by Susan Detwiler | Mar 6, 2014 | governance, leadership, mission, nonprofit, philanthropy
Dear Nonprofit Board President,
Your board members need to hear this.
In person… From you.
“Thank you for all the time and wisdom you’ve been contributing to our organization. We have a firm foundation now, with a great executive at the helm.
Our clients rely on us to change their lives. You’ve heard their stories; and I’ve heard how passionate you are about what we do.
Every time we’ve invested in making our dreams happen, we’ve had a great return on that investment. We invested time and energy into finding a path out of debt. We invested time and energy into finding our new executive.
And in the last year, we’ve made great plans for the future.
Now we have to make those plans a reality. When you joined the board, you made a commitment to invest in our future. It’s time to fulfill that commitment so we can start the new year knowing we can make those goals come true.
Please join me in making this organization, that I know you passionately love, your top philanthropic priority.“
If your board members think the only reason for 100% participation is so other funders will give to you, then you need to rethink who’s on your board.
Donors give money.
Volunteers give time.
BOARD MEMBERS GIVE BOTH!
If you’d like to hear more about inspiring your board members “ please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.
Susan
sdetwiler@detwiler.com
by Susan Detwiler | Jun 17, 2013 | philanthropy
Did you read the BBB, Guidestar, Charity Navigator letter about The Overhead Myth ? I did. And even as I cheered the message, it felt wrong. It was written to the wrong audience. The donors who commented were not convinced.
The same day I read Michael Schrage wrote in Harvard Business Review’s Good Leaders Don’t Use Bad Words, and I saw the problem; the authors were being lazy with their words. Instead of speaking to their audience’s needs, they were speaking to their own.
Nonprofits will certainly be better served if donors don’t focus solely on overhead as a measure of competence. But what’s the upside for the donors? Why should they care? That’s where the authors fail.
Donors should be looking for measures that demonstrate value to society. Are people’s lives being changed? How lasting is the change? How is the nonprofit making sure that it’s effective? What does it need in order to stay on track? These are the measures that donors should be looking at.
Instead of telling donors that overhead is the wrong measurement, we need to help them see the benefit of seeking alternatives.
by Susan Detwiler | Dec 19, 2011 | management, nonprofit, philanthropy, Uncategorized
Quit calling it donor relations.
It’s people relations. It doesn’t matter if she’s a prospective donor, a volunteer, a parent or a student. It doesn’t matter if he gives time, money, or attention. Or none of the above. 
If you care about your organization, then you should be building relationships with every person.
Every single person you encounter.
Segmenting the people you know for the purposes of sending appropriate messages is one thing. Segmenting them because you think that somehow donors are different from other people is completely different.
A person is a person is a person is a person. A person has dreams, hopes, and ambitions. A person has quirks and traits and tendencies. Anyone might have a reason to care about your organization, and it might not be the reason you think.
But if you only look at her as soccer mom, you might miss that this particular person dreams about somehow personally making a difference. If you only look at him as volunteer, you might miss that he hopes to introduce his kids to philanthropy through your organization. If you only look at that couple as stay-at-homes, you might miss that they really are seeking for the best way to invest their time and energy together.
Everyone should be in your database, so when you encounter that person, it doesn’t matter whether he’s a donor or not “ you have an entrée into a conversation about their dreams, hope and ambitions.
A chance encounter with a community member was a forceful reminder of this truth. His kids are really into soccer. My client was an arts organization that educates children. A mismatch? Not at all. Not after he wistfully said he wished his kids could learn a little discipline. What is learning to play an instrument but learning discipline? Sure, it’s a lot of other things, too. But one big part of what it brings to kids is the knowledge that if you keep at it, you become better. Maybe the class in rock can do that for him.
Everyone you meet is a potential relationship. And every relationship starts with seeing every person.
by Susan Detwiler | Oct 1, 2011 | management, nonprofit, philanthropy
Challenging the Relationship Model of Fundraising
Received wisdom now says that relationship building is the way to raise more money from donors. It’s why we changed the name from Fundraising to Development; we expect to develop relationships with people, with the ultimate goal of getting them to make a big gift (or two, or three).
This may still be true, but a study from Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson challenges the notion that relationship building causes higher sales in the for-profit environment. What this means for the nonprofit sector is up for debate.
Dixon is Managing Director of the Corporate Executive Board’s Sales and Service Practice. Adamson is Senior Director of the Sales Executive Council, a division of the Sales and Service Practice. Their new book, The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation, is the result of studying 6,000 sales representatives across more than 100 companies around the world. Detailing their work habits, their motivation and their results, they classified the reps into 5 groups:
- Relationship builder
- Lone wolf
- Hard worker
- Reactive problem solver
- Challenger
These groups are described in the HBR Blog, but suffice it to say that the Relationship builder was NOT the best performer.
Surprisingly, Challenger, who did not acquiesce to every client whim, who did not work to smooth over any tension, and in fact made a point of asking penetrating questions about client assumptions, outperformed the others in complex and challenging situations.
Now, if these economic times aren’t challenging for nonprofits, I don’t know what would be. Perhaps it’s time to (ahem) challenge our assumptions of how to deal with donors in these times.
More study is definitely needed.
by Susan Detwiler | Dec 28, 2010 | nonprofit, philanthropy
This post was originally on Ingrid Zacharias’ excellent blog, Envisioning the Future.
Capital Campaigns Require Deep Foundations
Ever notice how ancient buildings have deep foundations? Visiting France last year, we took a guided tour of the breathtaking Notre Dame de Chartres “ a millennium old church built on the same spot as many churches that came before. Much of the foundation of this church was put into place during Roman times!
It’s the same thing with a capital campaign. A strong campaign needs a strong foundation. You may be sure you need a new building or renovated space, but fundraising will be a long hard slog with a lot of surprises if you don’t build your foundation first.
The absolute first pillar in that foundation is Mission.
For those of us in the nonprofit world, it’s a given that Mission is the essential that drives our entire enterprise. Who are we serving, what are we trying to achieve, what outcome are we working toward?
It’s the same thing with a special campaign. The need for that new building, or renovation, or endowment, starts with how it’s going to serve your mission. If you don’t have a clear mission, easily articulated by each of your constituents, then your campaign is starting with a handicap.
Your school doesn’t need 5 new classrooms; it needs to help 30 more special needs students achieve independence. Your library doesn’t need a new building to house the books and computers; your community needs a safe and free space for the unemployed to seek information about new jobs and get the training they need to pursue them. Your zoo doesn’t need a veterinary clinic to retain accreditation; your community needs to show its children that we are obligated to care for the animals in our world the best way we know how. Your soccer fields don’t need lights for night games; you need to provide an opportunity for people to come together in the evening, building family and community unity.
Mission, then, is the first pillar in your foundation. Is it clear? Compelling? Articulated? Is your potential new project clearly in support of your mission? Most importantly, can everyone associated with your organization recite and support your mission?
Yes? Great! You have the first foundation of a great organization and an excellent campaign. Now build the next pillar: Governance.
Stay tuned!
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