Are You Using the G2 Formula?

One of the major complaints I’ve heard from many investors (donors) is that, “that nonprofit only contacts me when they want something.” Typically they phrase it like this, “they only want me for my check.” Some investors will say this out loud, but most simply internalize the feeling, having the affects of the feeling influence their impression and involvement with your entity. It’s the thought in their mind of how you (the NPO) could help them (the investor) rather than how they can help you. This influences the referrals you receive and the in-kind trade (Power partners) opportunities. Of course they want to make a difference which is why they give, however, the subconscious thinking is, “What’s in it for me.” Now is your change to give before you get and implement tools like the Golden Rule and Emotional Bank Account; thinking like a talent scout to help potential fundraising sources.

A well known saying is “put yourself in their shoes.” How often do you really think about your donor’s personal needs? Do you really try to walk a mile in their shoes? In today’s social media, with billions of bits of information, conflicting messages, and a trillion ways to market, your investors are getting approached by many sources. The number of “asks” they receive in person, via e-mail or by phone has gone up considerably in the last five years, but the methods for approaching them has stayed the same. Frankly, the pitch and methods are old and tiresome and it’s time to try a new formula and realize that it comes down to a focus on quality versus quantity.

Zig Zigler’s famous quote, “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want,” is about focusing on what’s in it for the other person. We could customize this quote in the NPO world to, “Your organization will get the donations/sponsors that you target if you help enough investors get what they want.” Zig’s quote connects into giving to your investor before they ever give anything to you.

As you look at your fundraising goals for the year, you need to change your mind set. It’s not about what you or your NPO are going to get, it’s about your willingness to give. We’ve all heard the saying, “you have to give to get,” but most of us don’t take it inside our heart and analyze what it really means to know how we can really make significant changes to what we focus on. You’ll need to take an interest in your key supporters, get to know them (I mean really get to know them not just superficially), and give to them in many different ways. The problem isn’t that you don’t know this strategy already. The challenge lies in how you’ve forgotten it or how you lack the tools to deliver on it. As your organization grows and develops, your own driving forces, goals and priorities become top of mind. You forget the importance of the formula. If you want to improve your fundraising efforts, simply think “give first”.

 

Give to Get (3 key parts):

• Listen to them
  
• Focus on them
  
• Give first
  

 

This goes beyond providing heart tugging stories and reduces the time you spend on asking and inviting. This formula will keep you out of the giving trap and avoid the perils of requiring instant gratification. And by giving to get you will build strong relationships that will have significant value to you in the long term. The goal is to give more value to as many people as possible before they even consider giving you and/or your organization anything. This is often accomplished through tools like the Golden rule and the Emotional Bank Account, which will cover tomorrow www.billyounginspires.com.

Play the Match Game

You’ll find that most people talk too much when they’re prospecting for new donors, sponsors, or investors. In fact, it’s not quantity but quality especially when you consider that the Gettysburg Address was 272 words and made a profound impact on our county while the average USA Today article gets lost in the shuffle at an average of 1500 words. My bet is that the sales conversation your nonprofit organization (NPO) or start-up uses is probably 2000 words too many. If you’re talking then you’re not fundraising. You could be coming across more like a Doctor prescribing remedies when they haven’t heard the symptoms, rather than a professional offering significant value in return for a contribution.

 

You might have been taught or trained to have a great pitch, articulating the features and benefits of your organization. A well constructed, dynamic pitch is important but understanding when to bring it out and when not to use it is critical. In fact, a great 59 second commercial opens doors and a poor one keeps them closed. The questioning process (Q in the fundraising formula) starts with a great commercial and extends into open ended questions that keep the focus on the prospective sponsor or donor. Your intro/commercial doesn’t pitch anything but rather it starts the WIIFT (for them) tactic. You no longer have to ask for anything specifically, but your style and type of questions produce the right answers without confusion or drama. If you want to be different, then act different. In fact, if you want to fundraise then ask questions – you’re not telling, selling, or directing, you are listening.

 

Example questions include:

 

• What types of organizations do you give your time or money to?
  
• What do you look for in NPOs?
  
• How much money do you typically give each year? (Budget & Investment Questions)
  

 

You want to think like a doctor, detective or reporter. You’re interviewing the prospective donor/sponsor. Indeed, you’ll notice that most of the questions listed above are based on facts as well as opinions and impressions. You goal is for them to start formulating a flow chart of information, desires, things to avoid, etc. You’re attempting to get to their real feelings with a trust level that avoids the Iceberg Phenomenon (a challenge many nonprofit leaders have to learn overcome). Everyone wants to feel important and that their opinion matters, so help them feel good. Take them into the future and ask about what would be ideal or what could be improved; covering what has not worked in the past but what could work in the future if properly changed.

 

Great questions help you avoid making the wrong assumptions and identify critical data like who the decision maker is or how many people will influence the yes or no answer. Furthermore, the right answers to the right questions make matching prospects to your ideal investor profile easier; often saving you unnecessary presentation time.

 

If you were listening (and taking notes is highly recommended) during the Q (or Questioning) part of the formula, providing authentic behaviors and empowering those around you, then matching the solutions to the problems becomes easier. The prospective donor, investor, or sponsor may not care that you’ve been around for 100 years or that you have had the same staff for 10 years. They told you their concerns when you asked the proper questions so now match your solutions to those answers. Take the canned presentation you’ve had and customize it to each prospect you deal with and connect their needs to your value. Lastly, keep in mind that most investors need to know immediately how you’re Nonprofit or start up has a better ROI than another one or what makes you the Pink Cat (Strategy 3).

 

This is your chance at this point in the process to “pitch,” matching the identified benefits that best fit or will entice your prospect. They’ll think to themselves, “Wow you really hit all of our concerns and opportunities.” This result occurred not because you’re a mind reader, but you asked great questions and then listened for the answers. You matched their desires, objectives, and needs to your organization’s core value. In the end, you won at the match game.

ASCEND your mountains

“It’s time to create your goal board,” Colleen said with a grin. She is a great sales coach and mentor with professional characteristics, deep values, and a drive to succeed. The class began working on our boards, cutting pictures out of magazines and gluing them on to a large white poster board. We spent two or three hours talking about goals, dreams, and living an exciting life. It was a great experience.

The first time I brought this concept to a nonprofit (NPO), they looked at me with very strange expressions. They were thinking the same thing I was thinking, we could identify with the pictures and place them appropriately, but there was a lack of a process for accomplishing the life visions. In fact, there was a gap between the end goal (picture) and the steps to get to it. We weren’t even sure how to set the priorities for such a goal. Once I decided what was most important to me, I would need to connect them to the groups and businesses I was involved in and the important people in my life that would be affected by the goals. Therefore, I created my own process.

As our yearly vision board sessions have grown from my wife and me to many people, I realized the importance to having a process to define the end vision. Each year the process I have developed called ASCEND – the acronym stands for Attitude, Spirit, Connection, Evaluate, Navigate, and Development – has evolved. This is about accomplishing your most important dreams and reaching the vision of your life similar to climbing a mountain. I cover this tool in the first class at my Fundraising Academy to identify each Officers/Directors own personal goals. Along the way, after establishing your own goals, you start to understand where your goals align with your NPO organization and at what points you’re disconnected.

Each step in the process transcends one mountain (or obstacle) to the next. As you reach the top of one, the next becomes larger and more challenging. In fact, you have to take it one step at a time, overcoming problems and finding unique pathways. As an NPO Officer, the vision of raising a $1 million per year can seem impossible if you only currently raise $250,000. However, if you make it through all six stages, then you’ll have a great start to understanding your starting point and along the way, you’ll discover a way to get to the fundraising levels that you once thought were impossible. You’ll feel empowered knowing your connecting your behavior to your goals. It takes about 2 to 4 hours to complete the entire process, but it will save you years of frustration.

IMPROVEMENT OVER PERFECTION –the saying I came up with to describe the growth process – starts with your own goals, dreams, and beliefs before you can help the organization take a giant leap. Start today and figure out the best method for you to ASCEND your mountains –visit my site for more unique ideas.

Play Your Position

“Why would we do that?” was the initial response from my board when I suggested that our foundation Board of Directors and members all have business cards. They were not overwhelmingly in favor, causing most of the members to give an odd facial expression and say, “Doesn’t that cost money?” In fact, many for-profit companies and nonprofits are surprisingly stingy with tools like business cards even though it is one of the most fundamental, simple, and cheap ways to get everyone engaged in the fundraising game.

The reality is that every person in your organization, especially your board, is a key player in this new fundraising game whether they realize it or not. In fact, they are a representative for you whether they’re at work or play; making contact with people all day that can help your efforts. They become a free fundraising (sales) rep. If you properly train the team and empower them with key tools like the business cards, then you’ll see fundraising numbers increase dramatically.

There are many other tools and ideas to help the process, but shifting the entire organization’s attitude and connection to fundraising is paramount. In fact, one of the misconceptions in the NPO world is that only the Development Director (Manger, Officer, etc.) is responsible for raising money. I had one DO whisper to me that a board member and an internal staff admin had both commented on multiple occasions, “Why am I helping with fundraising, isn’t that your job?” Although their main function is to raise funds, the DO or ED in many cases should not be left on an island by themselves to fight a lonely battle. Their motivation can either be improved from watching a culture development in which everyone participates or decreased greatly when they realize that it’s all on their shoulders.

The trend of having everyone involved in business development or sales has pushed many for-profit corporations to create incentive plans to leverage and motivate all employees to help with sales, referring potential customers and receiving cash or prizes for the assistance. In fact, according to a University of Melbourne Study, a high percentage of for-profit firms are looking to social media tools to help their employees sell and market their products and services. The questions here is do all of your staff and volunteers have some kind of connection to your organization via Face Book, LinkedIn or Twitter? Couldn’t your strategies benefit from the staff’s social interactions; markedly a blurb about your organization on their page(s)? You could be missing several great opportunities. This doesn’t mean that they are selling on each and every point of contact, but if they are trained correctly they know when the opportunity is right. This seems like such a simple concept yet most NPOs do not properly train, arm, or empower their staff and volunteers to make it happen.

One of the challenges that you face is that you’re unable to offer cash, bonuses, stock, etc. in order to entice your internal staff or volunteers to assist. You have to create a culture where everyone is pushing the fundraising culture forward. The question is how do you do this?

You do this through training and utilizing tools like the business cards. This helps everyone understand that the fundraising position is in everyone’s title and job responsibility. It starts with the overall goal, moves into techniques, and then enters the incentives. You make sure each and every person (even volunteers) learns how to spot an investment (donation or sponsorship) opportunity which fits the overall objectives of the new strategy. Next, you offer simple (fun) training to get everyone up to speed; teaching techniques to see and take advantage of opportunities. These are short and simple webinars and in-person coffee get-togethers (if possible). Lastly, you creatively come up with incentives for the team, within laws and legal guidelines and motivate them to have a conscious awareness of beneficial situations.

You can even take it to the next level and have people write things on business cards or other material like, “We’ll send you a free book,” (you decide within the rules and legality) or something of value “if you call or e-mail our NPO,” I get a cup of coffee. Now when asked by potential donors/sponsors or people outside your NPO how many people are in fundraising, you’ll say everyone!

THE PARADIGM SHIFT

“We’ve been use to the old way of thinking, we need to expand our vision,” I shouted out almost accidently at a board meeting. The other directors looked at me as if I had lost my mind, but the reality of my thinking was that if you don’t shift your paradigm now it could be too late to grow your organization later.

The term “paradigm shift” became popular vernacular in the early 1960′s due to Thomas Kuhn’s book “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” where he used the term to refer to a theoretical framework. Marketers have grabbed on to the term especially in the technology and financial industries to describe a major shift from “the old way of thinking” to the new. Our own personal paradigms help us function in modern society; understanding how tools work, how situations should be handled, proper structure for relationships, and expectations of both career and professional development. Major changes in society like the current state of the world cause us to shift our paradigms. For example, the most recent recession has caused fear never before seen and elevated panic levels beyond recent recollection.

In fact, a Wall Street Journal article/quote demonstrates that many organizations give justification for NPO leaders to simply give up, shut the doors, and find a new career or try a shift. It is true that the NPO world has been hit the hardest in comparison to many other industries with less government and private grants, some donors giving less and corporate giving down 75% in some cases. This has helped fuel a negative perception of NPO’s questioning their ability to help or hinder society. This has lead to a major assault on not-for-profits where the prosecutors have become private citizens and corporate leaders who no longer see the relevance in some NPO programs. The amount of competition and overwhelming needs continues to add to this attitude shift. In fact, some states have one NPO per 200 citizens with many of these organizations seen as poor entities in crowded and competitive categories with unimportant missions extending their hand out as far as possible for funding and potentially wasting tax payer and corporate kindness. Furthermore, the new governing bodies have questioned and started to examine whether NPOs should be protected from tax issues. This pressure is bipartisan, coming from both sides of the political spectrum.

The shift has been gradual but is picking up speed and the reality of the new fundraising world has only shown a movie trailer. We have not seen the true impact of the new economy or change in attitude to date so the long term effects are yet to be defined. Also, all the organizations that will close shop down the road have yet to be determined or revealed. The reality of fierce competition and more government restrictions may cause many more nonprofit entities to shutter.

Now is the time for you take action and understand the paradigm shift you must incorporate individually first and organizationally second in order to succeed and counter any movement happening in the world. In fact, you must treat your NPO like a for-profit organization (of course following all the rules and laws of your nonprofit legal category i.e. 501C3 guidelines) making improvements to every part of your business, but especially the tools and means for fundraising.

 

 

FUNDRAISING: THE 11 LETTER BAD WORD

“We’re running out of money,” a development officer said to me during a meeting last year. Unfortunately this wasn’t the first time I had heard this statement or one like it from a hard working, committed NPO (Nonprofit Organization) professional. Executive Directors (EDs), Development Officers and Directors (DOs), CEOs/VPs, Internal Staff members, Board Members, and volunteers all take on the challenge of the socially responsible part of our society and their typically involved with something great, something that moves people, a cause to stand behind, a moment to be digested, yet they are running out of money and resources. Why is this happening?

I asked this leader what was causing this situation and their answer was, “we’re still struggling with fundraising like every nonprofit.” Their answer was partially true, but also false.

There are of course many factors for lower than expected volumes of donations, sponsorships, and in-kind trade including economic issues, weak management, competitive forces, and lower than expected donations, and yes many are struggling like Jacksonville, FL area nonprofits who laid off 35% of their staff last year. However, as an NPO leader you have to focus on what you can control which is your attitude, skills, and activities and let the rest go. My experience as a volunteer watching EDs and DO and my own day-to-day fundraising activities helped me realize that the biggest challenge is not the economic or business factors, but the leader’s definition of and their attitude towards fundraising.

The Development Officer continued, “I don’t have time to get everything done and the pipeline of potential donors is shrinking.” This NPO leader was struggling similar to other nonprofits around the country because of the lack of a fundraising system and process.

Most officers are attempting to fundraise by playing the “guessing game,” with success based on trial and error. They try to learn how to fundraise from co-workers, free online newsletters, or one day workshops. Even the EDs and CEO interrupt the information and then attempt to teach their staff, board, and volunteers. The challenge is that they pick up some good ideas here and there, but lack a system to follow on a daily basis. In fact, it’s no wonder that Boardsource (BoardSource Report 2007, National Center for Nonprofit Board) reports that fundraising is the number one NPO issue by far, outpacing strategy, marketing, and board development all together.

Let’s face it, if you’re a Development officer or ED, then your frustrated. You’re going out into the market place with less tools and prospecting knowledge than your counterparts in the corporate sector. Whether you realize it or not your attitude towards fundraising affects everything you do. This is a sales game and you cannot sell your organization’s vision, success rate, or value without a positive attitude. The obstacles you’re running into are common place in the NPO sector and affect your attitude, hitting the key segments of your donors, sponsorships, events, and creative tools.

The problem goes deeper than just a negative attitude and pushes into personal money scripts and beliefs, long-time organizational culture issues, and connection to personal vision and goals play into the challenge. In fact, many officers try not to talk about their ineffective fundraising efforts as if hiding it in a closet somewhere will make it go away or they treat it like a terrible step child or awful first job. They often wait passively for news on grant applications or direct mail campaigns with strong feelings conjured up when the results do not match the intent. Both Internal staff and Board meetings address fundraising, but more like a necessary evil than an opportunity. Now is the time to start active fundraising strategies versus passive.

The first spark in igniting a blazing fundraising fire is shifting the mind set of not only the Executive Director (ED) and Development Director (DD), but their internal staff, board members, vendors, clients, anyone who comes within 10 feet of the organization. When you change the attitude and cultural of your entity in regards to fundraising you take a giant step towards new growth, opportunities, and success. You can make this leap to a new commitment which brings excitement, impact, authenticity, and enthusiasm to your vision. In fact, you can shift the entire culture with some simple steps.

A great example of this type of shift comes from the corporate world. Nordstrom’s took a part of business seen as a necessary evil and turned it into an incredible opportunity. Nordstrom’s is one of the most successful retail companies in the world. Why? Customer service – not just good service probably the best in the world with no regards to industry or location. They changed the mind set of each and every person employed or connected to the firm. Their model is about going above and beyond at all times.

In their book, the Nordstrom way, authors Robert Spector and Patrick McCarthey site that Nordstrom’s culture encourages entrepreneurial, motivated men and women to make the extra effort to give customer service that is unequaled in America. In fact, they site Morley Safer on 60 minutes saying, “Not service like it use to be, but service like it never was.” They continued the profile suggesting that “it is a place where service is an act of faith. The authors site Harry Mullikin, former Chairman Emeritus of Westin Hotels and Resorts quoted as saying, “If all business/entities could be like Nordstrom it would change the whole economy of this country.”

Many NPO leaders could learn from Nordstrom. They’ve taken what was previously viewed as a necessary evil, customer service, and placed it number one on their business strategy priorities. In fact, it has gone from a “have to do it,” to their number one competitive advantage.

Implement a system to begin changing your attitude and belief towards raising money and you’ll realize the power of fundraising – all the incredible things it can do for your organization and change it 180 degrees no matter what you have accomplished up to now or the state of the economy or the resources at your disposal. It doesn’t matter what the situation is the change starts with you. Fundraising doesn’t have to be an 11 letter bad word, but rather an inspiring symbol of growth, change, and success. As Wayne Dyer would say, “If you change the way you look at the things, the things you look at change.”

Igniting a Blazing Fundraising Fire in this economy

“You can close more business (& Fundraising) in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.”

- Dale Carnegie

I continue to ask nonprofit officers, are you letting the economy stop you?

Although the fundraising game is affected by the current changes in business process, economic decision making, technological innovation, social interaction, and political and cultural preferences, you can raise your contributions and reach levels of funding never before seen by the combined activities of improving your individual skills and implementing a fundraising day-to-day behavior system. Your role in the NPO world is even more important today than it was yesterday. You are the key to whether your organization survives and thrives or dies, not to put any added pressure on you. In fact, you are selling something more important than any traditional business product or service. You are selling a key value to the improvement of our society with your actions causing major ripple effects for all of society. If you do not utilize a system in which you can customize the tools and process to your personal style, preferences, and wiring, then you will continue stuck at your current fundraising levels. This is your chance to learn a process that helps you when obstacles show up, pushes you when motivation lags, and stops you when the best next move might be a step back rather than a step forward.

4 Key Components to succeeding in the current fundraising environment:

• Shifting Attitudes
  
• Everyone on your team is a fundraiser
  
• You have to give to get
  
• There is a system that works
  

 

Shifting Attitudes

Even though there is a perception that attitudes are shifting towards the negative in the funding world, many organizations are increasing their fundraising levels. Why? The key leaders are not letting any shifting attitudes affect their attitude. And although corporate giving is down, individual donations are up.

Everyone is a fundraiser

Furthermore, realize that everyone in your organization is now a fundraiser. New titles should include Grant writer/fundraiser, Client services/fundraiser, Executive Assistant/fundraiser. I think you get the point.

Give to Get

Now is the time that you have to give to get. It’s seems so simple, but take this quick assessment (answer the following question):

I ask my prospective donor/sponsor about their charities and passions before I talk about mine.

 

Rarely             Sometimes              Always         

After you talk about their passions, try to figure out how to help them.

Use a System

You must have a prospecting system and understand how to use it, when to use it, and what step in the process you’re in while connecting to a prospect.

Conclusion

Every economic situation has positive and negative reactions, however, your goal is to simply get better and not worry about the external weight by focusing on the internal opportunities. Enjoy your next prospect interaction.