I often tease my husband about why our mechanic smiles when he sees us coming.  Our cars are reliable but old. This means we spend a lot on maintenance.

I understand this concept, but that doesn’t stop me from complaining. OK – complaining bitterly. So recently after hearing my gripes (again), my dearest walked over from the service to the sales department at the dealership.  He ran into Larry* and here is what my husband told him.

• My wife has been complaining about all the money we’re spending on repairs and maintenance.
• My wife wants to get a new car.
• My wife doesn’t want just any car – she wants the big sedan with all the bells and whistles.
• My wife will come in for a test drive.
• I don’t care whether we get a new car or not.

So Larry calls our house the next day.  Who does he ask to speak to?  You guessed it - Mr. Smallwood.  And when he learned that Mr. Smallwood wasn’t home what did he do?  He asked me to take a message for him!

Did Larry not pay attention at all?  How could Larry be so clueless? 

And are we guilty of being like Larry when it comes to cultivation, solicitation and stewardship?

Margaret May Damen states in the Harvard Business Review that by 2030, “54% of the 57 million Boomers will be women, they are very generous, have a very small number of children and substantial wealth to give away.”  (http://www.womenwealthandgiving.com/tag/harvard-business-review/)

And according to a 2007 study conducted by MassMutual Financial Group, “senior women age 50 and older control net worth of $19 trillion and own more than three-fourths of the nation’s financial wealth.”  http://she-conomy.com/report/facts-on-women/

Shouldn’t we pay attention?

Let’s admit it.  We’ve all behaved like Larry.  But let’s now commit to engaging our donors and prospective donors equally.

And just in case you’re reading this Larry, give me a call. 

I really want a new car!

*name changed

Last week the phone rang.

The call was from a telemarketer calling on behalf of his alma mater. My husband answered the phone. The caller thanked him for his past gift and within the first minute of the call asked if he would consider DOUBLING his current gift.

Huh?!

Well, my husband explained that while he loves his school, he really couldn’t consider that right now.  However, that wasn’t the end of the call.  He actually stayed on a little longer and had a short conversation with the caller. He found out that the caller attended another school in another state and was hired just to make those calls.

He hung up, looked at me and said, “Unbelievable! That guy had no connection to the school! Why would they do that?”

Why indeed?

Now it was my turn to probe.

So I asked him the following question.

If one of the school’s current students from the university called and talked to you sincerely about how much your past support meant to her personally and how many additional students you could help by doubling your gift, would you have done it?

His response to me was, “Absolutely.”

Successful fundraising is not a game of chance.  It requires research, planning and the ability to create meaningful relationships with your donors (for an excellent resource on this, read Keep Your Donors by Tom Ahern and Simone Joyaux). 

Many of the negative responses you get could be made positive by making sure you use the right approach, have the right person ask, at the right time, for the right amount. 

It’s cheaper to do it the right way the first time.

I can only imagine how much money the university has spent on that telemarketing service. In his case, it cost them a decent-sized gift.

Friends, you don’t need a large budget.  Just a personal commitment to make each interaction with your donor less transactional and more of an experience around how their support makes a difference in the world.

Try it, won’t you?  You’ll be amazed at your results.

Good luck!

“This makes no sense!!”   As I became more agitated I walked faster. 

Two weeks ago, as my daughter Raina and I were taking our walk we kept passing by houses where the resident dogs would bark at us.  Loudly.  And they were annoying me.

After about the fifth time this happened, I had had enough. 

So, of course (being the adult), I whined to Raina.  “Why do they do that?  It’s so stupid!  Every day people pass by and they bark!  I always ignore them but they bark anyway!  It just makes no sense!!”

And here’s what she said.

“Mom.  The dogs don’t want us to come near.  So from their perspective, it’s working.”

From their perspective. It actually made perfect sense. But why had I failed to see that?

Because I couldn’t look beyond my viewpoint.  But Raina accepted the situation for what it was – without judgment.  And that allowed her to evaluate what was really going on.

How often do we insist that our perspective is the right one?  How does this shape our interactions with our friends/partners/ volunteers/ donors/colleagues?

And how willing are we to seek out that external voice that might frame what we see in another context?

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts.  And THANK YOU for the feedback you’ve already given.

WOOF!

It’s 8:00 AM.  You feel sick. It’s time to go to work.

Even if you don’t hate your job entirely, there are surely aspects that make you want to run and/or hide. But before you call it quits, here are 5 reasons to love your job anyway.

1. Just Because.

I know it can be challenging.

I know you think your boss is nuts.

I know the person in the cubicle next to yours doesn’t know how to use his “indoor” voice.

But attitude most often becomes an indicator of what you can achieve. And in uncertain economic times you want to be the overachiever.

2. Experience.

We learn from the good as well as the bad.

Anybody who knows me at all knows I hate events. Do you hear me? I hate them.

But I was unable to hide from them. And as a result I now know how to put together great events.

But only if you make me!

3. Opportunity.

You can create great opportunities for yourself. But you have to be proactive.

Seek out and ask for additional responsibilities.

If you simply wait for someone to notice your natural talent and offer you that plum assignment, you’ll be undervalued for a long time.

4. Grit.

Struggle builds character. How else will you know what you can do unless you’re tested?

Challenges shine a spotlight on our strengths and weaknesses. And you can learn a lot about yourself from both.

5. Inspiration.

When I was a college student I worked at a large fast food chain.

For two days.

On day two I quit after the manager referred to me as “Hey You” and I found another job that same day. My point is that this experience inspired me to do something other than work in that fast food restaurant.

Although it took a little while to get there, my path to becoming a fundraising professional began with that first job. And fundraising is an amazing calling. Every day we get to work with donors who want to make the world a better place. We get to help them fulfill their dreams while we live out our own.


I’ve listed 5 reasons, but I’m sure there are more. What are your thoughts? How can I help you love your job?

Congratulations to the Memphis Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals!  Our chapter has been changing the Memphis community for 25 years.  Yesterday’s Crystal Awards luncheon was a great way to celebrate this milestone.  Congratulations to all the award winners – especially Ryan Fleur, Executive Director of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, who was recognized as Outstanding Executive Leader.

This is an incredibly brave and powerful post from management consultant Peter Bregman.  I hope you'll take just a moment to read it.  This is for those of us who create miracles every day - yet often don't quite feel good enough.

http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2010/11/why-leaders-must-feel-pain.html

I recently joined a friend for lunch where the topic was “board engagement.”

She shared a conversation she had with a new board member who was nervous about her performance.

“Every time we have a meeting all we talk about is fundraising.  I just can’t do that!”

So my (smart) friend says she understands.  Then she asks, “How do you think you can be helpful?”

“Well…I work for corporation X – they are not really involved with us, but they could be.”

The next thing you know, the board member sets up a meeting and the board member’s company has committed to a gift.

Bingo.

That’s fundraising  - and the board member did it.

So that makes me wonder...

How are we “selling” fundraising to our board members?

Do we talk about process and outcomes?

What are your thoughts?