A friend shared this very powerful video with me and I wanted to share it with you. 
It’s a great example of the power of words.

“Vision Is Seeing the Invisible.” — Jonathan Swift

Thanks!

Sandy

Work rhythms are common. We all fall into ways of doing things that serve us in some way. We host the same special event each year or we submit the same grant application each year. It works for a while, but then attendance starts to drop off or our grant is no longer funded. But it’s a good idea to evaluate your work habits periodically to make sure they still work.

I was talking with a client yesterday and she was telling me about someone in her organization who has become a problem child. Every time others talk about changing things or trying something new, this woman says “that’s not the way we do it.” She’s not willing to hear a new idea. She’s so stuck in the old ways of doing things that she’s starting to impede the progress of the organization. In fact, she clings so tightly to the old ways, that she’s gotten quite negative with others and has lost sight of the mission of the organization. Others are now avoiding interaction with her because of her negativity. It’s become “me vs. them” and she’s determined to win.

I can remember working with a couple of people just like this. In one case, I came back from a conference with new ideas ready to implement, and she did her best to discredit me and squash my enthusiasm. I never could understand why she was so negative, unless she was terrified of change. Either that or she wanted to be the “Star of the Show” and I was stealing her limelight. Either way it was holding the nonprofit back from doing bigger and better things.

So, back to my original question. What happens when you do what you’ve always done? You get what you always got.

If you aren’t happy with the fundraising results (or any results for that matter) you’re getting, then you MUST change what you’re doing. Simple as that.

You have to find a way to get these negative folks on board with moving forward, or they need to be let go. I know that’s harsh, but it’s true. You have way too much important work to do in the world to be held back by someone who has their own agenda.

Have you had experience working with negative people in your nonprofit who were reluctant to change? I’d love to hear your story. Click on the comment link and share.

Missy is one of four cats that live here with us. We adopted her from a local shelter about 10 years ago and she’s a sweetie. She’s the oldest and the smallest of the pack and to help her keep weight on, we feed her canned cat food every afternoon about 4 pm.  She LOVES her “tuna” as we call it and eats every last bite.

Lately, I’ve been watching her and thinking that Missy might have something to teach us about fundraising.

She knows what her goal is. Missy knows what she wants and every afternoon, she waits in her usual spot for her dinner.

She’s hopeful. When anyone walks to the kitchen at any time in the afternoon, Missy goes too, just to see if she might get fed early.

She builds relationship. She gives out lots of love during the day to those who feed her.

She expresses appreciation. She purrs and gives out love to those who help her reach her goal.

This is all good, but sometimes she’s a pest.  In fact, we’ve started calling her “Pesty Cat” because she ALWAYS wants to be fed.  This is a danger for many nonprofit fundraising folks – always showing up with their hand out for money.

If that’s how you approach fundraising, your donors will likely get tired of it.  Make sure that you ask often enough for a gift, but not too often.  It’s a fine line to walk, but one your donors will appreciate if you can get it right. If you want to take it a step further, ask your donors how often and when they’d like to be asked for a gift.  It puts your donor in charge of the relationship and they’ll be much happier.  You’ll likely see your results go up and your expenses go down.  Wondering how to do that?  Survey your donors and simply ask them what they want.

Gotta go – Missy is ready for her dinner!

Is your website working for you?  If not, you may have made The Biggest Mistake.

I’ve looked at a lot of nonprofit websites.  Many look as though they were thrown together at the last minute or were done in response to someone saying “We need a website”.  Some are design nightmares – hard to read with too many fonts and too much text on each page.  Others haven’t been updated in years.

The Biggest Mistake you can make when it comes to websites is not being clear about the website’s purpose and desired results.

What is your website’s purpose?  If your website is simply to provide information, then put all the basics on it and make it easy to read and navigate.  If you want to raise money with your website, then tell stories about those you are helping or the good you are doing, and offer an easy way for people to donate.

You must post fresh content regularly (monthly is ideal).  If repeat visitors to your website see the same stale, out-of-date information every time they visit, they’ll stop coming.

Your website is no different than any other communications tool.  If you are clear about what you want it to do, it’s much easier to be successful with it.

Just like time and the weather, fundraising has seasons.  We plant seeds hoping to grow donors.  We nurture them, cultivate them, and coax them to bear fruit, right?

If you work in a small nonprofit, you might think of the seasons like this:

• Spring is a great time for special events and these are good ways to gain a few new donors and cultivate the ones you have.  You can successfully mail an appeal in the Spring, although your results won’t be quite as good as in the Fall.
• Summer is a good time for planning your Fall activities.  Don’t mail appeals during the summer – statistics show they just won’t perform. Keep in touch with your best donors and get to know them.
• Fall is prime fundraising season!!  October is the #1 month for direct mail, so spend September getting yours ready.  If you have a good story to pitch to the media, now’s the time. Get Holiday cards ready to go in the mail after Thanksgiving.
• Winter can be a great time for planting early seeds.  Put together a Gift Summary for your donors in January so they can use it for their taxes.  As your donors to start the new year off right by joining your Monthly Giving Club.

Sprinkle in good newsletters and volunteer opportunities along the way, and you’re well on your way to a year of fundraising success!

Since today is February 1st, it seems like a good time to take stock of the year so far.  Just one short month ago, many of us were making plans for the year.  So how’s it going?

If you haven’t made plans for the year, it isn’t too late to start.  Set 3 goals for things you’d like to accomplish (maybe the number of dollars you want to raise, the number of new donors you want to get, and the numbr of current donors you want to renew).  Then for each goal, write out the action steps it will take to reach each goal.

If you’d like more help, I’ll be leading a teleseminar on Feb 19th to cover the basics of strategic and fundraising planning.  Check it out at www.sandyrees.com/training.html.

One of the most important pieces of your organization is your mission.  Not only does it need to be crystal clear, everyone needs to be able to recite it when asked.  This includes staff and Board.

Need to work on your mission statement?  Consider these points:

• Make it a single sentence long.

• Use an action verb.

• Include what you do, who you do it for, and the geographical area you serve.

Post it in lots of places around your facility to remind you and your colleagues about what you do.