Book Signing – April 1st

I’m looking forward to the 2012 version of AFP’s International Fundraising Conference – this year being held in Vancouver, Canada. I hope to see many of my friends and colleagues there, and hope you can join me at my book signing (Excellence in Fundraising in Canada), being held on Sunday, April 1st at 12 noon. Drop by the AFP Conference book store and say hello.

Adrian Sargeant associates with Global Philanthropic

I am happy to announce that effective December 1, 2011, Dr. Andrian Sargeant (http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.php?SpeakerID=2008) has joined Global Philanthropic Inc. as an Associate.

Global is proud to be associated with Dr. Sargeant and look forward to offering his expertise and counsel to our current and future clients.

Welcome aboard Adrian.

Major Gift Fundraising

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Summer Holidays and Editing

Every year now for the past 20 (yes .. I can count exactly because that was the year of my first daughter’s birth) we’ve been coming as a family to Mara Lake .. one of the Schuswap Lakes located near Sicamoose, British Columbia, Canada.  We can always count on hot weather (+35), sunshine, warm breezes, and the lake. 

This year, aside from enjoying my family … the highlight for me …. I also get to enjoy the adventure of editing 20 chapters which comprise the new Canadian Fundraising Textbook.  I have the honour and adventure, of serving as the Editor for this first-ever textook in Canada, an anthology of outstanding Canadian authors.  They include: Ken Wyman, Dianne Lister, Pearl Veenema, Peter McKinley, Nick Jaffer, Steven Thomas, Hala Bissada, Harvey McKinnon, Tony Myers, Nicholas Offord, Lorna Somers, Richard Walker, Mike Johnston, Leslie Weir, Luce Moreau, Andrea Mcmanus, Terry Mercer, Tania Brandstrom, Pat Hardy, and yours truly.  This is an incredible journey for me professionally, and Ihave to admit to feeling a bit ‘historical’ as we as a collective work to produce Canada’s first comprehensive textbook on the the body of fundraising knowledge.  An adventure.  A legacy.  A milestone.  A thrill.  Stay tuned to the blog here as I keep you updated on the journey.

So far, the authors have each had to submit their initial chapters (it’s a bit like herding cats .. some meet their deadlines …others don’t).  The writing is excellent so far, and I’m enjoying reading adding my comments from a context, content, and logic-flow perspective. 

Kudos to Civil Sector Press (Jim Hilborn’s group out of Toronto) for stepping forward as the Publisher for this milestone piece. 

That’s it for tonight.  Think of me slaving away by the lake .. pen in one hand and a beer in the other.

30 Years in the Sector: Observations from One Man’s Point of View

This year marks my 30^th anniversary as a fund development professional.  I’ve been asked many times over the past few years, what I have seen that has changed in the sector. What follows below are my thoughts to some questions I’ve been asking.  Let me know what you think ..

What are the main challenges facing the nonprofit sector today? How different are they from the ones the sector faced a decade or two ago?

These questions come at a good time because I’m entering my 31^st year as a fundraising professional in the sector.  It’s been an interesting year; I’ve been looking at myself and my role in the sector and done some introspection. As I look at the challenges today in sector, three big ones jump into my head. The first is accountability and how our work as nonprofit organizations, particularly fundraisers, is more and more under scrutiny. When I began my job as a fundraiser, it was common to write “dear friend” letters. We didn’t know who the friend was, we just wrote it, we sent off blanket solicitations. It was very much par for the course. But now demonstrating what the outcomes are and the impact is really much more under examination.

Second, the general sophistication in the sector, fundraising in particular, has increased.  This is a significant change and challenge that remains for us, especially for smaller organizations. I began my career in a one-person arts organization so I have a very good sense of challenges that face the arts and small shops, even medium ones. They try to stay engaged in the game while knowing that sophistication is their ally. If you can keep it involved in your work to help with fundraising, you know you can be successful.

Finally, one of the challenges which isn’t necessarily new but still an issue is leadership. We have good leaders in our sector, we just don’t have enough of them. We have good leaders but they’re only human and have only a certain amount of hours in their day so they’re not able to be as active in all areas that we need them to be active in.

What is the sector doing “right”; what can it improve upon?

What we can improve upon is growing more leaders. I’m chairing an initiative in Canada, it’s a small quiet working group called Canada Advancing Philanthropy, a group of only ten people … all feeling passionate about our task.  We’re working hard as a task force, focused on one goal and that is to encourage a post-secondary university in Canada to launch a master’s degree in philanthropy. And we are joined and brought together by the common belief that we need to grow more leaders. And so what we have done as a group is we created an RFI (request for information) which we’ve sent out to 34 of Canada’s leading universities asking them to consider launching a masters degree in philanthropy.

Canada needs to grow more leaders in the profession.   While not all will benefit from a Masters program, it is hoped that we can encourage potential leaders to pursue further education and develop their leadership potential in a program like this.

Beyond asking, we’ve done research. Approximately 450 Canadian fundraisers were asked about their perception of the need for a Masters degree in Canada.  This survey is built upon a research project that Rob Peacock completed on the need and demand for Masters degree in Canada. We attached this research to our RFI so universities can see there is a strong demand and an appetite and willingness to pay market price for a masters degree in philanthropy.

I believe strongly in growing leaders. I’m currently serve as an adjunct professor at the University of Bologna in Italy, I teach at a masters level to Europeans taking a masters degree in philanthropy and am myself a graduate with masters degree in philanthropy from St. Mary’s University in the US. That’s a major piece that needs to be improved on.

In terms of what we’re doing right, we are managing to maintain public trust. And while there are many things we are doing right, maintaining public trust is the one thing we MUST be doing right if we’re going to be able to survive as a sector.  Because without it, the whole house of cards collapses.

How are leaders in the sector faring today?

I give them a B minus. If you work in the sector you almost start off with an A because you’re sacrificing a lot of things that you may make elsewhere. But we’re not growing enough of them and some of our best leaders I would like to see spend a greater percentage of time helping the sector and not just the organization they work for. That is always the balance as a leader. You look at any effective leader and they’re working for their sector. I’m a fundraising consultant, who has spent time as Chief Development Officer for such organizations as SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary and the University of Alberta in Edmonton, but I believe in investing back into the profession on the side.  For example, I’m editor of the Canadian Fundraising Textbook. These are projects that aren’t going to make me a lot of money but will help advance the sector. So I give us a B minus because we need to be doing way more of it.

What do you wish leaders in this sector could learn from leaders in other sectors, if anything?

I’ve worked with major donors that come from the private sector so I can speak on this. I had a phone call from a senior fundraising volunteer once, he’s a captain of industry, founder and CEO of one of Canada’s top 300 companies. He called me up anxious with the size of my campaign goal and saying we weren’t completing the campaign quick enough. He drew an analogy, saying that in business, when you want to raise money you go out hard, raise money as quick as you can, and get out of the market and onto the next project. I said, “you’re right, we need to keep our eye on the ball but there are advantages to us casting a wider net that may catch a fish you wouldn’t otherwise focus on in the private sector.”

Because we’re trying to change a culture and enhance the culture of philanthropy here; we’re trying to bring different size fish to the table. That’s an example of what we can learn from the private sector: we need to keep our eye on the ball, no question. One of my pet peeves is when fundraisers stay focused on building relationships but forgot the most important fact which is, at the end of the day relationships by themselves don’t count for anything; you need to raise money.

From the government sector I think there are things we can learn too. One important thing is we need to focus on outcomes. The government has been successful in moving in this direction, being outcome-focused.

As for what they can learn from us, people get engaged in life for different reasons, it’s not always a profit motive. And examining what those motivations are is where I think our sector does really well. We are good at understanding what motivates somebody and then trying to match their interests with our needs. We’re not just pitching and selling.

How would you say the fundraising landscape changed over the years?

There’s a lot that changed. I remember going to conferences early in my career and trying to understand how to get ahead of the herd. But the number one thing is relationships, the importance of relationships and defining relationship management as something to focus on in fundraising. And while I say that on one side of my mouth, the other side is saying, at the end of the day if all we have is relationships, we have failed. Because make no mistake about it, fundraisers are evaluated at the end of the day not on the relationships they have. They’re evaluated by how much money they raised. Don’t ever forget it. I’m not saying relationships aren’t important; they’re critical to the process. But if all I had was a good batch of relationships and very little money raised, would your board of directors be satisfied? No they wouldn’t. They’ll say, “Great but I need you to raise money.”

Integration of fund-development practices is important too. For example, many major universities have strong major gifts programs, broad annual fund programs but not always very good planned giving programs. Many of our churches often have a very good annual fund programs and planned giving but almost a nonexistent major gifts program. So how do you get all three cylinders firing at the same time? That is the importance of really maximizing the effectiveness of fundraisers being able to maximize integration.

Thirdly, there’s the demand for fundraising. We’ve seen the number of nonprofits increase because of the government funding trend has been to decrease funding. We’ve seen demand for fundraisers increase. We’ve seen organizations who didn’t typically see the need to hire professional fundraisers on staff, now moving in that direction. There’s an increasing demand for fundraisers as there is an increase in recognition of the return on investment.

Another big change is the professionalization of fundraising. Just take a look at the key milestones that have occurred in the last 20 years in the profession. I remember starting what was called the Canadian Society for Fundraising Executives in Calgary and then came NSFRE which then became the Association of Fundraising Executives (AFP).  That trend took off across the country.  We now have 15 strong AFP chapters in Canada as well as CAGP (Canadian Association of Gift Planners) roundtables, all focused on philanthropy and the professionalization of fundraising.

You also have the growth of certificate programs and post-secondary schools offering diplomas and certificates in fundraising. We’ve seen masters degrees in not-for-profit studies, York University particularly. We’ve seen the CFRE program grow in a big way. Along with that came standards of practice and ethics. And all those have become important benchmarks for young fundraisers today. We take for granted that you should not be paid commission for dollars you’ve raised and yet that’s a debate that was hashed out in our profession 15 years ago, that was put in our code of ethics. But I have friends in the private sector who shake their head and say they can’t understand that. But from our point of view, it can affect public trust.

Finally, what’s encouraging is we’re seeing lots of young people choosing fundraising as ‘first choice’ profession. That rarely happened 30 years ago, most of us just fell into it.

What’s the one thing those young fundraising professionals should know?

Don’t hesitate to ask for money. Sometimes I think we worry too much about getting things in alignment, getting our courage up. We have a thousand reasons for why we’re not asking. But we need to ask for money, that’s our job. We need to do it respectfully and in a way that respects donors’ interests and the needs of our organizations. We need to recognize the importance of our passion but guard against universalizing our passion. Passion doesn’t have to be worn on our sleeve, but it needs to be below the surface so donors can see you are excited about what you believe in. And that there is reason to invest in this case and cause.

But just because I’m excited about the cause, I have to guard against expecting the whole world will be excited about it too. There are lots of causes out there that get people excited. I would also talk about the need for continuous self-improvement. We need to be mentoring young professionals today. An important role for us as leaders is to help paint the pathways of possibilities that can exist for professionals as they are looking to explore this profession. We need to have mentors; otherwise they don’t know those paths exist.

Having worked in the arts, social services, and high education sectors, how would you compare the sectors, their challenges moving forward?

I’m very cognizant of the fact that for many arts organizations, the predominant challenge facing them is keeping the lights on, having operating money for tomorrow – immediate fundraising. In social services you still have that challenge but the focus is more on development, finding funds to launch new programs. In higher education it’s an integration of these but mainly focused on brick and mortar or endowments. Every sector has particular challenges but at the end of day we all share the challenge of raising money and keeping donors.

Do you have any mentors who’ve inspired you over the years?

Though I’ve had many, one person has been my primary mentor and still is today: Dr. Terry Flannigan. He’s retired but has held the following positions: He was VP external at University of Alberta; vice-president and founding executive director of the college foundation at Grant MacEwan Community College, and head of development at UBC Kelowna. He spent his entire career in the nonprofit sector and is one of the few leaders in our profession that achieved a PhD early on. I learned many things from him like team building and ethical practice, non-technical things. You can take a course and learn how to write a better direct mail letter but the thing we need more of is leaders who help educate our growing young professionals on those things you can’t take a course on.

The Vortex of Special Events

Websters dictionary defines a vortex as a “whirling mass forming a vacuum at its center, into which anything caught in the motion is drawn; any activity, situation, or state of affairs that resembles a whirl absorbing effect”. Such a definition can be applied to many types of fundraising special events .. they are a whirling mass of volunteers investing energy into which anything in the organization is caught up and drawn; it’s a state of affairs that sucks the time and energy into organizing a single time-specific fundraising event.

When designing an integrated fund development operation, one must always guard against the vortex of special events. This is not to say that there is no place for fundraising special events, … on the contrary, they can occupy an important place in a diverse fundraising program. While this is true, we must guard carefully against absorbing all the energy from volunteers for special event fundraising, when the return-on-investment (ROI) is relatively small compared to what we might achieve if we had channeled that same amout of volunteer energy into major gift fundraising. Where is the balance?

I am reminded of an incident in late 1999 when I moved to Edmonton to take up my role as Director of Development at the University of Alberta. I had just moved into the community and was listening to the radio one Saturday morning when the local news interviewed a prominent woman from the community, who was severely criticizing the community for not attending a special event she was volunteering for to raise money for the Edmonton Public Library. She spoke passionately about how she had just spend 8 hours of her time sitting behind a table at the library hoping to accept walk up donations from local citizens to the Library fund. She said that she had never been so embarassed to be a citizen of Edmonton as she was that day, because so few citizens chose to make donations. I wondered who this woman was that she could aim such criticism at the city. If her goal was really to raise money for the library, would it not have made more sense for her to use her considerable influence in the community and work with the Library to conduct major gift approaches for the cause, rather than sit behind a table for 8 hours at a special fundraising event?

Some Chief Development Officers and organizations do not think twice about a senior community volunteer investing dozens of hours into an event that might, if it’s lucky, generate ten’s of thousands of dollars in charitable income for the organization. But what kind of ROI might we they have realized if they had used that same volunteers time and energy in helping identify and qualify major gift prospects, and helped open doors to major gift solicitation? Could we have seen hundred’s of thousands of dollars in charitable income for the organization if that same senior community volunteer had invested energy into major gift activity?

Yes, special events can be very helpful to an organization, and are more than just raising money, they help organizations communicate their mission, and promote key activities to help build community support, both critical activities in building a strong fund development program. But careful thought should be given as to how to maximize the effectiveness of some volunteers time and talents.

One of the chief challenges facing any major gift program is how to keep the team focused on the job of ‘asking for money’ (including the identification, qualification, cultivation and stewardship issues that are related to asking). Systems like ‘moves management’ and other methodologies for managing the efficiencies of major gifts programs constantly guard against the competeting pressures which rob a major gifts program of its time focused on asking for money. The ‘vortex of special events’ is chief among these threats.

Ultimately, there is a place for special events in an integrated fund development program. The challenge for leadership is how to find the balance of time to invest in special events for the ROI that is delivered, when comparing that investment of time and energy against what you could achieve if invested into a major gifts program.

The Power of The Peer

He who persuades and compels others to give shall have a reward greater than that of the giver himself.

(Isaiah 32:17)

Bible references aside, there is nothing more powerful than one peer soliciting another peer in fundraising.

I participated in an ask the other day, with a well known community philanthropist.  Participating with me, was a key volunteer associated with my campaign … a well respected and valued member of the community.  A major donor.  A captain of industry.  But more importantly, he was a ‘peer’ of the prospective donors we were visiting.

The magic of having a peer with me was beneficial to the ask:  (1) it allowed my volunteer to share his story and reasons for why he supports the organization; (2) it provided an opportunity for him to brag about my organization; and (3) most importantly, it presented him a chance to invite the prospective donor to ‘join him’ in supporting my organization.

Using a peer to assist me in making the ask was a very powerful tool, and increased my chances for a successful “yes”.  It also gave my donor volunteer a chance to articulate and verbalize to another person, the reasons why he believes in my cause … a great way to reinforce the reason he supported my organization in the first place, and a reminder to him about why my case deserves continued support.

I have found that recruiting volunteers as peer solicitors requires careful attention however.  Once a volunteer has committed to work with your organization, it’s imperative that you fully educate him/her about your organization/institution and about the fundraising projects you are asking them to help you with.

After you have prepared the volunteer for service, it is time for you to visit with the volunteer about the various ways they can help.  The volunteer can play an invaluable role in introducing you to prospective donors or they can further a relationship that you already have with someone.  This can be done through a small event that they might host, securing and accompanying you on an appointment to see the prospective donor, or by writing a letter of introduction for you.  Volunteer peers can open doors that you could never gain access to.

Volunteer peers can play a significant role in soliciting major gifts.  If the volunteer is willing to participate in the solicitation, their role should be fully discussed.  A briefing memorandum with a script should be given to each person who will be present at the solicitation call, and a rehearsal ahead of time is often very helpful.  Don’t minimize attention to this detail.  This is the time that is most helpful for the volunteer peer to be able to say that they have chosen to give to the campaign.  There is nothing like peer-to-peer solicitation!

So, was I successful .. well, yes I was.  We secured a major gift, and I like to think that the lion’s share of the credit goes to my volunteer peer and the magic that occurred in the peer-to-peer dialogue.

It’s About the Money, stupid!

Donor-Centered Relationships … so what’s the fuss?

It’s hard to argue with the basic premise that donor-centered relationships are the key to raising major gifts for our organizations.  Those involved in major gift fundraising know this to be true, and is a cornerstone for any effective major gift program.

In fact, it could be said that those who practice major gift fundraising without appreciating the importance of donor-centered relationships are poor stewards of philanthropy.

I agree.

But I would also suggest that the reverse is even more true.  Those who talk about donor-centered relationships without mastering the techniques of major gift fundraising (including effective ‘Moves Management’ and effective solicitation techniques, do a disservice to themselves as fundraising professionals, their organizations, and philanthropy overall.

Strong Economic Headwinds

There’s no question … the world’s having a challenging time economically.  These challenges affect not only day-to-day living, but also our ability as fundraising professionals to present opportunities, and raise money.

I view the challenging times as a strong headwind … forcefully pushing against us.  It slows us down, and makes us work harder.  But I caution against slowing down your fundraising efforts.  Now is NOT the time to be pulling back on the throttle … what we need is more throttle, and more lift.

I’m not a wide-eyed optimist  I do recognize that it is a difficult marketplace to be raising money, but I do know that there is no better time to raise money, than when you need it.  So focus on honing your case-for-support and keeping current supporters close.