Kimberley's Comments

Birthday parties, mother in laws, melt downs and the art of saying thank you.

2012-01-28T08:47:00.009-05:00

Eileen in 1931

My mother in law was a product of The Great Depression; as a result she had a certain way of doing things. For example: She really enjoyed her food AND would eat every morsel on her plate – even if she was full. She always had lipstick on and her hair sprayed. On the occasions when she and I would go out for lunch, she would have only two vodka martinis - never three! (A mistake I made only once.) My mother in law expected that children should, at all times be happy, polite and obedient – especially when we had company. There was also a certain protocol around gift giving. Eileen was very generous and really enjoyed giving presents. It took me about six years of marriage to learn the four phases of her gift giving protocol - the most important of which is phase 3: the thank you. If that went wrong the entire visit had an air of tension around it.

As a young mother who believed it was okay to let children run around naked, to breastfeed and sleep in bed with us until THEY no longer felt it necessary and who encouraged them to explore their “independence” and express their real feelings – sometimes my mother in law’s expectations didn’t always match the reality of our home. (Except for the martini part – we did that well together from the beginning.)

Our children were both born at the end of May and were only two years apart so I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that our baby, Chase, often had his birthday celebration tacked onto his older sister’s. This lasted until he started to figure it out. There was one memorable birthday in particular. The year they turned 5 and 3 – 2001. Our daughter Skye was falling in love with horses, so of course both kids had a horse theme, my girlfriend brought her pony to our house and all the kids had a fabulous time riding it.

After the frenzy of the piñata candy, games, cake and pony rides it was time for Nan to give the kids her gifts. Any parent out there will know that I had orchestrated the worst possible time in this busy day for such an important ritual. I take full responsibility for the outcome.

Our guests gone, it was finally quiet and we went into the sitting room where Nan had two big gifts on her lap. It was time for phase one of the gift giving ritual: polite conversation, in this circumstance reflections of the party. When that was done and since Skye was oldest she received her gift first. Setting a prime example for the remaining phases of the gift receiving ritual: Phase two: express joy upon seeing the gift. Phase three: get up, hug and kiss Nan, look her in the eyes and say thank you (sometimes more than once). Phase three: show the world your gift – in this case put on the hat and turn around.

This was a facebook profile pic for awhile
So I think it is okay to use it.
(besides - it is the only pic we have of the hat!)

Now it was Chase’s turn. Barely able to contain himself he tolerated the well-intentioned but not so fun teasing about whether he thought the next present was for him. He finally secured his gift, tore it open and found… a cowboy hat. Just like his sisters, only a different colour. At this point, my tired, strung out on sugar three year old son deviated from the gift giving ritual, hurled the cowboy hat to the floor and very sincerely asked. “Is that all? Do you have another present?” Upon hearing a shocked, mortified and jaw dropping “No!” my poor son, who was much larger than most three year olds burst into tears and turned to me to for comfort. Dramatically seeking much needed solace in the only place that my distraught three year old - and many others around the world- can find it in circumstances as devastating as this - under my shirt desperately blubbering our code word: ‘leche’. The party was over. All four phases of the giving ritual had failed miserably and we had given Eileen yet another reason to be appalled and had to scurry upstairs for a ‘nap’.

Eileen in 2009

Now dear reader, you may be asking yourself what on earth this has to do with fundraising? Well, a lot actually. Every time I hear the classic debate about asking for another gift in a thank you letter I think about what my mother in law’s response would have been. Eileen MacKenzie, had a very high opinion of the good work that charities do and was proud of her donations. However, she had a very low opinion of the people who raise the money for charity work to happen. In fact, Eileen had specifically asked me not to talk about my work with her friends. This is not atypical. Fundraising as a profession is still not given the respect it deserves. I have had major donors tell me in person that they don’t feel I should be paid for what I do – that is another blog post. As professional fundraisers we must gently match people who have money to give, with charities that align with their values.

My point is that the majority of donors are from an older generation and we can assume that they share the similar values as my mother in law. With few exceptions, my experience has proven this for me in dozens of conversations with my donors over the years. If my mother in law had received a solicitation in a thank you letter she would have called all fundraisers ‘greedy bastards’ and would have felt regretful about her previous gift. (note: I know we have to innovate, I know donors are changing, but the fact still remains that the majority of funds come in through the mail and in major gifts from donors over 55 years old the data will tell you that)

There are no absolutes in this business, however, I believe that fundraising is not about aggressive direct marketing techniques that have a high churn rate and make more money. I’m happy to leave that with the corporate sector, those days are gone for us. Fundraising and philanthropy are about people making a difference together. When done well it should feel good to give and it should feel good to receive. This is a people based, emotional business. This profession, at the core, is based on good human relationships. That is why a thank you – JUST gratitude and nothing else - is so important. After that we need to pause, report impact and then EARN the next gift.

There has been a lot of controversy lately about this word ‘relationship’ and the idea of ‘Relationship Fundraising’. Since this post is three times longer than recommended I’ll save the bulk of that argument for another time.

I’ll just end with this. I am very grateful that early in my career (2002), through an inter library loan, I ordered a book called Relationship Fundraising by Ken Burnett. It took four weeks to get to me from a small library in Northern Ontario. (Sorry Ken I don’t remember where exactly.) In that book I learned two important lessons that make up the core of how I approach this profession:

1. If we focus on building good respectful relationships between our donors, ourselves and our organizations the money will follow.

2. Money is a means to an end – it isn’t the objective.

I know that data is important for strategic decisions, I also know that good business practices are essential and I appreciate that much of Relationship Fundraising is anecdotal and not evidence based. Except for this: MY evidence. A very small sample I know. Over the past eight years (as far back as I started tracking) and through two recessions, by focussing on relationships instead of dollars the two organizations that I have worked for have consistently achieved double digit growth. In 2010 over 16.5% (it will be more for 2011 the fiscal isn’t over yet) and up to 35% growth on average per year from 2004 – 2009. This is not an exaggeration, I check with the director of finance annually to confirm this track record. By making relationships the priority the organizations I work for have been able to do this during a time when a lot of fundraisers are moaning about recessions.

I am very proud to be a member of what has recently been referred to as the ‘Relationship Fundraising Cult’ because I know it works. Get me the T-Shirt, I’ll wear it proudly. I also know that a lot of people and organizations don’t really understand what it means nor do they do it very well. (Yet another blog post.)

In conclusion, I’m happy to report that my relationship with my mother in law survived the birthday party of 2001 and it was a great privilege for me to be by her side when she died a somewhat peaceful death at 84 after a very short bout with cancer in 2010. You may also be relieved to know that my children are no longer breastfeeding and prefer to sleep by themselves with their laptops for company instead of me. Perhaps that is something else to worry about...

Finally, I believe that relationships between organizations and donors will be damaged if our thank you letters are tarnished with a solicitation. Gratitude ought to be pure, sincere and 100% about what the donor has been able to achieve for the world with their gift.

Skye still rides horses

Chase is allergic to them and prefers Basketball

I now have my very own copy of this book.
~~I would be happy to share it with you.~~
.Ooops I meant click here to buy your own

Thank you for spending time here

The balance between ambition and contentment

2012-01-14T13:58:00.004-05:00

Anyone who has worked with me, lived with me or just hung out with me will tell you that I am rarely satisfied. It is true; I am constantly pushing. I always want more. Not stuff – goodness knows I have too much stuff already. I want to do more, learn more, write more, share more and change more. I rarely celebrate accomplishments and often miss them entirely. If you had asked me six months ago, even two months ago, I would have claimed these traits as assets. I think I've changed my mind.

My epiphany started at a retreat recently hosted by networker extraordinaire Paul Nazareth. In the days since, I’ve come to realize that this ambition and drive that pushes me, and those around me, can also be a liability.

So my very late New Year’s resolution will be to strive for more contentment and I’ll tell you how I’m going to do that in a minute. First I must tell you about the retreat.

Purpose: As quoted in the invite from Paul: “We all attend too many "sessions" and "conferences" this is a chance to meet people and have a real, quality human connection and discuss issues and challenges if comfortable. If not, a quiet natural space to just spend a quiet moment”

Our agenda: Introductions and lunch

The place: A wonderful farmhouse in the heart of the Caledon Hills

The rules: no twitter

Who was there: A diverse group of people - for profit and non-profit folks, novices and veterans, social media junkies and other more well-rounded human beings. We were all connected to Paul some way and many of us really needed time to slow down.

Paul didn't even wear a suit!

The day was perfect; the people were warm, open, kind and interesting. We had great conversations about dogs, planned giving, personal growth and a number of other things. I even was treated to a knitting lesson from Anne Rosenfield and saw Paul in something other than a suit! The really sticky bit of the day for me was something that Colleen Bradley shared during a short structured group conversation. In her coaching work Colleen encourages people to make a list of 100 things they are grateful for. Mundane things like…a clean bathroom sink or minted toothpicks.

I confess to having heard of this before. I am even a proud owner of a dog eared copy of The Book of Awesome. Perhaps it was Colleen’s calm, gentle and inspiring presence or maybe it was because of the opportunity to pause and really listen, since the retreat I’ve started having small random thoughts of thankfulness. During these moments of purposeful gratitude I’ve come to realize that I also feel a moment of contentment. It is really nice.

So on this blog post I’m going to start my list here. I will continue sharing on twitter and facebook in the hope that perhaps you will also post small things you are grateful for and together we can share this positive energy that is created

Today I am grateful for:

1. Quiet

2. Dry clean MATCHED socks

3. My daughter

4. My son

5. My husband

6. A loving home

7. That we have enough food

8. That my puppy cuddles under blankets and warms my feet

9. A black shirt with no dog hair on it

10. Warm, clean soapy dishwater

11. When the entire kitchen is clean

12. Afternoon naps

13. Fireplaces

14. Nice hotels

15. Homemade pasta

16. When the 5:30am bus is warm

17. People who have had a profound impact on my personal and professional life:

18. High School Drama teacher Paul Kershaw

19. College Drama teacher Kathryn Shaw

20. ED at my first fundraising job Carol Luck

21. Current boss Caroline Schultz

22. Fundraiser Ken Burnett

23. My host in Nepal Ram Adhar Kapar

24. Passionate donors who REALLY care

25. Fresh snow on the car that doesn’t have ice under it

26. Sunsets

27. Sex

28. Wet dewy cool summer mornings

29. Crickets in August

30. The sound of Chase playing piano

31. The sound of Skye playing guitar

32. The amazing people who teach my children

33. When my puppy goes OUTSIDE to “relieve himself”

34. Nepal

35. India

36. The blue lagoon spa in Iceland

37. The Netherlands

38. Clean laundry

39. Sunday brunch

40. A full gas tank

41. Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

42. Puppies who keep me warm while I’m blogging

This list will continue…

Those of us who exist to serve, who have made it our mission to create a better world, must constantly strive to do more. We must be driven and ambitious for ourselves and our organisations. We must also make time to pause every day and be grateful for small miracles. It is kind of like putting your own oxygen mask on first, the world needs us to be well.

Ambition IS an asset – when balanced with gratitude and contentment.

Will you join me and start a list of gratitude? What are you thankful for today? Please share.

Thank you for spending time here.

Anyone can thank a donor. Just do it!

2011-12-10T13:22:00.003-05:00

December is a fabulous month. This is the time year where we make a special effort to connect with people who are important to us. Many of us decorate our homes. We make special foods that are high in fat, sugar and ingredients we don’t normally use like dried fruits, nuts and cardamom. I love the smells, tastes and sounds of December.

If you work as a fundraiser in a charity December has an added dimension. This month can fly by in blur. All of your revenue channels are extremely active and suddenly your donors are ringing with special requests to be processed before year end. This is good. You should be busy at this time of year. Raising less money or being less busy simply isn’t an option when you are working to improve lives for people, animals and the environment.

In our office volumes have easily tripled. We have several direct mailings coming in, reports for corporate donors to prepare, a large campaign finishing up with a strong online component, major donor events, meetings and solicitations as well as pending deadlines for budgeting and planning for next year. Perhaps the most exciting piece is that for the first time in several years we have reintroduced a direct mail acquisition campaign. And the really good news is that people are responding. But last week I had a concern. Can you guess what it was?

Brilliant! You are of course right. I was worried about the new donors.

Acquisition is a big investment and it is very VERY exciting when the mail arrives. When I see new donors signing up I feel like Sally Field when she won the Oscar – “You like me; right now you really like me!” (Well, not me of course but you know what I mean)

I especially like the donations of $2.00 and $5.00 in cash that come in. So what is the concern?

You are so smart. That’s right – fast forward to the second gift. “Right now” they like us…what about three months from now? In order to build a strong base of support we must secure a second gift. And how do we do that? We need to earn it.

First time donors need to know that their donation to your organization was a good decision. They need to know we value them. They need to know their gift made a difference about something they care about. We must tell them these things and we must do it quickly.

It is so easy to write about best practices in isolation. It is far more difficult to implement them in a hectic and small fundraising shop. The perfect welcome pack and thank you letter looks easy in a blog post or in an exhibit on the beloved SOFII. But when you add implementing good stewardship practices to a complex mix of activities at such a busy time of year, even the simplest things can be onerous. Can seem impossible.

Implementing best stewardship practices in the trenches of a busy small fundraising shop in December is not easy. Still, I would argue that good stewardship is even more important in smaller organizations since we don’t have the large churn of donors that mega organizations have.

So what is the solution?

Ask for help.

In our organization we sent an email to all staff and invited them to help us thank donors. We now have a team of people who, in addition to their busy jobs, have agreed to be part of our Stellar Stewardship Team. Within a week of receiving their gift, often before we can process their donation, our new donors will know that we received their donation and are grateful. They will be told that we truly care about them and that they are now an important part of our community. Their tax receipt will follow and an impact statement won’t be far behind. We will get to processing the gifts as soon as we can, right now the most important thing is to say thank you.

As far as I’m concerned anyone in the organization can thank a donor. So, this is a shout out to the awesome stewardship team that I work with. Thank you for making time to go above and beyond your job description for our donors. Thank you for helping spread a culture of philanthropy throughout our organization. Thank you all for helping us to EARN that second gift.

I think there are times when we need to put the idea of “best practice” aside and just do what we can today to let our donors know they are truly appreciated and that their donation is important. I believe, this is how we will earn that second gift.

What is your big challenge this month and how will your organization innovate in order to rise above it?

Merry Christmas and thank you for spending time here,

Emily Post's Twitter Etiquette

2011-12-03T10:56:00.002-05:00

Many of you probably remember IFC 2009. What you might not remember is that there was a twitter hashtag for it. Howard Lake, JohnLepp, a few others and I were pioneers. (sorry I don’t remember the “few others”, so please claim your cyber moment in the comments). At IFC 2009 we tweeted for the first time - that we were aware of - from a fundraising conference. In fact, I even walked the halls of IFC with John on Skype so that he could “be there”.

Two years later, tweeting from a conference is now a big part of the experience. Conference committees initiate hashtags, we have twitter boards in public areas so you can follow the online conversation and this year at congress, AFP Toronto Chapter even appointed an official twitter team.

The AFP Toronto twitter team was made up of people who have “more advanced” twitter skills. They have followers, understand the medium and have carved a place for themselves in realm of social media. This is excellent, I’m very proud of my AFP chapter and colleague Sylvie Labrosse for trying something new and formally organizing this aspect of congress for AFP. A lot of new people joined twitter and participated in the online conversations. IRL (in real life) experiences with twitter groups were incredibly fun. There was more twitter action at this conference than any other I have witnessed. This is all good stuff. A positive evolution.

And of course with any new innovation questions are bound to surface. Skeptics will emerge. Faux Pas will be made. Boundaries will be crossed. And then we need to ask ourselves: How can we make this better next time?

After Gail Perry’s excellent session on the soft side of major giving I started to ask myself what is the twitter etiquette? If Emily Post were to write a new book about the online social space, what would she say? I thought of a couple of things and I hope you will add more in the comments.

Tweeting in sessions

If you are the speaker, ask at the beginning of the session if anyone is tweeting. This lets other people in the room understand that something good is happening with the phones and that people generally aren’t being rude and texting about rubbish. (hopefully) Next establish some ground rules. For example: I encourage tweets (because which speaker on the planet wouldn’t want their wisdom broadcast across the internet!) but I ask that you don’t tweet donor stories or anecdotes that I might share about my work. Those stories are the reason you pay and invest the time to be there in person.

If you are the delegate tweeting BE NICE!

I remember this tweet from last year: “Wow so many people walking out of this “so and so’s” session is a total fail.”

I simply do not know what would motivate someone to tweet that and frankly it is a little embarrassing for everyone. A different view point is fine, healthy debates are good but some tweets just seem mean. Don’t tweet anything about a person that you wouldn’t have the courage to say to them in real life.

Establish some boundaries

Fundraising conferences can be incredibly fun. Fundraisers work hard, are often misunderstood, have extraordinary pressure from all sides of the organization. When we get together with peers sometimes we need to let off a little steam. I think this is something one needs to experience in real life. At a certain point the phones need to be put away and the party needs to become private.

For example: Harvey McKinnon and I like to dance as if no one is watching. You are welcome to join us anytime. But it isn’t pretty – in fact it is a wonder that people don’t end up hospitalized. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that the spectacle does NOT need to be on the internet. Just come dance with us.

Further, use your smartsense when tweeting from a cocktail party. Before you publish a photo of someone with drinks in their hand or looking slightly intoxicated stop and ask yourself: Would I put this up on the internet if it was me? Will this picture add value to anyone’s life? Or is the photo too gossipy?

Again the twitter team did a fabulous job last week and I congratulate them for their leadership and commitment to this new dimension of conferences. Emily Post did all major gift fundraisers a great service all those years ago. It is important to have a good base of etiquette to draw on in high end social situations. I feel the time has come for Miss Manners to write a new online version for tweeting in social situations. Or at the very least before we tweet from a conference we could ask ourselves:

What would Emily Post do?

If you were to write a Miss Manner’s book for tweeting in social situations what would you be sure to include? Let’s talk about it.

Thank you for spending time here,

PS Another question surfaced about whether people should have two twitter accounts - one for business and one for more personal tweets. I thought that might fit into this post but it is a different topic so it deserves its own page.

A lesson in good fundraising and a story about a walk in the mountains

2011-11-11T19:47:00.001-05:00

After spending about a week doing charity work in the Kathmandu and the Terai Region of Nepal I had a few days for rest, writing and reflection in a touristy mountain village called Nagarkot.

It was the festival weekend of Diwali and sitting on the balcony of my little mountain hut I could hear singing and music below. I wanted to visit the villages and see the people. So Ram, the host of my hotel (which is so remote you have to pay cash and it does not have a website) drew me this map.

This map follows a trail that is essentially straight down and took me past a small cheese factory, a school and through several villages. My final destination was a village called Baluwa Pati.

The trail was a narrow local one and along the way I saw many children in their uniforms heading up the mountain to school.

First there were teenagers obviously having to go all the way up to Nagarkot. They greeted me with a polite “Namaste” and some snickers. At times I felt like some of them were secretly laughing at me, a silly lone western women who was likely to get lost on their small trails. But they were polite and a few even posed for pictures.

A little further down, past the small school in the mountain side were younger children. Their “NAMASTE’s” were all in capital letters - enthusiastic and very excited. These children gladly stopped to have their picture taken. Some of them even practiced their English with a shy and quiet “good morning”.

It was a perfect walk, all downhill, warm but not hot.I loved seeing all the people, their homes carved into the side of the mountain, carrying on with normal morning chores like dishes, laundry and feeding livestock.

Eventually my interactions with the children changed. Those who weren’t at school, were still happy to have their photograph taken. The only difference is after I took the photo, instead of ‘namaste’ (good morning) or “dahanyavad” (thank you) they said: “Rupies?… one rupee?” and they followed me with their hand stretched out. At first I didn’t know what was happening. I was still experiencing the euphoria of a pleasant walk down a mountain. Then I figured it out. The expected exchange after a photograph, was a reward. After several refusals of a rupee solicitation, the asks were automatically downgraded to “chocolate?” and then “crayons?”

When I look at the amazing photos I've collected I think back and wonder if perhaps it was a fair exchange and if I should have paid for the photos. But at the time being repeatedly solicited was getting annoying. I began to dislike the mountain people of Nepal and wished to be back in the Terai region. (I also became angry at every westerner before me who taught these children to beg. But that is a topic for another blog.)

I started to see these adorable little people as annoying urchins. I stopped making eye contact, didn’t bother with my camera and there was no way anyone was going to get a rupee!

THIS…I thought to myself, is probably EXACTLY what donor fatigue feels like.

I finally reached Baluwa Pati. A nice little place. It had more buildings than the other villages. There was also a store and a school. I had obviously reached the source of the Diwali music and the party from the night before. But, my mood to become absorbed in local culture was ruined. I just wanted to get back to the sanctuary of my quiet little off the grid room. It was then that I turned around for the first time to look up toward Nagarkot. SHIT! To reach my hotel, which I could almost see, I would need a rocket ship. It turns out that a “leisurely” walk in Nepal comes at a very high cost. There aren't any photos of this dark moment.

Then I saw the motorcycle. It was red. It was shiny. It was brand new. It appeared to be the only vehicle in the village! I needed to find the owner and beg him for a ride. I started to ask who owned the bike. No one seemed to know. No one seemed to understand. The driver was not to be found. The entire village was now surfacing, but no one spoke English and no one knew who owned this bike.

Some young men stopped their gambling to approach me. They saw that I was obviously in over my head and gestured to a rundown truck behind a building and said, “3,000 rupees.” This felt too much like extortion. I would walk up! They followed for a while and I suddenly felt very vulnerable.

Enter Prakash, a boy of 15 years old.

Prakash noticed that I was unsure of my route. He saw that I wanted to get away from the gambling men. He saw that I was tired and alone in a foreign land. He saw that I was physically weak. He also knew that I had rupees in my backpack.

Prakash was polite, spoke my language and was well groomed. Further, Prakash offered me something I needed - assistance getting back to Nagarkot and the safety of having a guide.

We did have to walk. But we walked slowly, we talked along the way. He was confident with our route. Prakash also fed me bits of information along the way - like he was an orphan and how difficult it was to stay in school. He was patient with my slow pace and very gracious about the fact that I did not share the little water I had left. I made a choice to trust him.

Two hours into our walk I told Prakash that I would give him 300 rupees to thank him. He told me that with 500 he could get a new school uniform. At this I smiled with admiration. Not because I believed him but because Prakash is probably the very best fundraiser I had ever met. I gave him 500 rupees and told him I could manage the rest on my own. He then skipped up the mountain and out of site.

For the rest of that uphill climb, I thought about the donor journey and what motivates people to give. I was solicited about a dozen times by people who just seemed to feel they deserved my money because I had it and they didn’t. This wore me down and made me grumpy. Prakash offered me a service, moved at my pace, slowly shared information and earned my financial support. Support that I gave willingly with no solicitation – AND then he upgraded me with a very specific ask!

So dear reader, I hope that you will also think about whether you are truly EARNING the support of your donors through good service or just demanding a donation because you feel your charity deserves it. I will always remember what it feels like to be treated like an ATM and will always remember Prakash's skills as one of the very best donor centred fundraisers I have ever met.

And yes eventually I did make it back to Nagarkot.

Thank you for spending sooo much time here today,

Nepal post #3 - Rolling up our sleeves

2011-10-21T20:56:00.009-04:00

As you know Anna Walsh and I are working in Nepal for a couple of weeks. Yesterday we met the staff in the Kathmandu office of the Rural Community Development Service Council (RCDSC).

The purpose of the day was a briefing to help us better understand the work of the RCDSD and the complexities of the social society in Nepal. Sounds pretty typical.

But it was anything from it for Anna and me.

This visit was probably the best charity visit ever in the HISTORY of visits!

When we arrived all the staff came out to greet us. They had the biggest smiles and Anna and I finished the greeting with our arms full of flowers. I think it fair to say that we both felt a little overwhelmed and once again humbled.

We were guided to a meeting room with no table and only one chair. The chair was for me. I thanked them for their thoughtfulness and accepted a cushion on the floor.

Once we were all seated everyone took turns standing up and introducing themselves. It was clear that they had rehearsed their introductions and we were very touched.

We then rolled up our sleeves and got to work. The playing field was level. We were all fundraisers working for ways to make life better for the marginalized people of Nepal.

Also proud to say we only used the chair once...to keep our flowers safe and in view. In time I will upload a video of a portion of this meeting but given the random internet access I think it best to share some photos with you for today.

Tomorrow we will be heading out into the field and I will post again when a reliable internet connection can be found.
I am currently blogging from a lobby computer in Nepal and uploading more pics seems to be challenging. But I could do it on facebook so have a look at the album here
You can read posts #1 and #2 about working in Nepal here and here.
Thank you for joining us on this adventure.

Nepal post #2 - Flooding in Mahottari

2011-10-19T14:45:00.001-04:00

In early October I received the letter below from Ram Kapar. You will remember I talked about meeting him and my working vacation in Nepal that starts tomorrow in my post here.

If you don't have time to read the entire letter just skim it down to see more images of the floods at the bottom.

Dear Kimberley,

Rural Community development Service Council (RCDSC) is a Non-profit organization in Nepal.RCDSC has been working in the Terai Region of Nepal for
more than a decade now and has been continuously supporting the needy
people as and when necessary especially, in natural calamities. At
present, due to continuous rain for three days, there is flood in our
working area and the houses of people are drowned. People’s personal
belongings like clothes, cooking pots etc are seen floating. The
government is trying its best to support the needy community but the
resources are not reaching out to the real helpless community. Around
45,000 poor people have lost their houses (made up of clay and bricks),
lost their belongings and more than 15 children are missing. People are
running out their homes seeking shelter in flood-free area but since the
flood is everywhere in the region there is no way out. The livelihood of
the community is at risk due to unavailability of food, drinking water,
road access and almost everything. Road way has been completely blocked,
electricity is cut-off and food stored at house is swept away or is
overflowed by water.

The condition is more pathetic in Mahottari and Dhanusha district as the
embankment of river has been damaged and the water is flowing into
Jaleswar Municipality. It is obvious that the community of the region is
sure to bear water borne diseases and epidemics. First aid kids and packed
foods are the immediate need to reduce humanitarian casualties and
suffering from reaching out to panic.

Therefore, RCDSC likes to request you to forward this message to as many
support organizations as possible such that RCDSC will work this year too
like previous years for reducing fatalities and from spreading of diseases
and rehabilitation of poor people's residence after the flood is
controlled.

I have attached photograph of the area where our social workers could
reach out capturing the flood of the area for your kind information and
comprehend the situation live.

Thanking for kind and generous support from you in this regards

Ram Adhar Kapar
Chairperson

Thank you for spending time here,

From the fundraising trenches of Canada to the fundraising trenches of Nepal

2011-10-19T14:26:00.006-04:00

At the moment I am nursing a hangover. Not the mind numbing hangover induced by over consumption, but a physical one that can only be earned from 20 hours of traveling to the other side of the world.

As I write this, I am sitting in a tightly manicured garden (above) in New Delhi, India where the air is hanging thick with heat and moisture. There is a symphony of birds in the trees above and car horns are honking incessantly in the distance. Here I am once again, with the familiar humble feeling that I have much more to learn from this wonderful land and the magnificent people here than I could possibly teach.

I wish I could start this story by saying I have an extensive background in International Development and a deep understanding of the complex issues faced by charities in South East Asia and specifically Nepal. Surely a degree in something could be useful at this juncture. Sitting here with my swollen feet and my sandy eyes, I’ve come to realize that the only possible way to begin this story is to start by telling you about how I first met Ram Adhar Kapar.

Ram is the Chairperson for the Rural Community Development Service Council (RCDSC) based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The RCDSC is a civil society organization dedicated to the rights of excluded groups and communities in the Terai region.

The RCDSC also has a national scope and is very much a leader of social change in the country.

I first met Ram while doing research for a trip to Jaipur, India in 2008. I was going there to speak about SOFII at the South Asian Fundraising Group Workshop. Ram and I quickly decided to meet in Jaipur and discuss some strategic organizational and funding issues for the RCDSC.

When I first sat down in person with Ram and he told me about the marginalized Dalit people and the way the RCSDC works to help them lead a sustainable life, with dignity and respect in the society I was deeply moved. Ram’s passion is intense – in fact it was contagious. I was also impressed with how very smart, patient and committed he is to strengthening the capacity of his organization and reducing their reliance on international aid. You can read more about the current situation in the Mahottari and Dhanusha districts here.

It must also also be said that Ram is the most determined man I have ever met. In spite of over two years of my protests and reminding him that, at the moment, I am not a full time consultant, Ram has convinced me to spend my holiday in Nepal visiting the people he works with and learning more about his country.

So, this year instead of going to the International Fundraising Conference, I’ll be learning about international fundraising in the trenches of Kathmandu. And for better or worse, instead of an academic degree, I’ll bring forward a deep curiosity about the issues and the local people. I also hope to share my experience of fundraising in the trenches of Canada in a way that will be meaningful and helpful for fundraising in the trenches of Nepal.

Together, and with my travel companion and colleague Anna Walsh we will work on how to tell the story of the Nepalese Dalit people and the work of RCDSC in a way that compels people around the world to become engaged and make donations to help.

Please check back often to read our stories so that together we will learn more about the joys and challenges of fundraising in one of the poorest countries in the world.

Thank you for joining me for this adventure.

PS In fact tomorrow in Kathmandu will be the first time Anna and I meet beyond twitter. How we came to be traveling together will be a blog post in and of itself.

The evolution of a blog - one fundraiser's experience

2011-10-10T09:34:00.004-04:00

When I started blogging I read a book to learn how to start. A real, hardcopy book. "Blogging for dummies" or something. Then a colleague told me to post three times a week. Advice I took seriously. If you go to the very first few months of this blog you will see a lot of mediocre posts. I'll leave them there for your entertainment.

About one year later a mentor told me to stop posting rubbish. To go for quality not quantity. It was a painful lesson. I was very proud of my blog. But he was right. So posts became less frequent and longer.

There are a few posts that people seemed to like more than others and perhaps it is worth reminding you of them:

My first post in 2008

Leadership

Legacies

Working with a Board of Directors

Working with consultants

SOFII

Getting unstuck

Being "Donor Centred"

A blog is a place to share ideas and thoughts when you feel you have something that is worth sharing. It evolves over time as you do. For me this blog also serves to chronicle my growth - personally and professionally.

Over the next few weeks I'll be starting a new adventure. I'll be using my vacation time to travel to Nepal where I will learn about the challenges and joys of international fundraising ...from the trenches. This blog will be my place to share stories of the experience with you. So please stay tuned. Our adventure is about to begin.

Thank you for spending time here,

Faith, Focus, Discipline and Kindness

2011-05-25T05:50:00.000-04:00

Recently someone said to me:

"It seems like that's what you do. Your a last minute kind of girl."

That got me thinking because yes there are times when I do spend a lot more time in the IMPORTANT/URGENT box instead of the preferred IMPORTANT/NON URGENT box.

So I've been thinking why is that? Well sometimes it is just the reality of working in the trenches of a generalist fundraising shop. Spring is always busy. This year especially. In the past five weeks I have:

- presented annual results and new plans to the board
- launched a major fundraising campaign
- hosted a donor event for 80 people
- written and produced an annual report
- planning a brand new session (upon request not from my head) for AFP

Sometimes I have had to email my staff and tell them that I'm unavailable for everything - except my priority. Anything they need that has to do with the event, the campaign or the annual report, well...that's all I can think about. Focus. Delivery is about focus. But what about all that other stuff? It is still there. In my head, keeping me awake.

Most recently I've been worrying about my AFP session. There simply wasn't any room in my brain for it. When I was asked for my slides a few weeks ago I just laughed out loud and said - sorry not possible.

But this morning a miracle happened. I woke up with an outline, references and a vision for worksheets and tools. How did that happen? Well...I think it is because yesterday I also sent off the content of my Annual Report to the copy editor. The week before our major campaign launched, the week before 80 people were fed and a newsletter was written and the week before I had a major presentation to make to my board of directors.

Yes I might be a "Last minute" girl. But that is only because to do things well I need to focus on them. When there is space made in my brain the next important thing that was waiting takes over and falls into place. While it would be nice to have more time in between major tasks the reality is that fundraisers in the trenches have no control over how quickly things are going to come at us. Especially in a dynamic organization that is growing.

What is the learning here?

I think it is that in order to be remarkable - we need to be focussed, we need to have faith, discipline and finally we need to be kind - to ourselves.

Faith that we know what we are doing.

Focus on doing one thing really well at a time.

Discipline to not get distracted by things that won't help achieve our current objective.

Kindness to ourselves with understanding that sometimes are busier than others and we can only do what we can do.

I am very much looking forward to my session at AFP next week and after that - I think I'll do some gardening.

Thank you for spending time here,

"We messed up." When bad timing makes for bad PR. How would you respond?

2011-04-28T20:56:00.010-04:00

Yesterday devastating tornados tore across the southern United States and close to 300 people died.

Yesterday Backcountry.com tried a fresh new approach and sent out an email entitled: "Mother Nature hates you. Deal with it."

It would seem that yesterday was also the day when a bold risk from an outdoor gear company and the weather clashed.

My honeymoon( 16 years ago!) took place above the tree line in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. I get the idea behind the approach. A good gortex jacket can make or break an outdoor experience. On its own this is refreshing marketing. Yesterday was just bad timing.

So what did Backcountry.com do?

They were proactive, took responsibility (even though I'm not sure they should have) and apologized. Here is the email we received today:

Subject: Apology for yesterdays email

Dear Craig,

We messed up. Yesterday, as the people of Alabama dealt with the devastating aftermath of an intensely damaging and life-taking tornado, we neglected to put a stop to the distribution of an email with the header: "Mother Nature hates you. Deal with it." This was extremely insensitive and offensive, and we are so sorry.

Please accept our sincerest apologies for this mistake. What was intended to be witty marketing copy may have been when we wrote these words two weeks ago, but in light of current events and the suffering of people affected by Mother Nature's wrath, it is not only not witty, it is completely unacceptable. We at Backcountry.com send our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and to everyone now faced with rebuilding their homes and their communities.

And again, we extend our sincerest apologies for our lack of foresight and our complete insensitivity in sending yesterday's email.

Sincerely,
Jill Layfield
CEO
Backcountry.com

Now I'm pretty sure that no one could have forseen two weeks ago the devastating impact this tornado would have, or even the tornado itself. I also think that our dear friend Jill may have gone a bit overboard with her humility and apologies. However, their swift action in drafting this email and sending it out admitting that they were insensitive and apologizing is very cool public relations. They turned on a dime and because of that I'll shop there more often. Will you?

Thanks for spending time here.

Superhero Brain Dump – how to transform your team

2011-04-22T08:14:00.005-04:00

Do you work with Superheros? I do. It is just that they didn’t know it until they had a chance to flex their Superhero muscles.

Staff transitions can be difficult, especially if it is a senior position and particularly when that position is the Director of Fundraising. It wasn’t any different in my organization when I started eighteen months ago. The development department had just come through a challenging time and I think it is okay to say there was a lot of blame, fatique and apathy. Going further into details would be disrespectful to the people who were there, the people who left and the organization, suffice it to say that we needed a Superhero.

One night while I was whining to my husband about how it felt like everyone was expecting me to be the saviour, the Superhero, Craig just flipped it around and said “Make them the Superheros.”

Allright I’ll admit it, there was an empty bottle of Pinot Noir between us so we were feeling… shall we say…extra creative. But the next morning over coffee we revisited the idea and I thought it was still a good one. I looked up the definition of Superhero and found:

“A fictional character of unprecedented powers dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest.”

First I wondered exactly what ‘derring-do’ was and how I might use that word more in everyday life, then I wondered why do these characters need to be fictional? This definition sounds a lot like fundraisers to me.

On Monday I prepared this agenda:
What: Superhero Brain Dump
When: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Where: Mission Control (aka The boardroom)
Mission Objective: To learn more about what we do, who we are and how we work together
Come prepared to answer the following question:
1. If you were a Superhero what powers would you use to do your job?
For example: An environmental scientist might say they have the Superhero ability to clean water and air by talking to plants

2. What does your Superhero look like? (be prepared to draw it)

3. How does your Superhero contribute to the protection of wild animals and wild spaces in Ontario?

Then I pressed send and nobody said a word for the rest of the week.

Tuesday, September 29th came around and everyone dutifully arrived at “Mission Control”. I started the meeting with what I think is a very important question that should be asked at the beginning of every meeting:

What do you want to get out of this meeting?
Silence. Then finally one brave soul put the elephant on the table:“I want to know what the heck you are talking about.” Great – we now had a tone of candour and honesty. I could start.

I explained my objectives for the meeting which were:

- To try something new and refreshing
- To throw everyone out of their comfort zone
- To shift thinking to a more creative place
- To stop fundraising and to start inspiring action

Then I asked for trust.

Over the next two hours I was introduced to the most incredible Superheros I had ever heard of.

Funder Woman
Super powers: limitless memory about donor details, whenever someone wants to make a donation she would instantly appear before them, expert Raiser’s Edge skills and exceptional donor care.

Herspecia (Funder Woman’s sidekick)
Super powers: Ability to master any heavy piece of equipment like photocopiers or postage machines, psychic ability to learn more about what people need instead of running in circles, able to zap information into Raiser’s Edge.

Elestech Girl
Super powers: Can change into any shape to fit their surroundings, all her powers help other people do their work, the ability to read minds.

Moustical Minor
Super powers: Ability to sniff out donors and prospects, sneaky researcher, able to sniff out knowledge from people brains and enter into database.

Finally me The Integrator

Super powers: Ability to shift 90 degress to see everything we do internally and externally from the donor’s perspective, to quickly see the big picture, to integrate fundraising functions with programming to ensure mission delivery.

We all drew pictures of our alter egos on flip chart and posted them up on the wall. As we sat there we marvelled together at how all of these amazing abilities, when combined, did incredible things. We were able to keep people in jobs, help advocate for better environmental legislation and good policy frameworks, we saved lives by providing habitat and protection for some of the most vulnerable species on the planet and we connected people with nature thereby providing tranquility, peace of mind and better health.

I’m not going to claim the transformation of the team was instant but it was pretty darn close. From then on it felt, to me anyway, like the air in the office wasn’t s thick and that everyone was walking a little taller.

It is possible that this kind of meeting wouldn’t work again, we have tried different things since but it was incredibly fun and extremely worthwhile. As their director I quickly learned a lot about how my staff felt about their jobs and where they needed extra support. I think my staff would tell you they learned how their jobs are critical to the mission of the organization.

The players have changed a little over time and I’m not sure how long the posters stayed up on the walls of our meeting room but that day was transformational for us and I am incredibly humbled to be working with such a fabulous group of people. It is a privilege.

If you think a Super Hero Brain Dump might a good idea for your team, here is a little inspiration:

Thank you for spending time here,

CAGP - ROCKS!

2011-04-13T18:12:00.004-04:00

After eleven years of attending networking receptions at fundraising conferences on three different continents, I am writing to quickly congratulate the Canadian Association of Gift Planners for their successful opening reception.

Three challenges were overcome in an incredibly innovative and fun way.

The first challenge: Meeting board members.
The committee came up with a really fun sticker game. All board members has a special colour lanyard and stickers. The goal for delegates - get all nine stickers on your name tag. At the end of the conference leave your nametage behind with all NINE stickers and it will be entered into a draw for a FREE registration at the next conference.

This activity helped all board members meet the members of their association and board members were perceived as accessible, geographically diverse and really fun. I met some great people.

The second challenge: Getting registrants to talk to exhibitors.
The solution: Exhibitor Bingo. All exhibitors had the word Thank You in a different language. The delegates job was to visit all exhibitors, talk to them about the word Thank You and get them to sign my bingo sheet. Then at the end of the conference I hand in my bingo sheet for a draw for what? You guessed it, registration at the conference next year.

The third challenge: welcoming newcomers.
As a first time CAGP Conference attendee I had a green sticker on my nametag. Veterans seeing this sticker go out of their way to make sure I feel welcome. There was a small downside is that some as summed I'm new to fundraising and planned giving. The CFRE ribbon worked to clarify that a little, but still I left the reception feeling like I belonged.

So, YES I want a free registration, YES I want something to talk to board members about, YES I want to have something to talk to exhibitors about and YES I want to feel welcomed.

Thank you CAGP for a great first impression of your conference. Others can learn a great deal from your example. Looking forward to an early night and a great day of learning tomorrow.

Have you experienced creative and innovative ways to overcome the conference challenges I've mentioned above? Please share your ideas in a comment.

Thanks for spending time here.

David, Goliath, Apathy and Barefeet: How grassroots should trump the corporate agenda

2011-04-02T08:31:00.017-04:00

Corporations can do good things. Their sponsorship is important to help with change around the world.

I don't intend this to be a competition. In fact it can't be. But this is a bit of a David and Goliath story. I'm asking you to support David. Well his name is really Bilaal.

In April 2009 I met Bilaal Rajan when he presented an amazing keynote at a conference called The Humber Initiative on Philanthropy. HIP is cool because it is a fundraising conference organized by fundraising students. Bilaal was cool because he is has raised over $5 million for various causes and is the youngest Ambassador ever for UNICEF, worldwide. The two together were AWESOME.

I left the 2009 HIP conference inspired and eager to read Bilaal's book. Making Change: tips from an underage overacheiver.

It is a great book and deserved a review. But, it didn't make sense for me to do it. So I asked my daughter Skye, who is the same age as Bilaal, to do it. Here is her review.

Fast forward two years and I discovered a video from Tom's shoes talking about going barefoot. (you can find the video online easily enough - you don't need the link here) I quickly posted the link on my facebook page, excited at what I thought was Bilaal's grassroots initiative with amazing corporate support. Skye and I decided we would go barefoot with the thousands of others on the day that Tom's told us. Then I looked for a connection to Bilaal. There wasn't one.

Bilaal started going barefoot three years ago during International Volunteer Week April 19-25. You can read about how Bilaal went barefoot for a whole week on his blog. I especially like this post.

I wrote to Bilaal and asked if Tom's is now sponsoring his barefoot challenge. The answer a simple, polite no. His Challenge is now taking place on the International Day of the Child, June 1st and he'd love it if I joined him.

It is great that Toms give away a pair of shoes for every pair they sell and I have no idea how long Tom's has been going barefoot. The two may have nothing to do with each other. Maybe it is a coincidence and Tom's came up with the idea all by themselves. And sure two days to raise awareness for such a big issue is a good thing.

BUT, in a discussion with my daughter about what she thought her response was:

"Bigger people will always take the smaller people's ideas. You should not get so worked up."

APATHY!? Is that how we want to raise our kids?

So I'm writing to the few of you who read this blog and asking you to join me in supporting Bilaal's initiative.

Go barefoot with us on International Children's day - June 1st. Let's also leverage our online social networks together to share this video below and try and get as much momentum as we can for what I consider to be the original Barefoot Challenge.

Please join me. Let's go barefoot on June 1st. For Bilaal, for my daughter and for all the young people who need to know that grassroots initiatives CAN and DO create change in the world. I'll keep you posted here as more information becomes available.

Ignite your enthusiasm and help make social change happen today. Read the book, pick your cause and get started, and soon the change will be making YOU happen.
-Bilaal Rajan

Thank you for spending time here.

How to hire a Social Media Manager

2011-03-30T15:51:00.010-04:00

Today I had a laugh on twitter when my friend posted:

@MrsMcDowall: I love job ads asking for a social media manager with 5 years experience.

Why was I laughing? Well, because in the realm of social media and online fundraising we are literally exploring a new frontier. No one has been here before.

The very first post EVER on twitter was only five years ago in March 21, 2006 when founder Jack Dorsey made twitter history with: @jack: just setting up my twttr

Since that tweet there are now 175 million registered twitter users, 95M tweets are written per day and twitter employees 300 people. That growth has happened primarily in the past two years.

Facebook is a little older. With over 500 million active users today Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004. Their users spend over 700 billion minutes per month on ‘The Facebook’ – that is 18,000 lifetimes – per month. But even a short four years ago most of us didn’t use Facebook at all. The growth chart is out of this world.

We all know that at the moment it is very rare for a charity to actually drive significant revenue from online activities. It is just a fact. For most organizations the majority of revenue will come from offline channels. But that won't last forever. So, it is the progressive and forward thinking charity that has made a commitment to hiring a ‘professional’ to manage their social media.

With 18,000 lifetimes spent exclusively on Facebook every month if people are a part of your business you have to go where the people are. A dedicated social media person is an important and valuable addition to any progressive team. Further, if you have convinced a legitimately skeptical CEO to add this position: the pressure is on – you need to make a good hire and prove their worth quickly.

So how do we find someone who actually understands and can navigate this new frontier? This is what I would look for:

1.The ability to use and understand the languages of twitter, facebook and instant messaging. For example can they say ‘Tweet and ReTweet’ without choking? Do they know the difference between a fan page, cause page and event page on facebook? Can they pass an emoticon test?

2. Do they currently use any of these forums professionally or personally? If so how often? How many quality followers do they have? How many lists are they on?

3. Can they demonstrate how they have successfully transitioned online relationships to offline relationships?

4. How many other charities are they following online?

5. Have they ever donated online? What motivated their gift? How might they apply that to your charity?

6. Can they tell me about four different tools to measure the impact social media?

7. How would they integrate social media with our website? Do they understand the difference?

8. What is the most recent social media benchmarking they have?

9. Does their twitter stream contain a nice balance of RT’s, replies and self promotion? (google them before you call them for an interview)

10. Have they ever tweeted from the bathroom? (ok we can’t ask that but admit – you’ve all done it.)

I guess mostly though, if I was going to hire a social media manager to run my show and prove to my organization that social media is a game we want to be a part of – I wouldn’t be looking for a ‘social media guru’. I’d be looking for a relationship expert. In fact, I’d probably just hire @MrsMcDowall.

In the past couple of months I have observed Clare successfully meet, engage, promote and establish offline relationships with countless charities and fundraisers during her transition moving from Scotland to Canada. Clare is genuine, motivated and as charming offline as she is online. In fact, she and her husband @MrMcDowall have somehow ended up with an invitation to join my family for Easter dinner, and I invited her to observe a very important private workshop at my work. It all started with a simple ‘Follow Friday’.

But if you can’t hire Clare because by the time you read this she has found another job and if you don’t know enough about social media to understand my bullets above just know this:

If a candidate says they have 5 years social media experience chances are they are lying. NO one was using social media 5 years ago.

Thank you for spending time here.

Legacy Giving - Starting the conversation

2011-02-05T12:34:00.003-05:00

Every gift in every will makes a difference, no matter how large or small.

In my previous post about Legacies Colin Kemp asked how I bring up this subject with donors? This is a GREAT question. The answer to which, in my opinion, is: You Don't.

So how have discussions about bequests with donors become a regular part of my work? I believe that we have done a number of things to create a climate whereby donors come to me when the time is right for THEM to have this conversation.

I started really thinking about legacy gifts in 2008 at my very first International Fundraising Congress (IFC). Anyone who has attended a session on legacies with Richard Radcliffe is probably smiling right now. He does that. Makes you smile.

At one point Richard very enthusiastically made the statement above and then he shouted, 'PUT IT ON YOUR BLOODY BUSINESS CARD!' So I did. Richard may have been joking but I was earnest and this is what my business cards have looked like ever since.

My interest continued and I attended a masterclass on Legacies facilitated by Richard in 2009. It was fun and I learned stuff, but I still didn't know how to start the conversation about bequests.

In 2010 I started working with the AGENTS of Good and in particular friend, mentor and Canadian Fundraising 'Guru' (yes we have a few Gurus of our own) David Love. Our mission? To revitalize the Planned Giving program in my organization. Working collaboratively with The Agents we have made a number of key strategic changes that I believe have made a significant difference.

1. Personalizing the ads we use
I was reluctant to put my picture on our legacy ads. After all, contrary to how it might look on this blog, I believe the fundraisers are mere facilitators of the gift and that program staff and the CEO should have the public image in any organization. The AGENTS insisted and I now know they were right. Simply adding my picture with a statement inviting people to call me if they want to discuss their legacy has had a profound impact. I now have the sheer pleasure of receiving some of the most sincere and personal phone calls from donors. I still remember the first email I received after running the ad below. It said: 'My partner and I have included your organization in our will. We just thought you should know.' Wow.

2. A special, highly personalized mailing to long time supporters
I wouldn't do this every year. Every three maybe. With the help of the Agents we sent a very high end personalized mailing to everyone in our database who has a history of ten years or more - regardless of the size of their donations. This letter was a very soft sell. We talked about the importance of legacies on an emotional level - not the tax incentives. We let donors know that we could serve them better if they shared a little bit about themselves with us and that is why the survey included was important. The survey also connected them with our mission by asking them to 'Tell us about a time when nature took your breath away.' Everyone who responded to the survey has raised their hand and said 'Yes, I would like to have this conversation with you.' All I have to do now is reach out to them.

3. We tell stories.

The Agents call it 'Creating the opportunity for yes.' Telling stories about other donors helps people imagine how they might be able to do the same thing. Here is a story about Graeme. True this is a planned gift and not a bequest. Still the story is a good one. Graeme's mother also gave me permission to talk about her here.

4. Include an ask in speeches
At large gatherings of donors our President always mentions the importance of leaving a legacy. Sometimes he uses humour sometimes it is more sincere. But mentioning it to a crowd lets people know we are keen to talk about it without pressure on anyone in particular.

5. We are starting a Legacy Grove.
For every bequest we receive we will be planting a tree. This demonstrates to those who are still with us that when they are gone we will continue to think of them and respect them. Their legacy will live on in a hardy Canadian Red Maple.

I'm really not sure what a legacy 'expert' would think of this experience that I am sharing with you. I certainly don't remember learning any of this stuff while studying for my CFRE, in fact I haven't had to use the words 'Charitable Gift Annuity' once. I really just know two things: Legacy messages need to permeate throughout your organization and we must focus on building solid relationships through conversations that our donors initiate.

A WARNING: Should you choose to work with the AGENTS on your legacy program or any other initiative I must warn you. Your donors will become more engaged, some will even complain and you WILL raise more money for your cause. I just thought you might want to know that going in. (I'll blog about the complaints next weekend).

Thank you for spending (SO MUCH) time here.

Legacy Giving: The greatest privilege a fundraiser will have

2011-01-28T07:33:00.015-05:00

When my mother in law was dying I asked my friend, who is a minister, what I could do? I felt so helpless. Kirsty told me that when people are near death they really just want to talk and need someone to listen.

My mother in law took her last breath in a room that was full of laughter. She was finally at peace. I now know that death, while sad, can be as natural and as beautiful as a loud and painful childbirth. The circle of life.

What does this deeply personal experience have to do with fundraising? A lot...

This past week a man came into our office for an appointment he booked before Christmas. We had talked in December about his will and the potential of including our charity as one of his top three beneficiaries.

Dear Reader, you don't need to know anymore about that visit with 'Mr. Jone's' other than to know that I am speaking from experience and not theory. I was deeply honoured to be a part of such important decisions.

I`ve told you before that I am a generalist fundraiser and by no means consider myself an expert in any given area. But, there are some things I have learned working with Legators (people who have said they want include your charity in their Will) that I want to share with you:

Make the time

Nothing you have to do that day is more imporant than talking to someone about their final wishes in life. Nothing. A meeting that is scheduled for an hour may turn into three. Gently move it forward to make sure the business objectives are accomplished and be available to listen to your donor talk about their life, their dreams, their regrets and their final wishes. Legacy gifts are not about you or your charity. Legacy gifts are 100% donor centred. Always. Make the time.

Be sure you can keep your promise

A donor might suggest something very specific like a place they visited or a play they saw. Try to understand their motivations by asking open ended questions like:

'It sounds like you love visiting the XYZ exhibit in the museum. Can you tell me more about that?'

Actively listen and turn off the `yes but...` thoughts swimming around in your head. Be truly curious. Once you understand the true motivations of the suggestion you will be in a much better position to meet their desire to be affiliated with a certain feeling or place or program. You can then offer a less restrictive solution.

For example. Perhaps you work for a theatre company and your donor fell in love with a cutting edge contemporary new play. What the donor might say is `I love the David Mamet plays your company produces and I want to leave a legacy toward that.` Through active listening we can get to the underlying motivation. It isn`t realistic for a bequest to be directed toward producing David Mamet plays every year - in perpetuity. Perhaps the legacy your donor is striving for is an endowment to ensure that your theatre company always has the funding to try new, leading edge and risky productions.

You can get to this place through actively listening to your donor.

Be truly honest

If you don`t think that your charity is the right one or that perhaps they have your charity mixed up with another one make sure you clarify immediately. This can often happen in environmental charities. I have had a few donors talk to me and use the name of another charity and it is always a little bit risky to make sure they called the right place. No one wants a bequest that was intended for someone else.

Be respectful

This may seem like I`m pointing out the obvious but I`m doing it anyway. Your Legator is very likely much closer and more experienced with the cause than you are. Organizing their affairs may be slightly overwhelming due to frequent conversations with financial advisors, lawyers and balancing family needs and obligations. With some people, their thoughts may wander or their bodies may be frail. Respect their experience and wisdom. I believe our job is to help the process of finalizing an estate to be as simple as possible.

Through empathy and understanding of their love for our cause, we can offer peace of mind that no financial advisor or lawyer can.

Know your job

Remind your donor several times that you recommend they discuss their plans with their financial advisor and their family. Then explain why. It is very important that everyone understands that your charity is in the will because the donor wanted it there. Not because you did something to entice, manipulate or coerce. Harsh words I know. You might try saying something like this.

`Mrs. Norman, It really has been a pleasure talking to you about your estate plans. We at xyz charity are very grateful for your decision to include us in your Will. Please remember to discuss your plans with your financial advisor (or executor or lawyer)and if you are comfortable doing so, with your family. If we are all aware of your desires it will be easier to ensure that your wishes are granted.`

Discuss recognition

Wills are pretty dry reading. It can be very helpful to a charity to have details of how the Legator would like to be acknowledged, even including the wording they would like placed on a bench or a plaque. Having these details in the Will can ensure that in ten years, when the donor is gone and you have moved on, your charity doesn`t have to guess what was promised. Your charity will be legally bound to carry out the donor`s wishes if it is written in the Will. Just make sure that you negotiate something realistic and easy for your charity to implement.

In Summary

Nothing in the past ten years of fundraising has been as rewarding as my experience working on the Planned Giving program. I know that I am better able to do this work for having had first hand experience with the final stages of life. If you haven`t had the experience of taking the final steps of life with someone then I would suggest reading Tuesday`s with Morrie by Mitch Albom. This book is an amazing thesis not just on how to die but mostly how to live. And isn`t that really what legacy fundraising is all about - helping people live with peace, knowing that they have helped make a difference in the world, long after their lives will be over.

If you aren`t going to rush out and read Tuesdays with Morrie and if you still have a little time after reading such a longwinded blog this is a lovely piece on Morrie Schwartz with Ted Koppel.

Have you had an incredibly inspiring experience talking to a donor about their legacy? Please share your stories with us below.

Thank you for spending SO MUCH time here,

Client Centred Marketing. How an 'old' agency is changing how we think of them.

2010-12-12T10:27:00.018-05:00

Stephen Thomas Marketing for a Better World Is an agency that seems to have successfuly reinvented itself. Once thought of as strictly a direct mail provider they are doing some great work with integration between multiple channels. Very cool campaigns like the Buy a Kid Some Time campaign with Kid's Help Phone and the brilliantly launched Medecins Sans Frontiers and the concept for MSF's What's up Crate campaign have moved me in unprecedented ways and I'm sure generated a lot of interest and money for their clients.

As an exhibitor and sponsor at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Toronto Chapter congress their approach is also refreshed. For two years now instead of talking about themselves they have brought in video crews to record delegates sharing their stories. This is a great idea because it increases their exposure and it engages their prospects in talking about themselves. HA! a very client centred approach. Very smart and very cool. Here is their video of me taken at AFP Congress last month.The video isn't transferring to my blog very well so you can click through here to You Tube if you like.

You can see more videos of other fundraising professionals on their STTV channel here. Congratulations to the ST team for their great (and very noticable work) and thank you for giving me a moment in the spotlight. Admit it folks - we all love that!

Thank you for spending time here.

Are graduates of fundraising diploma programs secretly feeling superior?

2010-12-03T09:33:00.007-05:00

I love my AFP Toronto Chapter. Congratulations to all of the committee who delivered one of the most successful Congresses ever - over 1,000 delegates-WOW! Thank you for your hard work.

Catching up with friends and colleagues is my favourite part of the conference experience. Since I started using twitter to turn `connections`into real relationships these face to face interactions are even more special. However, one conversation I had this week was a little bit uncomfortable. It really stuck with me so I think it is worthy of further exploration.

Every time I see this person she seems to have a new job and we were talking about her most recent transition. During which she referred to her former colleagues as `uneducated fundraisers`. Of course I inquired for understanding - it sounded like she felt superior to fundraisers who hadn`t attended a formal college fundraising education program. Embarrassment set in for her when I clarified that I was in fact one of the `uneducated fundraisers` she was referring too. (All these years she assumed I was a graduate of the same program since we met in that context.) After that the conversation turned awkward. Thank goodness the session started.

I won`t use this blog to talk about the difference I`ve noticed between us `accidental fundraisers` and graduates of formal fundraising programs. That conversation really doesn`t serve much purpose. However, I would like reassurance that those who graduate formal fundraising programs don`t see themselves as superior to those of us who learned through our sweat and mistakes on the job.

Frankly after raising a lot of money, recently being recertified as a CFRE and having attended countless educational events and congresses - I consider myself pretty educated too.

A diploma from an educational institution is not the mark of a good fundraiser. A good fundraiser to me is someone who:

1. Can get and keep a job.
2. Can deliver the budget they are responsible for.
3. Teaches others along the way.

What do you think - are graduates of fundraising diploma programs secretly feeling superior to all of us?

Thank you for spending time here.

Operation Silver Swan or How to Ask for Smarties

2010-11-09T18:35:00.014-05:00

Two and a half days with no shower, no make up, not even a blow dryer to try and keep the hair in control and it was the most rewarding presentation I've ever made.

Let me explain:

My organization has just added a youth council. This youth council is going to provide us all with the environmental leaders of tomorrow. These guardians of nature or Nature Guardians as we call them gathered to determine their objectives and organize themselves. The adults simply provided a little guidance and presented various opportunities for consideration. That is what last weekend was all about. Five adults and eighteen teenagers camped out at the Toronto Zoo to laugh together and learn from each other.

My session was of course on fundraising. When the Nature Guardians decide on their goals, they will need to find the resources to implement their project. The session covered six essentials:

1. Have a clear statement of work. (Be able to tell people what you do)
2. Demonstrate Impact. (tell a good story of change)
3. Have a simple clear goal.
4. Go where the money is.
5. ASK!
6. Say Thank You!

It was also very special for me personally because my daughter co presented with me and talked about what she learned from Balaal Rajan in his book Making Change. She was a natural and could have confidently presented the entire session. A proud mommy moment indeed!

This blog is really about how the teens responded to number five. ASK! I had some small packages of Smarties and threw them at about half the kids whenever someone said something really 'smart'. After they ate the first round, I was more specific about my directions and replenished their supply. I then ended the session by giving them a task - at some point in the next 24 hours, those who didn't have Smarties would have to approach those who did and convince them to 'donate' the Smarties to the Nature Guardians program. I had extras and if they were really brave they could approach me for a 'Major Gift'.

The following morning I had to admit (as discussed during the session) that perhaps my 'innovative' idea, wasn't a very good one for I still had a mountain of chocolate to give away. I set the Smarties aside and we carried on with other workshops. (or so I thought) That morning the Nature Guardians sprung into action and launched what will be forever called Operation Silver Swan.

At lunchtime I was ambushed. You can see 'Operation Silver Swan' here:

These teens are amazing. I promised them I'd share this story on my blog and I'm proud to do it. It would be really great if a couple of them will come forward and post their own comment here about what it was like to make an ask.

The enthusiasm and commitment of these future leaders is contagious and I look forward to working with them to find funding for the programs they decide to pursue.

This was without a doubt the most rewarding presentation I've ever made.

Thank you for spending time here.

Taking a break from blogs.

2010-11-05T12:59:00.010-04:00

Thank you for visiting my blog. I mean that. Your interest means a lot.

Now go call your donors. They want to make a donation this year and it may just have slipped their mind.

November and December are very busy months in our business and especially in Toronto with our annual AFP Congress.

I'm taking a break from reading and writing blogs to make sure that:

1. Every donor who wants too has the opportunity to make their 2010 donation

2. To present a fabulous session at AFP Toronto Congress. Hopefully I'll see you there.

If you don't have any donors to phone - then call your clients because they are probably working on their budgets right now.

Watch this space in January for my 2010 list of learning. If you absolutely must keep reading blogs, then you can check out my previous two annual learning lists. This is where you can read 2008 and 2009. Then perhaps get started on your own 2010 list.

Thanks for spending time here.

Are you stuck between the consultants and your organization?

2010-10-29T10:01:00.012-04:00

Do you know who Tom Ahern is? If you don’t you should. He is a communications guru in the US. Tom is a frequent presenter at AFP congress and, over the past ten years, has taught me a lot about donor communications.

Tom also sends out a fabulous newsletter. Getting them is like a slap in the face – I mean that in the nicest possible way. The newsletters are excellent reminders of how to put the donor at the front of all communications and the importance of using simple language. They are very refreshing. You can subscribe here. (Although when I saw Tom at IFC this month I did candidly ask him if he still has any clients. He assured me he does.)

The newsletter I received this week featured an article called: Why, oh why, don’t they trust you? “Because I don’t pee like Jesus.” It will be added to the online archives soon I'm sure.

The article starts by briefly talking about gender issues, but quickly moves into the deeper issue of trust in the head fundraisers ability to do her job. Tom outlines what in his opinion is best practice from a personnel point of view. He writes:

‘The head of fundraising (the director of development, or advancement, or whatever you choose to call the position) should have sole and final approval on every donor communication, whether it's an appeal, a newsletter, the donor portion of the website, the annual report to donors, emailed solicitations, fundraising event invitations ... etc.’

And goes onto say:

‘No headmaster, no president, no CEO, no dean, no executive director, no board chair, no committee member is born with an innate understanding of what will be effective in fundraising communications. I had to read 150 books and survive 15 years of real-world experience as a writer before I could confidently say, "Yup. I'm pretty sure this will work."

Tom is right in saying that it is our job as chief development officers to deliver the budget. And that the right kind of communications can raise more money. However, I think he misses a really important point.

A strong, sustainable operation requires a culture of philanthropy throughout the organization, integration between communications and fundraising, understanding from the receptionist to the chair of the board about what it means to be donor centred. Yes as the chief fundraiser we are mostly measured by the quantitative results. i.e. how much money is coming in. Our job is also measured in the qualitative outcomes I’ve mentioned above. We are responsible for leading these changes in our organizations.

My experience has been that it is important to work collaboratively and build consensus around donor communications so that everyone feels ownership of them. Otherwise the silos get taller, we risk people trying to avoid working with us or worse, working around us and across the sector the fundraisers will continue to be thought of as the 'difficult ones'.

One of the biggest challenges for those of us in the trenches is to be stuck in between what the consultants say is ‘best practice’ and what the organizational culture is ready to do.

So while I eagerly look forward to getting slapped around by Tom on a monthly basis and I’m absolutely sure he is right, I’m also in this for the long haul. I’m not going to get too worked up if my newsletters or website don’t meet his standards. I’m going to keep working toward building a strong team.

This is a shout out to all the fundraisers who are stuck in the middle between well intentioned and very vocal consultants and your organization. Keep leading effective change, stay allies with everyone, celebrate and share your successes along the way. Most importantly, don’t feel too deflated about the occasional little compromise you need to make in order to get the job done.

Thank you for spending time here,.

Talk of unethical fundraising - How do you respond?

2010-10-11T09:51:00.005-04:00

It happens every year at this time. Exactly when charities are moving into their busiest and most important quarter, there is a flurry of media activity about unethical fundraising practices. The stories are often inaccurate, sensational and extremely damaging.

For those of us who are dedicating our lives to creating positive change in the world through the redistribution of wealth, these stories are offensive. The implication that resource mobilization isn't worth a pay check, that we don't deserve to get paid for keeping charitable programs funded is well...

WAIT! - this blog is turning into a rant. I didn't mean to do that. There has already been a lot of ranting. The point is this year was no exception. A few weeks ago there was a flurry of media activity about charities in Canada spending too much to raise money.

Every year we all have an opportunity to respond to this story.

Professional associations responded quickly. AFP Toronto and Imagine Canada were right there for all of us. Within what seemed like hours fundraisers across Canada had guidance and speaking points. We were armed.

The response from consultants in Canada was swift and dramatic. Almost every agency I know wrote a blog attempting to prove their worth to charities.

While associations were proving they are worth the membership dues and agencies were fighting to keep business I was having a very busy week on the road. In almost every conversation I had that week I was asked whether we hired ‘professional fundraisers’. People wanted to know how much of their donation went to fundraising costs. It was time for our response?

Our charity decided to be transparent, open, honest and proactive. We wrote to our donors. We empathized with concerns they might be having and told them where they could find our charitable return, what our fundraising costs were and why we hire third party fundraisers. You can read our email here.

Now it was turn for the donors to respond. Within hours my email box was full. Some people saw this as an opportunity to express a concern they had. That was marvellous because then we were able to have a conversation. I telephoned these few people and talked with them directly. They really appreciated it.

Here are a few examples of other responses:

‘I never worry about the FON using funds irresponsibly or for personal gain. Just keep up the good work!’

‘Thank you, this was a good idea.’

‘You are the first (only?) organisation to have contacted me about this issue.’

‘I believe in your work, thank you for your efforts!’

‘K. Well done.’

‘Thanks Kimberley, You can count on my continued support for years to come!’

‘Thank you for your letter but I have no concerns.’

It has been extremely hectic in the fundraising trenches this past year. We have done some good work. Work I’m proud of. Work I believe I deserve a pay check for. I think the majority of our donors would agree.

How about you? How do you respond to media coverage on the cost of fundraising? If you didn’t, don’t worry – you’ll get another chance next year.

NOTE: I only know of two other charities that issued a proactive communication about this story. Great job CPAWS and Second Harvest. Anyone else?

Thanks for spending time here.

A Donor's Story

2010-09-10T22:16:00.004-04:00

This week I had the privilege of meeting a wonderful woman and she has given me permission to tell her story.

We will call her ‘Sarah’ to respect her privacy. Sarah and her husband ‘Mike’ are major donors and long time supporters to the charity I work for. Their file is significant and goes back a long way. Three years ago they took out a seven figure insurance policy and named our charity as the beneficiary. Every year they pay a five figure premium on that policy and receive a charitable tax receipt.

The file for this donation is in top shape. It is easy to see when the policy was purchased, what the premiums are, when they are due and who to contact at the insurance company. When Sarah and Mike pass on (which will be quite some time as they are both in their early sixties) we will receive the donation. The file also outlines that we are to purchase a piece of land and create a nature reserve in honour of their son and name it after him. The file is a shining example of what we should all be doing so that our successors can continue the relationship.

However, what the file doesn’t really tell us is that their son died very quickly of bone cancer when he was nineteen years old - almost fifteen years ago. That he loved nature and was full of empathy for animals. Once he even stopped his teenage friends while driving to help an injured seagull. The file doesn’t tell us about how all the teenagers he grew up with coped with the loss of their friend or the hole left in Sarah and Mike’s lives because their son was an only child.

The insurance policy is part of how they are coping with this great loss. This donation and their connection to our organization is a connection to their deceased son. Their gift is how their son will live on forever - in nature.

I love meeting donors and have been very fortunate in the past ten years to get to know some spectacular people. I can’t express with words how much I love this part of my job. But, this was a very special donor visit, and very rare for a generalist fundraiser. In forty five minutes Sarah and I shared tea, a tear, some laughter and some candid conversation. We also decided that a copy of the picture of their son that hangs over their fireplace should be in our file. Sarah is glad to write down her son’s story and the feelings that she shared with me for the file too. We are going to do this because we know that by the time this donation is realized it is very likely that I will have moved on and obviously Sarah and Mike won’t be involved.

Yes business administration is a very important part of our jobs. Good charities like mine know this. Let us also remember that complex donations are usually extremely well thought out and full of emotion. Let’s start making sure that those who follow us get to shed tears with our donors too – even if it is just by reading their story on paper.

Thank you for spending time here.

SOFII is great...but what do you actually DO with it?

2010-09-04T09:53:00.014-04:00

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I've been a SOFII enthusiast for several years. I still remember the first exhibit I ever read. SOFII saved the day for me back in the fall of 2007. It is easy to recall the feeling and pressure of being a lone fundraiser with writers block. After discovering SOFII and stealing an idea from this exhibit, my fundraising paralysis dissolved and my appeal was dropped in mailboxes just ten short days later.

Since then I have written about SOFII often here and here and my very favourite courtesy of Roger Craver here. Its hard to imagine anything more important than providing fundraisers around the world with a free, accessible archive of great fundraising case studies and articles. I know, The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration is helping raise more money to feed children, protect and restore the environment, seek social justice and help the poorest and most destitute people on the planet. But how? By reading an exhibit or two a few times a month?

It is time for us to start talking about how we use SOFII in our work. I'll start.

My team at Ontario Nature is small. There are five of us. A development assistant, member and donor stewardship coordinator, data person, grant writer and me. That's the core team. Pretty bare bones but all enthusiastic, young, fabulous, funny and yes junior fundraisers. Learning and growing needs to be part of what we do together - everyday.

When we have team meetings there is always a lot to talk about. One constant agenda item is:

I ask each person to visit SOFII before the meeting and to bring in one fundraising example and a suggestion for how we can innovate to incorporate a new idea to improve service. At first folks weren't sure but I was the new Director and they played along to impress. Since then we have had some excellent ideas come from the team. For example:

After visiting SOFII Randie thought that all staff should be able to process a gift. We shouldn't lose a donation because she wasn't there. Now all program and admin staff have donation slips at their desk and Randie reviewed the process with them.

After visiting SOFII Irene thought we could revamp our thank you letters to be more personal and warm. She was right and we did.

I still smile when I think of Kiran (now enjoying maternity leave) admitting that she hadn't put much effort in and she brought forward this example from UNICEF because 'it must be good it's been around so long and I do the Christmas Cards so it got my attention.' Good enough for me!

These might all seem like pretty basic ideas to seasoned fundraising professionals. What I like most about this is the process. Asking staff to look beyond their own day to day challenges, beyond their own function and even their own organization. Getting the team to see things differently and then asking each other 'How might we do that here?' Together they are constantly striving to do things better and I thank SOFII for that. Our development team. Nicole, Randie, Lauren and me at Malcolm Bluffs Nature Reserve on a retreat weekend (we missed you Irene!).

Learning and growing in this sector needs to be done more than once a year at a conference. New ideas need to happen everyday. SOFII is always there for us. To be used in our own way to help us do our jobs better.

I hope SOFII will continue to be there for us all. That is why in addition to time and enthusiasm I also give SOFII my money (and my husband's money). I hope you will too. But more about that later. For now let's use this space to talk about your favourite exhibit or how you have used SOFII in the fundraising trenches. What impact has SOFII had on your work?

Thank you for spending time here.

PS Thanks to the fabulous development staff at Ontario Nature who tolerate me. I must remember to tell you the story of the day they became superheros.

'Don't let that blog get too dusty'

2010-08-10T17:39:00.006-04:00

I love my blog. I write what I think and people read it, respond to it and share it. Blogging is fun.

Today I received a message during a conversation via twitter from a friend that said: 'Don't let that blog get too dusty.' He's probably right. If I want to keep this up I should write more. So the next question is do I want to keep writing? What is the purpose?

Being a fundraiser in the trenches can be a very isolating and lonely experience. This blog is unique in that I'm not a consultant. My intentions are to simply share my experiences in the hope that it will help you in a small way to earn more money for your cause, perhaps enjoy your job more or probably most importantly feel less alone. What I love about fundraising is that we openly share our experiences to help our competitors get better at what they do.

I have come to the conclusion that I will keep blogging. When I feel I have something to share that might be of value. NOT just to feed the machine and maintain momentum so that you keep seeing me pop up in your twitter stream or your inbox. I think the world is full of enough clutter.

(Although, I admit that my motivations aren't totally altruistic. I obsess over google analytics as much as other bloggers I know. But don't tell anyone.)

As my thoughts about this rambled on, I started to reflect on the momentum in my online community. Fundraisers are socializing with each other online all day and night long. Are we starting to become so distracted by socializing and networking online that we aren't taking care of ourselves or doing our jobs as effectively as we should? How many of us are a lot 'heavier' in real life than we are in our avatars? How many of us are struggling at work and using social media and volunteer work as a welcome distraction?

Don't get me wrong, I advocate for learning this language and understanding how online communications are impacting our sector. I believe we must learn about this new way of talking to each other to be relevant. We need to be comfortable saying 'tweet' and knowing what RT's and DM's are before taking our organizations and donors into the realm of social media. However, I think for those of us fundraisers in the trenches who don't have 'social media guru' in our job description we need to take a pause and ask ourselves: Are there donors I should be writing to instead? Am I getting out of the office as much as I should? Will I deliver my budget this year?

Yes we have a new world to learn about, but let's not forget the good old pillar of fundraising: people give to people. Turn off twitter once in awhile, be disciplined about how many blogs you read and go share a cup of tea with a donor.

Thank you for spending time here.

Donors don't care about your needs

2010-07-03T08:47:00.007-04:00

It is natural. Charities have needs. We need money to deliver programs. We need staff to raise money. We need active competent volunteers to carry forward our message. We need paper, lights, equipment and office space in order to make the world a better place. The 'NEED' always precedes the ability to meet the need. Always.

That is the game we live in. It can be very stressful and demanding. There is never time to relax and often when the rest of the world is on holiday we are busier than ever. That is life in the trenches of a charity. If this reality is too stressful for you go work in a bank. (hmmm maybe a bank isn't the best analogy anymore...)

The point is 'we need' to be able to live with this kind of stress. But here's the thing. Donors really don't care about your organizational needs. I'd like to start a movement asking charities to eliminate the words 'We Need' from all of their communications materials.

It is a very simple exercise just replace those words with 'You can' when you write. Try it, it is a fundamental shift in the way you will think about connecting with donors.

Donors don't care about our needs. Donors care about changing the world for the better. Donors care about having an impact. Donors donate from an emotional place in spite of us, not because of us. Unicef Canada seems to be getting this with a program connecting donors to work in the field.

The Unicef Canada model is so simple. We can all do it. Try shifting your perspective from an internal one to an external one. Try setting your personal and organizational egos aside. Try being truly donor centred in all of your communications by banning the words 'we need'.

Start helping everyone in your organization to reframe their thinking. Connecting donors with the work they help deliver in the field will raise more money...so that you can do more for beneficiaries...and perhaps even keep the lights on and hire more staff.

Thank you for spending time here.

'If you are terrible at what you do twitter won't fix that'

2010-04-26T17:52:00.008-04:00

Scott Stratten is the President of UnMarketing and quite possibly the best presenter I've seen in ten years of attending conferences and two years of watching TED videos.

Scott is loud, obnoxious, self deprecating, flippant, full of ego, extremely entertaining, edgy and brilliant. Everything you want in a great speaker. Take all those qualities and add some extremely useful and relevant content and you have a session that the entire world should see. I'm so grateful to Scott for posting this video because I walked away from his session wanting to share it with the world. So I stole the presentation off of his website and put it on mine.

Make yourself a cup of tea,charge up your battery and enjoy Scott's presentation.

For those of you who aren't willing to invest the time in the video - let me summarize for you in a few bullets:

- Humans are online. If you need humans for your business - whether you like social media or not - you must have a presence.

- Start slowly. Choose a platform and learn it. Then move onto the next one. For example: establish a following on twitter then start a blog or a facebook groups.

- Invest your own social capital first. You don't open a bank account and expect to make a withdrawal. Add value to others first.

- Social media is a tool. Relevant content and being nice to people is still important.

I love all this stuff and agree wholeheartedly. Now go back and watch the video or bookmark this and come back later when you can.

Very sticky stuff. Thank you Scott!

Thank you for spending time here.

PS Scott wrote a little book too. If you prefer old fashioned reading you can buy it here.

'Donor Centred' is just jargon

2010-02-26T07:39:00.017-05:00

Have you thought recently about what it actually means to truly be donor centred? I know we all talk about it a lot. If you throw the words 'donor centred' into a job interview people will really think you know what you are doing. I think the term 'donor centred' has become jargon.

What does 'donor centred' really mean?

As I was thinking about my next presentation to our board of directors I tweeted this question to my fundraising colleagues. Just look at the response (In reverse order of how they were received AND a cool example of why I love twitter so MUCH!):

@markyphillips We use donor 'needs', placing them at the centre of why, when and how we communicate.

@jonathongrapsas we prefer to use 'donor care'. Which is about asking, thanking, feeding back and caring. Then doing it again and again and...

@GabryelB it means getting your eyes off your organisations bellybutton and taking the view of the donors: his needs, wants, desires.

@FLA_Leah donor-centred fundraising equals heart and soul fundraising

@derekhumphries actually don't think you should put donors needs ahead of org needs, especially if one has human beneficiaries.

@derekhumphries be courteous. Be kind. Listen. Offer more than you ask. Leave donors in no doubt how magnificent they are and can be.

@Gl0ria Donor centered. Co-investors in making the vision a reality.

@jennifermchase Donor centred is serving the donor in a way that puts their needs/wants first (as opposed to the wants of the org).

@agentsofgood -it means putting the donors needs, wants, everything before yours as an organization.

And I think my favourite:

@FRSuccess Donor centered: Treating donors as partners in your mission rather than walking ATMs?

So now I'm thinking...what is it that donors need?

As a donor I know I need to be able to read the material and know that my money is making a difference.

What do you need as a donor? (Because presumably if you are a fundraiser reading this blog you are a donor too right?!)

When you are finished commenting here on your needs as a donor. Check out this great post from Mark Phillips at Blue Frog on what donors need.

Thank you for spending time here.

The best cup of chai in the world

2010-02-21T09:49:00.010-05:00

In a previous post I talked about pomegranate juice. Today I am going to tell you about the best cup of chai tea in the world.

I arrived in India on the red eye from London in the middle of August. In London I was upgraded to business class after charming a grumpy ticket agent and giving her a gift of Canadian maple syrup. So I had slept - a little.

I worked my way out of the airport and found my driver holding up a card with my name 'keembirli'. I followed him to a run down and dirty car, got in and hoped for the best in spite of the lack of seatbelt.

The chaos, heat, smell of the road from Jaipur to India overwhelmed my senses. It is hard to imagine anything more opposite to the Canadian countryside where I live. My driver didn't speak English so I was alone with my thoughts and became an observer in a distant land, watching everything.

Three hours into the drive we pulled over at a gas station with a flat tire. While the driver put on the spare I watched the group of people surrounding an overturned car assessing the damage of a very recent and serious accident. Naivety now dissolving I started to worry for my safety and remembered that the seat belt in the car was in fact broken.

Fifteen minutes further down the road we pulled over again. Now in what appeared to be a junk yard, I had no choice but to change my clothes and relieve myself behind a billboard. When I reappeared it was obvious we were at an Indian tire store.
There were several men walking around and kicking the tire very much like they do in Canada and probably the rest of the world. I found a patch of grass and sat down. I was alone, tired, hungry on the side of the road in the middle of Rajasthan, no telephone, no one to call, my only company some wild dogs, a cow and eight Indian men changing a tire. There wasn't a motel 6 in sight.

In time a very old man in tattered clothes and bare feet appeared. He was approaching me with something in his hands. As he got closer I recognized a china cup and a plate with cookies. 'Namaste' I said for the very first time. He looked down at the ground and passed me his gift of chai tea and a snack. I didn't know what to do so I looked to see what the others were doing. Everyone was sitting down and drinking their chai.

The hot sweet taste of the chai on that dry patch of grass filled me with comfort and faith in the people I was with. These people were good people, I wasn't alone. They would make sure I got to Jaipur by nightfall. When I finished the very best cup of chai in the world I joined the small group as they finished putting the patched up tire on the car and we continued our journey.

This wasn't a junkyard at all, it was India's version of Canadian Tire and Tim Horton's and I'd like to go back there again.
Thank you for spending time here.

Traits of an indispensible person

2010-02-20T17:39:00.006-05:00

I follow Guy Kawasaki on twitter (@Alltop) The tweets are frequent and full of gems. This video was so great I wanted to put it on my blog so that I always know where to find it. We would all benefit by watching it once a month.

Jacqueline Novogratz is the CEO of the Acumen fund and I've enjoyed listening to her TED Talks.

This clip is a great reminder of how to truly make a difference in your organization.

Jacqueline Novogratz on how to recognize a linchpin from Seth Godin on Vimeo.

Thank you for spending time here.

Stop complaining about your Board of Trustees and help them

2010-02-19T08:20:00.000-05:00

Last fall at a fundraising retreat our board of directors made a commitment to create a list of ways they could each contribute to the organization. There was a menu of options created and everyone was to pick from the menu. We made sure there was a diverse list to choose from to accommodate all circumstances and financial ability. The goal was for the board to take responsibility for the organization starting by making a personal commitment. You can see the menu we used here.

Yesterday I received an email from one of our newest members. I have her permission to share with you her commitment, although she would prefer to remain anonymous so we will call her Marie. This is an actual real email from the fundraising trenches - not an example of what we should 'strive' for.

Marie wrote:

Good morning Kimberley

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the Menu of Opportunities.

I have made Ontario Nature a priority for my annual charitable giving. I have a huge box of requests from other very worthwhile charities that I normally give to each year, and I plan to write and tell each of those charities that my priorities at this time are concentrated on a charity on which I am a Board Member.

And I do believe in the importance of the work of Ontario Nature. We have a unique niche and an essential job to do to protect Ontario’s Wild Species and Wild Spaces!

As to including Ontario Nature in my will. That is definitely something that I will consider. When my husband died, Ontario Nature was suggested as a memorial charity for friends to donate to.

I have informed both my Great Lakes West contacts as well as my Stratford Field Naturalists about the upcoming Ontario Nature Green Tea, and have invited them to join me as I plan to attend. It sounds like a terrific event and I’m looking forward to it.

I am happy to make thank you calls or write personal thank you notes to donors.

I would be willing to visit a prospective donor with another staff or board member.

While I find it difficult to ask for money, I am open to possibilities. I joined the Ontario Nature Team in September for the Scotiabank Marathon Challenge Charity Walk/Run, and was inspired by the sheer numbers of participants and the event itself. It was a challenge for me to ask people to support me and I found it interesting to see who donated and who didn’t. I don’t feel that I can keep asking my friends and family on a regular basis as they each have their own charities that they feel are important too.

Fund raising is not always easy, but it is an important part of supporting Ontario Nature. As I said, I’m open to possibilities.

Best wishes,

Marie

It is our responsibility as staff to stop complaining about our volunteer board of directors and to provide them with the tools and support they need to be successful.

(I've written more about this issue in a previous post and in this Civil Society article.)

Thank you for spending time here.

Board Menu

2010-02-19T08:02:00.004-05:00

Inspired by the full board with the help of Andy Robinson and finalized by the Development Committee for board approval in November 2009.

Ontario Nature
Board of Directors
2009 – 2010 Menu of Opportunities

Thank you for being part of the Ontario Nature Board. We want to make your participation in the fund raising aspect of our organization as easy and effective as possible. To help you consider your choices, we present you with a menu of opportunities to work with Ontario Nature.

Appetizers – Sampling each of these will excite your palette and ready you for more substantial fare:

- Make Ontario Nature 10% of your annual charitable giving while you are on the Board (and hopefully after your tenure on the board ends too).

- Meet with some existing donors to learn why they support Ontario Nature.

- Help bring more volunteers to the development committee.

- Tell two family members, friends or colleagues why you joined the Ontario Nature Board and ask them to join you in supporting Ontario Nature in their charitable gifts this year.

Entrees – We anticipate that everyone will have an appetite for at least two from the main course:

- Include Ontario Nature in your will.
- Tap your network of service providers such as real estate brokers, financial planners, accounts or plumbers who could serve their customers better by sending a subscription to ON Nature to their best clients.
- Help to host an event for supporters, or invite supporters to an Ontario Nature event.
- Visit a prospective donor with another staff or board member.
- Make a presentation to a member nature club about your favourite Ontario Nature program (or all their programs) and end the talk with a request for each member to join you in financially supporting Ontario Nature.
- Make thank you calls or write personal thank you notes to donors.
- Join another board member, volunteer or staff member on a second meeting with a donor and help plan the specific request for donation.

If you have room –

- Make a challenge gift.
- Identify new prospective donors.
- Come up with an idea of your own to support environmental causes and Ontario Nature

Table Etiquette
Please help staff maintain neat and tidy records by taking notes immediately after you speak or meet with an Ontario Nature supporter. We adhere to professional guidelines about privacy that will help you know what type of information we maintain.

Why don’t women have a greater profile?

2010-02-13T13:27:00.013-05:00

There is an interesting discussion happening right now thanks to an article Rowena Lewis wrote for Civil Society. When almost half (47%) of the senior leadership roles in the third sector are filled by women, Rowena asks why women don’t have a greater profiles?

In a follow up blog called ‘Invisible Women in Fundraising’ on the same website someone named ‘Susy Who’, not her real name - which is ironic given the content, says ‘I am filled with gloom every time I read about the appointment of yet another middle aged, middle class - normally ex-forces - male to a senior position in a charity.’

‘Susy’ missed the point. This isn’t a whinge about why there aren’t more women in senior leadership roles. Rowena is lamenting the lack of high profile women. Women who are willing to be bold, take public risks and yes, write under their real names. It is true, I can think of many fabulous women doing great work in the sector. However, there are very few who are – publicly putting themselves forward - so that we can look up to them and be inspired by them.

For some reason we generally seem to be holding back from asserting ourselves as mentors and sector leaders. So why don’t women have a greater profile in our sector?

I've been working in this business for close to ten years and it is just in the past eighteen months I have started to be more ‘out there’. It has been a very interesting experience. In my opinion there are five key ingredients required to putting yourself at the front publicly.

1. Ambition
2. Ego
3. Thirst for knowledge
4. Assertiveness
5. Willingness to come forward.

AMBITION

Women may think that an ardent desire for rank and power is a bad thing. So they shy away from being ambitious. Men might think of ambition as a desire to achieve a particular end. It’s all about framing.

A good friend of mine (John) said to me last week. ‘Kimberley I just think people don’t know what to do with your ambition.’

It is true. I am ambitious. I’m on a mission – you can read my mission right here on my blog. I also have a personal plan for how I’m going to accomplish my mission. The consequences of achieving my mission will be a bigger paycheck and a higher profile. The result, I hope will be improving peoples lives. I will have a larger impact, so that when I die, my children see me as a hero who made a difference. That is my mission.

As far as what other people need to do with my ambition. NOTHING. It’s mine and seems to be serving me rather well, thank you.

It’s okay for women to be ambitious. Just don’t hurt people along the way – bring them with you.

2. EGO

At a conference two years ago my session was up in the same timeslot as a very ‘famous’ male speaker. While surveying the rooms with a colleague I commented on how the other speaker had a much bigger room than I did. The response: ‘He needs a big room – to fit his giant ego.’ At the time I thought these words were really unkind. They certainly were intended that way. But over time I’ve watched presenters and have presented at more conferences myself. Ego is fundamentally important to setting yourself apart as a speaker.

If you are going to stand up in front of hundreds of people who have paid to be there, you bloody well better think that what you have to say is important and worth listening to. You need to be confident, entertaining and set yourself apart from the delegates. The best actors and entertainers know this. The best, most in demand, highest marked speakers at fundraising conferences know this too. Is it a coincidence that the ones who come to mind first are all men? I think not.

As women we are taught ego is a negative thing. For a high profile sector leader it is extremely important. It’s what gets you a plenary session.

3. INSATIABLE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE (and time)

To be a mentor, leader, high profile influencer you need to know stuff. In fact the more I learn the less I know.

Its Saturday morning, my house is a mess and I don’t want to do anything else but write this blog. At the moment I have four half read books beside my bed. The Rules of Management, Maverick, Forces for Good, The Leadership Challenge.

I’ve been living in this house for ten years and don’t have window treatments. Just good blinds with all the hardware exposed. Last night I did not watch the Olympic opening ceremonies. I started this blog.

My dear husband feeds us, shops for us and thankfully when he isn’t here – the kids can now cook. No one cleans really - except me about once a month or so.

Of course it wasn’t always like this. When our kids were little I was at home with them. Breastfeeding and making bread from scratch. I even had a sewing machine and designed little bibs that I sold to other mothers. We bought groceries from the money I made. I loved those years, and will always be glad we made that choice. AND it was a choice. We made bread because we couldn’t afford to buy it.

As women we CAN ‘have it all’. I just think it unhealthy to expect to have it all at the same time. In my opinion more women aren’t in high profile positions because they either carry the weight of most of the household responsibilities or perhaps have hobbies and other interests. I went to a book club once (actually I started it) but they didn’t want to read Jim Collin’s books – I did. Career and family doesn’t have to be a choice – it just needs to be sequenced.

Knowledge is necessary if you are going to teach anyone anything. It takes commitment and time to read and write.

4. Assertiveness

Assertive women are often labelled as aggressive. Assertive men – strong leaders. I absolutely love this clip from Mad Men. I can’t embed it in the blog but you can see it here

Peggy asks for an office that she has earned and deserves, and then she apologizes – saying she didn’t mean to be impolite.

I also love this article about Hillary Clinton – a strong woman I admire very much. The article ends by saying ‘And that’s the best thing about Hillary Clinton—she has a way of making sure everyone knows she’s there.’ This is something we can aspire to and learn from.

5. Willingness to come forward

I know of two partners of two famous consultants who prefer to quietly change the world without a public spotlight. I feel a little sad about this because I suspect they are rather brilliant women and I’m not going to receive the benefit of that brilliance. But I understand it because as soon as anyone steps in the spotlight people will talk about you. Some of the things they say won’t be nice. Most of the people who say not nice things about you – will in fact be women. I guess its part of our make up. That is the risk of having a high profile.

So it is hard sometimes. Lately I’ve been thinking of putting my head back down. Questioning why I’m compelled to write, blog, tweet, speak. Thinking that maybe it is self serving and all about me. There is no money attached to it. In fact it costs money. I can be successful at work without it. Honestly, I was ready to delete the blog and walk away. But then two days ago I was talking via Skype to a fabulous young fundraiser I met in India. She had no idea I was feeling depleted. She thanked me. Told me I inspired her, she looks up to me. Feeling incredibly unworthy, I was inspired by her. Of course I quietly cried - something else women do that men don’t. (Their loss)

There are lots of ways to change the world. Not everyone will be comfortable with a high profile. We are lucky in North America though because I actually can list more than ten women who have personally influenced my life and my career. But you may not have heard of them.

We do need women to be ambitious, egocentric, hungry and assertive. As women we need to support and help each other to do that.

But mostly I think we need women to stop complaining about inequity and to just get to work making the world a better place and inspiring others to do the same. I can’t think of anyone who would like a senior level position because of their gender. Senior level positions should be given to the best candidate. Period.

Thank you for spending time here.

Creativity at its best!

2010-01-31T05:33:00.007-05:00

The images were part of one of those horrid email chains that landed in my inbox. Actually my daughter received it and thought I might like this one so she sent it to me.

WOW! So creative, interesting, funny and...well...kind of gross.

Let's all try to add a little of this to our work!

If you know where these images came from please do tell us! It's all a bit of a mystery at the moment.

Thank you for spending time here.

India & Fundraising Part 1 - Juice

2010-01-10T10:19:00.011-05:00

This morning I’m drinking fresh pressed pomegranate juice. I discovered this fabulous elixir in the heat of India.

It was the end of a long trip, it was August and it was hot. The conference was over and while fabulous, I had that post conference fatigue common to fundraisers everywhere. Adding to the exhaustion was a seven hour drive north in Indian rush hour traffic the night before. And, savvy world traveller that I am not, I appeared at the airport a full 30 hours early for my flight which left me scrambling to find accommodation in the largest most chaotic city I had ever seen.

So when finally settled with decent but not too expensive place to sleep I decided to make the most of the situation and hire a guide to show me around. My guide (whose name I sadly didn’t write down) was lovely. She looked cool, like she had a bubble of air conditioning around her. She was very proud of her English and enjoyed demonstrating for me her university level education.

Our journey started with a simple question: What do I want to do in Delhi? I honestly had no idea. Truthfully I just wanted to get home and I told her so. I probably wasn’t very nice about it either. Then she turned to me and in the sweetest most gentle and yet directive voice she said ‘Miss Kimberley, I think you need a juice. Let’s get you a juice. Would you like that?’ 'Yes, sure' I replied.

When we found the juice bar (picture above) I was feeling unsure. Having been very careful about my food for ten days I didn't want to risk illness. The view from the juice bar (below) had me feeling less than confident.

'How do you know it is safe to drink?' I asked. My guide's response, 'I just do. And there aren't any flies on the fruit.' Okay - good enough for me!

As we drank our warm sweet juice (because of course both she and the driver also needed a juice) I felt renewed energy and excitement about the day ahead.

Now then, an interesting thing happened this morning. After having watched how pomegranate juice is made in India, I spent 90 minutes this morning painstakingly extracting the seeds from the fruit. The result is the most fabulously sweet burst of flavor and energy you can imagine. I gave up after 8 pieces of fruit. With four pomegranates left my husband (the chef) came down and told me all I needed to do was run the entire fruit through the juicer to get the same result. Which he did.

Was it the same? No. Not at all. All the bitterness from the skin was now in the juice. We could no longer drink it.

The patience, determination and detail in the way Indian's made the juice resulted in a sweeter, more satisfying product.

Perhaps we can apply this lesson to our fundraising also?

Here I am now in rural Ontario in the middle of winter I’m thinking about that fabulous trip. I learned a lot from the people and the fundraisers I met and in the coming weeks I'll share more of these lessons with you.

To be continued…

Thank you for spending time here.

Best of learning 2009

2009-12-30T09:41:00.011-05:00

I am a work in progress. So are you.

At the end of the year it is a useful exercise to stop and ask yourself: What do I know now that I didn’t know last year?

Answering this question can provide reassurance that progress is in fact in process!

It is also useful to write down your learning so others can benefit from it. My post last year about 2008 has received most traffic on this blog so far. So I’m sharing my list with you again. The challenge is that I learned too much in 2009 for one blog post. Here is my abridged list. A few will become their own post in the coming weeks. But for today this is what I know now that I didn’t know last year.

1. Twitter works.

2. SOFII is transforming how we learn and share together.

3. If you have given all you can – find a new challenge.

4. 5 KM isn’t that far. Run it!

5. You kids will talk to you more if you have an msn account. Learn their language. My daughter's self portrait:
6. Be grateful when someone cares enough to criticize.

7. Burn out is real.

8. The Global South is the new fundraising frontier.

9. Budgets absolutely MUST be driven by a manageable work plan.

10. The more I learn the less I know.

People who influenced me the most in 2009

1. Craig MacKenzie (Ontario) – he tolerates me with calm pragmatism

2. Skye MacKenzie (Ontario)– pays more attention than I think

3. Chase MacKenzie (Ontario) – always full of empathy

4. Ken Burnett (UK & France) – inspirational and challenging at same time

5. Marie Burnett (UK & France) – a magnificent and patient editor

6. Gayle Wood (Ontario) – sensible, wise and fair

7. Mark Phillips (UK) – a generous and charming resource

8. Nisia Hanson (USA) – unfailingly enthusiastic and supportive

9. Jackie Mendoza (UK) – calm, encouraging and makes me laugh

10. John Lepp (Ontario) – generous and honest

11. Ram Kapar (Nepal) – His unfailing determination and for teaching me that humanity is one family and the world is one home

12. Sudeshna Kukherjee (India) – Beautiful. A bright light full of positive energy

The book that had the biggest impact on my work in 2009

The Influential Fundraiser – Bernard Ross and Claire Segal

(Watch this space for more on some of these points. Numbers 1, 7 and 8 are coming soon.)

In order to advance the sector and improve the world we must keep learning and asking ourselves and others ‘Why?’. We must constantly challenge ourselves to do better.

Take a moment now to think about your list of learning for 2009? It would be great if you felt like sharing it and left a comment here. We might all learn something that way.

The most important thing though is to do it. Write it down so you can see how you evolve year after year. You won’t regret it.

Thank you for spending time here.

A blog for my Dad

2009-12-18T16:31:00.015-05:00

As fundraisers we read a lot of letters. Every year there is one I look forward to the most. It is from my Dad. He doesn't even put my name on it, but I know he wrote it for me (and a few others) all the same. Here it is for you:

Christmas 2009

Dear family and friends,

It’s always pleasant to communicate at Christmas and we love your cards and letters. The big change to this year’s letter is I increased the font because most of you are getting so old.

We had a great six week vacation in the south of Spain again this year. We took the opportunity to visit Sevilla this time and saw where Magellan set sail for the first circumnavigation, the church of La Macarena, Carmen’s tobacco factory and the fabulous historic cathedral. We bought marmalade from the nuns but I did not get a haircut. We cruised to Casablanca in Morocco. The tour guide’s first words were: “If you came here because of the movie you should have gone to Florida where it was made.” Then off we went to see a huge mosque and a city of five million impoverished Arabs.

The big event while we were in Spain was a three night trip to Liverpool! It was totally unplanned and a real magical mystery tour via John Lennon Airport and the Adelphi Hotel. After all those cathedrals and mosques we got to go to the Holy of Holies; Anfield Park where Liverpool play. We were inside the house I lived in as a small child (above) but unfortunately they left it out in the rain and it has shrunk dramatically.

We were also in a building I lived in as a teenager and met old friends for a trip down memory lane. Liverpool looks great and the scousers are still very warm hearted so you can stop not going there.

Back in Fuengirolla, Spain it was fiesta time for our local church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. We attended an open air Flamenco Mass and procession; 72 young men carrying the statue and the whole town in flamenco dress with hundreds of Andalucía horses in the streets. It was again magical and lasted a week. We were up till three dancing some nights.

Back home the grandchildren visited again and we had a wonderful time with them in the forest, on the beaches. They grow to fast! They were an absolute joy and we have cause to be proud.

Pride still covers our grown children as Peter, Kim (that's me - you are not allowed to call me 'Kim') and Michael are all progressing in their careers and enjoying a healthy life.

We are both busy at our respective Rotary clubs and that is fun and fulfilling within the community. Dana devotes herself to bridge and Peter sells condos and houses quite successfully. We love life in Victoria.

In short our life is good and we hope yours is too.

'P'
(aka My Dad)
Thanks Dad for your letter and thank you dear reader for spending time here.

A letter from Roger Craver

2009-12-08T22:04:00.006-05:00

I got this letter from Roger Craver of the Agitator today. I'm one of his closest professional friends. How cool is that!

Roger wrote:

Dear Kimberley,

Today you’re one of my 7, 499 closest professional friends.

That’s right. We’re part of a special circle of 7,500 fundraisers around the world who each month spend time with SOFII—The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration. And individually and collectively we benefit from SOFII’s rich offerings of case studies, tips, and techniques.

And today, SOFII, run by volunteer fundraisers for fundraisers, needs and deserves our help and support. Let me explain.

So far SOFII has raised 50% of the funds it needs now, thanks in part to the Big Give that doubles the contributions of friends like you.

BUT…we have only 48 more hours left to cash in on the Big Give matching money before their time limit expires. That’s why I need you to do your part – and to do it today if at all possible. (Please scroll down for Important Note* first.)

Let me tell you why I just made my own contribution and why I think every fundraiser who cares about our craft and wants to do their best work possible should give too:

* There’s nothing like it. “A smogasbord of fundraising innovation, creativity and excellence…a place where people can share and get concepts that are indeed worth copying…and she’s free.” — Greg Fox of Donor Power Blog.

* The world’s greatest swipe file. “And SOFII is yours to access online, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week – for free. All because you belong to the SOFII family of fundraisers. How cool is that?”—Lisa Sargent, Editor, The Loyalty Letter.

* Life is really nice when someone else holds the football. “A one hour tour through the pages of SOFII will harvest more great ideas than three days of attending conventions.”—Jerry Hunstinger, Copywriter and SOFII Contributor.

Here’s the deal. Even though SOFII is run by volunteers they’re not asking you or me to give up our vacations or weekends to help.

Rather they need us to make contributions – contributions that will be doubled in the next 48 hours –to raise the funds necessary in 2010. Funds given by fundraisers, for fundraising – to help build a new, improved, more user friendly website…to build bigger more diverse collections of amazing content, and to reach out and involve fundraisers from around the world.

You, more than most, know the value of not only giving but of giving back to your profession. So please do your part today.

Thank you.

Roger M. Craver

P.S. Today, I’m giving an extra contribution as a holiday gift in honour of Tom Belford, my Co-Editor at The Agitator. We both love SOFII and we write often about its value. Time to put some money where our mouth is.

PPS. If you have already given to SOFII’s appeal in the last few days, THANK YOU! (and please ignore this second email request. Ken will write to thank you properly soon)

Thanks Roger! Your one of my closest professional friends too!

Thank you for spending time here,

Raise more money for ALL charities - Donate to SOFII today!

2009-12-06T16:59:00.006-05:00

If you’re like me, every time you receive a SOFII update from Carolina, you know it comes with just the boost you need to raise more money for your charity.

You know, too, that every great resource on SOFII is always free... for all fundraisers around the world. We won’t be changing that.

But SOFII, like any organization, isn’t free to operate. So in order to keep serving charities like yours and mine, we need to start doing what we do best. To ask for money.

For a very limited time – ONLY 96 hours and it’s all over – when you donate to SOFII your gift will be doubled at no extra cost to you, through the Big Give.

That’s right. Any donation you give starting at 10.00 am UK time (5.00 am EST) on the 7th Dec will be matched dollar for dollar, pound for pound, by The Big Give, a UK philanthropic foundation. But only if you can get in quick...

Your donation can be matched only until their limit of funds runs out.

SOFII is competing for the doubling money against other, staffed, larger charities all lining up to secure limited Big Give funding. But because we are run by volunteers we don’t have the infrastructure in place to compete. Our only competitive edge is YOU. Please make your donation now, here:

If you’ve seen the video or slide show, you know that SOFII is at a turning point.

Next year we’ll be re-launching the website to make it easier to use, to offer more opportunities for you to get involved, to add more exhibits to help you promote your cause and to reach more fundraisers. But to take this next giant leap, we need your support now.

Our goal is to raise $80,000 before the end of the year. And in the past few months many organizations and individuals close to SOFII have already come forward to help. In fact, we now only have $30,000 left to raise by December 31st.

With your help, we can get there... especially if you can donate through the Big Give Campaign soon, because all donations received in the next few days will be doubled.

And if you can, forward this email to your friends, write a blog post and tweet incessantly. Whatever we can raise in the next few days – up to a total of $20,000 – will be doubled by the Big Give!

Remember, any gift you can give to SOFII now will double in value... but only until their limit of funds runs out. So please make your donation at 10.00 am UK time (5.00 am EST) on Monday 7th December or as soon after as possible, to double your money.

For the past two years the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration has been helping us all be better at our jobs. With more than 750 pages, SOFII is driven by content, and fundraisers write in every day to tell us that it’s truly useful. Just imagine SOFII next year when we take all that great content and place it inside a website that’s truly user-friendly. (The fundraising world will never be the same!)

Won’t you come forward with your donation today? You’ll be making a huge difference for SOFII, and for the advancement of your own good work, too.
Thank you so much – for believing in what SOFII is and can be. With your support, SOFII will get even better. For you, for me, and for all fundraisers, everywhere.

Thank you for spending time here and for donating to SOFII!

Kimberley MacKenzie
Honorary head of fundraising
SOFII, The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration
kimberley@sofii.org

PS To affirm for you and your colleagues why SOFII is so vital and valuable to fundraisers around the world, please read Julia’s story, In praise of a good swipe file.

Something has got to give

2009-11-14T08:57:00.010-05:00

This blog is keeping me awake at night lately. It feels like I'm letting you down by not updating it frequently enough. The good news is there are a lot of fairly decent articles that people seem to have enjoyed already here. If you are new to this blog you may want to click through. The links are below.

For now I'm giving myself permission to not worry about this blog for awhile. My focus is needed elsewhere.

My new job.

It is going well, I'm learning a lot and I love it. As you know with any senior management fundraising position there is a lot to do. Especially when you start in the fall and you need to take advantage of year end giving. There is also planning for 2010 to do. Learning how to use the coffee machine is important too.

SOFII

SOFII is transforming the way we learn and share our work. For two years that website has helped me raise more money, stay inspired and learn about fundraising in other parts of the world. So I want to give back a bit. SOFII is about to relaunch a new website. Before we do that we need to raise about $80,000. My volunteer priority is to help SOFII reach more fundraisers by becoming self sustaining. You may want to give back too by making SOFII one of the top three charities you support? We are here for you.

I also promised a couple articles to people and have a few conference sessions to do. (The next one is at AFP Toronto Congress so be sure to say hi. I'll also be speaking at AFP International in April and would be happy to see you there too.)

By taking a break from the self imposed pressures of this blog I hope to set an example for you. As a fundraiser you can't single handedly reach the UN Development goals for 2015, by yourself! Its better to scale back and do what you do well.

But don't fret dear reader, there is still a lot here to dig into. Here are the few posts that stirred up the most controversy or received the most responses.

How to respond to the economic crisis

Are there too many consultants as speakers at conferences? (blog of the month last year in Professional Fundraising Magazine)

Get out of your comfort zone

How to become your organizations competitive edge

Is $400K a fair salary for AFP?

2008 Best of Learning List

My all time personal favourite though is:

The seven key ingredient to building a successful organization

When I started it about one year ago it was simply to learn how to blog and how to write. The fact that you pop in to read it, share it and comment on it is exceeding my expectations so thank you! I'll be back in the New Year with a new best of learning list.

Thank you for spending time here.

My vision for fundraising in 2020

2009-11-04T22:18:00.008-05:00

Fundraisers around the world are talking about how fundraising will change over the next ten years. These comments are being collected on a wiki site courtesy of the Management Centre in the UK. I caused a bit of a fuss yesterday on twitter when I questioned the lack of diversity in the responses.

Each of us is responsible for our own response. Here is my contribution to the discussion:

How will donors be different in 2020? And how will they be the same?

Donors are onto us. They know this game. Donors will continue to want to take more control over their giving by linking more directly to the cause and being more involved in our programs. Venture Philanthropy or Philanthrocapitalism is evolving faster than the charitable sector. I believe many donors feel they could do our jobs better. Sadly in many cases they probably can.

We need to rethink the traditional model of a charitable organization and more specifically the role of fundraisers in the relationship. We must be more entrepreneurial about how we do business.

Which geographic markets will emerge more strongly as sources of funds?

By 2020 the global south will be making significant in roads as the sector leader. This will be the result of a number of factors: the population growth, extreme need and the gap between the wealthy and the destitute. In general the fundraisers I have met from Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan are hungrier, more determined and less complacent than many fundraisers I have met closer to home. They are constantly looking beyond their organization to learn more. This determination will serve them well as the sector in the global south grows.

The global south is the new frontier of fundraising and since many of the smaller organizations have that entrepreneurial spirit and are not bound by decades of traditional ‘by the book fundraising’ – they are better positioned for impact and to respond to the changing marketplace.

By 2020 charities in the global south will have the competitive edge over larger North American and UK charities. Many North American and UK charities will need to see beyond the equator and learn from fundraisers in the south where the sector is advancing at a phenomenal rate.

How will technologies for fundraising be different in 2020?

Our work in the charitable sector is mostly about building relationships with people to find out if our cause aligns with their personal interests and values - if it does we offer them the opportunity to become engaged with our organization. To do this well we depend on various communication channels and networking. Most of these activities will be online in 2020.

It is fundamentally important for fundraisers to learn how to use online social networks not just to connect with each other and stay current in our thinking but to engage our next generation of donors. The internet is creating a global marketplace. Smaller organizations in particular are better able to respond quickly and adapt to this new medium.

“Communication” is no longer about sending our message out and hoping to get a donation back. It’s about a dialogue, providing a forum for discussion and being flexible and transparent enough to truly listen to what our online community is telling us. Successful charities in 2020 will need to be comfortable watching as constituents talk about us with each other!

In ten years we will still have direct mail, corporate giving, and personal one on one major gift solicitations. However, many of those relationships will start with an organizations online presence. We will be tested on line first before anyone agrees to having lunch or attending an event in person.

What other issues will be important for fundraising?

There are simply too many of us. There are too many charities doing the same thing. We need to be more efficient and stop duplicating services and administrative functions. We will need to set aside ego and territorialism and sincerely look at how we can partner with each other. It is time for true innovation and collaboration.

Environmental charities will exponentially increase their market share. But only the organizations that provide real solutions, working with corporations and government instead of advocating against. The global community* wants to seek solutions to environmental problems and the ENGO’s are the natural partners to provide support and answers.

In Summary

The fundraiser who will be on top of their game in 2020 will:

• Find the vision above exhilarating.

• Will be constantly learning and working to improve not just themselves and their organizations – but the entire third sector.

• Will challenge the status quo and constantly be asking: Why? Is there a better way? Does this make sense?

• Will cherish every dollar they raise as if it came from their own bank account and will spend it wisely.

In ten years I will be fifty one years old and will have been working as a fundraiser for twenty years. By then I hope to have made a small mark on improving the world for my children and accomplishing my personal objective to secure a place as a hero in their – what will be by then – adult hearts.

The only possible way I can do this is by responding to the change in the third sector as best I can and helping others do the same – for there is only one certainty, there will be significant change.

Thank you for spending time here.

*except maybe the current Canadian government but we can hold out hope!

The impossible is possible

2009-11-01T10:12:00.003-05:00

Like many families we use the internet for entertainment now. The kids usually find obscure video blogs from other countries and more episodes of Malcom in the Middle than I care to admit. When I have a gap and am looking for something to do I usually end up watching Ted Talks. (Although there was a not so brief spell this summer when I watched all seasons of Weeds online. Just to assure you I do know how to relax!)

Last night I discovered this gem. I've watched it four times and am now compelled to drop everything and share it with you.

I love this presentation for two reasons.

1. It surprised me

Hans Rosling looks like your usual geeky data guy. Yet he grabs me at the beginning and presents the data to a none data person in a compelling, entertaining and visually interesting way. Then at the end he completely blows my mind by doing something impossible and unexpected. Very 'sticky' indeed! Anyone who presents to people can learn a lot from this example.

2. It taught me something new

Africa is not the country I thought it was. It is progressing very quickly and ought to be admired. The same goes for other developing nations. We in the developed world must stop being so self centred. The data is telling us a fabulous story.

Put down your Sunday Sudoko and spend twenty minutes with Hans. He will blow your mind.

The impossible is possible.

Thank you for spending time here.

It is hard to ask your friends for money

2009-09-28T16:15:00.000-04:00

Like many people I'm not as active as I should be. Too much time sitting here I expect. I try to run but am not that disciplined about it. So when I was asked to run 5km on my first week in a new job the physical challenge was one I embraced. When I was asked to raise a minimum $250.00 in pledges for the privilege of this challenge my immediate response was 'oh I couldn't do that.' After all I hadn't even started working there.

Upon reflection it occurred to me that Ontario Nature had just hired me to help them raise millions of dollars and I just said no to personally raising $250.00. hmmmm.... perhaps I should try. So I doubled the goal and made a commitment to raise $500.00

Then I asked you to help me impress my new boss, staff and board by making a pledge of support. Thanks to many of you I exceeded my goal and raised $731.00.

This is a relatively small amount of money in our world but do not underestimate the impact it has had. In almost ten years as a professional fundraiser, I have never solicited funds personally. And yet, I ask fundraising volunteers to do this all the time.

Reaching out to my personal network and asking for money has helped me better understand the courage, passion and generosity of these extraordinary volunteers. It takes guts to ask your friends for money. We 'professionals' should never take this for granted.

I was able to finish the 5km although I confess to having to walk a little around the 3km mark. Exactly in the spot where I met the Chair of the Board for the first time as he went racing past me! (So much for good impressions!)

If you have never participated in a huge event like this I encourage you to registered for one now. There is something incredibly inspiring about thousands of people with various physical abilities, ages and backgrounds pushing themselves for something they believe in.

Yesterday was a life altering experience for me. I am determined to keep running and keep working on getting my time down. Surely with a little effort I can beat my personal best of 42 minutes 23.1 seconds.

Mostly though I'm deeply grateful to those of you who made a donation. Because of you I have a deeper appreciation of not just how hard it is to ask your friends and colleagues for money but also to know first hand how good it feels when they say yes.

Because of you I'm a better fundraiser then I was yesterday. Thank you.

Thank you for spending time here.

PS There was one anonymous donation. I respect that. This blog post is for you too.

How to breakup with your donors

2009-08-28T20:06:00.000-04:00

Lake Simcoe has been very good to me. I have been very good for Lake Simcoe. I have learned a lot. So have they. Together we achieved many great milestones and even won a couple of awards. With mixed feelings I know that now is the right time to move on.

So when the opportunity came to work with Ontario Nature as their Director of Development it seemed a natural and exciting progression. The right move at the right time.

There was just a little problem. 'My' donors. I really like them. All of them. We chat in person and on the phone. I've been to their houses, shared wine at their cottage, met their grandchildren. They write me notes with their donations. I write them notes with their tax receipts.

Some of 'my' donors are even helping 'me' find other donors. One even stymied me by asking a prospect for $50,000 at a cultivation breakfast meeting - and got it! (a blog for another day) Another is passionate about helping to get more monthly donors and with a little support is bringing in hundreds of new dollars a month. (another blog)

When you become so close to your donors and know it is your time to leave what happens with the relationship? Should you make plans to stay in touch? Give them your new coordinates?

The simple answer is: NO. Absolutely not. This is not 'your' relationship. Our job is to build a relationship between the donor and the organization. We are the middle man. We are Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins swoops into the Banks family at just the right time. She is friendly and yet firm, provides structure, love, warmth and humour.

When the winds change - she graciously makes her exit and the Banks family is stronger for her having been there and moves onto their next thing. Kite flying.

Donors give because they love the cause. Not because they love you.

I recently tweeted that I was writing break up letters to donors and a couple people asked me how on earth I would write something like that? So instead of just sharing my opinion. (worth what you paid for it!) I will share with you what worked for me this week:

Next week our newsletter is going out to all constituents with a letter from our President announcing the move and wishing me well. So at the end of this week I personally wrote to individuals who are the most involved or highest level donors or those who have made multi year pledges.

Each letter was different but had the same core structure. Here is one example:

Dear 'Bill'

Tell them why you are writing

It is with very mixed feelings that I’m writing to inform you that I’m leaving the Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation. I've been presented with a great opportunity that I must take advantage of.

I have accepted a position with Ontario Nature as their Director of Development. As such my last day in the office will be September 4, 2009.

Tell them to keep donating

'Bill', your enthusiasm and support of this foundation is so very much appreciated. I do hope that it continues. For Lake Simcoe – there simply isn’t another environmental organization doing the kind of work this Foundation/LSRCA is. Your donations and involvement are very important.

Reassure them that the organization is still solid

Because of people like you we have been able to do incredibly well building the Foundation and exponentially increasing funding for programs delivered by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority. The Foundation has solid leadership in place and excellent staff (copied above) to carry on much of the work.

Remind them of the specific work or action they are involved in
(this is also good for staff so the letter can be filed and the action items for this individual can be highlighted. Really helps with moves management)

I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to work with you more on building relationships at sunny bay. Of course you are well positioned with Marie on one side and Justin on the other. Your great work will no doubt continue.

Be sincere and say goodbye

I am deeply grateful for the opportunities afforded to me as the Executive Director and in particular your willingness to open your home and ask people to support this work too. I will remember the people and my time here with great fondness.

Most Sincerely,

Kimberley

Kimberley MacKenzie, CFRE
Executive Director
Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation

Yes it is a little bit sad. Changes are bitter sweet. A really cool thing happens though - your donors write you back. Thank you for your work and wish you well.

I remember feeling sad for Mary Poppins when she watched from the window as the Banks family went off kite flying. But we knew that wasn't the end of the story but rather the beginning of the next one.

There are new relationships waiting for me at Ontario Nature and honestly - I very much look forward to each one of them. For the next couple of weeks I'll just enjoy the pause in between.

Thank you for spending time here.

The key ingredients for a good conference experience

2009-07-21T07:31:00.001-04:00

I am a self proclaimed conference addict. I love them. I love the learning, seeing old friends, meeting new ones. I've been very fortunate to be able to attend conferences in several countries.

This week I'm in Washington DC at the Gaylord Convention Centre and am about to start a full week of intense learning and inspiration.

There are four key ingredients to having a successful conference experience.

1. Know why you are going

For example: To network and make professional connections? To learn about a specific area like direct mail, capital campaigns or leadership? You can't achieve your objectives unless you know what they are.

2. Moderation

For socialites like me this is a tough one. The social scene can be vibrant. It is costing you or your organization a lot of money and time to send you there. Do NOT stay up until midnight in the bar and wake up hungover. Just don't do it. You might as well not even bother going.

3. A Good Venue

This venue for Bridge is amazing The Gaylord Conference centre appears to be a brand new facility. It feels very much like a resort with a beautiful atrium, lush interior and exterior gardens great restaurants and it is located right on the Potomac river. A conference oasis.

4. Exercise

It clears your mind. Pack running shoes, get outside away from the coffee and danishes and go for a run.

Sadly, and I've only been here for a day, But the last two points have combined to given me a very negative first impression. Upon my arrival I went for a run along the river. (I seem to have found myself in training!) There is a gorgeous, well lit soft limestone trail a long the river. It looks fabulous from my room and I could hardly wait to get out there. Once I did however I was sorely disappointed.

There is so much garbage and crap along the trail it completely ruined my run. I could fill a landfill with all the human waste and garbage along the Potomac. Here I am learning how to raise more money for the environment and today all I want to do is organize a clean up along the shoreline right outside of what should be a world class conference facility.

It would seem the importance of a healthy natural environment has been forgotten. This makes me very sad.

Perhaps it is a small comfort for some that most conference facilities have indoor exercise areas. Not for me though.

Watch this space for more about my week at the Bridge Conference in DC.

Can you add to the list of key ingredients for a good conference experience? Please comment.

Thank you for spending time here.

In defense of the guru

2009-07-13T06:45:00.001-04:00

Someone called me a "Guru" the other day. It was really weird. I choked on my coffee and wondered to myself, "Is the bar really that low".

The truth is that I live on the edge of my comfort zone and have a constant thirst for knowledge. Not what I would consider the makings of a guru.

This topic has surfaced again in another forum, as my colleagues John Lepp and Laurie Pringle have questioned what the word "guru" means to them. John even referred to a post of mine from last April where I questioned what seemed to me like a bizarre popularity contest in the UK of selecting the "most influential" in the sector in a public poll. (Congrats to the donor for making the top ten!)

So I've started thinking. What makes a guru?

I'm lucky to know a few of your typical guru types. After the first blush of infatuation I learned quickly that they put their pants on one leg at a time. Struggle with their weight. Feel insecure. The really good ones even have to learn new things to stay on top of their game. Like us all. No human being is perfect.

Yet the masses of fundraisers take these individuals and put them up on a plinth. (new word - :-)

Why do we see and treat these individuals differently even when we say it isn't important? What sets these people apart?

This is what I think.

In this world a small minority of people do the following

1. Ask Why?

Perhaps it is time to reTHINK the donor pyramid? Perhaps the cycle of donor engagement isn't a bell curve - maybe it is a loop? Perhaps it is possible that charities can apply learning from the corporate sector to be innovative and breakthrough to new territory - what would that look like? Perhaps fundraising isn't about numbers, maybe it is very simple and we ought to focus on real relationships?

It doesn't matter if you agree, when one person challenges the status quo it helps us all to evolve.

2. Walk in front of the crowd

In this world there are leaders and there are followers. We need them both. Your personality will dictate where you are most comfortable. Some people wake up one day, turn around and find a mass of people behind them. You can't force people to follow you. A rare few find themselves naturally at the front of the crowd. This is not a bad thing. Someone has to be at the front or we wouldn't ever go anywhere.

Leadership is essential to any progress.

3. Teach others

A lot of people are highly educated. Spend decades in school and attain several degrees. A rare few of those people feel compelled to share their knowledge. I've met many who hang onto it as if they somehow are superior to us commoners without formal education. A rare few of these brilliant people see themselves on equal terms as you. They just know more and share it with generosity.

A generous mind is a gift that should not be wasted on those who do not appreciate it.

4. Genuinely care

Mentorship is different than teaching. When someone provides mentorship they genuinely care and want you to be successful. There is a real sincerity in this relationship that is difficult to explain but for those of you who have been on both sides as I have, you can appreciate how special the mentor/mentee relationship can be.

I want to take a moment and stop picking on the Gurus.

Let's take a moment to thank them for their original thought, leadership, teaching and mentorship.

Thank you for spending time here.

Stealing from Seth Godin

2009-06-15T06:31:00.000-04:00

When working on my personal mission statement last year one theme kept emerging. I wanted my children to see me as a hero. (you can see my mission statement on my profile page) The only way I could do that was by improving the world in some small way for them. This post from Seth Godin speaks to my personal values on such a deep level I want to share it with you.

You matter
When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.
-Seth Godin

Thank you Seth. Imagine how we could change the world if we all tried to "matter" just a little bit more.

This blog is going to be a little bit less active for the next few weeks. Stay tuned though because fabulous things are happening.

Thank you for spending time here.

Have you ever done anything really stupid?

2009-06-06T17:30:00.000-04:00

This blog has been neglected you these past two weeks. I'm sorry and I'm back.

I was just mowing the lawn and did something incredibly stupid (well two things actually):

One, I should have made my now eleven year old son do it!

and

There was a newspaper that had fallen out of recycling and was waiting for me on the lawn. I knew it was there. Even walked past it a few times. Then I started heading right for it, thinking as I got closer I should stop and pick it up. I didn't though. I kept going. Mowed right over it. Now instead of having one newspaper on my lawn I had thousands of little pieces spread all over the yard. True the moment of destruction was kind of cool. Satisfying even, but after I finished the two hours of yardwork I had another twenty minutes of picking up shreds of newspaper - and didn't get them all!

After I did this I started thinking about stupid things people do. Like not training their front line staff. Every person in your organization has an impact on donor loyalty and the financial bottom line. Then I thought about Jonathon Grapsas's blog. You should read it - it shares another story of the stupid things people do.

Thank you for spending time here.

Working with your Board of Trustees

2009-05-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

At the moment I should be preparing for tomorrow. Its our Annual General Meeting and a first time ever joint board meeting between the Foundation and the parent organization boards. Instead of reviewing my financial statements and staff reports I went for a little exercise with some girlfriends then we had a green tea and worried about our kids together.

Now I'm alert and writing this instead of reviewing materials for tomorrow. Why? Well it's their meeting isn't it? I'm just the hired hand. Reports are done. Recommendations made - tomorrow is about them. They will be just fine.

The relationship between a board and staff is complex, sometimes hard, often misunderstood. There have been a lot of great discussions and articles this month on this topic. Professional Fundraising in the UK was kind enough to publish an article of mine on the topic. Sean Triner has a good article in Australia that he just tweeted about.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy Had a very lively discussion on whether members should be donors.

I commented about it in the discussion and share my perspective with you below.

Completely agree with #14 Lori who says “because if you don’t think the mission is worthy of your money, why would anyone else?”

In fact we have now moved this out to staff. Those closest to the organization need to make a philanthropic commitment that tells the world “Our work is important and worthy of investment”.

To be considered a philanthropic gift it should come voluntarily without pressure, therefore the amount isn’t important. Stating an amount could prevent larger gifts or create a culture of “bought my way on, get to vote – what else to do you expect!”

The point about a diverse board with broad skill sets and networks is also key. $10 from someone who can find or raise $10 million or help in other areas is extremely valuable.

In order to create the philanthropic culture fundraising staff need to better support the board to help them understand what their gift means on a much deeper level than the budget.

It is the act of giving – not the amount that is important.

Yes absolutely all board members and staff should donate. Five dollars per month or $150K per year. All gifts should be recognized for the spirit in which they are given. Deep belief in the mission of the organization. Once this happens the culture that is created will speak for itself and other donors will want to be a part of you work.

There isn't an easy answer for working with a board. Each one is different and constantly changes depending on its members, your culture and your chair. There is a lot of great advice out there. Generally, I've found the techniques in the Influential Fundraiser very helpful and continue to study and practice them.

When the relationship between staff and board is working well - your organization can soar! Well worth the investment of time and effort.

Do you have a story about working with a board of trustees? We'd love to hear it. Your comments/thoughts are most welcome.

Thank you for spending time here.

The worst AFP presentation ever

2009-05-16T09:13:00.001-04:00

You absolutely must hear about the worst presentation ever.

It was at the AFP Toronto Chapter fundraising day. I've been attending AFP Toronto for nine years, while I frequently speak for work and spoke at IFC last October, this is my first time ever speaking there in front of my local peers. The room was a little dark and full of people. There was a mountain of A/V equipment was all over the place. About a million cords and remotes to sift through. It was difficult to find the right one to advance the slides.

I had neglected to test the PPT but trusted the A/V guys.(Other people do these things right?) Big Mistake they couldn't find it. Which forced me into the depths of C drives and F drives and G drives and USB sticks at the bottom of my purse. While I was digging through the clutter in my computer to find the presentation I kept falling through the floor because it was a series of platforms all with space in between covered by carpet. I had heels on so every time I took a step I almost died.

Still I tried to be cool, made a few jokes with the folks. Then my daughter appeared, nagging me about the importance of body piercings and the coolness of "snakebites". People started to leave. So I put up a video. Kept looking for the presentation. The room was almost empty.....then they started coming back...the room was packed, lined up out the door. Still couldn't work my way through the clutter in my computer to find the presentation. Lost the remote again!

Finally I decided we could tell the benefits of SOFII without a powerpoint. I was ready to try and talk my way through something useful with a flip chart and it occurred to me...this couldn't possibly be happening. It was only a dream and perhaps rather than sleeping in on this rainy quiet long weekend.... I should get up and work on my presentation!!!!

Have you registered for AFP Toronto Chapters Fundraising Day yet? That first presentation by that newbie promises to be very interesting...

Thank you for spending time here.

Who are you leading?

2009-05-12T07:54:00.000-04:00

Tell a story

Connect a tribe

Lead a movement

Make a change

Seth Godin is brilliant. This will take about twenty minutes, about as long as watching an episode of the Simpsons...but much better for you!

Thank you for spending time here.

Start a parking lot committee

2009-05-09T09:24:00.000-04:00

Conversations in parking lots are often some of the best ones. People are honest, they challenge each other, they dream about possibilities and even laugh.

THEN what happens all too often is that everyone goes back in the meeting and seems to leave their creative thinking and independent ideas a the door. Why is that?

Start a parking lot committee and encourage honest, frank, candid and respectful dialogue. Listen with intent to understand.

It is likely you have been asked to be there because you are a leader in your own right. You have a perspective that could add value. Be sure to share your perspective at the table, when it can make a difference...not just in the parking lot.

If you do this you will be far more likely to be proud of the result.

Get on the record - have honest and challenging discussion at the table, not in the parking lot.

Thank you for spending time here.

Twitter Friend or Foe? Part II

2009-05-03T09:57:00.000-04:00

In part one of this post I asked a simple question: Does knowing what other people are doing add value to your life?
It has been just over two weeks and 141 “tweets”. It started as a curiosity and now twitter is the first place I go to in the morning and the last place at night. It must add value although I’m not sure exactly why. Let’s try to figure that out…

Twitter moves fast.
Your network expands at a remarkable rate. People are ruthless; they follow for a day, stop following if you aren’t interesting to them. This way you end up building a community you enjoy spending time in.

Twitter is a place to get to know people.
It’s like spending your day in a big office full of likeable people with common interests who are working hard. At the same time they are joking, laughing, taking lunch breaks, getting married, watching pointless youtube videos, sharing news and oh yes…sharing resources.

Joining twitter can strengthen existing online relationships in a way Facebook or a blog can’t. Short tweets about riding a bike to work, babies keeping people up at night, meeting “boys” at the grocery store or cats taking over the couch add a human element to online relationships. Matt Parkes talked about twittering moments of discovery, reflection and achievement last week on his blog.

Twitter integrates other social media.
YouTube, facebook, blogs, news items, flicker, LinkedIn they all come together in one place and work to tell stories, share information and yes…even raise money.

Twitter and fundraising. This is tricky and controversial. A few charities I liked lost me quickly. They felt like machines blasting me with the key messages all day. I stopped following them immediately. There are a few consultants on there who promote themselves so much they will loose me soon too. Laurie Pringle is right. There needs to be a balance – it is called “social media” for a reason. The relationships you develop can lead to a raising money if done the right way. I’ll be writing more about this on SOFII next month.

However, Twitter is not the online answer to my organization’s two person fundraising shop. No way. I often wonder what is falling behind as organizations throw limited human resources into online fundraising? As Marc Pitman points out, it might be worthwhile to at least become familiar with web2.0 and certainly there is no need to fear it. In the Lake Simcoe too many of our other programs would be compromised if all my work energy went into online initiatives. It is hard enough for us to keep our website up to date. Until our capacity is stronger, I’ll learn about how social media works from the experience of other charities.

Who to follow?
Ask yourself why you are there. I am there to learn about how twitter fits into the charitable sector. So I started by searching for online colleagues I already knew. People whose blog I read, charities I liked. Then I looked at who they were following and before I knew it – I had my twitter community.

The Future of Twitter.

It is hard to imagine that the folks at Twitter will be able to sustain this growth, it will need to innovate quickly. Watching what they do will be very fun.

In the meantime, it is what it is. Informative, educational, social and sometimes completely without purpose.

Thank you for spending time here.

Is $400K a fair salary for AFP?

2009-04-24T18:01:00.001-04:00

In the three months since seeing Dan Pallotta speak about his book Uncharitable I've been waiting for a reason to blog about it.

Well it would seem today is the day. The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) is having to make some tough decisions. See the full article in the The NonProfit Times

When I read that the AFP CEO Paulette Maehara earned around $400K my jaw dropped to the floor. It was a classic supremely "uncharitable moment" and a huge surprise.

It is ironic because just yesterday I had a conversation with someone who was thinking about coming over the "bright side". I told her she could make real money doing good. I even let her borrow my signed copy of Dan Pallota's book.

Dan is on as he describes it and "Al Gore type mission" to level the playing field between the corporate sector and the charitable sector. This is good brain food and I encourage you to spend eight minutes listening to Dan's video below.

He is right. Intellectually it all makes sense. AFP needs a good leader right now and that leader should be compensated well for the challenges she will face. This is what my head tells me. Yet, the do gooder and AFP member in me had a very real and emotional reaction from the heart about how much money we members pay her.

Watch Dan's video and you tell me. Is a $400K salary package fair for an organization like AFP?

Thank you for spending time here.

Earth Day

2009-04-22T10:16:00.000-04:00

I intended to write something really inspiring and fantastic about earth day today.

The problem is I'm too busy raising money to plant trees, clean water, educate young people and just generally save the planet.

So....Happy Earth Day.

Kimberley

Twitter...friend or foe?

2009-04-18T10:49:00.000-04:00

Hi - I've been "tweeting" this week and was going to write about how odd it is. Was going to ask you if knowing what I'm doing all day added any value to your life at all?

On the upside though it is sort of cool to "chat" with colleagues throughout the day. But I'm not really one for pointless, time wasting chit chat around the coffee machine or water cooler and that really is what Twitter is all about. Or so I thought...

Then this morning I finally had time to follow a link and I found this.

Twestival Drill Day 4 - Well Complete from charity: water in Ethiopia from charity: water on Vimeo.

Something I'm very interested in and dream about doing. This morning because of Twitter I felt like I was a part of it. Wow.

So Twitter gets a reprieve. You can decide for yourself if my life is interesting enough for you. If it is maybe you could come to Canada and we could actually have a conversation over a coffee and make eye contact.

I'll tweet for another week and think about it again. You can follow me if you like(@kimberleycanada).

Oh what the heck....I'll ask anyway. Does following me on twitter or seeing my tweets on this blog add any value to your life at all?

Thank you for spending time here.

There are some things in the UK I just don't understand

2009-04-12T09:45:00.000-04:00

One of the things in London that me made take notice is the reminder to pedestrians to look left (or right) before they cross the street. True it is useful and permanent signage to tell visitors that traffic comes at you in the opposite direction. Look right to avoid being hit by a car. Purposeful but odd to a Canadian girl.

Something else that is a little odd to me is Professional Fundraisings most popular fundraiser poll. I noticed this poll briefly in the April online issue but didn't pay much attention because frankly it didn't have anything to do with helping me become a better fundraiser. Then I read Mark Phillips blog and I started thinking...

In the UK there are super fundraising stars called "gurus". We like it when they come to our conferences. We all know who they are and we attend their sessions even if they are the same as the ones we saw last year. We are entertained if not exactly educated.

This guru mentality is most likely being fueled by things like this poll for most "influential fundraiser". Do fundraisers in the UK strive to be included in this list every year? Is that a purposeful thing or does it tempt fundraisers to strive to be popular with other fundraisers at the risk of not doing their job? A little bit like high school isn't it?

Is it important to be considered a guru by your peers? Do gurus do more to make the world a better place than all those other unknown fundraisers?

Like the signage embedded in the pavement this is another thing that seems odd to this Canadian Girl - only it is completely without purpose.

How does this kind of thinking help advance the the charitable sector? I'm not sure it does.

Thank you for spending time here.

You know your board meeting is going to go well when....

2009-04-08T20:17:00.000-04:00

You know your board meeting is going to go well when there is a flurry of phone calls from members the day before.

You are not responsible for your organization. The board of trustees is.

You are responsible for giving them the tools and information they need to do their job.

Thank you for spending time here.

Calling all closet blog readers!

2009-04-05T11:19:00.000-04:00

Blogging is a place where you can learn to write, make connections, have a dialogue, create an international online presence and push boundaries. While this blog may not change the world. I think it is a cool hobby and hopefully some of the content is useful.

Last week at the AFP Conference in New Orleans I ran into someone who I had met at a conference in Holland. He immediately told me that he was reading my blog. How flattering. He then went onto tell me about one post in particular that had travelled the world and been part of extensive discussions. I was surprised by this. I knew it was a provocative post. I wrote it to start a discussion. Apparently this post had travelled the world and yet only one person commented on it publicly. Why is that? I could have been wrong (in fact now I think maybe I was) and would have welcomed the debate.

This week the number of "followers" for this blog grew from six to seven. Every time a new "follower" signs up I smile. Here is the really puzzling thing though as of today 499 people from 39 countries have visited this blog. 70% of those come back again! (Truthfully I have no idea how those stats fit in with other blogs. I could be confessing very poor performance here. Still that is sort of cool.)

Yet only seven followers and fewer comments? So I have a favour to ask: If you end up becoming the 500th person to read this blog I would ask you that you consider becoming a "follower" and perhaps even jump into a debate with a comment or two. If you are a closet reader I want to encourage you to join us here publicly. It would be good to get to know each other better.

I welcome alternative points of view. Expressing them is how we will learn from each other.

Thank you for spending time here.

The Importance of AFP

2009-04-01T08:50:00.000-04:00

I am very fortunate to be at the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference in New Orleans. Last night I was very lucky to have met Andrew Watt who is the director of programming for AFP. It was a brief encounter. He probably doesn't remember it, however it got me thinking.

I have heard and have contributed to critical comments about conferences:

They are too big.

They are too small

They are too political.

The delegates are passive.

There isn't any food.

It is too expensive.

The list goes on. We all think we could do better than the people actually doing it.

After I met Andrew though I started thinking about how important his job it. Without AFP I wouldn't have a career. Without my career millions of dollars would not have gone into important work. AFP programs have had a profound impact on my life. I guess I just figured that out.

Sidney Potier spoke yesterday about the waiter who taught him - a dishwasher at the time - to read and his regret that he didn't ever get to properly thank this man - whose name he didn't even know. Simply because at the time he didn't realize the profound impact that knowing how to read would have on his life. Today it is my turn to thank AFP for their programs that have given me a fantastic career.

Do you have a influencer that you ought to reach out too and thank for their impact on your life? Do it now - today. Tomorrow will be too late.

Thank you for spending time here.

If the party doesn't sound fun....no one will want to attend!

2009-03-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

Most small to mid size organizations start with a small event that grows...hopefully into a mature and diverse fundraising program. (let's assume the ideal) As your other revenue streams mature, the event continues to be an important part of non receipted revenue, community engagement and your organizational culture/history.

Events are also the easiest part of fundraising for your board and volunteers to understand. (Sadly, many smallish organizations struggle to help their board see beyond securing auction items. We can talk about overcoming that in another blog)

My organization has one event a year and it is an important one for all the reasons mentioned above. Like many of you we are finding that we need to work harder to deliver the same results.

Do Not Panic!

If you are working on an event and are finding the road bumpier than last year, whatever you do not panic. Raising alarms, desperate plees for attendance, extended early bird deadlines and discounted tickets scream out failure!

Stay the course, think of things differently, work hard and engage those closest to your organization in helping to be a part of your success. Actually, they key for any fundraising success is a positive attitude. Perhaps this is most true with event fundraising.

Instead of the economy being your excuse for a mediocre result, perhaps it is an opportunity to refresh your strategy?

Keep your "tribe" involved and informed

Part of my strategy this year is to keep my board and those closest to us involved in our progress several times a week with a quick email update. This is my fifth event here and I've noticed that this year we are getting more unsolicited board "energy" and involvement than previous years. I'm not begging for help - I'm sharing information and keeping them involved. Then they phone us with help rather then us phoning them. Far better!

A gift for you

The update I wrote yesterday is I think quite good for many reasons and today it is my gift to you. Copy it, use it, try some of the ideas in it.

Here it is: (most names have been change - except for the ones of the stellar, amazing and extraordinary staff who read this blog. Judy and Karin you are incredible!)

March 24, 2009

Dear Members,

Things are moving so quickly, I thought it would be a good idea to give you a private/inside scoop on the conservation dinner and the evolving strategy to ensure its success.

You and our fantastic committee have been working very hard to secure fantastic auction items. My office is full of great stuff that I am trying to convince Judy and Karin to let me buy - but they won't let me!

This email will focus on our current priority - tickets sales

This event has never had to market itself in the past and has consistently reached 500 attendees or close to it. This year the climate is a little different and we are working on proactively ensuring we have a full room of enthusiastic shoppers. I have attached a list of who has purchased tickets to date so you can see if you contacts are there yet.

We have Engaged a "Ringer"! Please join me in welcoming Tammy (copied above) to our team. Tammy is a volunteer who came to us from the Neighbourhood Network. We are very fortunate that she expressed an interest in volunteering for the foundation at just the right time. Having recently found herself with a bit of spare time Tammy was looking for something to do. A quick look at her resume, which outlined 20 years of experience in sales with a large IT company, was all it took to get her on board. So yesterday we put her to "work" on helping sell tickets/tables for the dinner.

This is what we have done to date to ensure we get to our objective of 50 tables:

2. The Local Resort will be promoting our event in their online newsletter to 22,000 at the end of the month. This will have a link to a new welcome page for them on our website.

3. Local Marina will be mailing 500 order forms with a cover letter encouraging attendance to their boaters. They will also be soliciting a sponsorship from all the marina's under the umbrella of the their Association.

4. Local Tourism business will be promoting the event on their website and to their constituents

5. I have posted personal invitations to five Facebook Groups

6. A Corporate Friend is sending promotional emails to their contact lists.

7. Karin is continuing to proactively seek out media attention and media sponsors

8. My email updates go to 400 people. We have sent two.

This is what we will be doing next week to get to our objective:

1. Tammy is currently reviewing lists from previous years and will be making phone calls to "regulars" reminding them to purchase their tickets before the early bird deadline Friday. She will also be spending next week on the telephone reminding people to be sure to get their tickets while there is still room.

2. Tammy and Karin will work together next week to consistently assess momentum and develop ongoing strategies. (I'll be away next week but available by email.)

With three weeks to go, 35 tables to sell and $30,000 in sponsorship to secure, everyday is important. We will continue to keep you posted on progress. Please DO NOT worry about duplication in this case. The more buzz and enthusiasm we can create the better.

Please remember to stay positive with your contacts. We are not desperate - we are being proactive and innovative. This event has a very public reputation for being incredibly successful and we of course would not want to compromise that. We are confident the event will continue to be full of energy and a lot of fun. We all just have to work a little harder to do it.

Thank you - don't hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Kimberley MacKenzie, CFRE
Executive Director
Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation

By the way: since that email was written we have sold several more tables and another sponsorship. Everyday a little bit of progress is made.

Oh and if you are in there area...you can buy your ticket here. (it really is a lot of fun.)

Now its your turn, tell us your strategy for ensuring a successful event this spring?

Thank you for spending time here.

The world water crisis reached out to me...in my bathroom

2009-03-22T14:45:00.000-04:00

Water is essential for life. Without water we cannot live.

The simple fact of the matter is – we can’t make more water. We have a limited supply. We absolutely must cherish what we are so fortunate to have.

I remember a couple of summers ago having some girlfriends over for an evening of food and wine. We live in the country and evenings like that carry on until the next day. At about two o'clock in the morning, after I had finished cleaning up, finding people beds and pillows I was finally ready to wash the hot stickiness of a very humid evening off my face and go to bed. I turned on the tap expecting cool clean water and I got a sputter of brown sludge...then nothing. Our supply had dried up. I was completely baffled and I must say a little scared because all of a sudden the largest public health issue of our time - the world water crisis - had reached out to me in my bathroom.

Nearly 1.1 billion people (roughly 20% of the world’s population) lack access to safe drinking water. The lack of clean, safe drinking water is estimated to kill almost 4,500 children per day. In fact, out of the 2.2 million unsafe drinking water deaths in 2004, 90% were children under the age of five. Water is essential to the treatment of diseases, something especially critical for children.

Yet many people in Canada don't seem very worried. I often wonder what other countries think about us when they see how we take this life depending natural resource for granted the way we do.

Today is world water day. The theme this year is transboundary water. I wish that water was more evenly distributed across the planet. I really do. I'm embarrassed by Canada's abundance of and our neglect for such a life saving resource.

A lot of agencies are doing amazing work getting water to the people and changing the local economy as a result. There are a lot of videos about walking for miles to secure a gallon of dirty water.

I like this video though because it helps us see how this problem could impact more affluent western countries.

If we take care of our water, our air will be cleaner and the land will be stronger. People will be healthier. It is a pretty simple cycle. Do something today to conserve the worlds most precious resource. Here is a list of ideas to get you started.

Thank you for spending time here.

My relationship with Ken Burnett

2009-03-17T15:53:00.000-04:00

I'm in a relationship with Ken Burnett. Have been for some time actually. I suppose it is time to come clean since Canadian Fundraising and Philanthropy tells all the sorted details in their March Newsletter.

It all started about a year ago when I was working on a direct mail piece and it was a bit of a struggle. I picked up Ken's book The Zen of Fundraising for some inspiration. There was a reference that I didn’t understand so I decided to drop him a note and ask him what he meant. He says at the back of the book to contact him, the email address is right there - so I did. (Buy the book if you don’t believe me)

Ken actually wrote back – within 24 hours. After I got over the initial shock of it all (as well as the cynicism that perhaps this was someone on staff and not actually him) we started a dialogue. He shared resources and information and gave me about one hour of free consultation. I was so grateful for the experience I offered to do something for him – although I couldn’t imagine what it could possibly be…

My story continues here on the Canadian Fundraising and philanthropy newsletter. Read it and then start some new relationships of your own!

Thank you for spending time here.

Should a rape crisis centre use sexuality to raise money?

2009-03-15T18:35:00.000-04:00

This issue has received a lot of attention recently in Belfast. A struggling rape crisis centre hired a burlesque star to perform at an event. Of course this move secured a lot of attention from the media. I read about it on the UK’s Professional Fundraising blog. On that blog I commented that I hoped more blogs talked about it so as to generate more attention for the small struggling charity in Belfast. So it seems only fitting to mention it on my own blog.

But what to say……

We could talk about the difference between burlesque and stripping. A topic my dear husband willing researched for me. According to his research burlesque is an art form that started in the 1800’s as musical, comedic theatre with gross exaggeration and parody. Sounds fun.

Today:

“The UK scene is definitely growing with the introduction of the London Burlesque Festival in 2007 and the Ministry Of Burlesque gaining a seven-figure investment from a major mainstream media company in mid-2008 to create an IP/TV channel and TV studios which are entirely dedicated to the artform. Club Noir is officially the world's biggest burlesque club according to Guinness World Records, with up to 2,000 people at their events in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London.”

Hmmm. Isn’t’ that interesting mainstream media in the UK is investing huge amounts of money into burlesque but we are condemning a small charity in Belfast for doing the exactly same thing. (If you haven’t read “Uncharitable” by Dan Palotta you may want too)

All that is sort of boring though…this argument is about something bigger...

Should a rape crisis centre use sexuality, aka burlesque, to raise money so that they can help more victims?

Should a breastfeeding organization take money from companies that violate the WHO Code for the ethical marketing of breastmilk substitutes so they can help more new mothers?

Should an environmental organization take money from businesses that make parking lots for us to park our cars on and build houses for us to live in so that we can create more wetlands and plant more trees?

Should children’s organizations raise money to stop bullying by creating boxing matches between police officers and firefighters?

Should a humanist organization run a bus campaign claiming there isn't a God?

This is not a question of the right or wrong decisions of a small charity in Ireland. This is a question about values.

I can’t claim to be an expert on counseling rape victims. Fortunately that is beyond the scope if my experience. But if the crisis centre in Belfast can help more women recover from their assault and eventually have a sexually satisfying relationship; I would enthusiastically attend an event with a burlesque dancer.

We, fundraisers, do not have the right to judge the decisions of other charities. Each charity has to determine its own values. Jim Collins states"

In truly great companies, change is a constant, but not the only constant. They understand the difference between what should never change and what should be open for change, between what is truly sacred and what is not. And by being clear about what should never change, they are better able to stimulate change and progress in everything else.

To compete, we have to change, we have to embrace our values and we have to evolve. Why should small charities anywhere be any different? The only people who have the right to judge whether a charity made the "right" decision based on their values is....

THE DONOR, who presumably shares the same values and will withdraw their support if a charity strays too far.

You might have different ideas about this. I welcome the debate. "Angry feminists" you are welcome here. Middle aged men who wanted to comment on this but didnt...you are too. What do you think?

Thank you for spending time here.

The Cost of a "Flat" World

2009-03-12T09:03:00.000-04:00

In my last post of 2008 I made a list about what I learned last year. As I move through 2009 I've blogged about learning stuff , SOFII , pushing our own boundaries,

Now it is time to reflect on number 5. Blogging.

I like my blog. It is very cool that people from 25 countries around the world take time to read it. (In fact this weekend I intend to write about sex so be sure to sign up as a follower so you don't miss it!)The relationships I have developed through online channels this year never would have happened without the Internet and my ability to type.

Yesterday I started wondering if we aren't loosing something as we pursue this idea of a flat world. I received this note:

Last week we received a donation from "Mrs. Norman" with a different hand written note. The cheque had the wrong date and we didn't have her phone number on file. So I wrote her a handwritten note asking for her phone number and informing her of her mistake. She wrote me the note above and sent in a new cheque...with her phone number. (I thought about typing it out for you so it would be easier for you to read, but I won't. See if your eyes still recognize cursive writing.)

Now I could phone Mrs. Norman and thank her. Which I did. We had a lovely conversation during which I learned that Mrs. Norman is 91 years old and no longer has any connection to our cause other than her donations. She keeps making them because they remind her of more active days at the cottage when she was a child and later as a mother with her own kids. Her connection with us is very important to her. My connection with her was very intimate and it started with an exchange of hand written notes.

(I will secretly admit to you that yes - ruthless fundraiser that I am I did think about her estate plans)

The point is: With all these electronic relationships are we missing out on something? A level of connection that you simply can't get electronically? I think we are.

Well I better get into work, the Mrs. Norman's of the world won't be around much longer and I have to work on my penmanship.

Thank you for spending time here.

Donors are NOT irrational

2009-03-04T19:58:00.000-05:00

Seth Godin and Jeff Brooks were talking about "irrational donors" this week. I know they meant well and that it may have even been a little tongue in cheek. Someone who thinks at a higher level could probably pick up on that. I'm not thinking at a terribly high level right now I'm surviving the trenches. I read quickly and moved onto work stuff.

I went back later and thought about it more:

Websters online Dictionary defines irrational as:

a: lacking usual or normal mental clarity or coherence b: not governed by or according to reason

Here are two stories from my trench:

Donor story #1

I was quietly plugging away on an outrageous grant application when the receptionist called me. Apparently a donor was at the front with a complaint. He had two envelopes from us in his hand and needed to talk to the Executive Director. What a nice distraction I thought...so donor 1 came in. We chatted. He presented his two envelopes. We had made a mistake.

There was one address, two different names, one actual bank account/person. "Thank you so much for letting us know about this Mr. Donor 1, lets check the database and see what we have there." I said...or something like it anyway.

So. I turned my trusty laptop around, in full view of the donor, sharing all our secrets and showed him not one but two donor profiles. We made a mistake. His name was spelled two different ways. We fixed it right there in front of him.

He then very rationally realized he didn't donate in 2008, took out his cheque book, made a donation and thanked us for all we do.

Donor story #2

Anyone who feels grateful enough for their assistant to send her to New Zealand for four weeks should slap themselves! She doesn't deserve it! Don't do it! Well, for better or worse I did.

Judy is gone but we are doing fine thank you. Or are we????

Well it would seem that our lovely event coordinator whois new to us has been is doing two jobs. Her huge event is in eight weeks and now she is processing donations too...welcome to a small shop! Karin didn't realize that we have two sets of monthly debits. One set on the 1st and one on the 15th.

Now Karin is a very competent, mature, capable and fabulous person. When she realized her error she came to me right away. Apparently 50% of our monthly donations didn't go through in February. It is now March.

"Well Karin what do you want to do to fix this." After some discussion, she decided the smart thing would be to phone the donors and admit we had made an error, ask them if we could process or do they need a months "vacation" for February and a fresh start in March. GREAT! Good for you Karin. Carry on. Then I jumped off to my massage...because that is what Executive Directors actually do when they leave abruptly without warning.

Karin phoned our donors and explained the error. 100% of them were very grateful and understanding. All donations have now been processed and Karin received the gift of developing relationships with some of our donors. All the conversations put a smile on her face. Everyone was very reasonable

So, are donors "irrational". I don't think so. I think they are very passionate about our cause and expect great service. If we given them that...not only will they be very reasonable, they will also be very loyal.

Thank you for spending time here.

Your Personal Brand

2009-03-01T18:17:00.000-05:00

I admit it - I have thought about how the Internet can help sell me as a kind of "product". Other than that, I don't really know much about what people mean when they talk about your "personal brand". I just figure that when it comes to the Internet I should try and put my best foot forward, assuming that everyday online I'll be making a first impression with someone.

When my father finally got a face book profile my advice to him was: "Don't put anything up there you wouldn't show the folks in the office". If my "friends" want to look at my vacation or family pictures - they are welcome to them. What you won't find is me at the beach or on Christmas morning - those are strictly reserved for my real friends and family who share the pictures with me. I wouldn't take those into the office - trust me, they wouldn't help to inspire confidence, get a donation or a raise.

You may correspond in your pj's but the Internet is not private. It is a tool. Seth Godin has a great post about this. If you are one of the few people on the planet who haven't yet discovered Seth's blog be sure to sign up for it - you will be glad you did.

Thank you for spending time here.

Corporate Sponsorships

2009-02-26T14:50:00.000-05:00

Hello,

There is nothing like a good relaxing lunch with one of your team members to come up with a good strategy.

We are working bloody hard around here on securing some corporate sponsors. Keeping up with the same target as last year is requiring a lot more work.

Here is what the "meeting" over tuscan bean soup, grilled calamari salad, tiramisu and cappuccino delivered:

- Be grateful for every single sponsorship no matter the level

- If a sponsor declines but wants to help - take them up on their offer by asking for auction items or assistance selling tickets to their clients. Don't deny them the opportunity to be a part of your event just because their budgets are tight this year. They want to be involved!

- Send a personalized thank you note to the sponsors who said NO. Let them know you appreciate their time in considering the request.

Do you have any creative solutions for keeping your corporate sponsors engaged this year?

Thank you for spending time here.

Become your organization's competitive edge

2009-02-21T07:05:00.000-05:00

I'm very touched by the number of people reading this blog and I'm sorry it has fallen a little behind. I have been writing and reading and thinking a lot lately. I could post a giant development plan full of mind numbing theory and action items that would overwhelm directors of even the largest fundraising shop - but I think this book review might be more useful to you.

I own a lot of fundraising books and have read them all. Some more than once. I've come to the conclusion that there really are only two books that fundraisers need to own. Relationship Fundraising by Ken Burnett and this new one The Influential Fundraiser by Bernard Ross and Clare Segal.

(Note to the authors: the size of the image does not indicate favouritism. Its just the best a luddite like me could do!)

I recently wrote a book review for SOFII on the latter. (If you are one of the few fundraisers in the world who isn't registered for SOFII do it now!)

Here is my review of the Influential Fundraiser from SOFII:

When I heard about the idea of using psychology to raise more money I couldn’t imagine how that would fit into my previous learning about the pyramids, loops and ladders that are so familiar to many of us fundraisers. The fact is – it doesn’t. Bernard Ross and Clare Segal are revolutionising fundraising with their new book The Influential Fundraiser. Forget what you know or thought you knew about this business. You won’t find any gift charts or moves management tables – no scripted asks either. Ross and Segal have outlined in detail the steps required not only to raise more money, but to also win over your board or staff. This book will even help to get your teenagers to clean their rooms!

The practical advice laid out in this book will help you to:

-Understand what motivates your donors.
- Immediately establish and build rapport.
- Present your proposal in a way that is tailored to the psychology of the person you are trying to influence.
- Take systematic steps to make sure you are prepared and know the desired outcome
- Understand and respond appropriately to your donors point of view
- Know which of the nine ‘nos’ actually means no. (Hint: there is only one.)
With so much information, you expect the book to read like a textbook. That’s not the case. It is so well written that the words fall off the page. (I actually read it from the beginning to the end in one sitting.) Wonderful examples of their ideas in action are interwoven throughout to help you to see how the exercises can be applied in the real world. For example, the story of a priest from Bolivia who used the metaphor of an actual brick to make his case and explain his vision. While raising money to help children learn to read, the priest tells the story of a young boy who tossed aside an encyclopaedia because he couldn’t read and a book wouldn’t help him build a house. Of course a full proposal is used eventually, ‘But,’ says Father Luis, ‘donors really get it when I show them the brick!’

The authors outline how the five cogs of passion, proposal, preparation, persuasion and persistence work together and explain how this has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for clients of the Management Centre around the world. Now Ross and Segal are sharing their secrets of success so that more fundraisers and causes will benefit.

I do have one concern about this fundraising approach. I would have liked to see more about maintaining our integrity as fundraisers while using this powerful psychology to ask for gifts. The book quickly points out this dilemma at the beginning, stating that, ‘If you feel like you are manipulating someone, then you probably are. So stop whatever you are doing.’ At a time when we need to be even more accountable and even more ethical, I’d like to better understand that grey area between being an extraordinary fundraiser and being a mediocre sales person or, worse, a con artist. These skills of persuasion will need to be used very carefully.

Fortunately there is also website for just such a discussion. The website also include extra downloads to help you apply the techniques. I think we need to talk more about the ethics involved in fundraising using the psychology of persuasion.

In the meantime, inspired by the lessons from this book, I wish I could rewind and replay every one of the solicitations and board meetings I participated in last year. I will no doubt keep this book very close. While the concepts are quite simple to set out they won’t be all that easy to learn and apply. It will take time and practice for me to become the influential fundraiser I need to be in order to have that ‘competitive edge’. Come to think about it… forget what you just read, don’t buy the book, don’t listen to me and don’t visit the website… the less people who read it, the better. After all, we can’t all be highly influential and successful fundraisers! But if you need to buy the book to help you get your children to clean their rooms, that would be just fine.

Review
The Influential Fundraiser
Using the psychology of persuasion to achieve outstanding results.
by Bernard Ross and Clare Segal
Jossey-Bass/Wiley
$39.95.
ISBN 978-0-7879-9404-4
© Kimberley MacKenzie 2009

To be fair I have reread and written a little something about Relationship Fundraising too- so watch for it. Is there another book that you think is an absolute must for every fundraiser? Tell us about it. Thank you for spending time here.

The magical world of fields and rivers

2009-02-16T19:52:00.000-05:00

Have you ever tried to outlast a heron? Marvelled at the ability of a squirrels nest to survive a harsh winter? Let tent caterpillars devour an entire tree because you are amazed that they actually can? Or laughed for two years as you witnessed the battle between beaver and man? (One thinks a den is rather important, the other thinks road safety should come first. They are both right.)

If any of these small wonders of nature fascinate you, as they do me, then you will truly appreciate the simple pleasure of reading The Field by the River by Ken Burnett.

Perhaps you are dragging yourself into work, commuting on a sticky humid subway (tube) ride everyday? Are wondering if you will ever feel the sunshine on your face again in the middle of this long cold winter? Counting the days to the first long weekend in spring? Then you absolutely must read this book – immediately!

The Field by the River will remind you of the simpler pleasures in life – like taking time to walk the dogs. You will be transported through words to join Ken, Marie and their three dogs on their daily walks in rural France. You will learn more about mushrooms than anyone needs to know really, except perhaps which ones fairies are most attracted too – oh and the ones that will kill you - that is useful learning.

This book is a delight that will make you laugh, cry and smile at the same time. A work of art best enjoyed out loud. Make your family slow down and listen - share the beauty and wonders of Kerkelven with them.

A side of Ken Burnett that many fundraisers don’t know is shared within the pages of “Field”. Did you know he studies the antics of ants? Just sits still sometimes to think? Uses a whip to force his wife Marie to move lawn furniture! (Let’s hope the last one was a bit of an exaggeration!)

The Field by the River is about pleasure, taking time to just “be” in the beauty and wonder of our natural world and cherishing those who share it with us. A lesson for all fundraisers actually...more on that in another post.

Give yourself the gift of respite from your daily toil and buy this book today. Actually buy two because you will want to give one as a gift and keep yours forever.

Thank you for spending time here.

How will you stay up to date?

2009-02-05T15:08:00.000-05:00

I am currently wrestling with our 2009 operating budget and we are faced with some difficult choices. One of them will be what to do about the "professional development" line.

Ongoing education is absolutely essential in this business. Our worlds are changing quickly and to stay competitive we need to keep up to date. This brings us to number three in my post about what I learned in 2008 Yes it is true that attending IFC (do I need to link there again....oh okay) opened my eyes to a new world of learning. The very sad reality is that I don't think our budget can support my going again in 2009. I now have to think creatively about how we can get the training we need for less money. Jonathon Grapsas blogged about this concern just last week. My response to Jonathon is that those providing education have no choice but to innovate. Nothing can replace personal interactions at conferences it is true. However, sacrificing drinks at the bar with famous fundraising gurus, doesn't mean that we need to sacrifice staying up to date. Two great examples of this are:

1. The online Affinity Resources webinar The three of us, for one low registration fee, hunkered in my office, had lunch and listened to Bernard Ross and Richard McPherson share wisdom, knowledge, inspiration and even debate a little bit about the pros and cons of online versus face to face donor relationships.

After the seminar we finished our lunch, talked about what we learned and how to apply it, then went back to work. (I'd like to know how many people did the same thing around the world so if you are from Affinity and know please post a comment.)

2. An amazing new online international conference! The Resource Alliance breaks new ground once again. Check out their global connections newsletter which talks about this first ever online International Conference. Of course the theme is digital media for this year but I expect like everything else they do the Resource Alliance will continue to expand this great new idea.

Of course nothing can replace the face to face, business card exchanging, back and forth conference experience. Which is why you should all plan on attending this great seminar.

Ongoing education is more important than ever. How will you make sure you stay up to date and in budget in 2009?

Thank you for spending time here.

Great new web design

2009-01-31T10:04:00.000-05:00

My friend John launched a new website

This site seems to have found a way to work through the cyberclutter and do what it is intended to do. Make you want to hire him.

Go visit it. Then hire idea design ....They will be too busy for new work very soon.

Congratulations John and Mark!

Thanks for spending time here.

People can change anything

2009-01-30T20:14:00.000-05:00

"I'd like to say that people...people can change anything they want too and that means everything in the world. Show me any country and there will be people in it. It's time to take the humanity back into the centre of the ring and follow that for a time...think on that. Without people you are nothing."

Joe Strummer
take a moment to slow down and listen

Thanks for spending time here.

The inner workings of the Obama campaign

2009-01-30T13:14:00.001-05:00

There has been so much speculation into the secret behind the success of the Obaman Campaign. In my post early December I wondered how much it cost to raise $600 million US and generate the extraordinary grassroots support and momentum.

Thank you Jonathon for going to washington to find out for us. As suspected the resources behind the Obama campaign were extraordinary. You can read more on Jonathon's blog. Regardless of what you read though I still cling to the opinion that without the integration of all elements it wouldn't have been as successful. What do you think?

Thank you for spending time here.

Coming Together to Talk About the Economic Crisis

2009-01-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

In my post "snap out of it" I ranted a bit about the deluge of articles, messages, advice and reminders that we are in a very serious economic crisis. I do think these messages have potential to distract us and turn us into victims of the economic crisis rather then inspire us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We can't let that happen. Jonathon Grapsas agreed and imposed a ban on all recession talk for a week. Good for you Jonathon!

It is important to be pragmatic without becoming too negative. It is impossible and dangerous to completely ignore what is happening. In October I predicted that our majors donors who provide donations of securities simple wouldnt' give this year. I met with them all at the end of 2008 and I was right. They couldn't give - they needed to rebuild their investment portfolio. Rather then getting a donation the strategy became to simply maintain the relationship. We need to stay closer than ever to our donors right now.

Fortunately Canadian Fundraiser and Pareto Fundraising are coming together to help us not only to survive but also to thrive. On February 17, 2009 there is a fantastic day planned to help us all during these challenging times. If you only go to one workshop this year - I think this one should be it!

I look forward to learning, exchanging ideas and developing strategies together on February 17, 2008. See you there.

Thank you for spending time here.

Local Solutions for the Planet

2009-01-23T11:46:00.000-05:00

When I started blogging I thought I'd talk about two things: Fundraising and the Environment. So far it has all been about fundraising. Until today. I made a speech at work this morning. I'm not quite as good as Barack Obama's speech writer but important politicians listened politely anyway.

I thought I'd just pop this up for those of you interested in what I actually do ... you know...when I'm not blogging!

Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority
Annual General Meeting
Kimberley MacKenzie, Foundation ED – Speech
January 23, 2009

Good morning, Thank you Chair Hackson, I’m pleased to be here on behalf of the Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation today.

I fundamentally believe that the solutions to our very real global environmental crisis lay within the local work that happens in the ground. Picking up a shovel, getting your hands dirty and improving the health of your front yard will change the landscape and future of our planet. These local acts of kindness to the planet will cumulatively have a significant global impact.

The Lake Simcoe Watershed is an inspiration. It inspires because here we see a real commitment by all levels of government, the staff within the Conservation Authority are extremely passionate about their work and of course there is extraordinary community engagement on all fronts, but mostly the work that is happening here is inspiring because people are doing real tangible things to improve the environment right at home – in their backyard.

The Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation is extremely proud to be able to support this work through donations from individuals and businesses in this watershed. People who care so much they are willing to open their pocket book and put their own money toward many of the programs Chair Hackson mentioned a few minutes ago.

2008 was another record setting year for the Lake Simcoe Conservation Foundation. This past year we were able to contribute over $430,000 of private sector funding for a cleaner, healthier Lake Simcoe Watershed. This money was leveraged with government funding and resulted in an investment of $2.2 million. This funding helped plant over 55,000 trees to clean our air and more rocks than we can count to stabilize shorelines to clean our water. We also helped educate about 8,000 children to be responsible environmental stewards for their planet – this will protect our future.

These are great accomplishments and it is with optimism - for the future of our organization and our planet - that we can look ahead to 2009. Our board of directors is coming to the end of a very intensive strategic planning process. This new plan will set the framework for our future together and we look forward to working with the LSRCA board of directors and staff on its implementation.

Our fundraising in 2009 will continue to have a strong focus of enhancing our individual giving program and of course we will continue to build our major gift program. Our efforts will remain aggressive. The need is still great and there is a lot of work to do.

There is extraordinary momentum in our watershed. Together we can continue to be full of optimism for our future. The strong leadership that can account for our mutual success in 2008 will continue into the coming year.

Thank you.

Thank you for spending time here.

SOFII is a Gift for You

2009-01-18T09:07:00.000-05:00

In my year end post from last year I listed what I learned. This provoked some thinking about the importance of actually doing something with your learning. The first was mindmapping. The second is SOFII.

Those of us who work on SOFII or The Showcase for Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration, are the first to admit it is a work in progress. Yes it is badly in need of being redesigned, also more content is essential and money is needed to keep it going. All of that will happen in time. (Although the money part is becoming increasing important).

In the meantime, there are a lot of things to love about SOFII. Only a few of which are:

1. SOFII helps you see beyond your own organization and stay in touch with what others are doing.

2. SOFII helps you learn from experts between conferences. The exhibits aren't just pretty pictures, they outline results, strategy and cost benefit too.

3. SOFII teaches about the history of fundraising.

4. SOFII reminds you that even if you work alone you don't have to be lonley in your work.

I think one of the things I love most is something David Love wrote about in Canadian Fundraiser newsletter. He wrote:

“Many things make the third sector - the not-for-profit sector - unique. Chief among our sector’s Unique Selling Propositions is our willingness to share what we learn. We freely share these details because we want to see our colleagues succeed.

Can you imagine a workshop where Pepsi outlines, in excruciating details, the results of a campaign so that Coke might benefit!”

It is true that corporations are trying to do more of what we do. As long as we continue to share and learn from each other they don't have a chance.

As the volunteer Canadian Ambassador for SOFII my job is to help get more registered users, network, create a Canadian Page and gather exhibits. The first three are pretty easy.

Speaking about SOFII at conferences helps and we were fortunate to have a session at IFC last year in Holland.

Getting exhibits is a little bit harder. Unless I donate to you like I do to David's organization (mostly so I can steal his stuff and learn about how he treats his monthly donors) it is likely I won't see your work. I don't have enough money to give you all a donation.

Won't you please send in your exhibit? All exhibits are welcome, personally I'd like to see more giant screw ups. A career limiting mistake. Wasted a tonne of money. Almost lost your job. Totally blew it! There are only two of these exhibits on the website (funnily enough one of them was submitted by David Love - I'm thinking the title of this post should be changed...)

Please share your brilliance. (or lack of it!) Email me and I'll help you do it or just send your exhibit straight to Maxine.

SOFII is a gift to all of us. Let's work together to expand it, share it and keep it going.

Thank you for spending time here.

Move Beyond Your Comfort Zone

2009-01-10T14:42:00.000-05:00

Moving beyond your comfort zone is uncomfortable and takes effort so we rarely do it.

We have all bought books, paid for conferences and asked for advice, only to ignore it and go back to familiar patterns and “safe” ways of thinking.

When I returned to work after a long and much needed vacation, I felt like I was lost. I forgot what my job was and why they even hired me to do it. It was a brand new year…and I had no idea how to start.

So what is a girl to do? Read her own blog of course!

In that moment of utter uselessness, thinking back about what I learned in 2008 served me well. I remembered that in the book Breakthrough Thinking for NonProfit Organizations by Bernard Ross and Clare Segal there was a section on something called mind mapping.

“Eureka!” I thought, “I can doodle a bit and pretend I’m actually working!”

So I dug out that old unopened package of markers I bought in 2007 (when I read the book for the first time) and pulled my copy off the shelf for a little refresher course.

Mindmapping isn’t a new tool it was founded in the 1960’s by a man named Tony Buzan and has been used for decades in psychology, business and education. However, as Ross and Segal point out, there are very real and practical applications in the non profit sector. Mindmaps can help us perform better, be more successful and breakthrough to BIG new ideas and extraordinary results. That was exactly how I needed to start my year.

The concept is simple. Get some coloured markers and as big a piece of paper as you can find. Change your physical space; maybe put it on a wall. Start with a central idea and create branches from that which flow into other ideas. Draw pictures, use colour and put down all your thoughts.

I had a few false starts but once I got the middle right I was just like Jackson Pollok – there was no stopping me! The traffic jam in my mind was now moving through my fingers onto paper AND I was having fun too.

Feeling deeply satisfied and highly motivated I emerged from my office triumphant, the year was planned and I was a superstar.

It was time to share my masterpiece.

There are only three of us in the Foundation but over 70 in the parent organization. It is fair to say that most people were a little perplexed at first. It took some time to explain to science and program staff what this “picture” was. Once they understood it, most people found it very refreshing. The manager of finance even asked me to take her team through the exercise and “How do you do all that?” was repeated often.

Each river draining into the Lake has a purpose. Each stream helps us get to that purpose. All of these small “ecosystems” will be supported by a budget and will raise money.

What this map also provides is a comprehensive look at how much the three of us accomplish and how it all connects. I also saw very clearly the areas I knew well and gaps in both my knowledge and resources.

This is not a board approved strategic plan. We are working on that now. However, I still need to keep operations going and I can not do that if I’m stuck or “faking it”. This exercise helped to motivate and inspire me - so I can work again. The three of us already posted copies of it on our wall. It will help us keep the big picture in mind and stay focussed – you can’t do that with a spreadsheet.

Having had a fantastic start to the year at work, I took my masterpiece home to impress my family. My 12 year old glanced briefly at it on the kitchen table and with no explanation she immediately responded with “So that’s how you are going to raise money this year? Cool.” My 10 year old came by a few minutes later, again, no explanation and responded with “Oh ya. So how much did you make last year?” They knew immediately what it was and what it meant.

Children already think like this! What happens to us? I think it is that we stop playing and being creative. We are trained to think it isn’t appropriate in an adult world. We start feeling safe inside our little box.

If you want to think differently and deliver extraordinary results read Breakthrough Thinking, if you just want to roll up your sleeves and try mindmapping Tony Buzan will tell you how right here.

Mindmapping is a tool I now have to be more productive, creative and solve any challenge. Just like phoning my donors, I am going to make this a habit.

When you learn something at a conference or in a book; when you demand time and advice from someone smarter and more experienced than you – don’t waste it, do something with it. Move beyond your comfort zone - good things will happen!

Thank you for spending time here.

(If you would like to read the map in more detail just email me and I'd be happy to send it to you)