly things like corporate sponsorship. Imagine.

As for board members, the new BoardSource Index 2010 report describes how few are actually fundraising for their organizations - it's the single most dreaded role. Even though the road to a board seat included becoming a donor, most shun the idea of being on the other side of the table asking for gifts. Some say they fear the "no," but since these are mostly seasoned professionals in demanding jobs who hear no from clients all the time, I'm skeptical. I think it's really much more about the stigma against the assumed need to beg for a handout. It's really up to nonprofits to educate our volunteer leaders before we ask if they're willing to ask for us.

Response to James Altucher, Superhero

2011-03-29T10:21:00.005-05:00

Freakonomics cross-posted an item by James Altucher explaining that major charities will never get his money because of their inability to respond effectively to needs that altruists like him can fill. While I acknowledge that nonprofits are indeed creatures of process, his points are so out of touch with thoughtful philanthropy that I'm coming of out of blogging hibernation to write about it. So here we go.

1) Altucher tells how he was inspired by a NY Post article to call "some sort of home for abused kids" - an organization caring for a severely neglected boy who had been tragically locked in a closet all of his young life. The boy liked chess, and reading this, he offered to provide lessons by a friend who is a champion player. Admirable idea. Lovely offer.

But how does anyone presume to know what a severely neglected child needs from an article written to appeal to a general readership? Did he ask? Apparently not. He called to make a simple, easy, cheap offer (his words) that resulted in an aggravating "no thanks," and the conversation ended there.

In the absence of any real conversation with the care providers, Altucher assumed his $100 idea was stellar...until you consider that this boy had never been socialized to trust a human being in his life, had only recently been exposed to anyone other than his incredibly cruel parent-abusers, and was terrified of strangers. This is where compassion and listening should kick in, but instead Altucher blamed the home for being a clueless bureaucracy and hung up.

This happens a lot. A well-meaning person wants to give a small gift for a very specific purpose and the charity is in the uncomfortable position of saying no because it entirely misses the high-priority need and would actually create problems. This moment is an opportunity to learn about what helping someone else really means - it means asking them.

2) In Altucher's superhero vs. charity comparison, charities are lumped together as one faceless institution after another. Let Gates and Buffet channel their billions in that direction to "fix" their causes, right? I mean, who actually *works* at the American Cancer Society?

Well. It turns out that oncologists work there. They support armies of scientists and researchers who do nothing in fact but study every kind of cancer and how to best advocate for improved public health. So if you want to kick cancer in the ass like some of us do after watching a loved one suffer for years with it and pass away under painful circumstances, you could do worse than to support their considerably powerful work.

But if small is beautiful to you, there are several thousand charities run by one or two people, or just volunteers, that do amazing things. I just saw a story on 60 Minutes about the Global Medical Relief Fund. Sounds big, right? It's run by Elissa Montanti out of her house in Staten Island. She's helped hundreds of kids get life-changing surgeries in the US after being severely wounded by roadside bombs and crossfire in war-torn countries. Elissa could tell you what your $100 could do for one of her kids, because she found them, called all the doctors herself, and is probably trying to arrange a flight out of Iraq this very minute.

Similarly, Evan's Life Foundation in Chicago is a micro-finance charity that does its job brilliantly to help urban kids. I don't go to the site much because it makes me want to empty out my entire checking account. But the last time I did, I saw they used a few hundred dollars to pay for a boy's bus fare to school. School isn't far, but he has to cross gang lines to get there on foot, and he's chosen graduation over early death, so they gave him bus fare. Evan's Life specializes in listening.

And two more examples if you want to do something online that's quick and fantastic for even $25: Kiva and DonorsChoose.

3) It's impossible to do your due diligence on any of these charities, right? Well, no. That's just entirely untrue.

Go here.

Or here.

For financial statements and data analysis of overhead, top salaries, and annual budgets. Or better yet, call up the Development office and ask your questions. We're used to hard questions.

4) To give anonymously is admirable, but consider this: wouldn't it be great if your name inspired someone else to give?

SOARing Through an Ask

2009-10-23T13:37:00.005-05:00

Before I break down and type up the rest of my (tardy) notes from Asking, a brief, hopefully useful aside.

My husband just started a new consulting job with a private wealth bank. He was quiet about the details of his interview process this time. Which is weird - he's a Live Brain Feed type of spouse. So I figured maybe he was mulling something over. Something not entirely flattering. He has that over achiever's sense of pride.

And he was mulling. Last night's conversation went like this...

Hubbles: You know how I went to Booth [U of C's b-school] for that interview workshop?

Me: Mhm.

Hubbles: Well, I never used to think those things could teach me anything. But I realized something there, and without it, I wouldn't have gotten this job.

Me: What's that?

Hubbles: I am NOT a good interviewer. I mean, I have badly botched interviews all along and didn't realize it.

Me: Yeah?

Hubbles: Yes. We did a role playing and coaching exercise. And I know this is going to shock you , but I tend to include waaaaay too many details when I interview.

Me: Really?

Hubbles: The Booth people made me realize that I only have a few minutes to get across exactly what I'm capable of doing. And I was boring people with details that seemed important to me, but they had absolutely nothing to do with the job.

Me: Huh.

Hubbles: I mean, it isn't rocket science. Have you heard of SOAR?

Me: No, I don't think so.

Hubbles: It's a basic framework: Situation, Opportunity/Obstacle, Action and Result. Those are the points you use to sum up what you did at your last job, or whatever project they want to know about. It's so easy, but I wasn't SOAR-ing... I was SOA-ing. No R. I wouldn't even get to R.

Me: No results?

Hubbles: No! Can you believe I didn't talk about all of my R?

It occurs to me that this SOAR tip can be pretty key in a funding ask during that critical 11 minutes you have to inspire the pants (or checkbook) off someone. I imagine it going something like this...

Situation: We have 250 kids with learning challenges in our school. All of them receive regular one-on-one attention, but we could be much better at maximizing that time.

Opportunity: There are dozens of new technology resources, including hardware and software, that can help these kids dramatically improve reading, writing, and attention skills at school and at home with their parents.

Action: We'd like to begin a technology initiative in our learning resources program. Within two years, we'd like to offer every child in the school use of this software and these hardware devices to help build their study skills, with special one-on-one use with those who have diagnosed issues.

Result: We think we can significantly reduce the number of kids who struggle with reading and writing skills past the third grade. Beyond that, we think sharing the resources with the entire school will encourage kids to discover their own learning style, reduce the stigma for those who have issues, and give parents a hands-on role at home to help see faster improvement.

And naturally, if you're going to emphasize any one area, emphasize the R.

Get Coached: Asking

2009-10-09T11:38:00.006-05:00

I've been reading Jerold Panas' book Asking, a short-and-sweet book on the art of making the ask. It's a great tool for coaching volunteers, staff new to asking, and, of course, yourself when you need to get psyched up for a round of new calls.

Several of his points really strike a chord as incredibly true from my experience, and a few others are great tips that I've never tried (but definitely will soon!). His insights aren't just from his considerable personal experience, but a good deal of research about what donors respond to in a solicitor.

Here's the first half of my notes:

1. No two asks will go the same way. Expect surprises.

2. There’s only one way to ask for a major gift: in person. It can’t be done by letter or over the phone.

3. The most important thing is that you ask. Even if the conversation goes badly, it’s better than not doing it at all.

4. People feel good about investing in solutions that change lives. You’re not asking anyone to do anything they don’t want to. It’s all up to them.

5. Some people won’t give no matter how well the ask goes. That’s their failing, not yours.

6. Getting the visit is the hardest part of the solicitation, not the actual ask. Once you have the first visit set, you’re 85% on your way to the gift. It will take at least two visits to close it.

7. It’s not an appointment, it’s a visit.

8. It’s best to request a visit with a letter followed up by a phone call. Ideally, the letter should come from a high-level volunteer who will make the visit solo or with a staffer. Or it can be written to open the door for a staff person. It’s always best to use the volunteer’s letterhead.

9. The letter should plainly state that the prospect will not be asked for a gift for this visit. The point of the first meeting is to catch up, let them know about this important project, and get their input on it.

10. Ask for one hour. Plan to take 20-30 minutes if that’s all they have. Most people will give you more time once you’re together.

11. Everyone agonizes over making that follow-up call. Prepare yourself by writing out your talking points. Rehearse several times.

12. The point of the followup call is to set a date for the visit. Keep the conversation very focused.

13. Stand up and walk around the room while you’re on the phone. It frees up your energy. Smile.

14. Ask for the meeting and give them two or three options that are open on your calendar. It’s easier for people to make a decision this way.

15. If they resist the visit, be a little tenacious about it…

“…of course whether you decide to support it is entirely up to you. But this is the most important project we’ll do in 10 years, and I’d love to have a chance to introduce you the plans so you can tell me what you think…”

“…you really are one the most important people I feel I have to see about this…”

16. Confirm the visit in writing by letter or email with the details. Don’t call the day ahead to confirm. Some people will get cold feet and cancel.

17. Donors say that the best solicitors bring empathy, energy and enthusiasm to the visit.

18. Prepare several questions to ask the donor during the visit. Your job is to listen 75% of the time during the conversation, so good questions are vital to learning where your donor is coming from. That’s the empathy.

19. Energy and enthusiasm are critical during your oral presentation of the solution that your organization has planned. The impact of the oral portion is far, far more important than the printed materials you bring - those are a detail. Sometimes they don't even get used.

20. Don't get stuck talking too much about needs. Needs don't inspire. Solutions do.

...and more to come.

How the Wing was won | Crain's Chicago Business

2009-09-08T11:19:00.002-05:00

How the Wing was won | Crain's Chicago Business

Posted using ShareThis

A short article about the core group of Trustees who I worked with at the Art Institute on the campaign for the Modern Wing.

The Purpose-Driven Tweet

2009-08-28T10:06:00.008-05:00

A great article by Bob Goldfarb at JewishPhilanthropy.com addresses the hype about using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook for fund raising. I can't tell you how many people have asked me about this lately for major gifts.

My answer has been that it can play a small role in initially cultivating segments of major gift prospects, but not a major one - and this largely depends on the demographics of your organization's prospect pool. At my last organization, 95% of my prospects were over 65 years old, retired, and spent half the year in Florida. Not exactly the Twitter bunch. At the school where I now work, however, plenty of them are in their 40s and 50s, still climbing the corporate ladder and far more likely to use social media personally and professionally.

Because of the intensely personalized nature of major gifts, social media is ideal for cultivating lower level gifts for membership, subscribers, alumni relations, and annual fund donors, provided its use isn't the sole province of the marketing department to sell. But I can tell you that I've had donors suggest it as a way to reach out more.

Bob's excellent point about using social media is this:

The medium succeeds best when there’s a conscious strategy to build a community whose members – inside and outside the organization – want to interact with one another...Don’t Tweet just because everyone says you should; develop a strategy first. Don’t let self-interested advertising dominate your Tweets. Define your target audience and invite them into your community the same way you make new friends: by caring about their interests and needs, and helping like-minded people meet one another. Listen to them and talk personally to them. Otherwise Twitter is just 140-word spam. (Emphasis mine)

At many organizations, this means blending the art of promotion (Amazing concert happening tonight!) with content that your audience will appreciate for its own sake (Tonight's amazing concert will include our favorite new piece by Ma, Dona Nobis Pacem!).

Your Public Profile URL on LinkedIn

2009-08-27T16:25:00.008-05:00

This is another little tip for using LinkedIn effectively that I picked up in the Rain Maker class. It's a favorite because it's so smart and simple.

1. Go to your Edit My Profile page in LinkedIn.

2. Scroll down to the bottom of the blue box that contains your vital info, to where it says Public Profile. That URL looks something like: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johndoe2389xlsr

4. Click on the Edit link below the URL. It'll take you to a new page where you can customize your own URL, as well as everything that appears as part of your publicly viewable LinkedIn profile.

5. Click on Edit to the right of the URL and customize exactly how you want it to appear. You want a clean version of your name without any random letters or numbers attached. Mine looks like: http://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliedeangelis

6. Click on Set Address.

7. Go back to your profile page to check that your Public Profile URL has been updated. This clean version of your name will now be what Google scans whenever someone tries to search for you online.

8. You can also copy and paste this new URL into the bottom your email signature at work. The link will allow whomever receives a message from you to see your work history and your picture if you have one on LinkedIn. They can also decide to link to you on LinkedIn, which will help build your network further.

Great Quote #1

2009-08-21T23:02:00.004-05:00

People will forget what you said;
People will forget what you did;
But people will never forget how you made them feel.
- Maya Angelou

Using Google Alerts for Prospects

2009-08-21T15:21:00.007-05:00

We don't have a full-time researcher at my organization, so I decided to play with Google Alerts to see if it's helpful to capture news about my donors. What I love is that it searches a few billion web pages every day for me without mucking up my email inbox. Here's how to do it:

1. Go to Google Alerts. You'll get a basic page for setting one up - don't do that here.

2. Instead, click on Sign in to Manage Your Alerts. Log in using your Google password. (If you don't have one, make one - you can use any email account as your user name.) Here, you'll get a much more useful page for setting up multiple alerts.

3. Start setting them up. Click on the New Alerts button on the lower right.

4. Pick out the more unique names from your list of top 10-25 prospects and create an alert for each one. Eliminate "and," "the," and any really common words or names that might bear too many hits. It helps to include first names, i.e. "Brad Angelina Jolie Pitt." With more common names, I add "Chicago" or their city of residence to the keywords to help narrow it down. Use quotation marks for exact phrases. This won't eliminate hits that don't have the exact phrase, but Google will highlight the exact phrases when it finds them.

5. Also try a few alerts for capturing gift news, for example "university endowment," "independent school contribution," "philanthropy Chicago."

6. It's a good idea to make an alert for the name of your organization to keep an eye on what buzz is out there. Google reads blogs as well as news outlets, so it can often be illuminating.

7. For each alert, tell Google to send the news via Feed rather that to your inbox.

8. Now go to Google Reader. This is where your alerts are fed every day in real time. It takes a couple of hours to start seeing the first batch of results.

9. If you have an iGoogle page set up, you can put a Google Reader gadget on your front page. Make iGoogle your home page and boom! Every time you open your browser, you can see if there's news waiting for you.

10. You can look through your news items by alert topic or just all at once. When you find something valuable, you can copy and paste it directly into the prospect's Raiser's Edge record to keep your research organized.

11. This is all a somewhat trial and error process to find the right keyword search. Expect to spend the first week or so tweaking your alerts.

Rain Making 101

2009-08-21T14:13:00.006-05:00

My husband graduated from the U of C's b-school (renamed the Booth School of Business by a $300M gift from David Booth last fall). Aside from meaning that my hubbles is super-smart, it also means that I get to attend alumni programs at the best business school in the country by entering through the figurative spouse door. When he suggested I join him at the Rain Maker seminar series, I was worried I wouldn't be so welcomed at the table. Not only was I wrong, I've developed a growing contingent of Booth friends from all spheres of the corporate world, and they inspire me every time I interact with them.

The Rain Maker group is all about networking to find that next client, prospect, or colleague that can help you reach your most important goals. Major gifts people are naturals at the skill set, but they often don't use it on their own networks to full advantage.

Here's a very short recap of what we've learned over the past few months:

1. By the time you need a network, it's too late to build one. The time is now.

2. Devote one hour a week to working on LinkedIn. It's the quickest, easiest networking tool, and it's no longer optional to be active on it. And yes, it counts as work.

3. Join at least six LinkedIn groups and get active on the discussion boards. They're a great source of advice and field news, and you can meet some good contacts this way.

4. LinkedIn is a first step. Once you have a healthy list of connections, take time to look at your list and think about what you can do with those names.... Sound familiar? Start with the people who you know are 1) great at networking and 2) like to be helpful. They're the key to growing your network further.

5. Think about what you have to offer each key contact. Besides lunch and coffee, you've got tickets to give away, career advice, contacts to share, job search help, shared interests, nvitations to attend an event...the list is potentially endless. Figure out what you have to offer, how you want to connect, and reach out. Make the first move and offer the first favor.

6. Diversity is critical. Most people make the mistake of thinking they have a network if it's comprised of a lot of people in their field. This insular approach is the opposite of what you need. Seek out contacts in many fields. You never know where your next rock star contact will come from. Chances are that all your the contacts in your insular network know each other, and that doesn't help you much.

7. Commit the time. Just like with donors, it takes meaningful shared activities to meet and build relationships with new contacts in a diverse network. The best environment for this is through sustained activity with a club, organization, or activity that you're really passionate about. You have to get outside your work-world comfort zone, so choose something unrelated to your field.

8. Go for the handshake. It's normal to feel all clammy and panicky when networking in person, even for fund raisers. At an event where you barely know a soul, don't cling to the wall searching for familiar faces. The best opening is always a smile, a handshake, and your name. It's as simple as that. If you meet even one good contact, the event has been a success.

A Blog is Born

2009-08-21T13:54:00.004-05:00

Every morning for a while now, as I troll through the several zillion Google Alerts that I've set up on philanthropy and my top prospects, I've lamented the dearth of web resources out there devoted to major gifts. True, there are several quality philanthropy sites and a few great discussion groups on LinkedIn. But most of the conversation in those forums revolves around direct mail strategies or whether cause marketing has a future at, say, the hardware store.

Major gifts fund raising is a specific animal, and I'd love to have an online conversation about building and managing a program. So here we are. A new shiny, straightforward space for just that.