Year: 2010

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Social Capital Markets

Different dollar bills on marble surface

If there’s one challenge many social enterprises have in common, it’s finding capital. Insufficient capitalization is a primary reason that small businesses fail or fail to grow, and that’s also the case for social enterprises.

The good news: that seems to be changing. A new field is emerging, so young that it still goes by many names (social capital markets, social stock market, impact investing), but the overall goal is the same: create structures to connect socially focused investors with socially focused ventures.

We’re not talking small potatoes here. According to some sources, there is a $120 billion untapped market of individual investors who are willing to invest resources into social enterprises that produce positive social and environmental impacts. But as yet we do not have the structures (such as social stock markets) to attract those investments.

So the race is on. Next week, the third annual Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP10) will convene in San Francisco on just this topic. The conference web site notes “a proliferation of (social) investment funds of $100 million each, and a new index to help investors better target their financing.” Social capital is already flowing.

Since capital flows with little regard to national boundaries, so does the work in this field. The notion of a social stock market seems to have sparked (or had its latest spark) abroad, in the United Kingdom. A recent article about that effort (and connections with the US as well) can be found in a recent article published by Foundation Center, Bring on the Social Stock Exchange.

You can keep in touch with this emerging field by keeping your browser pointed at Social Edge, where this has been a lively discussion topic lately.

Finally, a major challenge for the emergence of this field is figuring out how to measure social performance in a manner that will be meaningful and transparent to social investors. This is often called social return on investment (SROI). Check out the Performance Review discussion on Social Edge about this topic.

We’ll come back to SROI in a future blog. In the meantime, do some thinking about what it would take to make your social enterprise venture (or idea) attractive to that $120 billion opportunity.

Will your venture be ready?

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Give, Get, Get Off or Govern?

A group of businesspeople having a meeting

Company directors on not-for-profit boards are often required to make substantial donations to the cause, or to elicit substantial donations from their network. Those that can’t or won’t become major benefactors are, more or less subtly, removed from the boardroom. But does this model sit well with current notions of directors’ responsibility and the professionalization of the role.

All around the world there are stories (often in the form of court case judgements) about boards of charitable organisations who were found to have been inappropriately focussed on only a few aspects of governance – or worse still, operations – and to have neglected their governance role to the point where they were found personally liable for corporate losses or other faults. Discussions with CEOs in the sector reveal a deep frustration that not all boards are living up to current expectations but that ‘it is hard to demand more’ given that the board members are unpaid volunteers.

Prime among the CEOs lists of grievances is the inability of the board to contribute at a strategic level to the company or to provide the CEO with meaningful mentoring. Even when boards are contributing to financial oversight it is often at a superficial level such as checking expenditures against budgets rather than at a strategic level such as determining the appropriate amount of financial reserves and investment strategies. Many boards leave the financial oversight entirely to the executives or concentrate only on the aspects that they can influence such as donations, fund raisers, etc.

Then there are the ‘two tier boards’ not, alas, the carefully designed and culturally appropriate management and governing boards that prevail in some jurisdictions, but those where some board members are ‘more equal than others’. On these boards there is an inner circle of members who take a strong interest in the governance, often chairing committees whose membership excludes their ‘outer circle’ board colleagues and assuming responsibility in line with modern expectations of the director role. The ‘outer circle’ members frequently provide funding or host fundraising activities or otherwise use their personal networks to support the aims of the organisation. These boards are frequently characterised by high levels of mistrust and occasionally by mutual loathing amongst the board members. Each circle can easily resent the other as having a role that excludes the other.

Some organisations are restructuring their boards to allow for a proper governance function and creating specific committees or communities for volunteers, donors and supporters. These organisations manage to achieve a ‘best of both worlds’ solution with fit for purpose membership of societies of friends, councils of patrons or boards of directors. The result is an organisation that knows where to look for board leadership and is not disappointed when it does look there. The CEOs of these organisations report that they are better able to design engagement strategies for each group, and that they benefit greatly from the increased input of a governing board that takes on all the aspects of its professional role.

Perhaps the day of the professional director is dawning in our not-for-profits. With increased director liability, greater demands for transparency, more rigorous regulation it is certainly time for directors to play a bigger role in governance.

What do you think?

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Julie Garland-McLellan has been internationally acclaimed as a leading expert on board governance. See her website and LinkedIn profiles, and get her book Dilemmas, Dilemmas: Practical Case Studies for Company Directors.

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Volvo Fails Crisis Management 101

White Volvo car parked by roadside

How poor preparation led to a reputation damaging viral video.

Swedish automaker Volvo is under fire this week after demonstrations of their much-hyped safety systems backfired several times in front of a crowd of journalists. Compounding the issue is the response from the Volvo spokesperson, who violated Crisis Management 101 rules big time with his response after a particularly jarring incident. Check it out:

By (apparently) neglecting to prepare its spokesperson for the fairly predictable possibility of mechanical issues during a demonstration, Volvo has unleashed a viral video that’s drawing loads of negative attention world wide.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. , an international crisis management consultancy, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

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How to Attract Laser-Targeted Traffic – Part 1 of 2

A targeted dart on a camera lens on a blue background

Find the Best Keywords

The internet works brilliantly because keywords drive everything. They’re the basis for every search engine that helps researchers and buyers find exactly what they’re looking for. These tips are for you if you’re an internet business owner, marketer, blogger, or ANYONE who wants to attract and engage a specific audience.

If you don’t start by strategizing, researching and then using the right keywords in the right places, you may end up with a beautiful and well-written site, but no traffic and/or no sales.

Most-Searched Keywords

Remember, you’re looking for those special words that capture individuals’ attention – information and products that:

  • Solve peoples’ pains and problems, and
  • Promise to meet their needs and desires.

Keyword research is critical to your success. The exercises described here will also orient you to important marketing insights and competitive advantages. Work smart by paying close attention to this. And have fun with it!

In order to find excellent keywords, pretend that you are your ideal customer, and that you are sitting at Google’s search bar. What words will you use in your search?

More Specific Keywords – “The Long Tail”

Go ahead and actually use the Google search bar for this first step. It’s important to narrow down your search to very specific keywords. For example, if you want to investigate how to offer your services as a fly fishing guide, a Google search for the term ‘fishing’ is way too broad. That Google search will return a very broad mix – like Wal-Mart’s aisles – full of irrelevant things such as fishing rods, camping tents and oars.

Your search terms need to be more specific. Try ‘Fly Fishing Guide’ in the Google search bar – and then narrow your search more: “Fly Fishing Guide for Tennessee Streams”. This specific, long phrase is called a ‘long-tail’ keyword (phrase) and it’s more likely to deliver the results you desire; sites that are closer to your specific need or audience.

Your Keywords List

Since keywords are everything in this business, be sure to use the very best keyword search techniques possible. Make a list of possibilities, then Google them one at a time.

If you find that you’re getting a lot of irrelevant results, even after you try more specific, long tail keywords, try these tips for Google searches (other search engines may have different tips and rules):

  • EXACT WORD: Enter ‘+’ before your keyword, such as ‘+toys’ (note: no space after the +), to return only listings that include the +keyword.
  • EXACT PHRASE: Enter your keywords in quotes, such as “safe toys for toddlers” to get return listings that use the phrase exactly as entered.
  • SIMILAR WORDS: Enter your keywords with ‘~’, such as ‘~ safe toys’ to get your word and all its synonyms.
  • MULTIPLE WORDS: Enter your keywords with ‘OR’ in between, such as ‘safe toys OR toys for toddlers’, to get return listings that have either term.
  • EXCLUDED WORDS: Enter your keywords with ‘-’ between, such as ‘safe toys – adult toys’, to exclude any listings with the second term.

Strike a balance between specific enough, but not obscure

You’ll know when you’ve found a great long tail keyword because the search results are more relevant, and you’ll see that the companies listed on the results pages could be your competitors. Click around and take note of what they sell, how they market, and how they engage their audience.

Use Google AdWords’ Keyword Tool to get the inside scoop on how many times your keywords are searched, globally and locally.

Go to: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and type in your narrowed keywords, one at a time. Google explains, “You can search for keyword ideas by entering a keyword related to your business or service or a URL (domain/website name) to a page containing content related to your business or service.”

The results will provide the number of monthly searches conducted on this term, as well as suggestions for alternate wording and their search numbers. You’re looking for keywords with at least 5,000 searches. Keywords that are searched more than a million times are not specific enough, because your chances of achieving first page results on Google are very low – there’s too much competition!

What keyword research tips work best for you?

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book, How to Make Money Online With Social Media: A Step-by-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs will be available in bookstores and online November 24, 2010. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com

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Asking For The Major Gift – Part 3 of 3

A-solicitor-in-talk-with-a-prospective-donor.

There is a simple, but not simplistic, description of what major gift fundraising is all about: It’s having the right person, ask the right person, for the right amount, at the right time, under the right circumstances.

The two right people are the cultivator/solicitor and the prospective donor. They’ve developed a common interest, a relationship with and/or a feeling for one or more of the NPO’s programs. They’ve talked about the history of the organization, how effective it’s been, all the people whose lives have been changed because of that NPO, and what the NPO’s plans are for providing more service and/or serving more people. They are definitely the two right people !!

The right amount is not just a figure determined by the Development Committee, but is the dollar amount the prospective donor knows will accomplish what s/he wants to see accomplished. [Whether it’s feeding hungry children or getting his/her name on the side of a building, it’s the donor’s need that’s being satisfied.]

The right time is when both the solicitor and the donor know it’s the right time. It’s when they’ve had the conversations (possibly over many, many months), when they know each other well enough to know it’s time. When they both know that the donor is ready to say, “Yes.” That’s the right time.

The right circumstances depend on the two people. It can be in the office, at the home of either person, over a meal, with or without spouses, on the golf course or in a taxi. With all the time that these two right people have spent together, they’ll know….

There’s no script – it’s not needed. They know each other well enough to know when, where and how.

As I’ve said, many times before, “Major Gifts fundraising is about the needs of the donor;” and, learning about those needs is the first step toward planning the Ask.

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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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If you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting.

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Do You Have Boss Problems?

Employee having a discussion with his boss

Are you in this situation? You and your boss just don’t seem to connect and work well together. It isn’t that you are having knock down fights. It’s just that you know things could be better. You don’t want to look for another job. So you have to figure out how to make it work.

Here are seven guidelines for managing your boss so that your career won’t get stalled or sidetracked.

1. Know thy boss.
No two people think alike or work alike. No two bosses either. Your job is to find out her specific expectations – not to reform her, reeducate her or make her conform to what the management books recommend. For example: Does she want me to come in once a month and spend 30 minutes presenting the plans and performance of my team? Or does she want me to come in every time to report even when there’s a slight change?

2. Don’t hide.
It’s natural to yield to the tendency to minimize interaction with people we don’t see eye to eye with. Reducing your daily contact can cause a further loss of trust and respect on both sides. And a lack of communication can foster misunderstanding, mistakes and more problems.

3. Have perspective.
If you resent working under a manager you don’t like, you might perform below your abilities. Don’t let yourself fall into that trap. It could be a career killer. Rather, try to see what possible good there is if you let go of your frustration or anger. The boss can leave, you may get transferred to a more promising area or you may find that he or she wasn’t so bad after all.

4. Don’t bad-mouth.
Handle disagreements with your boss with particular care. Let him know of your concerns and suggest other alternatives or ideas. Support your manager’s position in public as much as you can and do you best to make polices and decisions work, rather than try to subvert them.

5. Avoid war at all cost.
The painful reality is that the boss has better access to power and influence at the top. If you take on this person, chances are you will lose. Management could very well stand behind the incompetent boss to avoid having its own hiring abilities called into question.

6. Make the boss look good.
Go to him or her and ask: “What do I and my people do that helps you do your job? And what do we do that makes life more difficult for you?” You need to find out what your boss needs and what gets in the way. Also, realize it is in your self interest to make the boss successful.

7. Keep the boss in the loop.
Bosses, after all, are held responsible by their own bosses for the performance of their people. They must be able to say: “I know what Anne (or Joe) is doing.” Bosses don’t like surprises!

How well do you manage your boss? What are some of the issues that won’t seem to go away? How can you do it better to get better results?

Do you want to develop Career Smarts?

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Can’t Avoid Crisis

Crisis on a black background

A working plan is often the difference between success and failure in crisis management.

The scary thing about a media crisis is that it can happen to anyone at any time. It isn’t always about big business. Even mom-and-pop operations can feel the pain. You almost never see it coming, and it is rarely something you could have predicted. One day, you get a terrible questions like:

* “Is it true your mechanic installed the tire improperly and your service station is responsible for the accident that killed three people?”

Or:

* “Did the employee of your landscaping company really apply the wrong chemical to the lawn that resulted in the death of the child who played in the grass?”

Crisis management is the most important public relations function. Poorly handled, it can cost a company its reputation and perhaps even drive it out of business.

As this quote from an OCALA Business Journal article, written by Ed Gorin, makes clear, every business runs the risk of becoming involved in some type of crisis. While some things are simply unpredictable, the difference between a successful resolution and major reputation damage is often in the planning. By maintaining a workable crisis management plan, your organization is more prepared to resolve issues in a responsible and timely manner, minimizing negative media interest and allowing you to get back to business.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. , an international crisis management consultancy, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]

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What is Strategic Planning?

A man playing a strategic game of chess

Simply put, strategic planning is clarifying the overall purpose and desired results of an organization, and how those results will be achieved.

There are different ways to do that planning, depending on the purpose(s) of the planning, the life cycle or stage of development of the organization, the culture of people in the organization, types of issues the organization is currently facing, and the rate of change in the external environment of the organization.

For example, many people use vision-based or goals-based planning, in which they clarify the results they want to achieve in the future. They develop a vision of what the organization and its customers or clients will look like at some point in the future, and then articulate what they have to do to achieve that vision. They work from the future to the present.

Unfortunately, many people believe that’s the only way to do strategic planning. That’s wrong. Another form of planning is issues-based planning, which clarifies current issues that the organization must soon address and how it will address them. Issues-based planning works from the present to the future. Issues-based planning is usually a shorter term planning and often is focused primarily ( but not exclusively) on internal matters.

There are many different perspectives on how to best do strategic planning — and many different practitioners and facilitators have very strong feelings about how strategic planning should be done.

But first, take a look at a simple analogy in order to further understand strategic planning.

There’s lots more about strategic planning at
https://staging.management.org/plan_dec/str_plan/str_plan.htm

Also see the other posts in this blog about strategic planning.

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Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD – Authenticity Consulting, LLC – 800-971-2250
Read my weekly blogs: Boards, Consulting and OD, Nonprofits and Strategic Planning.
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https://staging.management.org/misc/analogy-strategic-planning.pdf
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Nonprofit and For-Profit Boards — a Comparison

Woman torn between two options

Our firm regularly gets calls, asking about the differences between for-profit and nonprofit Boards. Although there are certain differences, there are more similarities than people often realize.

Misconceptions often stem from the belief that nonprofits have to have a Board because they’re nonprofits. Not true. Chartered, or registered, nonprofits have to have a Board because they’re nonprofit corporations — they’re corporations just like for-profit corporations. Corporations must have Boards, whether nonprofit or for-profit.

Boards of corporations have certain legal duties, or fiduciary duties, the most basic of which are the duties of loyalty and care. Recent literature also refers to a duty of obedience. Both nonprofit and for-profit Boards must adhere to these duties — and the ways that they do that are very similar between both types of Boards.

This table gives a listing of the specific differences between the Boards, but keep in mind that those differences don’t result in major differences between how the Boards recruit and develop and organize members, do their planning, hold their meetings, make decisions, supervise the CEO, approve budgets and major contracts, etc.

There’s many more free resources about Boards — for-profit and nonprofit – in the “Free Complete Toolkit for Boards.”

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

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Harvey Mackay’s Awesome New Book, Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door

Person reading a book

What surprised me most when I met Harvey Mackay this past weekend at the 2010 21st Century Book Marketing event? He’s kind. He’s funny. He’s REAL.

Harvey (shunning “Mr. Mackay”, he insisted on “Harvey”), has authored business best-sellers that have been translated into 37 languages and sold over 10 million copies in 80 countries. His first book, Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive was a groundbreaking New York Times #1 best seller for 54 weeks.

Harvey stood right there next to me, smiling and cracking jokes while my friend tried again and again to get the camera lighting just right. It took four shots. Harvey was as gracious as could be.

That’s the kind of human interest he injects in his books. No wonder he’s so popular. Harvey knows how to connect with people. So of course his latest book is on topic and in demand.

How to Market Yourself for Your Best Career Move

Recently released, Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door, offers much-needed motivation and practical advice for networking and selling yourself for that perfect next job. He doesn’t teach you how to write your resume – many other books do that enormously well.

With unemployment high and the perfect job seemingly out of reach, this book is invaluable for your soul. It infuses encouragement with humor and sound bites that will keep you emailing, dialing, knocking, and smiling;

  • “Don’t get dejected if you’ve been rejected – just get your new you perfected!”
  • “Remember the purpose of the resume. It’s to enable you to resume work.”
  • “You may not be interviewing for a sales job, but you have to be a great salesperson to sell yourself.”

Click here to buy Harvey’s book:

Sample Use Your Head To Get Your Foot In The Door

He also offers iTunes Podcast Previews. Harvey believes in giving – so enjoy!

What are your favorite Harvey Mackay quotes?

(Special thanks to Harvey and www.HarveyMackay.com

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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.

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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman:

Ms. Chapman’s new book, How to Make Money Online With Social Media: A Step-by-Step Guide for Entrepreneurs will be available in bookstores and online November 24, 2010. With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com