“Fine,” she said automatically, without really thinking about it.

Then she paused, took a breath and told me that she was not at all sure how to keep fundraising when every prospect she meets has a woeful story to tell. She sensed that morale was slipping within her organization, and the persistent news about the state of fundraising and scary statistics about the future only compounded her doubts.

Her fears are not unfounded. The statistics really ARE frightening! For instance, foundations lost $150 billion last year (that’s more than foundations GAVE during the previous four years combined). Corporate donors are experiencing financial distress, and individual giving is down because individual assets are down (suggesting that major gifts will likely decrease 30% in the coming year).

It’s not surprising my client felt a bit stuck about what to do next!

Perla Ni, founding publisher of the Stanford Social Innovation Review observes in her recent article on the Stanford Social Innovation Review Blog website that donors are facing an “ecological shift.”

Seems to follow, then, that as fundraisers we will  also experience a corresponding shift in the ecology of asking for money.

A few thoughts come to mind:

• Let go of whining about the changing environment…turn complaints into questions. What can you do right now to anticipate what’s next?
• Add value and build your relationships with your funders so that when the economy turns around, you will be well poised to invite investment.
• Spend time with your prospects in a way that adds value to their lives now and helps them make the transition to new way of doing business. Share books like The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist that invite donors to think differently about money and help them deeply consider why they give and what gifts of money mean to them.
• Create community by bringing donors and prospects together. Connect them virtually around topics relevant to them and your mission.
• And, the old standby…listen. Carefully. Create quality time with your propects by tuning in. A few tips for effective listening are listed on Dr. Mort Orman’s Stresscure website. I especially like #s 2, 4, 5 and 7.

There really is no ready-made formula for how to respond to the current economic crisis, nor the coming new ecology of the third sector. Ironically, the best advice for now and tomorrow is the same as what was true for yesterday, last month, and 10 years ago: pay attention and connect with your funders.

As Yoda said, “There is no TRY only DO!”

I think not…but what do you say?

Today, I received an email from a dedicated leader who is striving to help a struggling organization with a whole host of challenges. Two of the organization’s most pressing issues should be familiar to most of us:

1. the level of his board’s commitment to the organization
2. NO MONEY

He decided to tackle the money problem first, so he’s contracted with a fundraiser to help the organization go after dollars. The contracted fundraiser has offered to do all the leg work, including paying the expenses associated with fundraising. The fundraiser’s fee is 75% of the proceeds raised. Though my friend was shocked at first, after considering what the net gain would be, and that the contractor would not be paid until the funds had been realized by the organization, he decided that he had nothing to lose and agreed to the terms.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I did a bit of research and found nothing to support this kind of contract.  In fact, as a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, this goes against what I have been taught for the past 20 years and is specifically addressed in the AFP Code of Ethical Principles regarding compensation (read item number 21 on AFP’s Code of Ethical Principles and Standards, click here).

But my friend’s situation does beg the question of whether or not there is EVER an appropriate time to enter into a commission-based contract. 

What does your experience tell you?

Thanks for reading,
Kimberley

My response: Don’t listen to them. Here’s the truth: you need what you need and you get to decide. There’s no magic formula.

However, here are a few guideposts that will help your organization define the right size board for today. Finding the right size is essentially a balance between being large enough to get the job done and small enough to work together well. Achieving the right balance gets you a board the uses the talents, skills and time well of both the directors and the senior leadership. All boats rise rather than being beleaguered by one another.

First and foremost: Strive for ownership. The board of directors is comprised of people who collectively possess a shared sense of accountability for your organization’s success; not simply people who show up on schedule once per month, nor a group of people who are actively engaged. Nope, we want OWNERSHIP! This should be your mantra. Now, to help make that ownership real, utilize the following four elements to define the scope and make-up of the board for maximum effectiveness.

1. Know Where You Are: Assess your place in the organizational life cycle.
2. Define the Board’s Scope of Work: Once lifecycle is understood, the board can conduct a self-assessment of its performance in light of your life-cycle stage. This framework is really helpful in guiding boards to determine practical “fixes” or priorities rather than theoretical ideas that may or may not make sense for your organization.
3. Active Board Composition: Now that you know where you are and what you need from a functional standpoint, it is time to define the qualities that will make your board sing (and hum, and jam, and most important, work together in service of your mission).
4. Establish Effective Processes: Finally, when all is said and done, it really makes a difference for your board to function well when you have a system that supports high performance.

Next week, we will delve into KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN DETAIL. Thanks for reading and leading!

Cheers,

Your friends at Third Sector Group

About the Award

The Association of Fundraising Professionals is a professional association of fundraising executives that advances philanthropy through its more than 20,000 members in 156 chapters across North America.The Outstanding Fundraising Executive award spotlights those fundraisers who are successful, ethical, innovative and dedicated.

For more information about the Association of Fundraising Professionals, please visit the AFP Web site at www.afpnet.org.