Strategic Planning

It’s All About Scale & Balance


So Spring Break is over and it is time to get back to the ‘real world’. It is time to focus on the important issues of the day. To fill my schedule with appointments instead of taking the moments as they comes. To be aware of time instead of waking when the first person lazily rolls out of bed in the hotel room. It is time to start the day with the news and stay connected throughout the day instead of taking a subtle glance at the complimentary paper sitting outside the hotel room door. It is time to work through the ‘to do’ list on my computer instead of the ‘to ride’ list at the amusement park. It is time to regain my perspective and take back the serious issues at hand. It is time to understand the nature of our economic condition. So I start my post Spring Break blog with this tremendous graphic that needs no words to bring my life back into focus. Take a peak at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/31/opinion/20090331_schott.html

Wow- perhaps I need another Spring Break.

Virtual Philanthropy

Just read on Twitter that the NY Time found that many first-time donor who complete a transaction online do not return. Questions that come to mind:

  • What moved them to donate in the first place? What was their motivation?
  • What did the organization do to keep them engaged?
  • What was the extent of the ‘relationship’?
  • What opportunities exists to make a first-time donor a repeat donor?
  • Was this a ‘test gift’ or was it in response to PR, media coverage, a campaign, special occurrence, etc.?

Many opportunities exist to retain first-time donors, especially when other organizations are not meeting their needs.

It All About People


Today I was thinking about my relationship with different organizations. Why are there nonprofit organizations that I remain involved with by volunteering and contributions and others that I just drift through? There are so many good causes and great programs. What attracts my time and resources? I think the deciding factor is my relationship with the people involved within the organization.

It can be a connection with a staff member who does extraordinary work. A meaningful line of communication with an Executive Director. A personal relationship with a board member or volunteer who takes their passion for the cause and engages mine as well. Or it is a customer of the organization who is a walking megaphone and is spreading the latest and greatest news.

I have come to realize that it is when one of these connections leaves the organization or stops communicating that I start drifting away. It is not always intentional. A void is created and my attention shifts elsewhere. That is why I see new Executive Directors or CEO’s spend their first one hundred days meeting people, forming relationships and calibrating their strengths with the organization’s culture.

During a capital campaign when a change in the staff or volunteer leadership is made I find myself being less certain about the multiple year pledge I had previously made. If the Executive Director was my link to the organization and they move to another job my connection to the nonprofit has lessened significantly. It does not mean that I am not going to continue to donate and be supportive of the mission but I find it much easier to attach a face to the mission instead of words.

People matter. They impact relationships. You are the reason that somebody else is a member of a nonprofit, buys a certain brand, attends religious services on a regular basis. It is an interconnected web and you play a critical role (often unknown).

Who influences your choices and loyalty?

How Important is Your Organization’s Vision?


I spent the past two days serving on a search committee interviewing candidates for a Executive Director position. It was an energizing experience since each interviewee was dynamic and brought a wealth of information and talent that would clearly help the organization succeed. Each potential leader has unique attributes that would clearly benefit the nonprofit organization.

Being blessed with a great pool of candidates, the real question for the search committee becomes which of these leaders will best guide the organization towards its vision. The foundation of the search committee’s final recommendation to the board will ultimately be grounded in the organization’s vision.

How well do you understand your organization’s vision? What are you ultimately trying to achieve through your programs and services? A great vision provides a tremendous advantage, especially when making critical decisions.

The Demise of the School Board

In today’s Wall Street Journal:

“More U.S. cities are considering scrapping a longstanding tradition in American education, the elected school board, and opting to let mayors rule over the classroom.

Dallas and Milwaukee are currently mulling mayoral control of the city’s schools, and Detroit is under pressure to try it — for the second time. A dozen major school systems, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C., already have a form of mayoral control.”

What will become of school boards? Is deferring oversight to the Executive a good thing? Is it no longer possible to find local representatives to serve as public guardians for the school district? What is wrong with the current system- the people or the structure?

Sharing Our Competitive Advantage


I attended a meeting for an educational institution the other day. One of the items on our agenda was to discuss our competitive advantage as a school compared to other educational institutions. There was a variety of opinion initially on how transparent we should be about publishing what we believed to be our ‘secret sauce.’ Should we openly share those qualities and programs that make our approach to education more uniquely positioned to be successful than similar schools. The dialogue was collegial and then the Headmaster of the school stated that he would lean towards letting it all out in the public’s view. Why not? We are in the field of education and enhancing the learning process is a core priority. Why not share with our students, parents, community, and even competitors? When completed we will publish our curriculum map and put details behind our course work. If another institution wishes to adopt the exact curriculum map then there will be no security breach.

In reflection, I realized that we are always sharing our competitive advantage on a constant basis. Out customers and fans have an on-going opportunity to evaluate our organizations in action. Word will get around. Think about the airline industry. There are very few differences between the carriers. We all have our favorite (or perhaps it is easier to think of our least favorite). The options are very similar across the board. So far the biggest difference is that the non-legacy carriers have been able to build platforms and business models that allowed for more uniformity (same type of aircraft, fewer fare classes, fewer unions). Our best customers walk around with a megaphone on as Seth Godin says in his book Small is the New Big. They shout about our competitive advantage to everyone who will listen. So perhaps taking a lead from educational institution- being transparent is the new math.

Are We All iTunes Geniuses?


I have been playing with the Apples iTune Genius feature this morning. I spent about 15 minutes listening to songs and albums that were recommended to me because I had purchased or downloaded songs from other artists that were considered to have a high correlation with the recommended artists. I could quickly listen to 30 seconds or less of a song or a handful of tunes from an artist and the select “already have it” or “don’t like it” and another recommendation would appear. From Apple’s perspective I was buying a couple songs along the way- dipping into my song credits (a very nice gift from my sister). I quickly sorted through a dozen artists and twenty albums, many of whom I would not have searched for on my own.

The reality is that we all serve as walking versions of the iTunes Genius in our daily lives. We recommend restaurants, places to visit, airlines to avoid, after-school programs for kids, articles to read, and websites. Conversations turn into the audio version of a Zagat review. A couple years ago I rode the chairlift at an Idaho ski area with a gentleman who had skied all over the world. He asked me my favorite ski run at the resort. Once I answered him, he spent the remainder of the lift ride telling me that which runs across the world’s ski areas I needed to ski. He should have created a website with the wealth of information he shared in seven minutes (and I left the lift trying to remember just one).

I volunteer with a nonprofit organization that runs a significant charitable wine auction as its central fundraising event every year. Due to the importance of the special event and the critical funding the auction provides, a committee from the nonprofit organization travels to different wine regions in the United States (the committee pays its own way) to personally thank vintners who have donated in the past and network with wineries that are considering participating. I know enough about wine to have a reasonable conversation but I am easily lost in the science and nuances of the production. What I do know is that when I go out to dinner and choose a bottle of wine, I lean towards the labels I recognized because I know the individuals behind the wine and more importantly their story. When I bring a bottle of wine to a friends house as I gift I can offer a little detail to why I selected that particular bottle. In that moment I am a genius, at least for a second.

Perhaps I will listen a little more closely the next time a friends says ‘if you like that then you should really consider this.’ The value of getting information from a trusted individual, especially a source that has had a personal experience is powerful. Interesting how quickly I go to the customer review section when considering an online purchase. I do not get very far into the static details listed by the manufacturer. I want to know the opinion of the people who already paid and had a personal experience.

Go forth geniuses and share your information.

Should the Goverment Determine Who a Foundation Gives to and How Much?

A debate is underway about ‘who’ private foundations grant funds to on an annual basis. The question at hand is if foundations are serving the public good or have they become tax shelters for the wealthy? Does a foundation’s grant making serve the basic needs of the public or have the grants become focused on serving only a few? Giving USA provides an annual breakdown of the giving philanthropic giving by Americans (foundations, corporations, individuals). See a report on the most recent data from 2006 philanthropic giving.

Now the debate is part of the Obama Administration’s conversation on reshaping America.

Excerpt from WSJ article:

The report, titled “Criteria for Philanthropy at its Best,” advises foundations to “provide at least 50 percent of grant dollars to benefit lower-income communities, communities of color, and other marginalized groups, broadly defined.” The committee looked at 809 of the largest foundations in the country, whose combined three-year grants totaled almost $15 billion, and concluded that the majority of foundations are “eschewing the needs of the most vulnerable in our society” by neglecting “marginalized groups.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123604548985015461.html

Philanthropic Giving: How much does a tax break really matter?

The Wall Street Journal has an article today discussing the Obama Administration’s budget plans. The proposed plan has a provision that takes the deduction rate for a charitiable gift down to 28% from 35% in 2011 for the wealthiest Americans. The article points to the fact that a $10,000 gift would receive a $2,800 deduction for the highest tax bracket compared to a middle calss family in the 15% tax bracket receiving a $1,500 deduction on the same donation.

Fundraising professionals list ‘a tax advantage/deduction’ at the bottom of the top ten list when looking at the primary motivation of an individual donor. Many nonprofit organizations list information on the tax advantages of making a charitable gift at the end of their fundraising materials. They speak about their programs and services, the people served, their successes. For the most part their is no difference in the tax deduction between qualifiying nonprofit A and B so it does not get discussed at any length.

The proposed deduction change will effect all nonprofit organizations equally, but suddenly the sector is talking about this being a disincentive to donors. The same organizations promote nine other reasons to give to their cause before the issue of deductability is breached. Additionally, the change in tax code is going to effect the larger national organizations more than the local nonprofit enterprise as majority of the largest gifts from the wealthiest individuals are concentrated in organizations that have the capacity and need to accept tens of millions of dollars.

I think those of us in the nonprofit sector need to be clear. If we truely believe that donors are motivated by the needs we meet, the quality and impact of our services, the personal commitment of our staff members, then we need to focus our energies in fullfilling our missions most effectively and efficiently. If we have not been walking our talk and the tax deduction is a major factor in the nonprofit sector’s ability to raise money then we need to take up our lobbying hats and have a say in our nation’s capitol.

WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123595480077405235.html