Archive for the ‘Apply other For Impact ideas’ Category
Action and Getting Things to Happen
Posted by: Tom Suddes April 4, 2008
Nick has shared with you some things about an A.F.E. – an ACTION-FORCING EVENT. In my last two COACHING CLINICS it hit me, again, how powerful this really is. Here are 3 quick bullets and a bonus.
- PREDISPOSITION!!! If you’re on the For Impact Platform, you know that this is a big, big deal for us. PREDISPOSITION comes before you call to get a visit… is used to set up the presentation… is even used as part of the follow-up. PREDISPOSITION is definitely an A.F.E. (especially if you tell someone you’re going to call them in the next 48 hours to set up a time for the visit!)
- DEADLINES. Disney uses the term “THE TICKET IS PRINTED” to reinforce this concept of a deadline. (They tell all the contractors, designers, etc. that this new ‘EXPERIENCE’ [RIDE] is opening on such and such a date. ‘THE TICKET IS PRINTED.’ There will be little kids and their families standing in line… on that day!)
Priorities, Projects, Programs need DROP-DEAD DATES/DEADLINES, be they real or artificial. Draw a line in the sand. Put a stake in the ground. Use whatever other cliché you want. Just use DEADLINES as an A.F.E.!
- MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES. Every single MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE becomes a wonderful A.F.E.! You can tell people you’re going to follow-up. You can announce plans, kickoffs, groundbreakings, etc. Think of your MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE as it relates to ACTION! (A literal ACTION-FORCING EVENT.)
Bonus: BOARD MEETINGS. With all due respect, every “not-for-profit” Board Meeting is a disaster. Boring. Information-driven. No engagement. The only real ‘ACTION’ is approving the minutes from the last meeting.
WHAT IF… you could literally use your Board Meeting as an ACTION-FORCING EVENT? Approve the Funding Plan! Create Leadership Consensus around Priorities! Get buy-in at the highest level on your Message and Vision!
A.A.R.
This is a military term for an AFTER-ACTION REPORT. (It has nothing to do with AARP which is a very quiet but powerful organization for old people like me.)
You’ve heard me or read me when I talk about failure… engage then plan… prototype… act now. Every time you actually DO something, it becomes a wonderful lesson…IF you actually take the time to think about what happened, debrief, and get feedback.
AFTER-ACTION REPORTS in the military are the primary means of debrief and feedback. I would encourage you to do your own A.A.R:
- After Every Visit!
- After Every Memorable Experience, Predisposition, etc.
- After Every ‘Lesson’
Special Note: In our For Impact ROADMAP, the EXECUTION component is comprised of PREDISPOSITION, PRESENTATION and FOLLOW-UP.
It this model, the FOLLOW-UP includes a MEMO FOR THE RECORD… in other words, an AFTER-ACTION REPORT! No exceptions. No excuses. There needs to be a written summary of the visit and the required follow-up/action.
There it is.
ACTION-FORCING EVENT and AFTER-ACTION REPORT
Common word?
ACTION!!!
9 Ideas To Fund Your Vision
Posted by: Tom Suddes January 23, 2008
This is the time of year when I hide away in South Bend. As many of you know, I’ve been coaching the men’s boxing team at Notre Dame for more than 30 years.
Nick had me lead a teleconference yesterday that was a slightly different approach to our guiding principles and point of view. We’ve posted the audio for you below.
Duration: 45 minutes
MP3 File | Download Call Notes
Add your questions and rating to this seminar
If Effective Then Plenty of Money Available
Posted by: Nick Fellers January 14, 2008
BusinessWeek featured a story about the world’s top philanthropists in November. The most striking line of the story:
“Most philanthropists, even experienced ones, say that it’s harder to give money away effectively than it is to make it.”
- Beth Cohen, director of the Global Philanthropists Circle (GPG) - an organization created by David Rockefeller’s great granddaughter.
A few thoughts on that point:
- You should be asking whether or not your org is an effective use of funds.
The answer is yes or no.- If NO - then you don’t deserve the money (pretty simple).
- If YES - then the issue is that you’re not able to communicate your effectiveness.
- Think much bigger about your Impact and Income Tom always shares a great line from his sales mentor who came from the life insurance business, “It’s easier to sell a million dollar policy to a qualified prospect than it is to sell a $10,000 policy to a family member.” Thing big about your qualified prospects. The greater the capacity and philanthropic interest the more difficult it is for that person to be effective (evidence in the BusinessWeek article).
I recall another BuisnessWeek article from two years (Bill Gates Gets Schooled) ago in which the Gateses communicated thier challenges in giving away money effectively. Specifically, Bill and Melinda were talking about schools and how the Gates Foundation continues to face a lot of challenges in dealing with the ‘education issue’. For the Gateses (and many others),
money is not the issue… thesolution is.This means there is an entire network of investors out there looking for you (if you are an effective investment).
This is also encouraging.
- Trust me, most organizations are not out communicating their impact.
- Get a visit with a qualified prospects
- Share the story around your impact (communicating your effectiveness)
- Present the opportunity to make an investment that will change lives, save lives or transform lives
- Most people don’t go visit with the prospect; they send a letter, don’t hear back, call it a rejection and chalk it up to the idea that he prospect is “getting hit up by everybody.” Or, “It’s a competitive environment.”
- When they do visit, they ‘ask for money’ (instead of ‘presenting the opportunity’). They don’t communicate the impact. What the prospect hears is, “We want your money.” Instead of, “This is how the investment will change lives, save lives or impact lives.”
- Or, worse yet, they visit, talk about the NEED for money, share no impact and make no real ask.
This goes back to one of our principle message points: Impact drives Income.
I think this is encouraging.
So don’t base your assumptions about prospects (people, foundations or corporations) based on what you’ve heard on the street.
While we all know there are plenty of people that have ’short arms and deep pockets’, I have a tough time accepting that judgment about somebody before going to see them — primarily because
Try this.
It makes all the difference in the world. You will be successful and the word on the street will be that you walk on water.
WSJ on ROI
Posted by: Nick Fellers December 20, 2007
An article in the Wall Street Journal this morning
Doing Due Diligence On Your Donations
(subscription)
As Charitable Giving Grows, So Do Services for Donors Who Want Evidence that Their Money Is Having an Impact
“Donors can readily compare charities from a financial perspective: how much an organization spends on administrative costs or fund raising, for instance. But givers, especially younger, business-minded ones, now tend to want more information on how successful a charity’s programs are in addressing the issues the charity sets out to resolve…”
The article goes on to debate methodology. I would contribute that simply making a commitment to communicating your ROI - however you do it - is imperative - even if only (in some cases) it can only be done anecdotally. The challenge (currently) is not how we evaluate and communicate impact but if.
I’m reminded double training camp alum - Tracy Elliott. Before committing his life to the For Impact sector he was a banker. In his current role as executive director he sends out quarterly bank (impact) statements to investors. These ‘bank statements’ include total number of lives saved/impacted, families served, and other stats. The statement then outlines ‘your investment results’. Pretty cool, pretty powerful and pretty effective in demonstrating how money is having an impact.
“Green” is everywhere… water is not
Posted by: Nick Fellers October 29, 2007
More than a year ago I stood in an airport bookstore and noticed that just about every major magazine had a global warming/energy/green headline. I thought that much coverage surely spelled media fad (instead of cause that would be lasting over time).
Perhaps I was wrong. Every magazine and newspaper I picked up this week had “green coverage” (Even Sports Illustrated - albeit the new Boston basketball team).
I’m someone that is aware of what’s happening with the environment but I would not be considered an activist in any way.
What strikes me is how much we’re reading about the environment - many aspects and how little we’re reading about ‘water’ - specifically.
In August, Tom and I rafted down the Grand Canyon. It was a two week adventure… amazing in too many ways to describe. That trip opened my eyes to the pending water crisis that we are facing here in the US. Lake Powell and Lake Meade were both down 50%.
[Pictured] Lake Meade - White ring shows lake down 100′. Lake at 49% of capacity.
We’ve also had more and more water-related causes joining our website and attending trainings. A few years ago we met Ryan’s Well and more recently (last week) The New York Watershed Agricultural Council attended training camp.
I predict ‘water’ will catapult to the forefront of the environmental discussion in the new 2-4 years. It’s impending and visible to everyone.
Stop Cultivating and Start Communicating
Posted by: Nick Fellers September 28, 2007
“Why do we cultivate people?” As Tom always reminds me, “Cultivation is that thing you do with plants and manure.”
I really, truly don’t understand ‘cultivation’. We are in the business of saving, changing and impacting lives. If you can help someone understand your impact then it’s really not about cultivation; it’s about asking whether or not they want to help you with your cause.
I always reduce this to a simple story in order to emphasize my point. Imagine that you and your prospect were walking around a lake and came upon a drowning child. What would that prospect do? It’s likely she would jump in with full commitment to save the life of the child (so would you). I can’t imagine a scenario where you would first try to spend years getting this person interested in saving children (read: cultivation).
So… if you’re saving or changing lives then you can’t really argue that we need more cultivation. I would propose that the issue at hand is really much more about communication. That is, how you communicate your impact in such a way that is clear, concise and compelling. So clear, in fact, the prospect jumps on board (read: into the lake) to make a major investment in your vision.
If you can communicate the impact, the income will follow. If you can communicate the impact, you can ask for any amount of money on the first (sometimes second) visit. The challenge, again, is that we struggle with our message. Or, we might even have the message, but we’re not out visiting with people, one-on-one, to share the message and present the opportunity for them to help (save the child - as it were).
Your job is to communicate the impact, not spread manure. I know that’s blunt but I want to motivate you to action with this idea. You’re doing great things… so present the opportunity for someone to help… now.
People come from all over the world to training camp because they need more money (Final Training Camp of 2007: October 18-19). This email helps me communicate why we spend the first third of the camp helping organizations with communication and why attendees have success when leaving. They have the ability to communicate their impact in such a way that it is as clear as saving a drowning child.
Note: Many of you don’t need training camp you just need to show the people you’re with how you’re saving lives, changing lives or impacting lives.
PS - If you think my example is too simplistic or unrealistic please know that this same example is what set into motion the greatest philanthropist of our era - I’ve altered the lake example somewhat but stole that from noted philosopher and ethicist Peter Singer who wrote an amazing article last year in the New York Times: What Should a Billionaire Give - and What Should You? In that article he also explains Bill Gates’ moment of clarity around impact that moved him to action.
The Return on Investment, Energy and Relationships
Posted by: Nick Fellers April 12, 2007
Here are some thoughts on this concept of RETURN… RETURN ON INVESTMENT… RETURN ON ENERGY… RETURN ON RELATIONSHIPS…
If you’ve been following the For Impact MESSAGE in any way, you should be familiar with the VOCABULARY CHANGE of ‘donor’ and ‘donation’ to ‘investor’ and ‘investment.’
And, obviously, you would know what every INVESTOR wants from their investment: A RETURN!
And, as a For Impact Leader or Social Entrepreneur, you know that you can DELIVER on that RETURN.
There is another ‘RETURN’ that Nick and I use quite often that seems to really grab people’s attention: RETURN ON ENERGY.
This particular nugget should be pretty self-explanatory. What (exactly) is your RETURN on ENERGY? (In this case, ‘ENERGY’ means both physical and mental TIME and FOCUS.) Is the end result worth the ENERGY? Are you working on your Top 3% or still expending a lot of (wasted) energy at the bottom?
*This concept is explained and expanded wonderfully in a great book by Jim Loehr called The Power of Full Engagement
Loehr’s premise is very simple: It’s all about MANAGING YOUR ENERGY… NOT YOUR TIME.
Special Note: I believe this RETURN ON ENERGY concept applies both to YOU and your INVESTORS / CHAMPIONS. (They are also expecting a return on ENERGY, not just a return on INVESTMENT.)
As I was pulling this together, it hit me that the first return may be the RETURN ON RELATIONSHIPS. I never really heard anyone talk about it this way, but if you think about it, the RETURN on a RELATIONSHIP could be a way to talk about both RETURN ON IVNESTMENT and the RETURN ON ENERGY.
Again, I believe this RETURN ON RELATIONSHIP applies to both YOU and your FOR IMPACT ORGANIZATION, and your STAKEHOLDERS, INVESTORS and CHAMPIONS.
Are you actually maximizing the RETURN ON RELATIONSHIPS? Are your top prospects and potential investors clear about their RETURN ON THE RELATIONSHIP? And, finally, can you use this whole concept of ‘RETURN’… on the RELATIONSHIP… on the INVESTMENT… on ENERGY… as a way for you to get TRULY FOCUSED???
Video: For Impact Message
Posted by: Nick Fellers January 11, 2007
Here’s a great video of Tom sharing the For Impact Message / Point of View (6min 35sec) at a recent conference in the Boston area.
Video: For Impact Message
Posted by: Nick Fellers December 13, 2006
Tom Suddes delivers an introduction to the For Impact Message at a Camp Fire USA national keynote in November.
Running Time: 1min 52sec
Select Tom Suddes or another For Impact team member to energize your next conference with a personalized speaking performance.
Board Training
Posted by: Nick Fellers December 7, 2006
For Impact Community Members:
In this email I want to share some information about board training (read more). This year we’ve had the opportunity to be with more than 500 organizations around the country. After each workshop, training or speaking event, we commonly hear, “I really wish my entire board could have been here for this. They need to hear this message.”
This year we created a custom version of our popular half-day workshop for boards (and senior staff).
It has been my experience that most of you have wonderful, talented and passionate people on your board. The issue at hand appears to be how to make the most of this leadership. The For Impact Board Workshop is a great way to engage your entire team in the For Impact Message with the aim to:
- Create buy-in to the message, approach and way of thinking. Much of this includes sharing the For Impact Message.
- Clarify roles and responsibilities. We will attempt to help you bring everyone on board with the funding role.**
- Commit to a funding plan.
** We do not believe it is the role of the board to go out and raise funds. It is the board’s responsibility help Fund the Vision … we can help you clarify this role for maximum engagement and support.
The board workshops have been generating powerful results. More information about the workshop and success stories can be found online http://www.forimpact.org/downloads/boardworkshop.pdf.
Special Note re: End of Year Budgets - This morning I received a phone call from an organization that had remaining training funds in its 2006 budget. If you face this challenge, let me know. We can secure 2006 training fees for 2007 workshops.
We have six remaining slots for January, eight for February and six for March. If you think you might be interested, please contact me by responding to this email or at the number below.
Nick Fellers
For Impact | The Suddes Group
P. (614) 937-5763
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Just Added
Tom Suddes Video sharing the For Impact Point of View
