Month: May 2010

Posted on

“The Annual Fund Is Obsolete: Three Follow-Up Thoughts”

an-annual-fundraising-event-center

1. If a mechanism you’re using to raise funds for your programs/operations is called the “Annual Fund,” and if you solicit the same constituency more than once each year, then a response you’re likely to get from donors is, “I already gave this year.”

You may not hear them say it but, for sure, many of them will be thinking it.
_______________

2. I’ve met many board members, executive directors and development staff who believe that it “isn’t nice” to ask people for money more than once a year. That means that those folks are uncomfortable asking for money, which makes them (want to) believe that there’s something socially improper about doing so.

To them, “begging” bears a stigma, and they believe their friends will avoid them if they “bother” them too often !! These folks are often identifiable by the emphasis they put on writing grant applications — the more, the better.

Hey, I’ve also met many folks in the non-profit sector who believe that asking for money, even once a year, is tacky/low-class/shameful/etc. Those people hire development staff to bring in the money … so they won’t have to !!
_______________

3. The Annual Fund folks at the vast majority of colleges and universities are the least experienced people on the development staff. Why do you suppose that is ??

========================
Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

Posted on

The Fragility of Transparency

A laptop screen showing business analytics

Today in Boston the Board of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center today fined chief executive Paul Levy $50,000 for engaging in a personal relationship with an employee that over time “created an improper appearance and became a distraction within the hospital,” according to a statement by Board Chairman Stephen Kay.

Mr. Levy has had a stellar reputation in Boston as a business leader with a strong track record of transparency. He is a known blogger and has posted frank and open discussions of painful staff cutbacks during the 2009 recession. His openness was well received.

Challenges to the Ethical Culture

In an interview on WGBH’s Greater Boston tonight, I discussed the challenges Mr. Levy and the BIDMC Board face in addressing the ethical culture issues of having such a high standard of transparency, and the risks when that standard is not met.

Even if Mr. Levy’s actions did not violate the hospital’s code of conduct, he would be well advised to be sensitive the divisiveness that can be caused by a perception of a double standard. Inconsistency is one of the most caustic negative values an organization can face in its current culture.

Mr. Levy’s posting of an apology on his blog soon after today’s Board announcement was a good first step. The challenge in the days and weeks ahead is to ensure that transparency with regard to his previous actions is consistent with the behavior he expects for all Beth Israel staff.

David Gebler, President
Skout Group, LLC

(617) 314-6280
dgebler@skoutgroup.com
www.skoutgroup.com

Posted on

Slouching Towards Friday: Best Days to Send a News Release

Young lady reading a newspaper

A longtime client asked me to post a news release to the media last Friday. I gulped and said to myself, “Where have I gone wrong? How many times I have I told them, ‘Any day but Friday?’ Am I totally not communicating clearly in my media savant communications capacity?” Gulp, and gulp again…. “Can I home go home yet?”

But, being of service, I obliged.

Today said client emailed and said there seemed to be no action on the release. I promised to look into it, which means calling the usual suspects and most likely resending the news release to a handful of them.

Why is Friday such a bad day to send a news release? Simply because it is the end of the work week. Unless you have breaking news that can’t wait, it’s a day better left to other endeavors. Ditto for Monday, when people are just getting back into the work week and also getting inundated with news releases, plus taking the regularly scheduled Monday morning meeting while jumping onto a bunch of other multitasks.

On the other hand, plenty of organizations do freely send out releases on Friday, late Friday, too — news that is rarely “good.” These parties are usually large corporations that misfired (the recall of Motrin story broke Saturday so I’m guessing — only guessing — this was a Friday release — see the story link here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6401AK20100501). Or a branch of the federal government that screwed up or was slow to react to other news (notice how Obama arrived over the weekend to visit the growing Oil catastrophe in the gulf). Or a tarnished political org (pick an org, any org), hoping this news goes unnoticed. Ha!

I’m guessing no one in media — especially at the big news media outlets — has ever missed a “bad news” news release that was sent on Friday afternoon when most people’s thoughts are turning to what the weekend has in store for them. While the press and broadcast media all staff for the weekend, the available resources are usually thin. And getting thinner.

Over the past two years, the lousy economy has decimated the ranks of those working in media — yet another reason to consider what day of the week to send your news release. Of course, PR is about much more than just sending a news release.

But you knew that already. Didn’t you?

Gulp.

Posted on

Bloomberg TV interview re Goldman Sachs

Men holding a camera for a TV interview

Last Friday I was interviewed for almost five minutes on Bloomberg TV regarding crisis management and the Goldman Sachs debacle, with about 20 seconds at the end of the interview regarding the BP oil spill in the Gulf.

Funny thing at the interview itself — you probably can’t tell that, in this high-tech TV studio, I was standing…on a box. Seems that they had just installed a new remote camera (no cameraman — just a robot camera mounted on a pole) and it wasn’t set for the right height, nor could they fix it quickly. The engineer on site was quite embarrassed, but I was assured that would be fixed when I next returned. 🙂

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQeU9unToNs[/youtube]

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

Posted on

What is a Well-lived Life?

Man wearing a grey shirt standing on a rock with arms outstretched

I taught an Ethical Leadership class at Virginia Tech and posed a question to my students the first day of class- “What is a well lived life for you?” It is worth considering. People have various answers for this, but most talk about having good relationships with family and friends, leaving a legacy of something done well, or making a difference in someone’s life.

In my class of senior management majors, very few said making a lot of money was a primary determinate of living a well-lived life. Not that they didn’t want work that was challenging, meaningful or successful. It’s just that money wasn’t their driving force. Maybe this says something about those in an ethical leadership class or that in the end most people won’t look back on their life and rate the quality of their life by how much money they made.

When I later heard the news of former Texas governor Ann Richards’s death, I reflected on a graduation speech I heard her give at the University of Texas back in the 1980’s. She was a powerful and delightful speaker to hear. One point that I most remember from her speech is that she told the graduating class to have a life and not worry so much about having a career. She said- “No one ever laid on their deathbed wishing they spent more hours at the office”.

So true her words are, yet how many of us get caught up in taking care of all the details of our work that we forget to live, or maybe more precisely, we forget what’s really important to our life. Here’s a way to see if you are busy making a life or a living. Check out which idea you were raised with- Do you work to live or live to work? How you answer that question will tell you a lot about the focus of your life energy and what you consider a well lived life.

What do you consider a Well-lived Life? How does your work fit into your definition of having a well-lived life? What role does spirituality play in your well-lived life?

******************

For more resources, see our Library topic Spirituality in the Workplace.

——————

Posted on

The purpose of the Paper Trail

Members-of-the-HR-department-working-in-their-office.

I have spent a great deal of time writing about the paper trail. My previous two posts discuss steps in overcoming it and building a culture of performance. So often, Human Resource (HR) professionals must provide the legal voice concerning employee issues in the organization. This duty of being the legal voice is often times seen as the most important function of the HR department by not only the department members, but by the entire company including senior leadership. With an increase in cases being filed against managers and companies and with the high costs of litigation, its importance is definitely clear. There is no question that organizations need to take necessary steps to mitigate these risks.

The following two blogs also discuss the idea of the paper trail:

Creating a Paper Trail Supports Discipline and Discharge Decisions written by Devora Lindeman

The Paper Trail: The Strongest Defense against Wrongful Termination Suits written by K. Lerner

Both blogs discuss the paper trail from the legal standpoint. (Again, this is the voice most often heard by the HR department.) Despite the fact that these blog posts are supporting creating a paper trail, while I am discussing overcoming it, the advise held within is very similar. Documentation is important. Let me rephrase, accurate, fair, unbiased documentation is important. But making performance management all about the document and not about the employee and their role in meeting organizational objectives clouds the very purpose of performance management.

What do you think? What is the purpose of performance management? What tips do you have for building a performance culture? Do you work in a performance culture or a paper trail culture?

Your thoughts and comments are encouraged! Subscribe to the blog to hear further tips on overcoming the paper trail. What other topics of interest do you have for future blogs?

————————————————————————————-

For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

—

Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is currently employed as the Human Resource Manager at EmployeeScreenIQ, a global leader in pre-employment background screening.

Posted on

View From the Summit

An elderly businessman working in his office

I just returned from the 11th Social Enterprise Alliance Summit+ World Forum in San Francisco. A record 700+ attendees from around the world attest to the growing strength of this vibrant sector. I met folks from Canada, the UK, Australia, the Philippines, Africa, and South America.

In an earlier blog I described social enterprise as a trillion dollar sector, and that’s just in the US. Now it feels more like a trillion kilowatts of energy, with all the electrons moving in the same direction, toward greater social impact, and in its wake, toward changing the world, one social enterprise at a time.

So many workshops, I was only able to attend a few. One that really caught my attention involved five teenagers of color from severely economically distressed sections of East Oakland. All had experienced urban violence first hand; one of them had been shot four times. They discussed their experiences launching their own ventures, from music to groceries to recycling, in affiliation with Ashoka’s Youth Venture. All I can say is if they can do it – and they were doing it – all of us can surely succeed in our own work.

Another workshop I attended included a presentation from RSF Social Finance, which borrows money from foundations, companies and individuals and lends it out to nonprofits to increase their social impact. They earn 90% of their costs from making those loans (goal is 100% within two years), have $70 million in outstanding loans, and have a tiny loss ratio (something like ½%).

If you want more information about the SEA Summit, be sure to check out the conference’s blog site at: http://www.sea-alliance.blogspot.com/ And to those flying back to their homes around the world, safe travels!

Posted on

Use Grand Vision and Strategic Vision in Strategic Planning

Strategic business vision concept

A vision, during strategic planning, is depiction of the organization and its customers at some point in the future. Like mission statements, there are many different perspectives about what should be in a vision statement.

Vision statements can depict the overall result sought by the organization. They also can be used to inspire and motivate members of the organization. However, depending on the culture of the organization, vision statements can breed distrust and cynicism if they’re used only for that reason. Also, because they can be so very broad in nature, they often don’t provide focus and direction during planning. That’s why it’s useful to have a grand vision and a strategic vision in planning.

What’s a Grand Vision?

A grand vision is broad depiction of the organization and preferably its stakeholders as they will be far into the future, for example, “Our organization is seen world-wide as the most respected in our industry, and our customers agree our services are a benchmark in our industry.”

What’s a Strategic Vision?

A strategic vision is depiction of the organization and its customers as they will be shortly after implementing the strategic plan, for example, “Our organization commands 10% market share in our industry, as a result of market expansion and increase in sales across those markets.” The strategic vision can provide clear focus and direction for planners during planning and later on when implementing the plan.

Use Both Grand Vision and Strategic Vision in Your Planning

You might start by having planners articulate a grand vision that is truly inspirational and motivational to all members of the organization. Don’t stop there. Either at the beginning of planning or near the end when planners have discussed goals for the plan, articulate a strategic vision that provides clear focus and direction.

What do you think?

Here’s many more resources about strategic planning.

———————————————————————————————–
Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my weekly blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, Nonprofits and Strategic Planning.

Posted on

Find and Feed The Feeling

Organised business activities concept

Business plans tend to be mostly head, and mostly left brain at that. They describe a business idea for making and selling stuff, and good ones present strong reasons and compelling data. That’s important, and trumps so many plans that offer little more than grandiose assertions and generic arguments.

But the heart of any business plan – and the heart of any business – can only be found in the hearts of its customers. And by heart I mean the kernel feeling this business will satisfy. What core need or desire or emotion will your products or services satisfy among your customers? What itch will it scratch, what nagging problem will it solve, what deep satisfaction will it give?

At our core, we humans are driven far more by our emotions than by our analysis, however much we may justify our decisions with arguments and data. And that applies to what we buy as well.

So as you plan your business, and do your research to understand your customers, drill down to what will truly drive them to desire your product or service. Find that core feeling, and organize your business around feeding it.

If you need help with this, think Steve Jobs. Somehow Apple has been able to figure out what millions of us really want, without us knowing it beforehand. And once that product comes out, be it the iPad or the iPhone or the iPad, millions find they cannot live without it. Research helps, but it never gets you all the way.

You don’t have to be Steve Jobs to do this. Just find the feeling and feed it. That’s the core of your business plan.

——————

For more resources, see our Library topic Business Planning.

Posted on

Use Grand Visions and Strategic Visions for Change

Business strategy concept with chess pieces

It’s common in change-management projects to have a vision for change. It’s very useful to have clients consider both a grand vision and a strategic vision. We do this in our consultant training services, and the consultants usually greatly appreciate that approach. Grand visions and strategic visions can be used in strategic planning, as well.

A grand vision is a very broad and long-range depiction of what the organization (and preferably its stakeholders) will be like, as a result of the project, for example, “We’re the most respected organization in our industry.”

A strategic vision is depiction of what the organization will be like soon after having finished the project for change, for example, “Our business units are closely aligned and our operations are more efficient, resulting in a 20% decrease in operating costs.”

Too often, only grand visions are used in projects for change and in strategic planning. While they initially are great for motivating people, they often don’t give clear focus and direction for people undertaking those activities. A strategic vision can provide that clear focus and direction, especially at a time when people seem increasingly cynical about projects for change and strategic planning.

In your next projects and plans, consider using grand visions and strategic visions.

What do you think?

—————————

For more resources, see the Library topics Consulting and Organizational Development.

———————————————————————————
Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my weekly blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, Nonprofits and Strategic Planning.