This is Personal - an Update

Personal Passion Fuels My Work With Schools 

Recently, I went back and looked at my very first blog posting - FIVE years ago.  My company had been working with schools long enough to create a formula for helping them engage community members for the purpose of securing resources (students, money, partnerships, volunteers) needed to achieve their goals.  I had served as a founding board member of a brand new charter school not only getting it off the ground but helping to raise more than a quarter of a million dollars halfway through our first school year.  At the same time, my son, who was in third grade at the time, had already paid a heavy price for being "different" and "difficult."

I've learned so much since that first blog posting, and I could not have anticipated how both my personal and professional lives would intersect and lead me to pursue the path I'm about to jump onto.  I'll tell you more about that in a little bit.

What I've Learned About Schools and Education 

I have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with more than twenty schools and school districts all over Wisconsin in the past few years.  I've worked with private religious schools participating in the parental choice program, charter schools that were completely independent of a school district and charter schools that were instrumentalities of a school district, and entire school districts who were creatively using charter dollars to create programs that would benefit all students in the district.

Through my work over the years with these schools, I've become inspired and dismayed by:

• How real innovation and commitment to serve ALL students is happening, especially in small communities that are faced with real resource shortages and high rates of poverty.  The Montello School District (click here to visit their website) puts education in the context of overall health of the entire community.  Not only that, by simply being willing to reach out to people who home school their children and ask them how Montello Schools could be a resource, they created a program to fill in the gaps for more than 20 home school families.  It wasn't about getting dollars back; it was about genuinely figuring out how to be a resource to these families.  

• The fact that all the research already exists to tell us how children learn best, and that there also already exists models that align with this research.  We know that children learn best when they are engaged and learning is relevant to them.  We also know that children learn best through movement and hands-on opportunities.  Once you see Sir Ken Robinson's 12 minute RSA video on YouTube (he's a global thought leader on creativity), it will become so clear that most schools are still teaching according to a manufacturing model that pumps out graduates that follow the rules.  Click here to see the video.  It will blow your mind.  The bells, the rows of seats, the teacher seen as dumper of knowledge, the intolerance for being different, the response to children's rebelliousness (suspensions and detentions - that research proves doesn't work and actually harms children), are I believe a reflection of the fear by school leaders of letting go of control and being open to seeing their roles differently.   

• It doesn't seem right that schools in wealthy high performing districts take the credit for student performance when they have zero poverty, two-parent college-educated households, disproportionately high incomes and parents who are willing to spend whatever it takes on tutoring and supplemental education programs.  Would these school leaders and teachers be able to get the same performance in a low-income inner city?  I'm guessing not.  I'm so glad that this traditional model works for a majority of students, but I feel the real test of a school is how they deal with the children who are more difficult to teach or who don't fit in.  Unfortunately, my son has been that test, and his schools have failed the test.  

• I've learned that rigor without love and genuine belief in what children can achieve makes the difference.  Eastbrook Academy in Milwaukee is a religious school that has just been ranked #1 in Wisconsin in the High School Challenge Index and #10 in the nation.  Half of their senior class of 16 students this year got accepted into pre-med programs, and each year their high school graduating class of about 16 is awarded $1 million in grants and scholarhsips.  Quick!  Close your eyes and try to picture what the student body of Eastbrook Academy looks like.  I guarantee you're wrong.  One-third of students are low income, 58% are private pay, two-thirds are African American, 25% are white and 10% are Hispanic.    

What's Next for alinea 

So over the years, I've become knowledgeable about how schools are funded, what resources are available to them, research on how children learn best, what the 21st Century economy wants, the education models that already exist that truly engage students, and that many schools are NOT adapting and hurting some students in the process.  With all this knowledge, passion and personal experience, I have not been able to help my own son's schools understand how figuring out how to meet his needs is an opportunity to better serve ALL students in our community.  The teachers may not know exactly how to do this, but genuine desire and openness goes a long way.  

Well, those of you who know me know I'm inspired by having a positive impact on the world by helping people look at things differently and achieve more than they think possible.  I know my son is not alone.  Right now, I'm in the process of hopefully being accepted to Pacifica Gradaute Institute to secure a M.A./PhD in Depth Psychology.  I'm curious about what holds school leaders back from jumping on the chance to be more innovative and effective.  They say that people don't change until the pain of not changing is worse than the pain of changing.  In the case of my son's schools, there is enough demand for the school, and enough students who do well in that model, that there's not much motivation for figuring out a more effective way to work with children who don't fit in (except by putting them in special ed).  The only motivation would be love and genuine caring for children as individual human beings.  

“. . . we need to stop trying to address poor behaviors in the classroom, 

and instead address the root cause of the disruptive behaviors. 

Many active learners may be acting out of boredom or from being lost. 

Recognizing the gift of the active learner and meeting them with actively 

challenging lessons will surely go a long way in creating the optimal learning environment” 

(Clapper, T. C. (2009). 

Moving away from teaching and becoming a facilitator of learning. 

PAILAL, 2(2).

As part of my application process, I had to do a research paper.  I researched how children have been changing, how schools and others have been responding (suspensions, detentions, over diagnosing ADHD), the negative impact of these responses, and the research available on how children learn best and the models that are already available to implement.  I propose that it's fear that holds these schools back - fear of changing the assumptions we make about children and fear of letting go of control and changing the role of the teacher.  I would like to figure out how to help schools embrace the change that will help children feel accepted and blossom no matter who they are.  Can we create an educational environment that celebrates this kind of diversity?  If you're interested in reading my paper, just send me an email at deborah@alineaconnect.com and I'd be happy to hear what you think.  

As always, I love hearing success stories and other feedback.  

Deb

Fundraising - Building Your Major Donor Program

REMINDER

MY NEW BOOK IS OUT! 

The Secret to Fundraising; It's NOT About Asking For Money

“We forget when we raise funds for something, say a building, that it isn’t about the building, but the people who will occupy it.  Deb’s book is conversant, chock full of anecdotes, 

and will lead to a winning strategy of success.”

Dr. David Borst, Dean of Business Administration

Concordia University Wisconsin

Click here to purchase on Amazon

Now, on to my topic for this post, 

BUILDING YOUR MAJOR DONOR PROGRAM:

Most of my nonprofit clients have budgets of $1 million or less and fall into two camps when it comes to their funding sources.  Many of them get almost 100% of their resources from foundations, and many of them have more of a balance between foundations and events like an annual dinner.

Almost NONE of my clients have any kind of individual or major donor program.  What's really holding them back is the confidence to approach people and then knowing what to do next.  

When it comes to foundations, I personally think many of them exist on a different planet.  They often require small nonprofits to seek them out, submit very comprehensive proposals (with about a 3% chance of receiving a donation), aren’t willing to invest in operations (which is how services are delivered in most cases) and require the nonprofit to remember to send follow-up reports proving that the donation resulted in measureable outcomes.  They're also fickle, some making donations only once to an organization, others changing their guidelines from time to time and sometimes going out of business (they call it sunsetting).

The good thing about foundation donations is that they tend to be the largest donations for small nonprofits.  The bad thing about foundations is that it’s easy for a small nonprofit to become dependent on their funding and to end up in a very difficult place if one goes out of business. 

Individual Donors - Large and Small - Key to Sustainability - 
3 Steps to Getting Started

What I know for sure is that your long-term sustainability CANNOT be achieved through foundation donations.   Your most loyal supporters are regular folks who are inspired by your mission.  It’s usually personal for your individual donors, and unless you “blow it” with an individual donor, they tend to not only continue to make donations, but if you cultivate them properly, their donations tend to grow over time and often ultimately include a significant bequest through a will. 

CALLING ALL SMALL NONPROFITS!  Creating a major donor program doesn't have to be scary and intimidating, and you don't need to be a large organization to generate a significant portion of your revenue from individual donations.  Forget about all the fancy stuff, and think about building friendships with people.  

Step #1 - Get Your Act Together 

Before you begin talking to people, make sure you know how to tell your story and be clear about what you need and how people can help.  I call this "getting your act together," and you can revisit many of my blog posts to help you do this:

• Professional Case Statements - Click on these links to take you to three separate blog posts about develping your case statement - Part I, Part II, and Part III 

• Plan Document - To receive a sample of my planning template to help you define your priorities, click here to send me an email (put sample plan document in the subject line). 

Step  #2 - Start With Who You Know

What most nonprofits do is make a list of wealthy people that already get asked by everyone else.  Instead, start with people you know and who know and respect you.  You just never know what might happen.  For example, back when I was the President of The Park People Board of Directors, we decided to have a gala, and we wanted to invite Jane Kaczmarek (from Malcolm in the Middle) to be our keynote speaker.  She’s from the Milwaukee Area and she’s passionate about our parks.  While the letter we wrote to Jane was brilliant (I wrote it), that’s not why she accepted our invitation.  The mother of one of our board members played bridge with Jane’s mother who still lived in the area.  The letter was personally delivered from one bridge player to another. 

One of my awesome clients is Eastbrook Academy – recently ranked #1 in WI and in the top 10% in the nation by the High School Challenge Index.  I love this school, for many reasons, but mostly because they are strong on diversity AND rigorous academics.  One hundred percent of high school students graduate, get accepted into college, and are awarded almost $1 million in scholarships each year.  Having started 16 years ago, their first graduating class is graduating from college this year!  To learn more about Eastbrook Academy click here to visit their website. 

Anyway, the school has a basic development program that secures a modest amount amount from foundations and from individual donations mainly through their annual event.  When I sat down with the fund development director (who has never been trained to do development), and we reviewed every foundation and donor, I found a gold mine of possibilities.  They have received donations from foundations without asking.  They’ve received donations that were bigger than the amount they requested.  And they have supporter after supporter than just gives without being asked when they find out what the school needs.  Some of the donors have or had children in the school, and others just are in love with the impact Eastbrook Academy has on students and the surrounding community.  

With a little help from me to build their confidence by teaching them how to share their story, be clearer about what they need and how people can help, as well as understand it's about genuine relationship bulding, they will become a magnet for the support they need to achieve their vision!


Step #3 - Invite People in for a Compelling Experience 

Whether it's a long-time supporter or your neighbor, the first step is to invite people in to experience the essence of your mission.  My advice to Eastbrook Academy:  Reach out to all those people who have already been so generous and simply tell them that you are trying to get better at communicating your priorities and vision, and you would like to invite them to take a formal tour and share your plans.  Let them know you're looking for feedback.

A compelling tour is not a geograhical tour of your organization or school (e.g., here's the computer lab, here's the gym, etc.).  The tour is an opportunity to get to know what's important to the visitor and allow them to guide you when it comes to what to share about your organization.  A lot of thought should be given to how you conduct tours.  THERE SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY NO EXPECTATION OF AN OUTCOME!

Nonprofits often allow people to just walk out of the building after the tour. If you do this, you have lost a great opportunity.  After spending no more than 20 or 30 minutes talking and touring with your visitor, you should find a quiet place to sit down, present a packet of information and share a little more about your vision and priorities.  But that's just the beginning.  Now, it's time to find out what's inside of your visitor's heart and mind.  The answers to three simple questions could give you enough leads and follow-up work to keep you busy for two months.  Of course, I've got tools to share with you to help on this front.

• Compelling Tour Guidelines - To receive a sample of this tool, click here to go to my website, register to recevie free information and download the Compelling Tour document. 

• alinea's 3 Magic Questions - To learn more about how to make the sit-down portion of your tour super productive, click here to view a blog post about this topic.  

The key to all of this is having NO AGENDA OR EXPECTATION!  This is where the magic comes in.  This approach is about inspiring people, making an emotional connection, providing enough information about what you need and how people can help, so people can decide for themselves if and how they’d like to get involved.  It’s an approach that feels better for everyone involved and results in some surprising and significant donations.

Step #3 – Use the Relationship Tracking Tool to Determine the Best Ways to Cultivate the Relationship

You probably realize that every moment is an opportunity to share your story and cultivate a relationship with someone that could lead to more resources.  Your challenge is usually knowing what to do after you have a great conversation with someone. 

For example, let’s say you go to an event, and you have an amazing conversation with someone who is really inspired with your mission.  You didn’t have any expectations of the conversation, you did a great job of making an emotional connection, and you even asked them alinea’s 3 magic questions.  In fact, they gave you feedback, said they were curious about one of your programs and suggested you contact another person who may be interested.

In most cases, a small nonprofit will fail to follow up on this gold mine of an opportunity, not because they mean to, but because they’re not sure exactly what to do.  Don't think so hard about it.  Send a personally hand-written thank you note, share a success story via an email four weeks later, pick up the phone and invite them to your next event.  It's about just thinking about them and giving them more opportunities to be touched by your mission. 

I’m going to give you a very simple tool to help you take advantage of these opportunities.  You just never know when one conversation could lead to an amazing donation or connection.  Use a simple excel spreadsheet and create these columns:

• Relationship and contact info – name, organization, title, phone, email, website
• Who’s in charge of the relationship – who has this relationship within the organization
• Date next step – this is when an action needs to be taken to cultivate these relationship
• Next Step – this is the actual next step (e.g., send an email sharing a success story, make a phone call to extend a personal invitation to an event)
• Progress – most current date and action on top
• Notes – a little background about the start of the relationship, any past giving, referrals to others, etc.

Every week on the same day during the time that you are going to devote to doing this work you will sort the spreadsheet by date next step so you know what your tasks are for the next week.  This seems simple, but the followup is where small and large nonprofits miss opportunities. 

As always, let me know what happens when you try this approach so others can learn. 

Deb

Fundraising - Complaining about Board Members Doesn't Bring Results

Getting More From Your Board Members 

But First . . .

My new book is out The Secret to Fundraising; It's NOT About Asking for Money.  Click here to view and purchase it on Amazon.com.  

Now, back to board engagement

1st Step to Getting More From Your Board Members 

STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT THEM! 

I'm part of a couple online philanthropic groups, and over the past couple weeks I noticed a lot of conversation around this topic of discussion:  Time for a good laugh or cry.  Fill in:  You know when your board is dysfunctional when . . .

I was intrigued because in my work with nonprofits, schools and churches, helping board members feel inspired and confident to share their organization's story is critical to the organization's sustainability.  

As I read the comments, though I began to feel YUCK, because the comments were more like venting and dumping on board members.  The comments were supposed to be humorous, but they felt disrespectful and judgmental.  

I shared my perspective on the matter, offering this comment:  

I know that this is supposed to be humorous, 

but I have learned something really important about this over the past 10 years. 

I have found that when staff people are frustrated with their boards, 

it is more a function of lack of direction and clarity about what you want 

board members to do. Board members are volunteers who have taken 

time to attempt to make a meaningful contribution.  

It's not their job to figure out how to help you.  They need what I call a "shopping list." 

It's not fair for you to assume they should know HOW to help you.

What you might not realize is that while you are frustrated, your board members

probably feel guilty about not making the kind of contribution they had hoped to make. 

Everything works when your board members not only know EXACTLY what you 

expect of them but also have the tools and training so they have the confidence

to go out and do what you need them to do.  If they're not promoting your orgnaization's

story, likely they are not comfortable or confident about doing it, which means YOU

have not provided the tools and training they need to feel confident.

Seeking First to Understand Will Provide Solutions 

What I remember most from reading Stephen Covey's books is this principal:  Seek First to Understand.  I naturally have a lot of empathy for other people's perspectives, PLUS I have served in all of the roles related to nonprofits - board president, board member, director, development manager, volunteer - so I can quickly put myself in someone's shoes.  I think this is part of why I've been able to facilitate change that would otherwise be very difficult.  When I'm observing a conversation between staff people and board members, and I start feeling YUCK, I immediately know there's a lack of empathy happening that will stand in the way of moving forward.  

I recently worked with an organization where this was going on.  It's was an organization full of passionate people, many of whom did not understand or sometimes respect each other's perspectives.  The organization thought the issue was finding the right marketing message, but really what was holding them back was a lack of common vision and understanding of their respective roles.    

If you're feeling like your board members are not giving their all, begin first with YOU and the message you are sending.  Are you even open to their contributions?  I know that sounds ridiculous, but sometimes we hold back because we don't believe we will get what we expect.  Our own thoughts about board members doom us.  

Conduct a Confidential Survey & Identify Themes

One thing I've learned is that group dynamics often stand in the way of identifying the real issues that are holding the group back.  When I do a seminar with board members and ask:  "How many of you are comfortable sharing your organization's story?"  only a third of the hands go up.  

Those board members will never admit this though because they feel that this is something they should know how to do.  You should just assume the board members that aren't contributing what they could be know it and they feel great GUILT about it.  They are likely feeling embarassed about it and don't know how to get themselves out of the situation.  

A really great way to find out what's going on in the head's of your board members - if you are brave enough to hear it - is to conduct a confidential survey.  To get the most authentic feedback, you may want to hire someone to conduct the survey using something like SurveyMonkey.com and have that person generate a report that captures what was said in a way that makes it impossible to "out anyone" for specific comments.  

When I do these surveys, I ask four open-ended questions because I want to hear people talk in their own words.  Multiple choice surveys assume that you know what the possible answers are, and I want to get into people's heads and hearts.  My questions include: 

1. Please share your perception of the organization.  What do you love?  What frustrates you?  Feel free to share specific examples and stories to help us understand your perspective. 
2. What is your understanding of the organization's goals and priorities?
3. What do you think has to happen in order for the organization to reach its goals and priorities?  
4. What is your vision or dream for the organization?  What does the world look like if the orgnaization is wildly successful? 

I use these same questions to get the perspectives of community stakeholders, teachers, parents, etc.  

For boards specifically, sometimes I add these two questions: 

1. Ideally, what should the board look like in order to achieve the organization's goals and priorities?  What kinds of people, with what kinds of talents and skills?  How should the board members spend their time on behalf of the organization? 
2. What do you need personally and professionally in order to help the organization achieve its goals and priorities? 

I guarantee you will get a lot of JUICY insights into how to be more effective with your board members.  THEY WANT TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION!  That should be your first assumption.  You shouldn't make them feel STUPID for whatever they say.  Your goal should be to figure out how to get their unique talents out of them and working for your organization. 

As always, let me know if you try this and if you see a difference.  CHANGING YOURSELF ALWAYS RESULTS IN PEOPLE RESPONDING TO YOU DIFFERENTLY. 

Deb