Easy Does It: Incremental Change in Nonprofit Organizations

Over the last 20 years, I've been involved with dozens of nonprofit organizations as an employee, a board member, a volunteer, a services vendor, a contractor, and a consultant. I've worked with the tiniest ones that are run solely by volunteers, like the National Center for Community Collaboration. I've worked with large ones that have thousands of volunteer and paid staff members, such as the University of Denver. As part of my community outreach and marketing efforts, I've conducted informational interviews with more than 75 board members, development directors, executive directors, and operations directors in the Denver area.

My frustration has often been the snail's pace at which things happen in nonprofits, especially as compared to the lightning speed at which small-business owners move. When I see that transformational change is possible, I want to go, go, go make it happen! The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that ensure the nonprofit achieves its mission are all there: money, expertise, passion, and time. It's just that someone, or a few folks, need to sit down and, in one marathon all-nighter, fit those yellow, white, and green bits together to reveal the tranquil landscape pictured on the outside of the puzzle box.

But I've realized that it is almost always only incremental change that's possible in nonprofit organizations. Once-a-month board meetings, executive directors with impossibly complex job descriptions who work for below-market wages, an economy that has squeezed Americans' ability to give, and many other factors conspire to limit the way we can fit the puzzle pieces together.

Instead of funders, staff, volunteers, and the community sitting down at the table together to work on the puzzle together, one person at a time meanders by the puzzle table and tries to make a piece fit here or there. Sometimes, on a coffee break, a couple of folks chat over the puzzle while they sip their steaming beverages and quickly find five pieces that fit together. Once in a while, someone who thinks she knows better will remove a piece that's already been fitted correctly in order to see if there is another piece that works better there.

Eventually, though, we start to see larger and larger pieces of the whole: a lake in the background comes together, a fox materalizes at the lower right-hand corner, a sunny mountainside pops out, just needing a couple of pieces to make it complete. These microcosms of the larger landscape represent corporate sponsorships falling into place, or finally getting that policies and procedures manual completed, or identifying the organization's core competencies.

As the picture becomes clearer, and we see that it is indeed possible to re-create that photo from the front of the puzzle box, we get more and more excited. People stop by the puzzle table more often, and in larger groups, and for longer periods of time. It becomes more and more obvious where the remaining pieces fit. Finally, the puzzle is complete!

We stare in wonder and pride at the hungry folks who have received nutritious meals, the students who graduate from high school, the refugees who now have housing. We remember back to the monstrous pile of 1,500 pieces of cardboard and paper we looked at when we first dumped them out of the box. We feel proud of the contribution each of us made, though it took a long time and we faced many moments of despair along the way. And we think, "Easy does it. Slow and steady. Never give up."

Measuring Success of Special Events in Nonprofits

Today I attended a webinar titled "In Defense of Events: Measuring Success Beyond the Bottom Line," which was sponsored by GiftWorks Fundraising Software. I've taught classes on fundraising and have had a tough time defending special events, so I was looking for a fresh perspective on this method of fundraising and friendraising. Mission accomplished.

Here are just a few ways to measure success beyond the net funds generated by the event as a whole (based on my personal experience, the classes I've taught, and the recent GiftWorks webinar):

• Number of paid tickets
• Total number of guests
• Number of sponsored tables
• Number of guests in certain categories, such as sponsors or "young community leaders"
• Number of new participants (sponsors and individuals)
• Contribution margin per guest (revenue less expenses, then divide that result by number of guests); this is the amount that is tax deductible for the guest, so larger is better
• Number of media placements before and after the event
• Number of impressions from media placements (circulation numbers of each media source)
• Number of ads placed in program, and number of dollars earned from those ads
• Number of sponsors, and total sponsor dollars
• Number of vendors
• Number of contacts added to the database
• Percentage of growth in any of the above categories year over year, or a three-year or five-year growth rate
• Number of people interested in volunteering added to the database

More lessons learned about special events to follow!

At the End of the Day

Projects have been evaluated, grades have been submitted, and another quarter is done. And upon reflection, teaching in the Graduate School of Social Work at DU is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. DU is simply a fab place to work. Even adjunct faculty (that's me) are treated with respect and given plenty of resources to do the job right. The environment is inclusive, and the students are thoughtful and intelligent. Watching social workers prepare to do good in the world makes me joyful.

All of that is good and right, but really, why do I teach? It's not the money; once you figure the time invested, the hourly rate is relatively low. It's not the prestige; as an adjunct faculty, there is none. It's not that I need to be an expert; I've been a big fish in a little pond plenty of times, and it's lost its luster.

So what it boils down to is connection--one human being relating to another. I lead, I facilitate, I guide, I show. I ask them to step outside their comfort zones. They help me stretch my boundaries and take down my walls. I respect them, and they respect me. We get to know each other: likes, dislikes, attitudes, personalities, quirks. We have lengthy, meaningful conversations. We give each other feedback. I watch them go from being fearful about money to feeling in control and excited about their future leadership in nonprofit organizations. I'm proud of them. We are connected.

I am an educator.

Corporate Philanthropy: Good or (Making Up for) Evil?

This past week, my students brought up an ethical issue that made me think twice. Is it better for for-profit corporations to sin and then repent through corporate philanthropy or to sin and not atone at all?

Perhaps it is a bit hypocritical for that local brewing company to repeatedly dump in the creek and then turn around and give millions to social causes through its foundation. But as a wise friend pointed out, the woman in charge of that foundation likely has no control over, and may not even have any knowledge of, the bad, bad things that the company does, despite the fact that she shares the same last name.

Research shows that 89% of consumers aged 18-35 would switch brands for a comparably priced product if a company showed that it was a "giving" company. Where does your loyalty lie, and do you do the research before you support a company that, on the surface, seems to be charitable?

Asking for Donations Is NOT Begging

At the Colorado Nonprofit Association's annual award luncheon today, I watched a video that moved me to tears about what nonprofits do for the Colorado community. I listened to award recipients who've worked tirelessly for decades talk about what it means to work in philanthropy. I felt good. I felt important. I felt justified in my choice to pursue nonprofit management as a career.

But having spent ten weeks talking to my students about how asking for donations is giving people a chance to match their passion about a mission with an organization's needs, I was infuriated by Lieutenant Governor Barbara O'Brien's speech. She talked about how you have to be comfortable with begging to work in nonprofit organizations. She actually used the word two or three times. She's the former executive director of the Colorado Children's Campaign, so she had a lot of street cred in that room. I heard people around me murmuring in agreement and saw them nodding when she said that.

As long as we have nonprofit leaders and government officials perpetuating that kind of thinking, we will never run our organizations efficiently. We will never maximize donations. We will never help all of the people we are capable of helping. We will never put ourselves out of business by eradicating the social injustice and oppression we fight because we limit our thinking and our possibilities. Wake up, Barbara, and stop teaching the next generation to think just like you.

Let's Get Back to the Basics: Communication

Today I met with the public policy liaison from the Denver Department of Human Services. She's been around government and nonprofits for a long while and so has a unique perspective on what's happening in our community.

I asked the usual informational interview questions, but I knew I had a wealth of information at my fingertips, all packaged up in this little bundle of energy. So I asked, "What do we need to be doing to move the community forward?" She talked about the major issues: homelessness, child welfare and protection, public and higher education, transportation infrastructure, and welfare reform.

But her main message was this: market effectively. She didn't say it like that, but that was it in a nutshell. The public is blissfully unaware of how human-services and other public policy issues affect our community. Coloradans are notoriously low givers in a state with a relatively high income per capita. Whose fault is that? If you want to educate and raise awareness of and funds for a cause, what do you do? MARKET THE MESSAGE EFFECTIVELY.

Too many of us in nonprofits focus on the day-to-day and putting out fires without investing in the future. How many human-services nonprofits have development staff but no marketing staff? Governments and nonprofits MUST build the marketing infrastructure to support the necessary fundraising infrastructure. If not, we'll keep serving up the same meal day after day--would you like the crisis du jour?