Category: Financing & Loans

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Make your Grant Proposal Team into a Learning Organization!

What is a Learning Organization?
Modern nonprofits face unrelenting pressures to remain competitive with their federal agencies. One way to address these pressures is to create a special type of nonprofit grant proposal team – a learning organization that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself.

I was reminded of the importance of facilitating learning in a grant proposal debriefing. I had just finished serving as the Proposal Manager on a bid to NASA. We were proposing to manage an ongoing graduate fellowship program in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to help prepare NASA’s future workforce and contribute to the nation’s need for scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.

Although I have worked in proposal development for over two decades, during the debriefing I was pleasantly surprised to pick up several constructive suggestions about what I could have done better to manage this proposal effort. It was a forceful example to me of how proposal teams can function as learning organizations.

Without this debriefing, we probably would have made the same mistakes again. But, with this debriefing, we were able to identify and acknowledge our mistakes and learn from them, all in a meeting of less than two hours.

How to Develop a Grants Learning Organization
There is a voluminous literature on how to develop learning organizations, but a good start comes from a citation in our proposal. In the first section, we discussed a book that has been attracting attention at NASA, Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need – and What We Can Do About It (2008). Although this is a study of America’s K-12 education system, Wagner’s advice can be used to help grant proposal teams become learning organizations.

According to Wagner, our nation’s schools do not teach students how to be critical thinkers and problem-solvers. To prepare young people for productive adulthoods and civic engagement, Wagner recommends that schools concentrate on instilling seven survival skills for the 21st century:

• Critical thinking and problem-solving.
• Curiosity and imagination.
• Collaboration across networks and leading by influence.
• Agility and adaptability.
• Initiative and entrepreneurialism.
• Effective oral and written communication.
• Accessing and analyzing information.

I doubt whether the skills needed on effective grant proposal teams are different. To remain competitive as grant proposal professionals, we will need to identify, recruit, and nurture the kinds of people who have these seven important skills. If proposal professionals cannot ask good questions, think critically, communicate effectively, or solve problems, then our grant proposals are not likely to remain competitive in the face of fierce competition for federal grants.

There are many ways to promote learning organizations in the nonprofit world. For grant proposal professionals, a good first step would be to read Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap. It is a stirring guide to what we should want for our children – and expect from our colleagues.

Find ways to learn from your grant development efforts and you will submit more competitive proposals. It is that easy, and that difficult.
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Dr. Jayme Sokolow, founder and president of The Development Source, Inc.,
helps nonprofit organizations develop successful proposals to government agencies. Contact Jayme Sokolow.
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Look for Jayme’s ebook on Finding & Getting Federal Government Grants. It’s part of The Fundraising Series of ebooks
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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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Development Director Job Description: Donor-Driven

I recently came across a salary review I received while in my 18th year as Director of Development of The Cleveland Orchestra. It was written by an Executive Director who was just finishing his first year with us. I quote that Executive Director’s comments from his written review (which was extremely favorable and which was accompanied by a substantial salary increase). 🙂

“I have more recently begun to understand, and more and more am I impressed, with your absolute concern with the wishes of the donor – a trait I do not possess, as I tend to overstate the needs of the institution.”

When we began our relationship, he didn’t understand and wasn’t impressed with my donor-centered stance, nor was I appreciative of his organization-driven position. There were times when I did not expect to make it to that first performance appraisal.

But, eventually, we began to see that the other was responding to the imperatives of his position. And, fortunately for me, (for him and for the Orchestra), he did begin to understand my donor-driven mind-set, as I began to understand the need for his institution-driven perspective. But it was very close. So close, that for a time, I was certain I would not last the year.

I survived, but too often that is not the case for other development officers in similar positions. You can “burn-out,” get fired, move on to another job, or simply run out of time – and not be as fortunate as I was to have an enlightened executive director who had the integrity and class to make his startling admission in time !!

Simply put, I believe there is a great deal of difference between the temperaments and the expectations that make for successful development officers and successful executive directors. Both MUST see and understand the other’s focus/priorities.

Personally, I was at my very best when I functioned as the donors’ voice within the organization, bringing donor cares and concern to staff and trustees. I could not be as donor-centered if I did not have an institution-centered Executive Director who understood the differences between our roles and perspectives, and (subsequently) provided the support I needed.

I believe the forces at work in my situation have been and still are common to countless other EDs and DoDs. Where we grew to understand/appreciate the other’s perspective, in too many instances that is not the result. Too often, an ED’s narrowness of vision puts needless limits on an organization’s development officer(s) and on the organization’s ability to raise money.
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Have a question or comment for Tony? He can be reached at Tony@raise-funds.com. There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website: Raise-Funds.com
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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What is a Grant Cover Letter and Why Should I Write One?

In my December 6th (2012) post, I introduced the third step in the four-step grantsmanship process: Grant Proposal Development; and I also briefly introduced the cover letter.

This month’s Grants Posting will provide more information on what to include in a cover letter and why you should write one.

I’ll start with recommendations from the Foundation Center:

•  “All proposals should be accompanied by a cover letter addressed to an
    appropriate person.”
•  “The cover letter should be a brief, to the point, summary of what we can expect
    to read in the proposal. For instance it might read — Dear Appropriate
    Person — Our organization does such and such. We are in need of X amount
    of dollars for — name of project or general support. We are attaching — and
    then list the documents appended.”
•  Links to sample cover letters are provided at the Foundation Center’s website.

I follow these recommendations when submitting grant proposal to most private and corporate foundations. I do, however, make exceptions, especially when proposal content is limited by word/character count constraints.

As I have written previously on this blog, relationships are at the heart of all fundraising, including foundation grants. It is therefore critical to connect the foundation leader(s) to your clients and their unique needs. So, when proposal guidelines – or electronic formats – limit what I can include in the target population and needs statement sections, I often include more qualitative and heart-felt information in the cover letter. I usually include a client photo on the first page – again for the purpose of connecting the person at the foundation to the people (or animals) he or she will be helping by funding the grant.

I also make the connection between the foundation’s mission and that of the NPO submitting the proposal. Foundations are receiving many more well-designed and well-written proposals than they can fund, so it is critical to show them that your NPO will deliver the services and outcomes that matter to them.

I conclude cover letters with a statement, such as: “I thank you for your consideration of this request and look forward to partnering with the ABC Foundation. Please feel free to contact me directly at executive.director@NPO.org or at 012-345-6789 if you have any questions about the enclosed proposal or would like to arrange a site visit.” This opens the door for you (the grant manager) to follow-up by phone to arrange a site visit if you did not already make such a call prior to submitting the proposal.

Be aware that some foundations require that you include a cover letter signed by your Executive Director and Board President with your grant application. In these cases, follow their specific cover letter guidelines.
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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie.
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Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship. It’s part of The Fundraising Series of ebooks
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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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What Do You Call The Officer/Staff Person In-Charge of Raising Charitable Contributions?

Volunteers sorting donations into the right boxes

This posting by: Hank Lewis

There are two steps to take in answering that question.

The first is asking, “Who cares?” Isn’t what we call that person largely irrelevant? Isn’t that person going to do what has to be done, no matter his/her title?

Definitely not !! We are greatly affected by how we are labelled. Titles are important to people because they impact both self-image and how others see us. With the “wrong” self-image and/or the “wrong” face to the world, our effectiveness must suffer.

The second step involves defining/understanding that person’s role/job.

So, here we start with the concept of development – the process of identifying potential donors, sparking their interest in the organization, identifying the needs of those individuals, determining how giving to the organization can satisfy those needs, helping to build a bond between them and the organization, and growing that relationship.

Bottom line, development is about creating, maintaining and enhancing the relationships that lead to charitable contributions. Fundraising is merely the end result of the development process. Without the relationship building and the satisfying of donor needs, there can be no real/substantive fundraising.

Now, having gotten that out of the way, let’s look at some of the titles commonly used by nonprofit organizations:

The title to which I object the most is Director of Philanthropy. Aside from that being a really pompous designation, the reality is that you don’t/can’t direct philanthropy. Philanthropy comes from the individual. Philanthropists give because of their desire/need to help other people … or society in general. Those feelings are internally generated, not such that someone can direct them.

Director of Charitable Giving: I’m sure that everyone has heard the expression, “Charity Begins At Home.” Well, the organizational staff person can show potential donors possible places/programs where they can put their money. S/he can show them how their giving can make a difference, how it can help others, but, as with philanthropy, you can’t direct charity. The word, “charity,” is also so very passé.

Of all that I’ve heard, I like “Director of Development,” because the focus is on the building of relationships, but that’s become a euphemism for “fundraiser.”

The Staff Person In-Charge of Raising Charitable Contributions can (personally or through others) show a potential donor how making the gift will not only help other people but will satisfy the needs of the donor. The key to successful fundraising, however, is getting the donor to want to make the gift.

So, what do we call that staff person whose job it is to get the donor to want to make the gift? Not somebody who directs fundraising; not someone who directs philanthropy, not a director of charitable giving; maybe not even a director of development.

There’s also “Director of Community Relations,” “Director of Donor Relations,” and “Director of Constituent Relations.” The first seems so very broad, even encompassing institutional marketing; and the second and third seem to come after the fact.

Finally: Sophisticated (potential) donors know that a nonprofit organization has to raise the funds to run its programs … to help the people it serves. And, they know that, whatever the title, that the person “cultivating” them is working to move them toward a specific end result.

The answer to the question, therefore, is that the Staff Person In-Charge must have a title that is comfortable for (prospective) donors, unpretentious, and satisfying to the Staff Person.

What do you think it should be ?? Why ??
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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 heard about The Fundraising Series of ebooks.
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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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Timeless Principles versus Technology, Why Workplace Giving Works

Workplace giving has been around for a long time. Indeed, you can make the case that the person who invented workplace giving was Benjamin Franklin … but that’s an analysis for a different venue.

The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) was established in 1961, and has been going strong for the past 52 years; and one reason that is so is because an integral part of a CFC campaign is face-to-face communication.

In a CFC campaign there are multiple opportunities for face-to-face communication, including some that non-profits may be able to participate in – i.e., the kickoff events and charity fairs.

One of the aspects about the CFC that is often overlooked, is that one of the “tasks” of the federal CFC volunteers (including those making the direct solicitation – called: keyworkers) is to engage in face-to-face communication with their colleagues.

Aside from the dollar goal(s), a major objective a CFC campaign is to have a 100% rate of asking people to participate.

This face-to-face communication is one of the reasons that the CFC continues to be successful. More than 50 years after its creation, it just keeps chugging along, generating millions of unrestricted dollars for thousands of local, national, and international non-profits.

I have a mouse pad that I got at a charity fair years ago that lists the ten reasons people give – as follows:

WHY PEOPLE GIVE

  1. People are inherently generous.
  2. People give to people.
  3. People give because they are asked.
  4. People give in relation to the person who asks.
  5. People respond to a specific request for support.
  6. People give to peers.
  7. People give to people in a campaign atmosphere—annual or capital.
  8. People give to positive, enthusiastic solicitors.
  9. Most people want, and all donors deserve recognition for their gifts.
  10. People give to successful and beneficial programs and to make an investment in advancing good work.

When you look at this list, you see that workplace giving actual hits 9 of the 10 reasons listed, the only one that does not take place in a CFC campaign is Number 5, because the keyworkers are not asking for the donors to support a specific charity, rather for the donor to support the ones he or she cares about. Also note that Numbers 2,3,4,6, 7, and 8 all relate to face-to-face communication.

Meanwhile, some private companies that have attempted to move their workplace giving campaigns to 100% online, have seen significant drops in the amount of money raised and in the participation rate … a decline that has often been more than 50 percent in both categories.

This doesn’t mean that the CFC hasn’t kept up with technology, at this point all CFC campaigns have a website, and in most cases the listing of the CFC charities for a region is searchable online as well, and these are just a few basic examples. Many are also on Facebook and are using other tools of the 21st century to help accomplish their goals.

Within a CFC campaign, the central contractor to the government that is responsible for the campaign management is what is called the Principal Combined Fund Organization, or PCFO. (I know it’s a jargon term, but it is a government program after all). The PCFOs are the organizations that manage the overall campaign (and later are responsible for the disbursement of funds – hence the “Fund” part of the name), print the campaign materials, and organize regional kickoffs. The Federal government periodically recompletes the contracts for non-profits that wish to apply to be the PCFO for a given region.

Earlier this year the contract for the largest CFC in the country which is the National Capital Area CFC, and effective April 1, 2013 the new PCFO is EarthShare. The CEO of EarthShare is Kal Stein, who was a member of the CFC-50 Commission that held hearings on ways to improve the CFC during its 50th Anniversary Year.

I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Stein and the several areas that he said EarthShare intends to concentrate are: ways to increase the awareness of the CFC in the community, to implement more of the social media tools in campaigns, and to make sure that Federal employees are recognized for their contributions to the non-profit world via their CFC participation.

He also expressed a commitment to finding ways to help CFC charities by increasing the emphasis on finding ways for Federal employees to volunteer with the charities they support.

If you have suggestions for EarthShare, please share them by posting comments on the blog, or by sending them directly to me, and I will be glad to share them with Mr. Stein.

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During his 25-year career in the Federal sector, Bill Huddleston, The CFC Coach,
served in many CFC roles. If you want to participate in the Combined Federal
Campaign, maximize your nonprofit’s CFC revenues, or just ask a few questions,
contact Bill Huddleston

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Have you seen … The Fundraising Series of ebooks.

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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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Creative Donor Recognition

An award and stars on a yellow background

This posting by: Hank Lewis

I Recently saw the heading on a listserve posting relating to naming an annual award after a donor. It started me thinking about the ways that a donor could be recognized for their support. (BTW, I didn’t read that posting, just to be sure that whatever I wrote wouldn’t be repetition of someone else’s words.)

One question that occurred to me was the dividing line between recognition and donor perks. But, since that can often be too fine a distinction, I decided to ignore the issue. I’ll let you decide which is which !!

So, I’ll start with “Naming an Award” after a (major) donor. The award can be given to almost anyone for almost any reason; but, the ideal is that the award goes to someone who has dramatically helped advance an organization’s mission or who exemplifies what an organization represents. Note, that this award would not necessarily be based on the size of the donor’s gift … that the only connection is the name of the award, whether the award is an object or cash.

An organization that wishes to honor someone in this manner as a regular part of their donor recognition process must first adopt a set of policies that will guide the process: Is there a specific dollar requirement? Who, by description, would not be eligible to have an award in his/her name? Will the board have to vote on every instance, or will this now become automatic? Will the award be presented every year, every other year, once, for five years, or in perpetuity? What other issues and qualifications must be considered as part of the policy?

I recommend against having an endowment created just to present an award based on the income generated by the endowment. That’d be a waste, unless the “award” is a scholarship … or something similar !!

The Founder’s Award, or an Award named after someone (who was pivotal in getting the organization started, re-started and/or expanded, and getting it wide recognition), can be presented major donors to give them recognition; but, again, this should be guided by a carefully drawn set of policies.

Naming a Program or part of a Program is something I’ve previously addressed, but is worth repeating. For this, the first step is the identification of (parts of) programs that are worth naming: a lunch program for pre-schoolers or seniors; buying science books for the local library; taking kids on a museum field trip; etc.

Naming Gift Clubs … this was addressed in detail in a prior posting.

Naming an Ad Hoc Committee: Occasionally an issue arises that requires some temporary attention. Naming the committee created to research/advise on that issue can be a significant honor for the person being named … especially if that person is invested in that issue/question.

Naming a Table at An Event: It’s been standard for tables to be “named” for people or corporations buying a table at an event. I’m thinking that a table could be named in honor of someone who has previously made a major gift … whether or not they buy a ticket/table for the event. Again, it would help to have a set of policies in place….

I’ve also been told about three other ways major donors are recognized at events or conferences:
• Taking the donor to the “Green Room” to meet the celebrities who will be speaking at the event.
• Having a Reception/Presentation just for (Potential) Donors prior to an event or conference. Please note, that if the reception is just for donors, then a pro rata share of the cost of the reception must be subtracted from the deductibility of their gift. If non-donors or potential donors are also invited to that reception, the “deductibility” question goes away – ask a tax attorney to be sure, I’m not one !!
• Donor Track at a Conference, where specific sessions allow admission only to donors at certain levels.

If you have some ideas/thoughts you’d like to share about Creative Donor Recognition, please comment on this posting. We’ll publish your ideas and give you credit for them.
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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 heard about The Fundraising Series of ebooks.
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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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Start Promoting Planned Giving: Bequests I

This posting by: Tony Martignetti.

Last month I gave you two things you need in place to make Planned Giving feasible.

Now we’re ready to start promoting your inaugural Planned Giving program. Who are the prospects?

Your best prospects are:
 55 and over
 loyal, consistent donors, irrespective of dollar amount
 board members, irrespective of age and giving consistency

Lots of charities don’t have age in their database. If you’re among them, do that donor survey you’ve been thinking about and ask for birthdate (preferred) or age. If you’re planning a wealth or other data screening, include an age overlay.

Maybe your constituency is familiar to you and good prospects are popping into your mind. Give it more thought, canvass your staff, and you’ll come up with still more planned gift prospects.

If none of those apply to you, then rely only on giving history (and your board). If someone has been a donor for 15 or 20 years, there’s a good chance they’re in their late forties or fifties, putting you in the ballpark.

If your charity hasn’t been around that long and you don’t have age data, then you’ve got no choice but to consider each of your consistent donors a prospect. Are you sure you can’t get out a survey?

Inaugurate your program with bequests—charitable gifts by will. For several reasons:
 they’re easy to understand
 everyone should have a will by the time they’re 55
 donors like knowing they can change their minds
 donors like knowing they don’t have to tell you about their gift
 there’s no lifetime cost

Those features make bequests the foundation of any Planned Giving program. Expect three-quarters or more of your planned gifts to come from bequests.

The most effective way to promote gifts by will is personalized direct mail. It’s also the most expensive, so if your budget can’t support that, stick with me. There are plenty of other channels, which I’ll cover in coming posts.
Direct mailers should use all the outreach ideas I recommend, not just mail.
If you can afford to mail to your prospects, write an appropriately worded letter. This is the toughest part, I know. It’s also something I routinely do for my clients, so I have lots of experience to share with you next month.
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In May, “Write The Letter & Other Promotion Channels: Bequests II.”
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Tony Martignetti, Esq. is the host of Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio. He’s a Planned Giving consultant, speaker, author, blogger and stand-up comic. You’ll find him at TonyMartignetti.com.
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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Temperament: The Key To A Development Professional’s Success

A smiling businessman sitting at his office

This posting by: Tony Poderis

When hiring a professional development officer, the emphasis should be placed on the personality characteristics which are important for the appointed person to be able to effectively carry out the position requirements.

Specifically, you hire someone who can accurately and effectively communicate the mission of the organization, and who understands the importance of close interaction and teamwork among the development office, public relations and marketing, other professional staff and management.

This person will also represent the organization externally in ways which foster the best possible relations with volunteers, actual and potential donors, and sponsors and granting agencies.

In succinct terms the requirements are:
— Knowledge of basic skills of fund-raising management
— Superior organizational and communication skills
— Donor and volunteer service mentality
— Analytical capabilities
— Conceptual skills

Position Temperament
Considerable attention should be centered upon the personality aspect of the individual involved, since, most often, the right temperament will dictate whether or not he or she will be successful. The development officer must be willing and capable of maintaining a low profile, allowing the volunteers and donors to receive the proper credit.

The development professional must be flexible, persistent and very attentive to detail. He or she is an organizer and director, as the principal charge is to develop numerous efficient and compelling opportunities for donors to give their support, and at the same time making those experiences satisfying and rewarding for them.

From a newspaper essay written by syndicated columnist Sidney Harris titled “Temperament for High Office May Succeed More Than Talent”:

“Most of us prefer to ignore our temperamental incapacities for certain jobs and functions. We imagine that because we have the skills and the knowledge and the expertise, we are thereby fitted for the task.

“Yet it has been my observation over the years that temperament is the most important ingredient in many crucial posts – and one that is too often ignored, both by those who proffer the jobs and those who accept those jobs.

“It has also been my observation that more people succeed by temperament than by talent, especially in those jobs where relating to people is the prime ingredient. A person cannot be dumb, but need not be especially smart if he or she has a native shrewdness and tact in handling people; whereas a far smarter person may come to catastrophe by overvaluing brains at the expense of other personality factors.”
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If you have a question or comment for Tony, he can be reached at Tony@raise-funds.com. There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website: Raise-Funds.com
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

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Are You a Grant Proposal Warrior?

This posting by: Jayme Sokolow

Ready to be a Warrior?

At the 2012 APMP (Association of Proposal Management Professionals) national conference, participants were treated to a lively address … about proposal professionals as warriors, by Eric Gregory, Vice President for Business Development at CACI, Inc.

I do not agree with his metaphor or with everything that he said, but Gregory is a thoughtful person, a very successful proposal professional, and someone who has contributed a great deal to the proposal profession. For these reasons, his remarks should be taken seriously.

Although Gregory was addressing proposal professionals who work in companies submitting proposals primarily to federal agencies, his remarks also apply to proposal professionals working in nonprofit organizations who apply for grants from federal agencies.

Gregory wondered whether successful proposal professionals have a certain personality or perspective on their work? He concluded that there are ten attributes to a proposal warrior – as follows:

1. Courageous – a proposal professional performs well under difficult conditions, often by enduring criticisms, doubts, anger, disappointment, long hours of work, and difficult assignments.

2. Committed – to working on a team and winning bids.

3. Leader – leads by example and works at least as hard as anyone else on the team. As a leader, a proposal professional is an optimist and believes that his or her proposals can be improved.

4. Decisive – thoughtful but always action-oriented.

5. Agile –embraces change and reacts quickly when changes can improve a proposal.

6. Creative – capable of developing new solutions to problems and finding new ways to win bids.

7. Disciplined – very focused on winning bids and is relentless in taking action to achieve this goal.

8. Compassionate – works hard to defend his or her work and the team along with the best interests of the organization.

9. Intelligent – uses his or her intelligence to become more successful and create better proposals.

10. Resilient – works well under stressful and difficult conditions.

Gregory concluded his presentation by pointing out that proposal professionals often are underappreciated by their organizations. They must find ways to convey their value to senior management and make a strong case for their importance to their nonprofit’s success.

What do you think about Gregory’s approach? Is he accurate? Are there any traits you would omit or add? Are you a grant proposal warrior?

According to Dr. Heidi Grant Stevenson, a blogger for Psychology Today and the author of an intriguing new book, Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals (2011), even very bright people often do not understand why they succeed or fail. Recent research on achievement shows that successful people reach their goals not because of any inborn traits or unusual intelligence but because of what they do inside and outside the workplace.

Like Dr. Stevenson, Gregory believes that a certain set of attitude and behaviors are likely to lead to success. Although Dr. Stevenson’s list of successful traits does not exactly match Gregory’s list, there is a plenty of overlap.
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Dr. Jayme Sokolow, founder and president of The Development Source, Inc.,
helps nonprofit organizations develop successful proposals to government agencies. Contact Jayme Sokolow.
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Should Nonprofit Staff Be Asked to Give ??

Should Nonprofit Staff Be Asked to Give?

This posting by: Hank Lewis

In a recent exchange of email….

“What’s the standard thought on nonprofit annual employee appeals (a.k.a. asking your employees to donate back to the organization)? Is this standard practice? Is it a good/bad idea?”

Like almost everything else in fundraising, there is no “standard” thought about annual employee appeals. There is, however, standard thinking that questions whether you can (or should) run an effective fundraising program if an organization’s insiders don’t/won’t support it.

• It’s always good to be able to say to (potential) donors that all of the members of your “family” give … to the best of their ability !!

• How can you ask outsiders to give to your organization if the board and staff don’t?

• Now, to be able to leverage “family” giving effectively, it would be best if all “family members” made a gift early in the year, i.e., early January. That way, you’ll be able to say to potential donors (individual, foundation and corporate) that every board and staff member is also a donor.

• Should it become known that your family members don’t support your organization, you can be sure that there’d be a drop-off in contributions from outsiders. And, by the way, many foundations ask about staff giving … and consider that information when deciding on grants.

• I have a problem with the concept/reality of asking staff to “give back.” Unless a staff member (or one of their family members) has benefitted from your services, the question of giving back is moot. Asking staff to contribute money to your organization is not “giving back.” One must assume that they are being paid for the work that they perform – that there has been an even exchange of value.

• Staff should support the organization they work for because they believe in the mission and get satisfaction from seeing what is accomplished on a day-to-day basis.

“I’ve had conversations internally and with acquaintances in other nonprofits about this topic. There seems to be two primary thoughts (as you say, no standard). One is exactly what you’ve stated…. The other goes something like: nonprofits pay so little to begin with (compared to the corporate world) that it’s an insult to ask employees to give back to the organization they’re already working so hard for.”

• That “insult” excuse is what people say when they’re afraid to ask, and/or when there is lousy employee morale. It’s never a question of whether an employee can afford to make a gift – even the poorest person can afford a dollar. It is a question of whether an employee feels good enough about the organization/mission to want to give.

The reality should be that employees (and board members) give to the best of their ability. And, being able to say that that is the case can only strengthen your position when asking others to give.

Caveat: Staff members should not be required to give. Giving is their decision to make, and must not be coerced.

One last thought: A nonprofit organization should never have an annual appeal … either for “family” or outsiders. Donors should be allowed/encouraged to give as often as is comfortable for them – not just once each year !!
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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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If you’re reading this on-line and 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. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.