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?

Board Nominations

The BBC ran an interesting interview of members of British Parliment who were stepping down after long careers. A question that struck me as meaningful during the radio piece was, ‘what will you miss when you leave?’ To borrow that question and ask it of your board members should offer some meaningful insight into what they treasured most about their service. By asking such an open-ended question you get an assessment of your organization’s culture and collegiality.

One way to think about your board nominations is to consider who you would invite to on a backcountry winter yurt trip. There are numerous responsibilities that need to be accounted for (melting snow, splitting fire wood, cooking, route finding, assembling group gear). You need a variety of skill sets. Who would you consider? Who would exhibit favorable team expedition behavior? Considering not only the talents of each individual but there ability to build chemistry among the team has increasingly become a valued attribute. Of course, not all board nominations start at the talent level. The New York Times ran a pieces yesterday that confirmed a trend that many of us are seeing repeated across the sector. Advancing new board members with money to give is the highest priority, even if an organization is saying come and serve on our board as an ATM. I believe there is a better way to engage major donors than slotting them all onto the board but that is another post.

What has worked so successfully for your enterprise?

Footprints to a Cause

Did you catch the Wall Street Journal article on Toms Shoes? I wear shoes so I went online to browse the website. I know nothing about podoconiosis. Now I know a lot more about both and the entry point was online shopping.

Are you considering unique ways to blend your cause with the interests of your fans?

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-if-concepts

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