We Pass the Hat

Dear Pearl,
Thank you so much for stopping by our store while on your Vermont getaway from the city! I’m glad you found two flowy shirts for the upcoming seasons…the safari green blouse looked great on you! Hope you enjoyed the rest of your mini-vacation and do come stop in again!
Sincerely,
Katie K
Wow. I bought two blouses at Michael Kors Factory Outlet in Manchester, VT and spent less than $150. I got a thank-you note, handwritten, on beautiful card-stock.

I THINK DONORS DESERVE THE SAME TREATMENT.  DON’T YOU?

The toll plaza employee explained to me that the only reason I had a flat tire in the middle of the Massachusetts Turnpike was because “it’s Tuesday!”  This sage young woman attempted to divest me of my inclination to explain my misfortune as a sign from a higher power – that an authority was somehow trying to teach me a lesson that I should pay more attention to the maintenance of my car – and to my life in general, which was spinning out of control while trying to do too many important things at once.

Truth is, it was 95 degrees outside, the car had almost 54,000 miles without a tire problem and I was pushing the limits of speed trying to get back to the office after 10 hours of back-to-back meetings with little sleep – all while trying to plan the final details of my daughter’s wedding.  In essence, I was due for an event to stop me in my tracks.  Pun intended.

When a character right out of central casting showed up nearly two hours later to change my tire, I could only laugh.  He had the requisite missing teeth, the telltale grease on his face and hands, a rag hanging from his belt. But he was wearing a Red Sox cap.  Totally out of my social universe but a kindred spirit.  We assessed the possibilities of a World Series run for the Sox and I gave him the $20 he asked for to change the tire.  Yes, $20.  I guess inflation hasn’t affected the tire-changing trade yet.

Well, just because it was Tuesday, I had a flat tire and I met a young woman dedicated to customer service in her job (two thumbs up to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority!) and a man who took pride in tire-changing, even if he did sorely need a bath – he gets points for being an avid Red Sox fan.

Got me to thinking about what it means to need to be more focused on things that matter, like getting your tires checked, having time to think in between meetings and slowing down, knowing that you will get to your destination eventually, even if it’s later than you wished, as long as you get there safely.

Tuesday will always come again and I wonder what might happen this Tuesday to remind me that I need, like you do, to make sure that everything I can control is under control and that when things get out of control that I can learn from the chaos.  There’s four new tires on my car now.  What will you do to take care of business this week? Personally…professionally…and organizationally?

Last night I renewed my faith in humankind from a very simple act of kindness bestowed upon me by a stranger. After a very frustrating afternoon spent in traffic on the New England Thruway I decided not to let the day go by without accomplishing something on my “to-do” list. So, at 7:00 in the evening I sojourned (love that word, from Passover Haggadah, although they were sojourning in the desert for 40 years!) over to my local Party City store to buy paper goods for my daughter’s ordination celebration. First, let me say that going into this store is totally overwhelming but quite entertaining (pun intended!). If you suffer from decision deficit disorder, this is not a place for you. Finally, I decide on a yellow and blue motif and start loading up my cart with plates, napkins, cups etc. I obsess about whether to get a square or round plate. Square ones are so, well, hip and Asian fusion. Whatever…I just keep throwing things in the cart.
Over comes a woman with a hand-basket filled to the brim with goodies for her party. She begins a conversation with me. I have to say that I bristled at first. Sometimes I feel like a magnet for strangers – somehow I am always being asked for directions and talked to randomly. Must be the face of a consultant they see! So she asks me if I want a 20% coupon. And I become suspicious. What’s the catch, I am thinking? How completely awful of me. So she explains to me that she is a coupon clipper extraordinaire and checked websites before coming to the store. (So now I am feeling very guilty and extravagant…) Instead of just printing out one for herself, she printed out three of them – one for her, and two for strangers she meets in the store. Did you hear what I said?? Just to be nice to strangers she meets in the store! I am astounded. Me, who propagates the milk of human kindness and helps people give of themselves everyday. How can I be so jaded to not believe that someone would be so very generous? I take the coupon gratefully and marvel aloud to her about her good citizenship. I tell her not to give up on people and I tell her I hope that people will see her as a role model. I will never see this woman again, I think. But I will never forget her thoughtfulness and kindness and I am thinking about how we can all do the same, in our own ways. I bet you she throws a wonderful party.

Study after study about donor motivation reveals that it’s just not the tax deduction that guides charitable giving. Actually, in nearly all studies, the tax-deduction is very near to the end of the list.  So why do we persist in ringing the four alarm fire bell at the end of the year, in essence, begging for gifts, making us look like we are at the end of our rope??

Two days left! Two hours left!  Sorry, but it sounds to me like a fire sale, not an attempt to build synergy and support for a cause.

What do the studies show about donor motivation?  It’s the cause and the donor’s connection to the cause. So why are organizations obsessed with end of year giving? There are 365 chances every year to give and your organization should be better prepared to take advantage of every opportunity, every single day.
Step #1:   Make Your Development Plan – do it before the end of January.  or, ANYTIME  - just do it!  Link your strategic plan to your organization’s strategic vision and plan.  Donors DO care about where you are going and how they can help you achieve your dreams, goals and objectives.

Step #2: Recognize the Building Blocks of Development – Donor Cultivation (all education activities), Asking (all forms of solicitation) and Donor Stewardship (donor recognition, keeping your current donors informed and close to your organization)  Build your development plan around those building blocks.

Step #3: Identify and segment your potential donor market.

Step #4:  Create your case for giving and then tailor the messaging around that case for each market segment.

Step #5: Train your solicitors to be more effective.  Train everyone in your organization to be a successful fundraiser.

Step #6:  Record all your interactions into your database.  Keep track of who said what to whom and on what day.  Record all your gifts.  Make a comparitive analysis of what processes are yielding the highest results, compare your tailored messages and see how each one works.

Step #7: Tweak your plan.

Step #8:  Keep on going.  Provide continuous coaching and mentoring for the process.  Keep motivating your team.

Step #9: Celebrate your successes and honor your volunteers efforts…your professionals too!

Step Ten:  Don’t stop.  You have 365 days to raise the funds you need to support your strategic vision.

If it sounds like too much and you don’t know where to start, hire a consultant.  That’s what we’re here for.  We can provide the structure, the coaching and the education you need to move you into a rhythm of effective fundraising, 365 days a year.

Looking up to the sky, we look for the north star in order to navigate the milky way.  When we get lost in the dark, we look to the sky, to find “north.”  When we do, we can more easily find our way.

In your organization, how do you find your “north?”  What’s your direction?  Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency says to Newsweek…”We laid out three ideas: we would follow the law, and we would follow science, and we would operate transparently.”  I’d say the EPA has determined its “north.”  How elegant.  How focused.  How easy to understand and communicate.

As an organization, can you find your “north?”  Can you be compelling and simple explaining to someone who you are and what you do?  Or does it take more than five minutes to explain the many layers of what you do?  Are you sometimes confused?

Peter Drucker, esteemed professor and scholar of business proposed that “a mission statement is divinely ordained.”  He said if it took more than one sentence to articulate your mission then you didn’t have a deep enough grasp on what your organization was trying to accomplish.  

When there are stars in the sky, go out and search for the north star.  She’s easy to find.  It’s the brightest star in the Little Dipper.  She has been used for navigation and to determine latitude.  She’s a marker, she leads the way.

You can’t lead the way if you don’t know where you are going, if you can’t articulate your mission or simply state what you do, what you value and your strategy to achieve it all.

Find your north.  And then light up the world with it.