People Want to Help

The guests have arrived. The table isn't set, the salad vegs still need chopping, the hors d'oeuvres are yet to be set out. What to do?

Ask for help.

Usually, the guests are happy to comply, if they're given a specific task. Jane gets busy setting out cheese and crackers, Andrew starts cutting up carrots, and Nina distributes silverware among the place settings. In an instant, they're co-conspirators, part of the team making the evening happen. Though guests, they've turned from "they" into "we."

There's a lesson here for nonprofits.

I'm thinking specifically about boards, although the lesson could apply to all volunteers (and unwitting would-be/will-be volunteers.) It has to do with the comfort of specificity.

If you ask someone to help, but can't tell them a specific task, they're left on their own to figure it out. Maybe they'll realize the table has no knives, and maybe they'll guess if you're having steak that you need knives. And maybe they'll ask where the knives are and try to divine your (the host's) intentions. But that's a lot of maybes - and a lot of guesswork - on the guest's part to join the team.

The same is true in the boardroom. "Who wants to help with the gala?" is a pretty open-ended question. While you may think the response is a simple hand raised to say "me," the fact is that the hand-raiser has had to do a wild series of guesses and calculations to estimate what their "yes" actually means, and if they're up to the ill-defined job. Their "yes" might or might not refer to the same job you were thinking they were volunteering for - a miscommunication that can lead to ill-matched expectations and, in fact, failures of execution and resentment that can KO a volunteer or board member's enthusiasm for being of service to the organization overall.

The other response to the "Who wants to help with the gala?" open-ended question is...silence. Dead silence, and a changed subject. Because it sounds huge, whatever it is - or it MIGHT be huge - and nobody sane's going to take that on. Ever have that happen in a board meeting?

But "Sally, would you help publicize the gala to your women's club?" - now there's a task that Sally can agree to, knowing what she's taking on. And it's a hop, skip and jump from successful completion of that task to doing more publicity and indeed overall ticket marketing, because we all know that success breeds confidence and more success... and a greater appetite for taking things on.

Calling a Lifeline

I don't know everything.

Heck, there are times the world is moving so fast it feels like I barely know anything relevant to this new-ish century.

So I have my "gurus" I call, everything from HR to social media to IT. Many of these folks offer me their expertise on a voluntary basis - their way of contributing to a better world.

I started thinking more about this when I realized that I, myself, serve as a life-line to several nonprofit leaders, on fundraising and board relations.

It's the "I think I know what to do but maybe my thinking is a little skewed so I'll run it by Cause Effective" school of thought.

And, surprise (!) our clients' thinking is often a little skewed - they're too down in the trenches to have the right perspective. "My board member wants to weigh in on the invites for the house party, but she's not even the host and it's really slowing down the process" went one lament.

The lifeline's answer? "Be glad she's interested enough to take the time - it's a hop skip and jump from there to making sure the invitations go to some of her pals, too."

Another recent query? "Do I really need to mail-merge all my appeal letters if I hand-write on them?"

Lifeline answer? "Depends on how much money you want out of the folks you’re writing to. If it's enough that it reflects a real personal commitment to your agency, you'd better honor that sentiment with personalization choices all the way down the line."

Don’t we all have that with someone? From asking advice on how a dress fits, or a tie is knotted, to how the t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted on fundraising-related matter.

The outside eye, the lifeline…

Breaking It Down

We get asked a lot to help groups figure out how to make more money from what they’ve been doing for years.

Of course there are a lot of reasons why appeals and events and other types of fundraising efforts stagnate (or slip) – but there’s a common strategy to looking at how to shake it up and invest new energy in it profitably.

And that starts with breaking down the big number. Someone came in last week with a Spring auction that nets $43,000.

More or less, every year. Now this is a group in a low-income neighborhood, so that’s not too bad. But they have parents sending their kids from all over the city to their programs, so I had a feeling there might be more there there.

I started by asking how much came from ticket sales, how much from the live auction, and how much from the silent auction. Then I went further – how many items went for over $500, for over $1,000, how many had multiple bidders, and so on? And I delved into ticket prices – were they asking everyone to give at the same level, were some people giving more, were those the same people bidding higher on auction items, were parents bringing other parents, how much were there “cliques” of attendees that could egg each other on? Etc.

I was looking for capacity, and for motivation – and for which leads seemed promising if we put more staff resources into pushing them. In other words, if there were three sets of parents who brought grandparents who were high bidders: what were they bidding on; could we feature those items in emails to parents with a “FORWARD ME” button; and could we build in a “3rd Generation” component to spur others to come forward like these folks had?

But just knowing that the event brought in $43,000 wouldn’t have revealed the data that allowed me to suggest this component. It took – breaking it down.

Who Speaks

It matters, a lot.

Whether board members present the latest financials at the board meeting, or the CFO carries that portion of the meeting.

Whether board members discuss amongst themselves what they’re going to do to build up attendance at the annual benefit.

Whether board members feel the “message” is one they can carry to their friends – and if they don’t get it, do they speak up and say so?

We all want to avoid the “nod-and-avoid” syndrome – where you have board members who genially agree with whatever’s on the table…and simultaneously check out.

One shortcut around this is a classic middle-school technique – a presentation from a classmate. It’s the same principle, really – you listen to your peers, you snooze to the teacher.

Another middle school staple to borrow? The working group. (A committee by another name.)

And when you combine the two – the working group stands up at the lectern to lead a discussion on the agency’s new messaging – well then the room comes alive.

It’s peer-to-peer, middle school style.

Is it that we haven’t progressed?

Or is it that these techniques call upon the verities of human nature, which surface in middle school (if not before) and stick around for life…?