June 16, 2010 | Nick Fellers
The World’s Greatest Philanthropists Plan to Spread the ‘Giving Bug’
Business to Arts (Ireland) passed along this Fortune article. It details a plan led by Gates and Buffet which asks billionaires to give away half of their fortunes. The article: The $600Billion Challenge supposes this giving pledge could near half of an estimated $1.2Trillion in wealth.
In 2007 I read gathering of the world’s top philanthropists. It was organized by the Rockefellers. One line from the 2007 BusinessWeek article smacked me in the face: “Most philanthropists, even experienced ones, say that it’s harder to give money away effectively than it is to make it.” I wrote then that if you’re effective (at having an impact) then there’s plenty of money out there.
The things I wonder about as they relate to INCREASED PHILANTHROPY…
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If Gates and Buffet encourage more billionaires to step up this will mean (given current challenges) that we’ll see even more (maybe a lot more) challenges about giving money away EFFECTIVELY. [Note to social ENTREPRENEURS... this is a HUGE source of UNDER LEVERAGED working capital, I still think people that want to try to 'be sustainable without philanthropy' should think twice. This is a PROBLEM and you HAVE A SOLUTION.]
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The whole ‘death tax thing‘… and its impact on planned giving.
I had a beer last week with a financial planner who specializes in understanding this stuff. He says the lapse of the death tax this year is not as dramatic as it would seem. Don’t quote me my takeaways (I need to do follow-up research). He said money could flow to heirs this year tax free BUT that taxes on the sale of appreciated assets were MUCH higher… effectively taxing the funds in a different way. He also said that starting in 2011 the estate tax will increase and impact many more households. In 2009 the top tax bracket hit those with $3.5M+ estate, taxing it at 45%. In 2011 the top tier will be expanded to include all those estates valued at $1M+ and the tax will be raised to 55%!!! Think about those implications!!!
At the same time the estate tax jumps and broadens, we move into the era of the boomers that will supposedly account $100T in transfer of wealth (over the next 30 years). In other words, with our without the Billionaire’s challenge we’re going to see market forces that drive an unprecedented level of planned giving — I would think. People will plan differently… thinking, “Heck, if the government’s going to get most anyway we should think more about directing it to go where we want.” Financial planning conversations will focus much more on planning for the transfer of wealth. Just about any homeowner with a pension will qualify for the $1M threshold.
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Conclusion??? Philanthropy could continue to explode. Giving USA reported that 2009 Giving in the US dropped to $304B from $315B in 2008. This is a change of 3% (roughly). It was also only the second decline in 30 years. Given that other sectors saw 20% and 30% drops at the same time I’m not sure 3% is even significant! Tech, Housing, Banking, these have seen a MASSIVE correction. With the growth of philanthropy I often wonder if there will ever be a ‘correction’… it’s not speculative, it doesn’t form bubbles like the markets mentioned above.
With the ‘Billionaire pledge’ and the rise of estate giving this gives us some pretty cool things to think about. I can’t pick stocks to save my life so I’m not the best at predicting the future. Would love to have others weigh in on what this all means… or what it could mean.
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June 15, 2010 | Tom Suddes
The ‘idea on the back of a napkin’ is pretty impactful. For us, the ‘napkin’ is a powerful device or a metaphor for SIMPLICITY.
Some people see the 
‘NAPKIN’ and just get it. Others need to hear examples to really begin to understand the power of .
*And some people just see 2 guys with an addiction to Crayola Magic Markers!
A ‘picture’ really is worth a thousand words. In this case, the ‘picture’ is two big words and some ‘arrows’. This ‘visual’ represents everything we have learned and believe.
If you are reading this on phone or crackberry and can’t ‘see’ the napkin… here are the words:
- Impact Demands, Drives, Determines Income.
- It’s ALL about your IMPACT. Convey your VISION, MISSION, PURPOSE, CLEARLY, CONCISELY, COMPELLINGLY…
- Then, YOU GET MORE MONEY!!!
- Then, MORE MONEY EQUALS MORE, GREATER IMPACT.
- Then, check out Visual/Napkin at ForImpact.org.
*Little bit of Lion King ‘Circle of Life’ going on here, but whatever it takes to make the point! The more IMPACT you have… the more INCOME you can have… the more IMPACT you will have.
Action: Put these words, this visual, the napkin everywhere!
Share it with your Board. Begin every staff meeting with it. Even use it on Presentations.
*It’s a great 30,000’ REMINDER of WHY you do what you do.
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June 14, 2010 | Nick Fellers
How to ask funders to follow a deadline
Use an Action Forcing Event
This one goes back in the memory banks. I can’t remember the project but I know I found myself in the living room of a very decorated and venerated stud (read: people-write-multiple-books-about-this-guy). He served high up in the State Department for many years and may even have held a cabinet position during the Reagan Years. To put it in perspective, he casually recalled a meeting he once had with Saddam Hussein ‘way back when!’
We were putting together a strategy to secure leadership funding when he said to me, “Nick, I think what we need in this instance is an Action Forcing Event.”
“Working in the State Department nothing was even accomplished without an Action Forcing Event. You see… we would just make up events and special ceremonies to create deadlines… to get people to make decisions. “
And so was born: THE ACTION FORCING EVENT.
Every group project, whether it be a homework assignment in college or a $100M funding campaign comes down to getting a bunch of people to do something… in the case of the campaign it’s to MAKE DECISIONS… MAKE COMMITMENTS.
Without some sort of a timing rationale, these decisions are never made. Similarly, homework assignments in college are never finished until the night before they’re due.
Create and Action Forcing Event when you have a bunch of pending commitments and you need a reason to close. For example, after you’ve established the request, “Nick, we’re going to close this round of funding on October 15th [date of ask: July 27th]. Would it be okay to work with you to come to a decision before this date?”
On paper a request in July and a drop dead of date looks like a long time. It’s not. You’ve probably seen within your own organization requests that linger forever… years even. You can certainly close well ahead of October 15th but having this nominal ‘Action Forcing Event’ gives you a backstop… a rationale or reason to be really pushing for an answer at the end of September.
Other examples of Action Forcing Events:
- “We need to have decisions by [Date] which will help us determine how to phase the project.”
- “If we can secure $3M in commitments before May 16, we can go ahead with the build on the school starting this summer. Otherwise, we wait for another year. I’m going to be following up with you as we approach May for this reason.”
- “Nick has agreed to match all pledges (up to a total of $1M) that we secure before Dec 31. I would like to follow-up with you ahead of this date because we could DOUBLE your commitment.”
The Takeaway: Include a ‘timing rationale’ in your request, or in your follow-up, that you can use as a deadline for a decision.
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June 14, 2010 | Nick Fellers
Teleseminar Thursday: How to Ask
I’ve just opened registration for a one-hour teleseminar this Thursday.
How to Ask: The language of the ask, the close and follow-up.
1:00 – 2:00 ET / 10:00 – 11:00 PT
$25 / Free for first 50 Registrants.
Full info and registration
This seminar covers over 20 PHRASES and QUESTIONS we share in our workshops and boot camps. It’s intended to provide very practical nuts-and-bolts examples to help you visualize HOW to ask:
- New prospects
- Board members
- Long time supporters to step up
Stories and closes will include:
- How to close like Steve Jobs
- How to ask when you have no idea about capacity
- How to ask AFTER the visit — dealing with ‘what I should’ve said was….
- Three ways to ask your very best prospect to take the lead and how to follow-up when you can’t afford a ‘no’.
- Questions to help you qualify on a discovery visit
- How to make sure gifts close by a date / time
- How to address the most common objections when they come up
- How to predispose the prospect to a really really big ask
This is the first time I’m [Nick Fellers] sharing this information in a seminar format. I suspect it will quickly become the most popular if feedback from our speaking and training is any indication of the use of this content.
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June 8, 2010 | Nick Fellers
The Last Piece of the Puzzle Close
This is part of a series of ‘closes’ I’m assembling. I’m posting some on the blog at www.forimpact.org for your input/feedback and hope to have a full collection of 20+ closes to share with the For Impact readership in the coming months.
The Last Piece of the Puzzle Close is way for you to break down VERY LARGE funding goals into digestible chunks and, ultimately, one remaining chunk that creates your rationale for funding support.
Use The Last Piece of The Puzzle Close when the funding goal seems overwhelming to prospects. With this close you begin with the big goal and then break it down into puzzle pieces – accounting for each piece until you have only one piece remaining. You then ask the prospect: Would it be possible for you to help us with this piece of the puzzle?
Tim Card is one of our field coaches in the Pacific Northwest and he’s particularly effective at using this close. One of my favorite stories is about a re-start to a stalled campaign effort.
We teamed up with a Christian ministry that was two years into a $10M campaign effort. It had only raised $500K from its very best prospects. The campaign chair summed up the effort – they had several one-million-dollar prospects giving $25K – $50K.
We quickly discovered there were two reasons for the disappointingly low gifts. The first problem was a lack of any funding plan. The larger your goal (relative to the confidence of the community) the more important it is to have a funding plan – as part of your case for support. It serves as a road map for HOW you’re going to reach goal WITH the prospect’s support. People aren’t going to come through with big gifts if they can’t see a plan for success… if they are overwhelmed by the size of the goal.
The second problem was a lack of specificity with top asks. At the end of the visit someone would simply ask: Would you prayerfully considering giving whatever you can give? Not only did the $15M seem overwhelming and mysterious, families did not really have a sense of what was needed from them to reach goal.
Tim led a re-tread of the funding effort that began by revisiting top prospects. The message leading into the conversation was essentially, “We’d like to update you on where we are. We’ve learned a few things… one of them being that we need to share the plan for success and revisit support in the context of that plan. Would that be okay?”
Note: Tim was seeking ‘permission to proceed’. I think too, Tim and the organization showed incredible humility, transparency and authenticity in the approach.
Tim immediately set out to draw out the puzzle [read: funding plan].
Leading the visit, Tim would walk the prospects through an updated framework that included a conversation around the vision, funding priorities and then the NEW funding plan. As he transitioned to the funding plan he stood up to use a flip-chart. This became his ‘on-the-fly presentation tool’ where he would literally map out the plan for $13M.
- “We learned after our initial round of asks that we should try to look at this in phased pieces to make the plan more digestible. We worked with architects to split this into two phases – with the first phase at $8M.”
- “We have $1M secured and we believe we can raise at least $1M from our broad community – this includes some 800 on our mailing list.”
- “This leaves about $6M. “Based on our conversations to date, we think there are about 25 committed families and supporters with whom we can have these types of sincere conversations. [Translation – you’re not the only ones that way under gave relative to your capacity.]
- Tim would then draw out a funding pyramid that required 19 commitments (of the 25) for a total of $6M+.
1 @ $1M
2 @ $750K
3 @ $500K
5 @ $250K
8 @ $100K - “Last week we met with a family and asked them to consider taking THE LEAD on this project [checkmark next to $1M]. We also met with several families to build some momentum toward the plan [putting checkmarks next to the lower levels. “
Tim continued as needed until he felt a degree of comfort in talking to the family about funding to support the final piece of the puzzle. About ten families into the process he was visiting with a $500K prospect – a widowed woman and long time supporter of the ministry. Tim said, “Ms. Prospect, you’ve been so gracious to us. We need to thank you again for your existing commitment and we would like to ask today if you would be in the position to help us with what we think could be a final piece of this plan.”
This wonderful supporter then said what we’ve heard so many times. “I believe I can consider this. You’ve laid out a very clear plan and I appreciate the thought that’s gone into piecing this together. Does this need to be in one year or can it be over three years?”
That’s a close.
The Last Piece of the Puzzle is a concept that relies on having a funding plan. Using it as a close requires that you have tremendous comfort with the math. On the fly, you need to be able to discuss the numbers and make your best case in accounting for each piece. In fact, whether or not you ever use this as a close it will boost your confidence on the ask.
In many cases we’ll tie the last piece of the puzzle to a program as well as a dollar level. In the case above Tim could’ve asked the prospect to consider funding a specific project for $500,000.
The Takeaway: People will shut down when a goal feels insurmountable. Do the math to communicate the plan. Keep subtracting until you have one piece of the puzzle that needs funded.
Special Note: I am deliberate in choosing a Christian ministry as an example. Having worked with hundreds of faith-based organizations there is a tendency to rely on ‘the prayer close’ exclusively. There are many ways to still communicate A PLAN of some degree and you owe it to communicate what it would take from the prospect to make your project or plan happen. In other words, help the prospect to know what he or she is praying about.
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May 26, 2010 | Tom Suddes
One amazing thing happened to me in Ireland, and it’s happening to Nick and Kerry here in the States.
Forget about 300 prospects. At this given moment… it’s not about your TOP 33!
It’s all about the #1 or the #3.
I did a lot of Strategies in Ireland around the Math and the Model and the Action Plan.
In a lot of cases, we agreed that the ‘PLAN’ was 1, 2, 5 ( = 8 ).
Or, our 3 best prospects. Or 1 title sponsor/partner… 2 supporting sponsors/partners. ( Still equals 3. )
I know. This seems like all of our EGGS in 1 or 2 or 3 proverbial BASKETS!
It is what it is. Go do your thing with your best 1 or 2 or 3 ( or 8 ) BEST PROSPECTS. Good stuff will happen.
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May 25, 2010 | Tom Suddes
A quick continuation of the whole idea of STORIES and IRELAND.
In discussions last week in Ireland, there was a lot of ‘talk’ about the whole idea of ORAL storytelling. (Campfires, passed along from generation to generation, songs, etc.)
Of course, we also spent a lot of time talking about the story as the WRITTEN WORD. Playwrights, authors, poets, etc.
I would add one more way to TELL A STORY: VISUALLY!
This would make the Holy Trinity/Trilogy/Shamrock about:
ORAL STORIES. WRITTEN STORIES. VISUAL STORIES.
P.S. I don’t care HOW you do it… just TELL IT!
One of my favorite axioms around selling is that:
SELLING IS NOT TELLING!
Spewing, vomiting or unleashing a bunch of ‘words’ is not how you SELL! Now, however, I always add this line:
SELLING IS NOT TELLING (unless it’s a STORY!)
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May 24, 2010 | Tom Suddes
It Belongs To Him Who Tells It ‘Best’
No question about it. Ireland and the Irish culture IS all about STORIES!!!
The Chair of the Board of the Abbey Theatre is an amazing Champion. (BTW. Harvard Law, great connections in the States, but a truly brilliant Irishman!)
We’re working on the STORY of the Abbey Theatre. It goes back to the first Manifesto in 1899, a guy named Yeats! Teamed up with a woman, Annie, from England and Lady Gregory to put on the first performance of the Abbey Theatre in 1904!!! What a STORY!
The Abbey’s ‘problem’ is much like all of our great organizations in the States. Their STORY is multiple-themed, multiple-strands… and difficult to summarize and frame.
I think we’ve done that through a really powerful TIMELINE that basically shows YESTERDAY… TODAY… TOMORROW.
The big action item here: No matter how strong or long (or convoluted your STORY…) it still needs to be SIMPLIFIED… FRAMED… and TOLD!
Stealing one of Churchill’s opening lines:
“NEVER, NEVER, NEVER FORGET:”
SHARE THE STORY — PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY.
P.S. Saw Macbeth performed on the Abbey stage in Dublin. What an experience! Talk about a STORY!!! That Shakespeare guy has some potential. I wonder if he’s written anything else?
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May 21, 2010 | Tom Suddes
Spent an unbelievable week in Ireland last week working with absolutely ‘brilliant’ people and amazing organizations! Primarily hosted by Business to Arts (Stuart, Rowena, Andrew and Georgina) combined with a couple of terrific days with the Abbey Theatre. (Saw my first play on the Abbey stage. First Shakespeare. First Macbeth.)
Came away with sooooooo many nuggets and ideas. Thought I’d share some with American FOFI (Friends of For Impact).
ACH DÍREACH CUIR CEIST!!! (BUT JUST PUT THE QUESTION.) This is Gaelic. Leave it to the Irish to come up with a long-winded way of saying JUST ASK!!!
I love the Irish culture for its amazing STORYTELLING ability. This is one time, however, when the whole aggressive American thing might be better. Again, JUST ASK.
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May 21, 2010 | Nick Fellers
Early Bird Boot Camp Registration Ends Today at 5:00 PT
A reminder, if you’re thinking about attending the For Impact 2010 Funding Boot Camp today is the last day to take advantage of early bird pricing.
I expect that we’ll sell out some time today if everyone that’s told me they’re signing up pulls the trigger — otherwise, I’m predicting middle of next week. Either way, there are seven seats remaining.
Info and registration at http://www.forimpact.org/bootcamp.
If you can’t make it, we’ve built our Open Coaching Network to function as an online boot camp and just-in-time coaching resource. Video footage relating to ‘how to ask’ (presenting the opportunity) is packaged from previous boot camps.
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