SuddesGroup

Think Talent … not Background

Posted by: Tom Suddes January 18, 2006

I recently spoke with one of my favorite people in Development. She’s in the Northwest, responsible for PRINCIPLE (Major) GIFTS, and is very committed, competent, and caring … along with absolutely passionate about her “CAUSE”.

They’ve been without a Vice President for Development for a year. They’ve hired an executive search firm, placed ads in the Chronicle , etc. Can’t get anyone.

This is a great organization, and it would be a great “POSITION”.

HERE’S THE CHALLENGE:

EVERY ‘NONPROFIT’ in the world is looking for a Vice President for Development … a Director of Development … Major Gift Officers … Senior-Level Development Staff!!!

Note: I said “EVERY”. I meant that. Look at the back of any Chronicle of Philanthropy . There are 23 pages of ads with more than 150 “openings”… ALL looking for the same person(s)!!!

The SOLUTION to this CHALLENGE is NOT in trying to WOO “Senior Development People” from their current jobs …with MORE MONEY and perhaps a DIFFERENT TITLE!

You’ve got to CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK!!!

I suggested to my friend that she is in a city with incredible BUSINESS and ENTREPRENEURIAL TALENT . They need to look at those wonderful individuals who are ready to move from ‘SUCCESS to SIGNIFICANCE’ … bringing with them great experience, a proven skill set and a great ATTITUDE!

I believe there are many, many more talented individuals with SALES, ENTREPRENEURIAL and BUSINESS EXPERIENCE available to the For Impact world … than there are available “Experienced Fundraising/Development Officers”!!!

Remember: HIRE FOR ATTITUDE . TRAIN FOR SKILL.

Don’t want to ramble here, so I’ll make some “bullet points” to support this thought.

• Ideal Profile. Create the IDEAL PROFILE for the position you’re looking for. Use a “HEAD … HEART … HAND” Model (Intelligence, Passion and Skill).*The Ideal Profile for this great For Impact Organization would be somebody who is already been touched or directly involved with the CAUSE, already LED a sales team or a company, understands vision, goals, success, etc. … someone who just “GETS IT”.
• Talent Spectrum. Look at both ends of this spectrum. In this case, they are looking at the right side for the right fit .
• Hollywood Talent Agencies. They hire for the role and the project . Every movie is a project. People come together. Do their best work. Disband.

*I think you could get incredible TALENT with the idea that someone would come in for 1,000 days (not quite 3 years) and make a HUGE IMPACT !

No disrespect intended, but most “experienced Development Officers” have experienced one year of fundraising 15 or 20 times. They also bring a huge amount of “BAGGAGE”, mostly tied to a MODEL that worked in the 1950’s and 1960’s … and never really changed in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.

BOTTOM LINE: You can’t just “THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX”.

You’ve literally got to say, “WHAT BOX?”

We get what we Measure

Posted by: Tom Suddes January 8, 2006

“We almost always get what we measure.”

This is particularly true in nonprofit organizations, although I believe it is just as prevalent in the for-profit world.

A simple question:
How do we train, measure and reward our Development Staff, be they Income Development, DOD’s, Major Gift Officers, Planned Gift Officers, or whatever the title?

For most organizations, the measurement is activity (busy work). I have actually worked with large and very successful nonprofit organizations whose “measurement,” and I’m talking about actual evaluations, were based upon number of phone calls … number of letters sent out … number of “moves.”

Specific and personal: We just had a great young potential development superstar say, “I can’t find the time to do Major Gifts because I am measured on the number of grant proposals that I submit!”

So, what’s the answer? IF … the goal of the For Impact Development Operation is to write a net, net, net (triple net) check to the organization (to fund the vision)…

THEN … the goal and measurement of the development staff should be tied directly to that net, net, net check! If you’re a volunteer leader or senior staff/administrative leader of a nonprofit organization, you should expect results from your development team. However, you cannot give them the old “pat on the back” and “go get money” Knute Rockne half-time locker room speech!

Your Development Staff should be measured on three things:

1. Total net dollars raised
2. Number of quality ASKS
3. Number of one-on-one visits

We use these GREEN SHEETS to MEASURE sales activity/productivity. Feel free to reproduce/use/expand.

To succinctly summarize and re-emphasize the point: Your development team needs to be working directly and specifically on things that raise the most amount of money at the lowest cost!

That’s how they should be trained. That’s how they should be measured. And that’s how they should be rewarded!

Special Note: Og Mandino has a wonderful message in the Spellbinder’s Gift about busy work. In Step 6 of Patrick Donne’s Send the Instructions for Your New Life, Og through his character states very clearly: Never hide behind busy work.

“It just takes just as much energy to fail as it does to succeed. You must constantly guard against the trap of falling into a routine of remaining busy with unimportant chores that will provide you with an excuse to avoid meaningful challenges or opportunities that could change your life for the better. Your hours are your most precious possession. This day is all you have. Waste not a minute. Never hide behind your busy work!“

You are what you think about

Posted by: Tom Suddes January 7, 2006

WOW! Here’s one of the most profound “THOUGHTS” (pun intended) ever recorded:
“YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT.”

Earl Nightingale is literally the father of PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE STRANGEST SECRET was literally the seed from which this personal development industry grew.

Written in 1956, when Earl was 35 years old, he recorded this short message for a small group of salesmen one Saturday morning. The message had such a positive impact that everyone wanted copies to share with their friends and family. Earl Nightingale arranged with Columbia Records to duplicate this record and ultimately received a Gold Record for sale of a million copies. (This is in the 1950’s!)

I started to summarize this book but that’s very unfair. Just order your copy right now. It’s 19 small pages (the book) and takes only 30 minutes to listen to (the audio).

To whet your appetite:

“Men simply don’t think.”

“We become what we think about.”

“Success equals the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

“Instead of competing, all we have to do is create.”

“Impact = Income!” (I swear it’s in there!) He calls it the Law of Mutual Exchange.

The Magic of Thinking Big

Posted by: Tom Suddes January 4, 2006

“BIG” is not about the size of your organization, the number of employees or the thickness of your rules and regulations.

“BIG” is about the SCOPE OF YOUR VISION …

• It’s the SIZE of your BHAGs (your BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS).
• It’s BUILDING CATHEDRALS.
• It’s stakeholders investing in your impact, your quantum leaps, your dreams.

Your ability to THINK BIG is the ONLY way to CHANGE THE WORLD!!!

I WISH … I could have every For Impact organization leader wake up in the morning and understand the POWER of THINK BIG!

THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG. This is not only a great book by David Schwartz, it’s a great For Impact MANTRA! That “MAGIC” comes from your VISION (TJS definitions).

WHAT IF you could RE-IMAGINE:

A WORLD without … HATE

A WORLD without … CANCER

A WORLD without … HOMELESSNESS

A WORLD without … DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

A WORLD without … POVERTY

A WORLD without … ILLITERACY

A WORLD without … DEPENDENCY

A WORLD without … AIDS

A WORLD without … [YOUR IMPACT]

From your BHAG’s (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), this is a wonderful Jim Collins’ “catchphrase” that has found its way into the business vernacular. It needs to be part of our For Impact vocabulary as well. Remember, it’s a Big Hairy Audacious Goal not a SBUG (small bald unaudacious goal)!

Many times I’m with organizations who think they have a BHAG. When asked if they are likely or almost guaranteed to reach them, they answer yes. That is NOT a BHAG!

It’s about TRANSFORMATION.

It’s about QUANTUM LEAPS, which is a term taken from the vocabulary of QUANTUM PHYSICS (described as the most powerful science ever conceived by human beings). A quantum leap, by definition, is rather ASTOUNDING and UNCONVENTIONAL.

A quantum leap almost always includes a leap of faith. You must believe.

How would you make QUANTUM LEAPS in both your IMPACT and your INCOME?

In many ways, this principle of THINK BIG is pretty self-explanatory.

A lot of people respond:

“We already think big. We need help with our fundraising.”

My response is always the same:

“THINK EVEN BIGGER.”

I have just been involved with too many organizations that have embraced this concept of THINK BIG … and, as a result, are changing just about everything they do!

Planned Giving Training in Three Bullet Points

Posted by: Nick Fellers December 24, 2005

I want to sound off on planned giving. Nobody is doing enough of it. It always seems like it’s some ‘elusive field’. Like we are ‘waiting to get trained in that area’ or whatever. I want to make this as simple as possible.

Planned giving is just a sale (or another form of a major gift) to a person that wants to help your organization. It is a just a means or a vehicle. Your job is to present the prospect with a wonderful opportunity to change lives, save lives or impact lives.

There are hundreds (probably thousands) of ways to do a planned gift. YOU do not need to know how to do them. Leave that to an insurance agent, a lawyer, a financial planner, etc.

Here is the training … ready?

There are three forms of a planned gift:

1. Assignment of a life insurance policy.
2. Bequest (will).
3. Other

If the prospect wants to assign life insurance he/she can call his or her agent. A simple bequest can be a codicil to a will (just google it). Other includes all those ‘other’ complicated financial arrangements (including gift annuities) that we can pass off to an expert.

Most smaller planned gifts will either involve life insurance or a very simple bequest.

I DON’T believe I’m over simplifying. Your goal is to maximize every relationship at any given time. If you’re meeting with a prospect about a project need today you can also talk about providing TOMORROW in the form of a legacy or planned gift.

My point is that this should be simple and we should be asking nearly everyone for a planned gift commitment. Too often, I believe, individuals and organizations ‘wait’ until they have the necessary training or ‘organizational capacity’. If you get training you will get a thick binder that will sit on the shelf with tons of terms and if you wait you will leave tons of opportunities on the table.

Keep it simple …

Are you unique to this planet

Posted by: Tom Suddes December 21, 2005

I’ve had Jim Collins’ ‘monograph’ in my bag for two weeks and finally had time to read and digest on a plane yesterday. It will only take you twenty minutes to read but the words deserve much more time to digest - great stuff.

We need to write more extensively about Collins’ add-on to Good to Great but I wanted to post one tiny little line that’s been stuck in my head for the past day.

Collins writes that one of outputs of a great organization is that it makes a distanct impact. More specifically,

So … digest that one for a while. That’s really BIG THINKING and I love it.

Extra Mile

Posted by: Tom Suddes December 20, 2005

Read something over the holiday from HR Consultant Towers Perrin.

They surveyed 85,000 workers (at large and mid-size companies) in 16 countries.

THE RESULTS:

• 14% (!) of workers are FULLY ENGAGED on the job (willing to go the extra mile for their employers, doing more than their job description requires, etc.).
• 62% (!!) are MODERATELY ENGAGED.
• 24% (!!!!) (the remainder) are DISENGAGED!

The leader of the Towers Perrin practice in the Chicago office said that “ENGAGEMENT requires a worker’s HEART as well as MIND. It involves not just an EMOTIONAL attachment to the company but also a RATIONALE way to channel those emotions to elevate a company’s performance.”

They went on to say that “ENGAGEMENT levels vary from industry to industry, but the most striking variance involves NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.”

“THE WORKERS TEND TO BE MORE COMMITTED THAN EMPLOYEES AT FOR-PROFIT CONCERNS BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN THEIR EMPLOYER’S MISSION.”

DUH?!

In the For Impact world, we already know this. We didn’t need a survey. Our PEOPLE/TALENT are, for the most part, deeply committed … which is why we can achieve so much, with so little.

P.S. If yours aren’t (ENGAGED/COMMITTED), you need to do something about your “BUS”.

Good Work Attracts Good Money

Posted by: Tom Suddes December 16, 2005

Just finally got around to skimming my December 8, 2005 issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. (What a great job they do of covering our “world” as opposed to that rag NPT.)

Steve Mayer heads the Effective Communities Project in Minneapolis. Never met him, but LOVED HIS MESSAGE!!!

Main thrust was towards “COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS”.

You’d think they would be interested in the “COMMUNITY“. Instead, Mayer comments, “They have a different purpose: To Build & Manage Big Endowments.”

I feel the same way about a lot of the larger nonprofit organizations, universities, etc. It’s an ENDOWMENT WAR. You’ve heard my shtick on that.

If you get a chance to read this message from Mayer, it’s worth looking at.

Of course, his title “GOOD WORK ATTRACTS GOOD MONEY” is pretty consistent with our For Impact Epiphany:

IMPACT DRIVES INCOME.

P.S. Get some really good thoughts around “innovative thinking” for Community Foundations. Check it out.

The Most Important Question

Posted by: Nick Fellers December 14, 2005

This is a quick one to share - let you ponder and add your thoughts.

When meeting with a new prospect or a group or even someone very familiar with your organization, what is the Single Most Important Question you should ask to start things off?

How about this one:

Or, if the person has long been associated/involved with your organization:

Or, more broadly:

Listening to the answer will do wonders for your ability to have a productive visit. The answer to this singular, one important question could:

• Save a lot of time (you don’t want to repeat things he/she already knows)
• Get out misunderstandings (if the prospect has the wrong idea about your org, you can address these points)

Presumably you know where you would like to be at the end of the visit (the goals).
Wouldn’t you like to know where you are at the beginning of the visit?

Two quick stories to share with you to make my point (one good, one bad) and then you get more thoughts/ideas online:

First, the bad (DID NOT ask the Most Important Question):

For another organization (DID ask the Most Important Question):

Next time you’re on a visit don’t forget to ask The Most Important Question.

As a Donor I want a Relationship

Posted by: Nick Fellers November 25, 2005

Nancy Michalko, Vice President for Advancement at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, shared a wonderful talk given by a philanthropist and Chair of a local Campaign.

I thought you would enjoy these THOUGHTS from the talk.

• A GOOD STORY!

“I also know firsthand what a donor experiences when being approached.

The very first thing I want to hear is a GOOD STORY. Why are you the one cause or organization I should give my time and money towards?

I hear lots of moving stories. Essentially I’m being asked to take a leap of faith that you are the most capable to make the dream come true.”

• INVOLVEMENT!

“What are you going to do with the money?

How do you plan to pull if off?

How can I be INVOLVED to make it happen?”

• STAFF THE VISION!

“If I am considering taking that leap, I look at the leadership and STAFF of the organization, which matters as much to me as the vision.”

• INVESTING!

“You can have the greatest mission, the greatest story to tell, however, I am truly betting on INVESTING in the people who can carry it off.”

• PEOPLE

“As a donor, who happens to be a woman, I want to be approached as the person I am. I know there is lots of data on people’s assets and giving histories.

All that is good, but never forget it is simply PEOPLE giving to PEOPLE.”

• “CULTIVATION”

“I’m also directing in my dealings and do not appreciate transparent “CULTIVATION.” - In fact, I groan when I hear the word.” (TJS: YES!)

“It stands for being indirect and is mildly, to say the least, inauthentic.”

• RELATIONSHIP!

“As a donor, I want the ask to be thoughtful - I know it’s coming so approach me having done your homework. I want a RELATIONSHIP, I don’t want to be objectified.”

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