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fundraising, leadership, management, organizational development, planning

Are you growing or dying?

All living things have certain things in common, and one of those is growth. Living things develop and mature as they age. Sometimes this is an actual increase in mass and sometimes a change in features and functions. But growth and development are key characteristics of life. As retired football coach and motivational speaker Lou Holtz once said, “In this world you’re either growing or you’re dying, so get in motion and grow.”

Organizations are like living things. They are made up of individuals that work together. They have different functions that work in concert to help them be productive. They have inputs, produce outputs, and consume energy. They respond – and hopefully adapt – to their environments. And like living things, organizations should grow and develop.

Unfortunately, once organizations get going, they sometimes stop growing. Many end up adopting a status quo and don’t continue developing their work or their organizations. Sometimes this is the result of poor leadership, sometimes it’s the result of comfort, and sometimes it’s what happens when organizations get used to operating under sustained conditions of limited resources. They grow stagnant and repetitive, doing the same thing day in and day out, without looking or moving forward.

You may wonder what’s wrong with this. I mean, if an organization is doing good work, then what’s the need to keep growing?

The bottom line is that there’s always more that can be done to further the mission. An organization is not done until the problem is solved, and if you are continuously doing the same work day after day, with no end in sight, then you’re probably not solving the problem. The work can always be improved, in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness. The work can be advanced to reach more people, tackle other facets of the problem, or do more to serve your constituents. The people doing the work can always benefit from development – of their knowledge, their skills, their teamwork, their behaviors. And your work would be easier and more successful if you had a bigger network of support, from donors and funders to partners and volunteers.

So how do you know if your organization has stopped growing? Ask yourself these questions:

  • Is your base of support stagnant? Do you have difficulty acquiring new donors every year? Do you reach out to the same institutional funders for grants each year? Do you rely on the same volunteers for events? Do you feel like you’ve tapped out your sources of revenue?
  • Is your impact expanding? Are you making measurable gains towards your strategic goals each year? Are you expanding your programs? Do your annual objectives push your programs to do more than the year before? Are you reaching more constituents? Are you forming more partnerships each year?
  • Is your organizational capacity developing? Are you hiring more staff to achieve more? Do you have professional development opportunities for staff? Are staff getting better at their jobs over time? Are there opportunities for advancement and greater responsibility for staff? Are there less organizational issues to tackle year after year, or are you still facing the same ones again and again?

Your organization should be growing over time – in impact, in support, and in capacity. Without growth in these areas, you will not get closer to achieving your mission (or if you do get closer, it’s not fast enough for those who are affected by the problem every day).

Growth is essential for organizations. If you’re not growing, you’re dying.

communications, messaging, organizational development

Why your brand isn’t working for you

I feel like I’ve been seeing the word “brand” more and more recently, and yet I still find that many organizations aren’t developing brands in a way that really serves their goals.

The traditional idea of a brand is in a marketing context: a type or set of products that a company sells. You know: Crest, Adidas, Johnson & Johnson, Whole Foods. Just from their name you know what these companies sell and what their products are about.

The common interpretation of brand that persists today is the visual brand – the logo, the typeface, even the tagline. These can definitely be powerful elements that convey a brand. Think of the Nike swoosh or “Just Do It.” You don’t even need the name to know what company they represent and what products that company sells. The same goes for the Starbucks mermaid, the Apple apple, and the Twitter bird. Simple images that tell you the company name and its products.

A lot of organizations think a brand is just the visual part. They think branding is a marketing tool and they focus on creating a logo to improve visibility and recognition. They are so worried about the look of their logo that they forget the image is just a shorthand representation of their organization. The image only works because it stands for something else. The Starbucks mermaid doesn’t just stand for lattes and frappuccinos. It also stands for the cafe environment – a warm, cozy place to hang out or meet up or do some work – and the experience of drinking your coffee there. The Apple logo doesn’t just stand for iPhones and MacBooks. It stands for cool, beauty, quality, and value, and the prestige of being an Apple product user. The Twitter bird doesn’t just stand for a messaging service. It stands for a trendy, quick, easy way of staying in touch and staying informed, and the status that goes with having a lot of followers.

And that is what a brand is about: the experience you create. For your constituents, for your donors, for your volunteers, and even for your employees and Board members. Because the experience you create is reflective of who you are. Not just the work you do, but your personality, your values, and the unique value you offer to others.

At the end of the day, your brand stems from who you are as an organization. When an organization that doesn’t have a concrete mission, an inspiring vision, a clear strategy, a cohesive staff, or articulate messaging doesn’t have a strong brand, they shouldn’t be surprised. It doesn’t matter what cool image you put in front of someone. If it isn’t clear what it stands for, why would anyone remember it, let alone care about it? The logo is just an image. The meaning behind that image is made up of so much more.

If you want to create a strong external brand for your organization, you have to look inward. What is the essence of your organization? Who are you as an institution? What are your values and personality? What experience do you create for those you encounter? And what unique value do you offer others?

A brand can be a powerful way to garner support and advance your mission, but to create such a brand you have to go beyond appearances.

 

case for support, fundraising, leadership, management, planning

4 questions to guide your fundraising

There’s no escaping it: every organization needs to raise revenues to support its work. Amazingly, I’ve worked with several organizations that either don’t have a fundraising plan, or they have a very vague and weak one.

When working with an organization on financial planning, we always cover the basics: goals, objectives, audiences, strategies, and tactics. Plus, I always push clients to think about other components that can really make for a robust plan. But in every case the goal is financial sustainability: ensuring that the organization can cover the cost of doing business and continue its mission in the long-term through recurring, reliable revenue.

In working with a client recently, I realized that every financial planning process starts with a series of questions that every organization should be able to answer clearly and concretely. I boil these down to four key questions:

1. How much do you need? This is pretty basic, yes, but there’s many considerations to take into account. Sure, there’s your programmatic expenses to cover (salaries, supplies, travel costs, administration, etc.) but there’s also other expenses to consider that often get left out (debt, depreciation, technology, web hosting, rent and utilities, etc.). The question is really: what is the total amount of money you need to get the work done successfully? The qualifier here is need. How much do you actually need, at a minimum, to do the work you want to do in the time you have set for yourself to achieve it?

2. What are you going to use the money for? Again, not a surprising question, but you should be able to define it in concrete terms. Related to the question above, on what will you spend the money you receive? Plus, if you want to convince others to contribute to your cause, you need an articulate and compelling way of answering it. Not only should you know what the money will be spent on, but more importantly, what will you achieve once you spend the money? What outputs will you produce and what outcomes will that accomplish? How will it advance your mission and solve the problem?

3. What will you do if you don’t get the money? This is never a pleasant question to ask, but it’s an important one for proper management of the organization. Knowing how to adapt your organization is a key element of resilience and sustainability. This question also forces executives to think about priorities: if you don’t get the money you seek, what must you maintain to continue the mission and what can you cut or reduce? Ideally, leadership considers different scenarios and plans ahead for different outcomes. This way the organization is prepared for economic downturns – and for surprising windfalls.

4. What would you do with more money? Related to the last point above, I encourage executives to dream big and imagine what they would do if money were no object. We often get so caught in the “bare minimum” mindset – a byproduct of living in a limited-resource environment for so long – but it’s good to also think about what you would and could achieve if you had the resources. This sort of thinking helps create a vision for the organization, and it also helps to inspire others to support your cause. If the last question above asks what you would do with the bare minimum, this one asks what you would need to realize the ideal situation.

These four questions ask what you want now, why you want it, how you will adapt, and where you are going in the long-term. Basic ideas that are loaded with lots of complex considerations. These questions are what lay the foundation for a solid plan that can lead an organization to financial sustainability.

Does your organization have a clear financial plan? Have you considered all the questions above? What questions do you find most helpful to ask in the planning process? What do you know now that you wish you had known before you did your financial planning?