GOOD NEWS: More Teaching, Less Asking
Good News: An enewsletter for donors and nonprofits
on strategic planning, governance, fundraising, and executive leadership.
“While we can be preoccupied with ‘making the ask,’ instead imagine thinking and acting more like a good teacher as you seek to financially sustain your organization.”
More Teaching, Less Asking
Most people associate September with the renewal of their learning calendar. Many donors see it as a time to re-engage publicly while nonprofits often begin their annual cycles of reporting and fundraising.
As we all leave summer behind and embark on this Fall’s possibilities, I ask you to consider this when approaching your fundraising: Do more good teaching and much less asking. As a related saying goes, “Ask for money and get advice. Ask for advice and get money.”
So what does good teaching, i.e. good fundraising, look like? Here are 5 lessons I've learned after a few decades of teaching and raising millions of dollars as an advisor to my clients, founding executive director, and board member:
1. Build Relationships In Person: Like most things, good teaching is about building relationships with all kinds of people in all kinds of circumstances. Show me a board, chief executive officer or development team that represents and connects with lots of people and I’ll show you people who raise money effectively. Physical presence matters so do not over-rely on email, snail mail, social media postings, giving days or even large events. Get out of the office and minimize internal meeting attendance or you will be destined to be in line far behind those already meeting face to face with donors whenever, wherever, and as frequently as possible.
2. Present Institutional Priorities Grounded In Inspiration and Mission: Good teachers seek to inspire. They share their passion for learning a worthy subject matter. Present donors with opportunities to feel inspired by your cause, just like you are. Have a bold and aspirational but realistic plan. Speak the language of inspiration, not desperation, duty, and coercion. Do your board, chief executive, and advancement team wake up and go to bed thinking about the importance of their work? If not, why would others care and want to help? Ambiguous unrestricted funds, giving competitions, and arbitrary goals - no matter how cleverly named and marketed - send a message of unclear priorities and generally turn off savvy donors while attracting transactional ones.
3. Think In Terms of 10-20 Years, Not Weeks or Months: The best learning environments are full of educators who connect over the long term, even after their students graduate. Is your fundraising effort grounded in building long-term relationships with all constituencies or do you focus on “quick hits,” paying attention to just a few perceived deep pockets who may or may not give to your cause? We never know where the next annual or major donor is coming from so we should behave accordingly. Do you respect and pay attention to younger, less financially resourced constituencies who represent the future of your organization?
4. Meet People Where They Are: The best teachers meet people where they are and validate each person's perspective. They notice, not judge. Do you welcome all points of view and create opportunities for communication with all constituencies, even those who may be critical? Do you have an alumni giving rate below 25%? Resist the temptation to write this off as merely complacent or disconnected alumni. Consider that a low giving rate is more a reflection of how your alumni feel about their alma mater and less about their flaws as donors. Set about doing the hard work of listening and making substantive institutional changes, especially with respect to alumni of color and first generation graduates.
5. Tell Stories With and Without Data: One of the best books about how good education happens is The Call of Stories by Robert Coles. His thesis is that human beings, and therefore students, are wired to learn from and be moved by stories. How good and intentional is your organization at telling its story with qualitative and quantitative data? Through more video and less text? Data on its own is not enough to move most donors but it is necessary to buttress the compelling success stories that we all remember and cherish. Do not shy away from telling select anecdotes as manifestations of carefully collected and accompanying data. I'll write more on what is and is not good data and measured outcomes in next month's publication.
While we can be preoccupied with “making the ask,” instead imagine thinking and acting more like a good teacher as you seek to financially sustain your organization. A mindset of inquiry and learning is much more effective for your fundraising bottom line than a mindset of conducting transactions.
Stuff Steve Is Watching, Listening To, and Reading
Provost Sol Gittleman on College Commencement (17 Minute View)
"You weren’t educated at Tufts for your first employment. You were educated for your last one. We’ll know in about 40 years if we did a decent job preparing you for your lives... Start your own motor. Don’t wait for anyone to tell you what to do. Believe that your tank is always half full, never half empty. Work hard at whatever you do and for whatever you believe in. You can accomplish what you want to without ever having to hurt someone. Be competitive but never lose sight of the rest of humanity. Be civil in all of your arguments and struggles and demand civility from others. Remember the past. Keep looking backwards so that you can look forward and make some sense out of it. Expect nothing. Blame no one. Do something and don’t whine. Keep your memos short. Watch your grammar. Proofread and spelling still counts."
Provost Sol Gittleman, Tufts University Commencement Address 2010
https://youtu.be/8MK-o2FzH7g
Cal Newport on Slow Productivity (1.5 hour listen)
"One of the core principles of my emerging philosophy of slow productivity is that busyness and exhaustion are often unrelated to the task of producing meaningful results. When zoomed in close, three hours of work per day seems painfully, almost artificially slow — an impossibly small amount of time to get things done. Zoom out to the larger scale of years, however, and suddenly June Huh emerges as one of the most, for lack of a better term, productive mathematical minds of his generation."
Cal Newport on Fields Medal Winner Jun Huh’s 3 Hour Work Day
https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2022/07/05/the-3-hour-fields-medal-a-slow-productivity-case-study/
MLK on the Purpose of Education (5 minute read)
"We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living."
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Age 18
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/purpose-education
Steve Filosa
978 578 1904
www.tothegood.net
Congratulations to TTG client Youth Development Organization for another extraordinary summer.
Watch this if you have 90 seconds and want to feel inspired:
https://vimeo.com/740487931
