A Tale of Two States - Creating Stong Partnerships

My consulting helps clients build a "Partnership Council," a major gift group that reaches out, brings in new leadership and resources and raises between $500,000 and two million dollars through multi-year campaigns.

Most of you know that working with prominent business executives and community leaders can be a tricky union. They often have their own agenda and their own style. Here’s how two clients in two states - one with too much control and own with too little - solved this problem.

In Georgia, I have a go-getter client who has built his agency into a nationally-recognized leader. Now he's facing the end of a large private funding cycle. I helped him recruit leading businesspeople with resources throughout the country onto a Partnership Council. That was the goal.

However, instead of creating an orchestra with the Executive Director as the conductor, this turned into a one-man band. Despite capable staff and engaged leaders, the client made every appointment and every ask.

Finally, I pointed out that the goal was to build "Relationship Ambassadors" who could work "for and with" him. The Council members needed to be coached and encouraged to reach out to their networks and bring him in as needed. Now, there are dynamic Council Chairs working with him to set appointments, make asks and greatly expand the campaign’s reach to raise $500,000 in the first year.

In Ohio, my client is a social worker and the chair is a very dynamic, salesperson. Here, the chair made all the contacts and filled the Council but did not introduce the client to her contacts. To reach their goals, the project needed a strong guidance from the staff professional. I coached my client to take charge, reach out to her own contacts - a state legislator, reality television star, landlord – and begin to recruit Partnership Council members on her own.

She also was firm in her request to meet the Chair's contacts before the first Council meeting. Now the two of them are on the right track together to expand this Council, reach their leadership and financial goals to raise $650,000 in the first year together.

In both cases, trust, shared values and goals are helping the organization and their high-powered volunteers make beautiful music together.