SuddesGroup

Yeast For A Stalled Campaign Effort

Posted by: Nick Fellers January 17, 2008

I’ve spent the last two days with a start-up high school in the midwest (founded in 2003) trying to help re-energize a $10M campaign effort that’s stalled at $1M. Following the two days I asked the school and volunteer leadership to identify their biggest epiphanies from the two days. What started out as feedback turned into a learning framework…. shared here with permission for your vicarious thinking and learning (and maybe a little bit of [our] pride).

[The first person statements come from the director of development]

• Before we were thinking about making presentations. Now we think about conversations.
• Before, our main point was we needed a building. Now we focus on the vision of the school. We’re thinking bigger. We’re talking about why someone would want to make an investment in this. It’s about the vision, not the building.
• Before, our thinking was about giving levels. Now, we’re raising the levels and thinking about investments.
• Before, we didn’t know what to say or how to approach our master prospect list. Now, I know what to say and now I know how to approach those people.
• Before, we had an internal administrative concern that if we go after the building, we’d cannibalize our operating budget. Now, we have a total view, a comprehensive approach that includes building our vision, planning for the future, and maintaining our current budget.
• Before, I was the only guy! There was a high level of gray area and confusion about our roles. Now, there’s clarity. Everyone is encouraged and wants to be used.
• Before, everyone was expecting me to figure it out. Now, the Board is excited. We’re not just meeting our bare needs.
• Before, there was concern that we didn’t have a clear, consistent, and compelling message. We didn’t have this before, but we’re closer now.
• Before, we couldn’t figure out our funding plan. We didn’t see how we could do it. But now we do!
• Before, we didn’t have enough involved champions. Now we’re getting great involvement. They are stepping forward. This wouldn’t have been possible before, because we had no plan, no ideas on how to work with the champions. We now know what they can do.
• Before, we didn’t know how to tell the story. Now we know we need to show the story.
• Before, there were higher expectations of videos. Now those don’t seem as important. We see the value in simpler, different, more interactive presentation tools. It’s less presentation and more discussion.

You Cannot Screw Up, If You Show Up

Posted by: Tom Suddes January 17, 2008

My partner and President/Leader of For Impact | The Suddes Group is Nick Fellers. (You already know that most likely.)

Nick’s a borderline “genius”. Smart. Action-oriented. Authentic.

He has many great lines, but I heard him say this on the phone yesterday and it just struck me as so freakin’ right on in his role as COACH.

“You can’t SCREW UP… if you just show up!”

While Nick was speaking with one of his coaching clients, I think that message needed to get out to everyone.

Before you can JUST ASK .

Before you can PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY .

Before you can MAXIMIZE RELATIONSHIPS .

You need to SHOW UP! (JUST VISIT!)

Storytelling And Authenticity

Posted by: Tom Suddes January 17, 2008

If you could pull together the last two emails on AUTHENTICITY and STORYTELLING… you will see a HUGE CONNECTION! To be the best STORYTELLER , you, obviously, need to be AUTHENTIC !!!

I’m not really that big on “politics”, but it’s hard not to follow what’s going in the primaries (because it’s everywhere!)

One thing I find fascinating is all the Republican references to Ronald Reagan, who in my humble apolitical opinion, was nothing but a masterful STORYTELLER. ( “The best Presidential COMMUNICATOR”) . Regardless of your affiliations, look at Obama storyteller where his jump to the national spotlight was his speech at the last convention; Hillary’s recent episode (breakdown = authentic/real); McCain as prisoner of war storyteller; Romney’s “story” about business, the Salt Lake City Olympics, Mormon, etc.; Rudy’s 9/11 (almost “unbroken record”) story, etc.

POLITICS/STORYTELLING. Funding Your Vision is story/storytelling. Life is story/ storytelling.

The Power Of Storytelling

Posted by: Tom Suddes January 17, 2008

What follows should be SIMPLE. CLEAR. DIRECT. It’s had a HUGE IMPACT on everyone with whom we have “SHARED”.

Be like Mikey: “TRY IT. YOU’LL LIKE IT” .

To have a GREAT ‘08… make it a year of STORYTELLING !!! One of the most powerful frameworks we use is tied to PRESENTATIONS. It looks like this:

SHARE THE STORY ——–> PRESENT THE OPPORUNITY

SHARE THE STORY is about:

• AUTHENTICITY!!!
• DIALOGUE!!!
• YOUR STORY. THEIR STORY. ORG STORY.

The POWER of STORYTELLING is a given. It goes back, literally, to the beginning of man/woman!!! STORIES are, without question, the most meaningful way to communicate any (and I mean ANY) MESSAGE !

Here’s a simple test: Ask any of your Volunteer Leaders or Board Members (or even key staff) if they would rather:

ASK THEIR FRIENDS FOR MONEY

OR

SHARE THE STORY (AND) —-> PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY!!!

Some powerful RESOURCES to help you around this concept of STORYTELLING.

• THE POWER OF STORY by Jim Loehr. This has become one of my “favorite” books! Loehr has always been one of my favorite thinkers/writers. His other book, The Power of Full Engagement, is like a bible to me and our team. However, this Power of Story is a huge leap for him… and could be one of the most impactful books you can read for your own PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, your ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOMENT and your INCOME DEVELOPMENT!!!
• THE FOUR TRUTHS OF THE STORYTELLER, December 2007 Harvard Business Review by Peter Guber. You really, really need to read this article as it relates to storytelling. Guber is an exceptional leader in the entertainment/experience world. This line alone ought to cause you to read this article. “Although the MIND may be part of your target, the HEART is the bullseye.”
• AROUND THE CORPORATE CAMPFIRE by Evelyn Clark. Subtitle says it all: How Great Leaders Use Stories to Inspire Success .
• STORYTELLING by Fog, Budtz and Yakaboylu. This is more about storytelling as it relates to BRANDING… but there is still some great stuff! E.g., the four elements of storytelling:
  1. THE MESSAGE!!!
  2. CONFLICT (Problem/Solution in Our World)
  3. CHARACTERS (Who is involved? Share your own story on the visit, etc.)
  4. PLOT
• THE WAY OF THE STORYTELLER by Ruth Sawyer. Just one of those classics about STORYTELLING. Originally published in 1942. (Believe it or not, before I was born!) Just another way to look at STORIES.
• CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler. Not the most “exciting” book I’ve read but still has some good nuggets in it around the subtitle: TOOLS for Talking When Stakes Are High . CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS is about trying to discover how to communicate best when it matters the most. Foreword by Stephen Covey.
• Finally, if you just want to have some fun, pick up STORY PEOPLE by Brian Andreas. He is an ARTIST who just makes me laugh and think. I love his work. Here’s one of my favorite lines:“I like geography best,” he said, “because your mountains and rivers know the secret.”

  “Pay no attention to boundaries.”

What a great way to sign off on this WOW email. Pay no attention to boundaries!!!

$750K And Bigger Things To Come

Posted by: Nick Fellers January 15, 2008

Your training has had a great return-on-investment. We made a big leap in our fundraising after being with you. I can say we’ve raised at least $750,000 as a direct result of what you’ve taught us. I’m sending our entire team to your training camps this year… looking forward to many more successes

Scott Morgan, Founder
Education Pioneers

Be In A Position To Advance The Ball

Posted by: Nick Fellers January 15, 2008

You’re a development (our word ’sales’) professional in the relationship business. As professionals, it’s our responsibility to turn ‘pendings’ into ‘commits’. With that in mind, we need to avoid giving these kind of reports:

• “I haven’t heard back from [prospect] yet.”
• “I left a message.”
• “They said they would call us.”

Whether it be fundraising (sales), negotiations or life we need to take responsibility for ‘advancing the ball’. This begins by putting ourselves in the position to advance the ball.

At the end of a great presentation we get so excited. The prospect says something like, “Great, let me think it over and get back to you.” We say, “GREAT!” And then what?

My point is about attitude and less about tactics. You know how to handle a relationship. If you remember that it’s your responsibility to advance the ball then your will find yourself leaving voicemails like, “It’s Nick Fellers calling, I’m sorry I missed you. I can be reached at 614-352-2505 or I will try you again tomorrow.”

Two additional thoughts:

1. You can also use Action Forcing Events to help you ‘advance the ball’.
2. Embrace this term (’advancing the ball’) in your office as a way for your team to talk strategy. Eg. “What can you do to ‘advance the ball with Ms. Jones?”

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:

1. 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.

This goes back to one of our principle message points: Impact drives Income.

I think this is encouraging.

2. 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… the solution 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.

3. Trust me, most organizations are not out communicating their impact.
   1. Get a visit with a qualified prospects
   2. Share the story around your impact (communicating your effectiveness)
   3. 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.

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.

Want Inspiring, Creative and Big Ideas?

Posted by: Nick Fellers January 11, 2008

Over the holiday break I was turned on to Ted.com and tedtalks video podcasting through iTunes (same content different channels).

TED is an annual and exclusive conference held annually in Monterey , California . It brings together brilliant thinkers in the areas of technology, entertainment and design. Some are well-known, others are not but they’re all amazing. Each presenter gets a limited timeframe - 18 mins, for example - in which to share an idea.

This content ranks among the best I’ve found on iTunes or the web - hands down.

I’ve been downloading the videos to my iPod for some ‘thinking’ while I run. This morning I listened to Ken Robinson, ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity?’. He communicated the importance of creativity as a discipline in our schools. He was phenomenal in this thinking and communication - as are most presenters at TED.

9 Big Board Questions

Posted by: Nick Fellers January 11, 2008

I’ve been a part of dozens of board retreats (leader/observer/participant), meetings and planning sessions in the lasts few years. A traditional strategic planning session lays out goals and actions but often fails to ask some really big driving questions.

What if we asked these questions?

1. What is our purpose or raison d’etre? This is different from mission - which should be the same thing but usually ends up being more about ‘place in the world’ vs. purpose. Raison d’etre literally means REASON FOR EXISTENCE. It’s the WHY question. If you can’t answer WHY then WHAT and HOW are irrelevant.
2. How can we (intentionally) go out of business? As this for the short term (1000 days) or long term (50+ years). You exist to change lives, save lives or transform lives. How often do we re-examine our activities and ask, “Can we find a SOLUTION?”I started to qualify this question - to say that it might not apply to some organizations such as schools. Then, I withdrew my qualification. Ask it anyway; see where the conversation takes you. Education is changing.
3. What would you do with $100M? Or pick a number that is a factor of 10x higher than anything you’re thinking about now. I attended a board retreat last weekend as a board member for Road of Life Cancer Prevention for Kids. With $100M one board member said she would get laws changed to make health education mandatory at an earlier age and another said we should invest in longitudinal studies to understand how health prevention impacts kids. Those are two VERY DIFFERENT priorities and we aren’t doing either right now. Ultimately, the question helped to build consensus around focusing on EDUCATION.Until the question was asked, every debate was about incremental tactics, not vision or even, I would argue, strategy.
4. What strategic partnerships can we pursue? You have finance committees, development committees, marketing committees, campaign committees. If anything, I would like to see a partnership committee. Better yet, just a commitment to partnerships as a core priority (DNA) of the organization.I haven’t seen the numbers in a while but we’re somewhere in excess of 2million nonprofits and many more socially focused businesses (all For Impact). Current structures and strategic planning questions focus on bloat, not partnerships. We’re all trying to make a difference so let’s make a commitment (financial resources) to exploring this full time.
5. How can we maximize our impact? Simple and open-ended… but not asked enough.
6. What are we best in the world at? Jim Collins has made this conversation prevalent in the last few years (revisiting the Hedgehog Concept). It’s ultimately a question of priorities and focus. Consider finding the one thing you do very well and FOCUS on that.I can’t tell you how important this discussion is for your staff. It helps them make decisions about grants, programs, staffing, etc. Equally important is identifying those things that you’re not good at.Side note: I am a big Marcus Buckingham believer. He tells you to focus on your strengths. Our strength at For Impact is in-person training, facilitating and coaching. We’re focusing on ways to do more of that in 2008 (live, via web and on-demand).
7. Should we grow ‘wider’ or ‘deeper’? It’s a scope of services question. Ultimately a lot of ’strategic planning’ comes down to this question. Do we add more depth to our current programs (make them longer, more available, etc)? Or, do we expand our scope of services (diverse offerings, expanded continuum, etc.)? Refer back to question six to help you frame this debate.
8. How much money do we need to achieve our vision? What usually happens: we spend time tweaking funding goals based on last year’s results. It would be of huge value [to everyone] if we knew how much money we really needed to accomplish our vision (annually or over time via a campaign initiative).Reflecting on this, I would say that this question is often asked in preparation for a campaign but it is not asked in relation to our operation (annual). Why not? Instead, we set a number and then allocate it (budget)… every year.
9. What is our business model? Or, what business are we in?
   
   I think this goes along with several other questions and relates to strengths, focus and priorities. It also adds clarity and could even become part of your message.

I think these questions would also SOLVE a lot of the problems I hear about every day:

1. Board engagement / Staff communication: Iit works both ways.
2. Board meetings: If we’re on board about the big stuff it raises the level of the conversation. I think a lot of the comments I hear about board members being too detail focused or staff members seeming unfocused is resolved when we can communicate about and focus on the big picture.
3. The proverbial rat race: Incremental thinking gets incremental results (some times).

The Year of ‘Practice’ II

Posted by: Tom Suddes January 10, 2008

I ended 2007 with encouragement to make 2008 your year of ‘PRACTICE’ .

One great way to understand this idea is captured in a terrific book Serious Play by Michael Schrage.

If you’re truly interested in the idea of PRACTICE and the idea of INNOVATION … you need to grab this book.

By simple summary: Schrage urges us to ‘PLAY’ with PROTOTYPES and MODELS and SIMULATIONS. From this (SERIOUS) ‘PLAY’ comes great innovations and processes and products and services.

How is this related to my strong encouragement to PRACTICE ?

Treat every VISIT… every DISCOVERY… every PRESENTATION as ‘ PRACTICE ‘. A MODEL. A PROTOTYPE. A TEST.

Since you’re just “PRACTICING ” … there’s no risk . No downside . No excuse . (For not getting out there and visiting/asking.)

Keep up your “PRACTICE”!!!

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