Nonprofit

Beat Coach Pete

I ran in the Beat Coach Pete fun run this morning.  Coach Pete, the Boise State Football Coach hosts the 5K running race that starts on campus and finishes in the football stadium.  The race raises money for the general scholarship fund at the college by allowing participants to make a donation at the time of registration and Coach Pete pledges to contribute $5 to the general scholarship fund for every competitor who beats him in the race.  

What I like about the event is that is that it uses the coach’s celebrity to benefit the whole community.  The race has a grassroots feel.  The course map appeared only the morning of the race.  Buster, the Bronco’s Mascot was riding a tricycle around the start area.  Participants ranged from collegiate cross-country team members to families out for a walk.  Finishing in the stadium was a nice celebration as the crowd grew as each minutes passed and more finishers arrived.


I can only assume that Coach Pete does not have the time to join a nonprofit board or serve on many committees.  What he does have is the status and ability to create an event by being present.  Many causes wonder how to manage individuals who have high community profiles or even reach celebrity status.  This event took two hours of Coach Pete’s time and the return on investment from a monetary and experience measurement was positive.  

How can you partner with high profile individuals to benefit your efforts and maximize their participation?

Highlight Reel

A couple years ago I had a friend who upon viewing the first Mission Impossible movie with Tom Cruise remarked, “my life would be even more exciting if there was a theme song playing everywhere I went.”  Imagine for a second if the social sector had ESPN producing television highlights every evening on the accomplishments of nonprofit organization.  What would a two minute SportsCenter clip spotlighting your organization look like?

Does your organization have a highlight package?  A YouTube link that showcases your enterprise performing its world class talents.  An advocate who tells the most inspiring stories.  The client with a testimonial about how your services transformed their life.  A self-published book with vivid images of your mission in action.  An email audio file with a voices so full of character that it captures the listener and they think of five people to forward it to immediately.  Where do you direct people who want to know more about your programs?  If the local evening news called tomorrow to do an inspirational piece on your cause, would you panic or celebrate?

Who Set Your Organization’s Shot Clock

Basketball adopted the shot clock to speed-up offense and curtail the pass and hold strategy used by some teams as a delay tactic.  I see many nonprofits that have inherited a shot clock in their board and committee meetings.  Somewhere in the organization’s history the norm for a board meeting became a specific duration, let’s say 120 minutes.  The moment you reach the self-imposed deadline papers get shuffled, members push back from the table, mobile phones appear on the table (if they have not already), and some attendees just walk out.  Clearly the meeting is over even if all the items on the agenda have not been covered.

Why do we accept these inherited duration limits without question?  Obviously it is easier to calendar meetings on a consistent day of the month for a set time.  That said, I am certain we have all attended meetings that needed less than ten minutes and others that could have used three hours.  Human nature seems to work towards a goal so if two hours are scheduled then often groups will meet for two hours regardless of intended outcome.

I am encouraging a review of your enterprise’s time management practices when it comes to meetings.  In my consulting practice I am asking clients to consider a half-day agenda in place of their standard full day retreat.  It takes more preparation but the reward is that these engagements have been more focused on the most important topics.  Often the retreat task force takes greater ownership of crafting meaningful recommendations for the whole group’s consideration and response.

Lastly, consider one of the advantages of Policy Governance (also known as the Carver Model).  Policy Governance is used by city and school councils among others in the social sector.  Many times there is single issue that has drawn the vast majority of the constituents who are there to advocate their position to the elected officials.  Policy Governance agendas allow for these issues to be placed at the top of the agenda if the council or board deems them the most important item.  Why not lead with what the majority of the people have gathered to hear (unless wearing your fans down is the preferred strategy).


How might your organization benefit from a new time management culture?

Urgency and Attention

Yes! magazine’s Winter 2010 issue had an excellent article titled “Why We Find it so Hard to Act Against Climate Change.”  The portion I believe is applicable to many nonprofits outlines the conditions under which an individual’s response to a threat is strongest.  Or said differently, what gets our attention in a world with so many people claiming the sky is falling.  A study from George Marshall title, “The Psychology of Denial” outlined the following criteria as being most influential in getting people’s attention:

  • Visible
  • With historical precedent
  • Immediate
  • With simple causality
  • Caused by another “tribe”
  • Direct personal impacts

When you take these conditions into account and measure them against past events there is an opportunity to see the criteria in action.  Hurricane Katrina with 2,000 fatalities in the Gulf Coast region of the United States vs. Cyclone Nargis causing 138,000 deaths in Burma.  In response the public gave $4.25 billion for relief efforts versus $47 million pledged from the US government for supplies to aid Burma.  There are many factors involved in any response to a threat but clearly an event being visible, historically significant, immediate and having direct impact alone elevated the American public’s response.

When you consider framing a case for support around an impending threat, consider the aforementioned criteria.  When climate change experts started talking about the threat of ice sheets melting from the perspective of Polar Bears it captured the imaginations and attention of school children.  How can you position your case so it sticks.

What Does A Young Donor Value?

Millenial Donors has just released an informative report quantifying the philanthropic preferences of the Millenial generation.  The data provides a unique window into the values of young donors as they consider donating, volunteering, and engaging in the social sector.  A couple key findings include:

  • 91% of Millennial donors are at least somewhat likely to respond to a face-to-face request for money from a nonprofit organization, with 27 percent being highly likely to respond to such a request. Only 8 percent are highly likely to respond to an email request.
  • 55.2% of Millennial donors are likely or highly likely to respond to a specific request or particular project. 55.7% are not likely to respond to a general, non-specific ask.

Find the full report at http://www.millennialdonors.com/.

The Art of Gratitude

Have you personally received a memorable act of appreciation?  What stood out?  What separated this particular moment from all the others?  What was authentic about the moment?  Was it the person delivering the thank you?  Was there a presentation of a gift or token?  Was there something artistic about the the way the thank you was conveyed?

Thanking donors, volunteers, staff, customers, and community members is many times an assembly-line process.  However, when done with grace and deep conviction it can be the most memorable interaction an individuals has with an enterprise.


The Chronicle of Philanthropy discusses strategies for thanking donors in its current online issue.


How does your organization say thank you?

Balancing Need

“Give the world something it didn’t know it was missing”

Daniel Pink: A Whole New Mind

What need is your organization trying to meet, extinguish, enhance or support? Does the world or even your community know about the need?  Have you remembered to show the impact of the need on your community?  Does your universe understand what success will look like?  Do they understand the consequence of failure? 

Is your need overwhelming your community.  Seth Godin’s post on philanthropy from last week speaks to the danger of constantly calling fire or wolf.  The world may not want to know about your need if it is too painful to consider on a daily basis.

How has your enterprise established a balance between significance, urgency and priority?

Who Keeps Your Organization’s Stories

Who keeps your cause’s stories?  Most organizations keep the required record of minutes, financial documents, corporate filings and IRS Letter of Determination in a secure location.  But where do you house the stories about how your organization was founded?  Who recalls the how the original board members were added?  What critical adversity was overcome?  Which community members saw the relevance of the organization’s mission and provided essential funding?  What early graduate of the enterprise’s programs has become a remarkable member of the community?  How was the idea for a key partnership hatched?  Who brought the idea for the fundraising event that was originally dismissed but now a treasured part of the community calendar?  


How do keep these important stories accessible and alive?  Does your organization stay in-touch with past staff and board members?  Is there a volunteer or intern who has a passion for cataloging the organization’s narratives.  Have you considered a digital library such as the one used by StoryCorps?  As Daniel Blink points out in A Whole New Mind, “the hero’s journey has three main parts: Departure, Initiation, and Return.”  Who is transcribing the critical events that form your enterprise’s hero story?

A Seven Line Focus Group

Spring break season so here is a quick way to perform a focus group with only a pencil, piece of paper and a couple minutes.

Direction: Using only seven lines, draw a representation of your nonprofit organization.  

What stands out?  What did you include?  What was left out?  Are there people, buildings, programs or symbols?  If your board and staff completed this exercise, what would they draw?  What would your customers, donors and volunteers design?

What Motivates Us?

Daniel Pink wrote Drive.  I found it to be one of the most fascinating books on what creates a compelling experience for us as individuals.  When you consider engaging and energizing your professional staff, volunteers, donors, members, customers, and community members the thesis Daniel Pink presents is revolutionary.  Of course the author and book do a far better job of making the case but here is a TED Talk to give you the fundamentals.  Enjoy!