What's In a Title

A Captain at The Salvation Army called me the other day after reading my learning novel and asked a question that I have heard many times before. Marshall, why did you title your book "Let's Have Lunch Together?"

The answer is simple...Lunch, one on one away from the office, is an accepted and relaxed business practice. Its a great way for two people to get to know each other on a deeper level and build a collaborative relationship. This is common in the for-profit sector yet, we commonly underestimate its opportunities in nonprofits.

The secret to a productive lunch with a donor, board member, or volunteer is to focus your attention on who they are as person first... Just like Oscar in my book.

So get out there and be more curious. Show interest in them and put your needs second.

This is Marshall Howard reminding you . . . giving goes where the relationship flows.

Nonprofit Generation Next

I was reading a blog about the next generation of nonprofit leadership in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. The author's main point was that the next generation of leaders needs help. It appears there is a belief that the mission matters more than the people.

Since the staff support the mission, they become the organization's biggest asset. Just as you manage your other assets, I believe you must invest in the growth of your staff's capabilities. This investment comes in the form of; mentorship, personal fulfillment, leadership grooming and teaching them how to build relationships with people important to your organization.

Let's show the staff they matter, and I believe, they will show us a world of nonprofits we never imagined.

This is Marshall Howard reminding you . . . giving goes where the relationship flows.

The Future of America's Fundraisers

One of the biggest topics I hear about in the nonprofit world is succession. As we baby boomers retire, who will take our places? Well, I have seen the future and it is very interesting. I was invited to speak for the third time at the annual American Humanics Management / Leadership Institute, celebrating the 60th years of American Humanics.

For those of you who don’t know, American Humanics is an innovative course of study that equips higher ed students to become skilled professionals and leaders in America's nonprofits. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, American Humanics is the only national nonprofit organization meeting this need in over 80 universities nationwide.

I attended a session led by Bob Hartsook, along with about 35 AH campus directors. It was made clear that one of the biggest challenges in our field continues to be hiring and retaining quality development professionals. At the same time, the students I met were apprehensive about choosing development for a career path. As young, relationship-centered, enthusiastic, idealistic people, they were more focused on the “mission.” They felt that development was too “sales” focused and not a position that best used their talents.

That is why AH decided tackle this issue by breaking the stereotypes. It about time people in fundraising were allowed to unleash their natural relationship-building skills as part of the development process.

What do you think?

This is Marshall Howard reminding you that giving goes where the relationship flows.

Relationships: The True Meaning in Development

The evening before my keynote presentation at the National Committee on Planned Giving in Dallas, I was having a conversation with the Senior Managing Director of State Street Global Advisors and the question came up; What is a Relationship? It occurred to me that people in nonprofits use the world relationship with drastically different meanings.

For example, in the September 07 issue of "Advancing Philanthropy", published by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), an article about the need for CRM, relationship is used as a measurement for where a donor is in the contribution cycle. In another article, in the same issue about Moves Management, relationship was defined as what your donor thinks of your organization and what you can do to make them like you more.

For me, a relationship is an emotional connection between two people that creates trust and makes people feel safe. It is not about friendship, it’s about partnership.

My philosophy is that creating a trust-building experience with someone is not magic, luck or something that happens accidentally. Being a great relationship-builder is a learned skill, like swimming or riding a bicycle – it’s a repeatable, measurable process that produces dramatic results and it all starts with a clear definition of what truly defines a relationship.

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Thanks
Marshall

My musings on relationships

Relationships have been very important to me in my career and my personal life. Throughout my nonprofit experiences, I saw how successful people built networks of prospective donors that led to high-dollar fundraising.

I plan to talk about the power of relationships in the world of nonprofits and beyond. Like the weather, everybody talks about building relationships. However, the percentage of people who actively build and grow them with people important to their work and life is small.

Using real-world examples and stories from my interaction with colleagues, workshop participants, people I meet on the airplane and others, I'm going to give you actual, straightforward information.

By the way, I'm an avid collector of 33 1/3 RPM vinyl records. My collection houses over 6,000 albums by such early Rhythm and Blues legends as... Richie Vallens, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Fats Domino, plus Jazz greats like... Ben Webster, Bill Evans, Buddy Rich, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday.

Visit often and share your experiences and challenges with me in this blog. I plan to offer my more than 24 years of nonprofit experience and opinions with anyone brave enough to participate...as a recovering attorney, I swear I'll do my best not to ramble on too much.

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