Author: whatifconcepts

Empowering those that inspire so they can excel at the work that matters.

Loading the Lift

Adding a new member to your nonprofit board is a bit like managing a lift line at a ski area.  A good governance process is hopefully always in the process of adding potential board members to the line and then guiding towards the loading area.  You are checking their interest and measuring their skills in the same way a lift attendant checks a ski pass.  The lift line provides an opportunity to have a conversation about their interest and prepare them for the experience.  Ultimately your goal is to load the lift without having to slow or stop the chair.  The skiers on chairlift have a common goal, to keep it going as efficiently and safely as possible.  If the lift needs to come to a stop it feels like all momentum has been lost.  A long stop feels painful, especially when you are out-of-sight of the loading or unloading zones and have no idea what incident has taken place.  When you add board members who is not prepared or oriented, they typically require assistance and the loading process comes to stop while they get prepared.  Or an unprepared board member stands watching multiple chairs go by without loading before they load themselves, this slows the nomination process for many organizations.  A inefficient loading process can be frustrating and demoralizing to the rest of the board and limit the ski lifts capacity.


How do you use your nominating process as a chance to have a lift-line conversation with potential board members?  How do you prepare them for what to expect?  Do you partner them with an existing board member to ride your ski lift the first time?

(Image: conorneill.com)

The Backboard

If you are hitting against a tennis backboard you next shot is dictated by your last stroke.  The height, speed, spin are already inputs as the tennis ball bounces against the backboard.  If you are playing another person your challenger can alter the inputs and completely change the pace, location and appearance of the return.

I am reminded of this when organizations only look internally for clues about their culture, strengths and perception.  Performing a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities, threat) analysis by asking only insiders to respond has challenges.  Some organizations have a strong resistance to ask the broader community about their perception of the enterprise.  There is a belief that what the board, staff and close donors perceive about the organization is what the rest of the community sees.  SWOT analysis can be like planning tennis against a backboard, you control the inputs.

What is the cost of planning for the next 3-5 years without confirmation of how the community perceives your organization?  What is the value of asking for advice from your members and community?  Are you transparent if you do not include a broader constituency in your planning? 

Serving Somebody Elses Time

One of my mantras when making major decisions for any enterprise is to consider the perspective of the board who follow me.  If a board’s term limit is six years, I am thinking about how a decision today is going to impact the board seven years from now when nobody on the current board will most likely be in the room.  Does the opportunity seem like the appropriate course of action today and years from now?

The downside to poor decision-making is that you are asking a future board to serve time for you.  In some cases poor judgment today is the equivalent of a jail term from a future board.  Consider the investment committees that positioned an enterprise’s funds with Madoff; the board that took on massive debt to build a new facility; a marketing campaign using a celebrity who is later charged with illegal activities.

How do you keep a longer term perspective?  Who speaks for the future board when strategic decisions are being considered?  Do you document the criteria you used to make a decision?

Memorable Mistake and Artistic Correction

We received a donor recognition form in the mail addressed to us but the letter was intended for another donor.  I returned the letter to the local nonprofit with a polite request to forward the misplaced letter to the proper donors and asked for a copy of our letter for tax records.  A week later an envelope arrived with our address written in beautiful calligraphy and a donor recognition letter inside.  


No apology needed.  Somebody had taken the time to add their craft and customized the envelope.  A simple extension of individual talent left me with a far superior view of the organization than had the mistake not taken place.  I realized that the cause was being served by passionate people who took the time to correct an issue creatively.

Getting Attention: You Just Missed Conan O’Brien

Seth Godin makes a compelling argument in his book Linchpin that attention is one of the most valuable resources.  With so many entities vying to be noticed it is hard to be seen.  The classic nonprofit refrain is, “we are the best kept secret in town.”  

I am encouraging organizations to think beyond just fundraising when they discuss the development and advancement activities of their organization.  In the same way that corporations link their philanthropic activities with a marketing plan, I think social enterprise organizations need to consider the same tactic with a slight twist.  

Possible scenario.  Conan O’Brien is on Twitter.  He has over a half-million followers and he just started following one person nineteen hours ago.  His tweet reads:

“I’ve decided to follow someone at random. She likes peanut butter and gummy dinosaurs. Sarah Killen, your life is about to change.

Imagine if this first follow had been your cause?  In 140 characters he would have drawn the spotlight onto your enterprise.  Imagine the fun you could have had with this opportunity.  I see an invitation to visit, a parade, a gold plated key, honorary membership, and a YouTube video going viral.  Without asking for a dollar this is a pre-built marketing campaign.

Okay, we all missed the opportunity with Conan.  But who is your organization connected to that might have the ability to bring authenticity and  attention to your cause.  Is there a graduate of your program with 5,000 followers on Facebook?  Does a volunteer’s spouse write a blog with five hundred readers a day?  Is there a film-maker in your midst?  Perhaps none of these individuals would show-up on a screening of potential donor capacity.  But each one is an artists and has a craft to share.  They offer a different philanthropic talent, a chance to move your organization into the center ring of a circus with four thousand other acts competing for attention.


Who do you know?  Do you really know all their talents?  Are you concentrating on the right people and screening for the right treasure?  What could an artist do for your cause?   Consider what one unemployed celebrity did in one tweet.

Key Questions

One of the questions I learned to ask when I served an arts organization as board chair was “what is our outcome?”  In a smaller community it was easy to have day-to-day or at least weekly contact with the Executive Director.  Typically there was a new fire burning each time.  Donors who had been disappointed by not being able to get tickets to a sold out concert, local artists who did not get into an arts and crafts festival, a community member who thought an instillation was too provocative.  

The temptation was to solve the problem with the Executive Director.  It was easy to start thinking through the action steps and role play the possible scenarios. I quickly learned that this was akin to both of us abandoning ship and rowing around in life boats in rough seas.  A lot of energy expended and no real results.  Instead I started asking, “what is our outcome?”  Then I would follow-up with, “why is it important and what critical steps do we need to take to meet the outcome?”  These three questions framed our overall goal, touched on the emotional issue (the why) and outlined the most important action steps for moving forward.  By asking these three questions the answers brought clarity and everyone could stay on the boat.  It became a template for our conversations and served us well since everyone understood what we were trying to achieve.

What important questions do you ask?  How do they focus your process and response?

Your Third Board Chair

In the independent school world there is a myth (and some fact) to the notion that at Head of School is most likely to be dismissed by the third person to serve as board chair during the Head’s tenure.  When I heard this the other day it struck me as funny and then I began to consider the circumstances around the idea and it began to make sense.  If you take into account the following points you begin to see a trend.

  • Board members at many independent schools serve term limits, usually ranging from 4-8 years of total service on the board.
  • The chair of the board is typically in leadership for 2-4 years.
  • Members of the Search Committee that hired the Head of School are typically a mix of board members, faculty and community members.
  • The majority of the student body and current parents will graduate from a boarding school in 3-4 or 7 years for a K-12 program.
  • Strategic plans at most schools usually range 5-7 years.

If you begin to map out the lifecycle of the board, faculty, students and current parents you discover that majority of the individuals that were at the school when the Head was hired are now onto college, other jobs or other boards.  The most invested group, the people that sat through all the interviews and selected the candidate from among all the applicants and the Board that ultimately hired the Head are usually no longer on scene.  The third Board Chair is usually an individual who came onto the board with the Head already at the helm.  This creates a different dynamic and relationship shift from those that were invested in hiring and supporting their candidate.

It is not necessary that this trend continues.  What strategies can a Head of School and the first two board chairs take to make sure the Head of School continues to succeed?  I propose a couple strategies:

  1. Be transparent: As Head of School connect with all members of the board.  Find their talents and help them succeed.  Know what they want to accomplish during their tenure on the board.  Find out what projects keep their passion going.  Determine who you can confide in, who will be a megaphone for you and who is going to ask the tough questions.  The more you develop a one-on-one relationship with each member of the board, the less likely the whole board will allow a few board members to cast doubt on your leadership without strong evidence.
  2. Plan ahead: Do not wait until the six days before new officers are elected to consider new leadership.  Think years ahead.  Who will keep the board chemistry at an optimal level?  Who can manage the process of leading the board?  Who is comfortable stepping-back from being involved in the content of each conversations but helps all the voices be heard?  Who has a stable relationship with the Head of School?  I am not always a fan of the Vice-President succeeding the President because a great Vice-President plays a different role than a President but if succession is done this way be intentional, you are committing to your board’s trajectory for the next couple years.
  3. Talk with the Head of School:  I am amazed at how many groups elect a new leader of the board without talking to their Head of School.  The Board Chair-Head of School relationship is essential to your school’s success, why not engage the Head of School in the process?  A ten minute uncomfortable discussion about challenging peronalities is much easier than the damage 2 to 4 years of conflict can do in the board room.
  4. Mentor: Existing board chairs have a sense for who might manage the duties of board chair most effectively.  In many cases it is a strong individual but not necessarily the most opinionated nor the biggest donor or the most connected.  Who is going to bring out the best in each one of the board members?  Who can handle the peer-to-peer relationship that forms the basis for self-governance?  Who can work the network, making sure everyone is informed and focused on the major issues and challenges?
  5. Build criteria:  Have your Governance or Nominating Committee write-out the criteria for future board leadership.  If I want to buy a house in your town and ask for a suggestion you probably would be at a lost as to where to start.  If I say I want a recently constructed home with at least three bedrooms and access to a park in your neighborhood you could probably name a specific home for sale.  Why not paint a picture of what your school needs before you drive aimlessly down the streets?
  6. Strategic Plan: If you have a plan (why don’t you), it should provide a very accurate road map about where the school is headed.  This should not be a surprise to anyone.  Use it as guide to determine who can lead the board to meet the goals established by the plan.  The plan should also clearly outline the expectations of the Head of School.  If the plan is expiring it provides a great opportunity for a collaborative planning effort between both the board and administration.

 The third board chair should not be the ghost of Christmas Future.  It can be an orderly and thoughtful evolution of the school’s leadership.  Understanding the potential challenges is fundamental to your school’s success.  What would it feel like if the third board chair for your Head of School was the best one yet?

The Least

What is the least amount of change that your enterprise could make that would would be most transformative?

  • Who would you add or subtract from your board?
  • What revenue source could you enhance?
  • What expense could you cut?
  • What program could you alter?
  • How could your marketing effort be shifted?
  • What staff member could you add?
  • What one thing could you leverage to another organization?
  • Who would you partner with on one element?
  • What one metric could you start monitoring?


What if you did each of these little things over the next month?  Would the sum of these changes by cumulative or exponential?

Raising the Stakes

Simple reminder last week.  I was checking-out after getting a much needed haircut.  The receptionist asked if I wanted to leave a gratuity and I said, “five dollars.”  The woman next to me had just said “five dollars” in response to the same question.  She glanced at me and then changed her mind and said, “make it ten.”  I am not sure if my gratuity influenced her or if she realized my simple haircut on a receding hairline probably cost less than hers.

One of the reasons nonprofit organizations rely on gala fundraisers is that peer pressure adds to their success.  When the auctioneer asks for all the participants to raise their paddle to ‘fund-a-need’ it is hard not to participate.  When everyone at your table is bidding it is hard not to get caught in the moment.  It takes energy to drop-out of bidding for a live auction lot if a spotlight is shining on you.

Most capital campaign fundraising strategy is sequenced.  You start with donor A.  If donor A gives you go to his or her friend donor B and leverage donor A’s gift.  Sometimes you will even take Donor A and B with you to visit the elusive donor C who may make a bigger gift than A and B combined.  If you asked donor C for a gift with no momentum and having not tapped the network of friends you may have never been successful in setting-up a meeting.

Momentum and relationships are important factors in influencing success for your cause.  What can you do to enhance your existing relationships?

 

Active or Passive

Is your organization active or passive?  Are you taking action to meet a need or holding steady?  Are you interacting or focusing on outgoing communications?  I am often struck by the lack of momentum in many great causes?  One annual report looks like another.  Each email blast talks about opportunity but the gap stays the same.  It is easy to get lulled into a sense of normal.  

Should I expect us not to make any real progress on shelters for homeless this year?  Is it right to just try and meet the existing need?  Should I expect education funding to be cut in a down economy and gifted and talented programs to be disbanded?  Should I expect little arts galleries to close but the big museum to stay open?  It is easy to accept these as facts.  Except when major events take place and the public’s attention and focus shifts to a specific cause.  The coldest winter in a city’s history suddenly forces a community to address homelessness with anxiety.  More shelters, more services and more donations.  


How do you remain active?  How do you demonstrate momentum?


On my travels to New York City I am often struck by how quickly commuters will race from the local to the express.  Hoards swarm across the platform and abandon the local train and then leave it looking almost abandoned at the platform.  Why stay on a train that is going to make eight more stops when I can get there in two?


Does your enterprise create momentum to feel like an express or are you just getting people involved in the cause?  Will they shift to a better organization with more momentum once they see the opportunity?