What I’ve learned this year!

Notes from the road

Even though 2009 has just started, I’ve been on the road— trainings in Santa Rosa, Bakersfield and Los Angeles, CA and presentations at the ALS National Conference!

I hear one message even louder now than I did before:
“I need the money and I need it now!”

Sounds like that commercial on television! And, when you meet someone, that message shows through loud and clear.

I’ve also noticed that Board Members more quickly pick up my philosophy of “chase the relationship, not the money.” Why? Because I think they know that mission only is not reason enough to give, especially now. I think they are also used to being more flexible and trying different approaches to get their messages across.

They quickly pick up the skill-based, real-world training I bring in my goBeyondhello workshops and speeches. I take them from communication style assessments all the way to coaching on how to secure referrals and introductions.

What else do they like? They like the exercise where we build a “mosaic” about their stakeholders and it’s an eye-opener when they realize how little they know about them outside the Board or donor role!

They also like the “science” of relationship-building that I teach where I show how to measure a relationship and “when to ask.”

My Tips:

First, focus on the person. What do you know and what questions can you ask to learn more? Build as complete a picture as possible about the person’s business life, interests, hobbies and family.

Second, put his or her needs first. In this economy, everyone is feeling pinched, even the wealthy. Don’t rush to tell how your organization is hurting.

Fundraising rated A as job of the future

Fundraising has again been ranked among the best careers by U.S. News and World Report, receiving a grade of “A” in all categories including prestige and job market outlook, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals - www.afpnet.org.

The report also gave fundraising an “A” in job satisfaction and training difficulty. You can send AFP feedback on the ratings and the description the article via this email ewire@afpnet.org. They will compile the responses for a future issue.

Click here to read the U.S. News and World Report fundraising job report. You can also post comments there.. The “report card” for all 30 top careers of 2009 can be found here.

Here's the best part of the job description to me; "The best development professionals naturally inspire trust."

To me that is the most important part of the job. As a trainer, I always teach the techniques of making personal connections, building relationships and getting to the trust level. It may or not come naturally, but it certainly can be learned and practiced in a very sincere manner.

One of the problems in the future of this industry is that many young people are placed in these development jobs and have little or no training on how to approach a donor. With their youth, they tell me they feel handicapped! This lack of training is a challenge for our industry since job satisfaction goes a long way in recruiting and keeping good young people.

Our new look

Like many of you, I was very excited about the change in Washington, not necessarily just politically, but because of the image of America it represents. Finally, we have an image showing that we are a very successful multi-cultural and multi-racial society. That is a stirring thought!

In fact, in many of the images I saw today, it was it was clear that our government has a new look and in the highest government positions, both men and women are represented!

While we are waiting to see what this President does to stabilize the economy and what happens to the government programs that fund many social service nonprofits, here's a wonderful line from his speech about the importance of what many of us are dedicated to doing:

"The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good."

To read the entire inaugural speech, http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1872715-1,00.html

It's a stunning beginning to an Administration that is facing unprecedented challenges. For all of us, my best wishes go out to our new President, his family and his family of legislators who will be grappling with how to make our future much brighter. Let's hope they come up with great new ideas that inspire us all.

Great News - Two Successful People and Fundraising Projects

I had a great conversation with a client the other day! After reading my book and inviting me to deliver a private training for his region, Manny Loya. President and CEO of the Southern California Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, used his relationship-building skills to re-engage his board, reach out to new donors and raise a record amount of money - in this economy!

As a trainer, I got the same sense of satisfaction as a teacher whose student comes back after graduating from Harvard and says, "I learned so much from you. Look how far I've gotten."

Those of us in the education field like to know that our ideas and techniques are successfully translated out in the real world. To help people make their lives easier these days gives me a lot of satisfaction. To read this case history, click here.

Here's another example: After Sean became Donor Relations Director at the community environmental group, he asked his Board to choose one of two development approaches:the get-‘em quick, bring in the money now or build relationships and retain donors’ method.

“I could have implemented either one, but I know that the latter method is ultimately the more successful one. That’s the one they picked.” he said. “Since I met Marshall, I studied his book and attended his workshops and my goal seven months ago, was to establish our own prestigious Partnership Council.”

In Sean’s own words, here’s how he did it!

Our agency completely changed its direction four years ago to focus on energy resources and its affect on global warming.

To begin cultivating Council prospects, I selected 60 people who had been donors or people we wanted to meet. I invited them to see the new agency at a breakfast. About 25 people joined us for the two-hour breakfast and 50% said they would participate!

We now have 15 committed, active leaders who are highly influential in our community and are now holding “eco salons” to introduce more people to our mission.

Already, we have accomplished the following outstanding results:

• Two new Board members - a very prominent contractor and a “green” realtor. We would never have met them without going through Marshall’s relationship-centered process and building our Council.

• My salary and that of my assistant was funded from the Community Foundation. After the first year of funding, our caseworker was so impressed with our progress we secured funding for two more years!

Now, I’m moving onto the next step of finding a campaign and motivating them to stay involved. It’s just like Marshall says, keep executing the basics over and over and you will be a master. Stay tuned for more great results!

Sean F., Donor Relations Director, Santa Barbara, CA

Why the Rich Give (and don't give) - Part II

To follow-up my previous musings, here are some other facts, I found revealing from the Bank of America 2008 Study of High Net-Worth Philanthropy:

In 2007, 38.9% of donors stopped their support for these top three reasons:

No longer feeling connected to the organization (57.57%)
Deciding to support other causes (42.3%)
Feeling they were being solicited too often (42.3%)

As I mentioned before, people give to people! Humans are the only ones who can establish an ongoing emotional connection and this is what keeps people connected. If there is no connection, then donors move to other organizations that fulfill their needs (reason #2 above).

Finally, if fundraising professionals cannot establish a personal connection, then the only conversation taking place is about the organization and its programs. To some donors, this sounds like, "We need money." (reason#3 above)

Remember, if you want to engage your stakeholders and major donors, chase the relationship, not the money.

Why do the Rich Give (and why they stop) - Part I

By now, many of you have probably read the Bank of America 2008 Study of High Net-Worth Philanthropy. Here's the lead

Wealthy Donors Cite Loss of Emotional Connection as Leading Reason for Discontinuation of Giving to a Charitable Organization

Nearly 60% of wealthy households who stopped giving to a charitable organization attributed their change in philanthropic behavior to "no longer feeling connected to the organization," according to initial findings released today from a new survey initiated by Bank of America.

This was a study of 700 givers with income greater than $200,000 and/or net worth of at least $1 million!

As I have often said, it's all about the emotional connection! Donors are motivated by what makes them feel good and surprisingly for all the naming opportunities, this study noted that only 5% were motivated by public recognition.

What did drive the giving? 81.2% said they wanted to give back and 66.9% wanted to make an immediate impact on the work around them. However, 46% believe that their philanthropy has a greater impact on their own personal fulfillment than on those who receive the gifts.

In the Wall Street Journal online commentary, Robert Frank guessed that these donors know that problems are so complex that only a Bill Gates or Warren Buffet might make a discernable impact.

He quoted Robert Carr, the voice mail tycoon, who was profiled on 60 Minutes about saving the Gorongosa national park in Mozambique and said: "I wanted to give back. But you know this project has done a lot more for me than I'll ever do for it. Coming to Africa and spending time here, learning from their culture which is rich and beautiful, is a blessing."

So what is our challenge? To be sure that our major stakeholders viscerally feel that connection to us, and, if intellectually they feel they are not making a significant difference, we can nourish their soul by the good they are providing our mission.