This is nonprofit variant to the Texas idiom: "big hat, no cattle." I've worked intimately with a lot of great nonprofits over the last year. A common denominator is a huge heart and passion for making the lives of children better than anyone can reasonably hope. This is not only a big plus for the kids, but a big lift for our communities and even our planet.
But there's a big problem with some of them. They've got no plan. They just grab onto the latest concept or donor or volunteer or foundation and HOPE that will solve solve their problems. They call that their strategy.
Hope is not a strategy.
The most recurrent problem is under funding. Sometimes the "strategy" is to work harder for a home run; or wish for the Hail Mary pass for the touchdown; or just pray more fervently.
Don't get me wrong. Prayer is a very good thing. A necessary thing. But get off the railroad tracks before you start praying for the train to stop. Take that first step (to the side for your safety) then the next step forward. In other words, get a plan. Like my dad always said, "plan your work, and work your plan."
In Brian Hurd's excellent paper, "Growing Ministries the Right Way," he makes the point that successful, sustainable fund raising is not just scheduling a series of events and making a bunch of asks. It's about putting a system in place. Planning a process and sticking with it.
This is not rocket science, but it does take time and persistence. It also means taking the first step. If you think you've run out of time to plan because the bills are due, you're wrong. The bills will always be due. A good way to insure you never catch up is to never plan and never put a system in place to run your organization like a healthy business.
Where do you start?
Peter Drucker, the legendary business consultant, gave us five must answer questions in order to run an effective nonprofit. Do you even know the questions?? Hint: they're about mission, customer, value, results, and plan.
There's that word again. Plan.
If you expect to get funding from big donors, whether sophisticated foundations or individuals, make sure you've got answers to all those questions. The big donors are big because they live in a world that works to the answers from those questions.
Where do you think they got all those funds to donate? From well run, for profit organizations with good answers.
If you're a brand new or very small nonprofit without a 990 or audited financial results, you at least need a good business plan until you get bigger. People want to give to people, especially people who are helping children. It's the easiest of all fund raising.
But savvy individual donors and virtually all foundations want to insure their funds will go to good stewards no matter how good their cause. They will be asking to see the results and understand your plan before they contribute to your great organization.
So take all those strengths that helped you develop a great heart and develop a great plan in order to have a great organization to help those in need. And don't let the ego from the big heart get in the way of what's best for the kids.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Paluxy Lessons
Life is good! Did a bike ride in the hills around Glen Rose, Texas Saturday. The weather was gorgeous, the vistas beautiful, the long runs down county roads thrilling, the people among the best in the world! And the food was good. Just wished I'd slept better.
Tossed and turned in our B&B the night before the ride called the Paluxy Pedal. Wasn't sure I could really finish the 45 mile route laid out for us. If I'd be going it alone. If I'd get lost. If I'd have a flat. If I'd make it over "the wall."
The "wall" is a steep hill....a 19% grade. It is a third of a mile hill climb at about the 22 mile point in the ride.
As usual, my concerns the night before just weren't that big a deal after the sun came up. Sitting on the banks of the Paluxy River that afternoon, I had time to reflect on my lessons learned. Actually relearned. Somethings just aren't that new. They just bear repeating. Or maybe I'm just a slow learner.
Lesson numero uno: having a partner makes a HUGE difference. My best buddy, Mark, rode with me the entire way. He wasn't any more sure of being able to finish than I was. At the go / no go point about 15 miles into the ride, we both agreed to go. And we agreed that if one of us had to ask for help, we'd both ask for help. Sort of a pact to not be too macho. (As an amendment to our pact that we weren't gonna let a bunch of wienies outride us.)
Lesson numero dos: obstacles can be bigger in your mind than in person. The hill known as "the wall" was a grueling climb physically for this old guy. But it was also a big pysche job. You approach it with a steep hill sign on your right and notice the pavement changes because normal paving of this section is not possible. Your brain tells your legs, "this is not good."
You start the slow grind upwards and rapidly reach your lowest gear before you're even half way to the top. You look up to see a curve to the left which means you cannot even see the top. Your brain tells your now burning legs, "this is really not good."
Your legs yell at your brain, "NO KIDDIN' MEATHEAD...GET OFF AND WALK RIGHT NOW!"
Your brain half-way listens but keeps your head down trying not to look up in order to postpone disappointment at how much further you have to ride. Your brain also remembers other climbs that were even more disappointing because you quit just before a summit that was closer than you thought.
Your stubborn brain, though totally focused on the moment, looks up one last time, sees the top of the hill, and pleads with the legs, "just a few more turns!" The legs are too tired to talk back.
With the goal in sight, you get a few more strokes from your aching legs and actually make it to the top with a smug smile. You'd dance in celebration except that your legs would totally embarrass you...or by not working, keep you from embarrassing yourself.
These lessons apply to nonprofit organizations as well as to cyclists. Every nonprofit endeavor needs partners, allies, buddies. Can you make it alone? Maybe. But you really can go further and faster with less effort with a good partner you can trust. And if you can do that, you can do more good. (Is it about helping more people, or is it about your ego?)
There will always be hills to climb, some dauntingly steep. But you've got to try them. Even when you don't quite make it one time, it's great "ammo" for your brain to hang a little tougher a little longer so you can make it the next time. Or the next.
Keep working "heads down," focusing on the details to make things happen, but don't forget to look up to see where you're going. (Do you have a goal and a strategy on how to get there?)
In the meantime, ride safe, have fun, and try not to slobber with that big grin while you're zooming down hills.
Tossed and turned in our B&B the night before the ride called the Paluxy Pedal. Wasn't sure I could really finish the 45 mile route laid out for us. If I'd be going it alone. If I'd get lost. If I'd have a flat. If I'd make it over "the wall."
The "wall" is a steep hill....a 19% grade. It is a third of a mile hill climb at about the 22 mile point in the ride.
As usual, my concerns the night before just weren't that big a deal after the sun came up. Sitting on the banks of the Paluxy River that afternoon, I had time to reflect on my lessons learned. Actually relearned. Somethings just aren't that new. They just bear repeating. Or maybe I'm just a slow learner.
Lesson numero uno: having a partner makes a HUGE difference. My best buddy, Mark, rode with me the entire way. He wasn't any more sure of being able to finish than I was. At the go / no go point about 15 miles into the ride, we both agreed to go. And we agreed that if one of us had to ask for help, we'd both ask for help. Sort of a pact to not be too macho. (As an amendment to our pact that we weren't gonna let a bunch of wienies outride us.)
Lesson numero dos: obstacles can be bigger in your mind than in person. The hill known as "the wall" was a grueling climb physically for this old guy. But it was also a big pysche job. You approach it with a steep hill sign on your right and notice the pavement changes because normal paving of this section is not possible. Your brain tells your legs, "this is not good."You start the slow grind upwards and rapidly reach your lowest gear before you're even half way to the top. You look up to see a curve to the left which means you cannot even see the top. Your brain tells your now burning legs, "this is really not good."
Your legs yell at your brain, "NO KIDDIN' MEATHEAD...GET OFF AND WALK RIGHT NOW!"
Your brain half-way listens but keeps your head down trying not to look up in order to postpone disappointment at how much further you have to ride. Your brain also remembers other climbs that were even more disappointing because you quit just before a summit that was closer than you thought.
Your stubborn brain, though totally focused on the moment, looks up one last time, sees the top of the hill, and pleads with the legs, "just a few more turns!" The legs are too tired to talk back.
With the goal in sight, you get a few more strokes from your aching legs and actually make it to the top with a smug smile. You'd dance in celebration except that your legs would totally embarrass you...or by not working, keep you from embarrassing yourself.
These lessons apply to nonprofit organizations as well as to cyclists. Every nonprofit endeavor needs partners, allies, buddies. Can you make it alone? Maybe. But you really can go further and faster with less effort with a good partner you can trust. And if you can do that, you can do more good. (Is it about helping more people, or is it about your ego?)
There will always be hills to climb, some dauntingly steep. But you've got to try them. Even when you don't quite make it one time, it's great "ammo" for your brain to hang a little tougher a little longer so you can make it the next time. Or the next.
Keep working "heads down," focusing on the details to make things happen, but don't forget to look up to see where you're going. (Do you have a goal and a strategy on how to get there?)
In the meantime, ride safe, have fun, and try not to slobber with that big grin while you're zooming down hills.
Friday, September 28, 2007
TMI
Too much information.
You know the feeling. It's usually when your wife starts talking about female medical issues or your Uncle Hiram in Niceville starts telling you about all the desert choices at the retirement center.
But there's another, more insidious, danger from TMI besides being grossed out or bored to death. It's called reinventing the wheel.
Two things affecting everyone in the commercial and nonprofit world this century:
1) how do you do more with less?
2) how do you sort through the tons of information available today?
This isn't rocket science folks. Whether you're trying to avoid starting a redundant teen pregnancy center in a single zipcode or trying to build a high tech immigration data base to protect our borders. What you need is to find who's done this before you. Chances are good that someone has tried. Maybe even succeeded.
The problem is, how do you find out what's been done so you're not starting from scratch or building something new that turns out to be not so new?
I can't help you a whole lot with the past, just encourage you to look and dig and talk to others before you start spending lots of time and money on a "new" idea. But starting now, I can encourage you to start using "tags."
This is a popular concept in Web 2.0, but even this isn't a new concept. In 1989, my mentor persuaded me to include keywords in the subject line of EVERY email I sent. It's easy to do. It only takes a little discipline. Once done, it's amazing how easy it is to search for just the right email you need.
It's also amazing (and frustrating) how many emails I get with little or no information in the subject line. Heck, sometimes they're even asking a question about an email written hours or days before without attaching the old email. I've noticed that sometimes I have another distraction or thought after I sent that email. Until my clairvoyance gets perfected, you're just wasting time and bandwidth.
So here's the deal folks. Starting right now. Take a breath. Put a significant word or two in the subject line of each email you send. This helps sort the clutter into categories. It helps bring order out of chaos. It gives you the opportunity to tell people you are practicing folksonomy (your new word for the day).
It you want to see how well this works, check out the folks at Technorati. They've done incredible work by getting the masses to put category names on blogs, photos, music...pretty much all the garbage - and treasure - that's on the web today.
Trust me. It's gonna help your life get simpler. And it's gonna make it a lot easier for those following you to discover your brilliant ideas and apply them to changing the world. You might even get credit for it. At the very least, it will help you find the recipe for Uncle Hiram's favorite, homemade cough syrup.
You know the feeling. It's usually when your wife starts talking about female medical issues or your Uncle Hiram in Niceville starts telling you about all the desert choices at the retirement center.
But there's another, more insidious, danger from TMI besides being grossed out or bored to death. It's called reinventing the wheel.
Two things affecting everyone in the commercial and nonprofit world this century:
1) how do you do more with less?
2) how do you sort through the tons of information available today?
This isn't rocket science folks. Whether you're trying to avoid starting a redundant teen pregnancy center in a single zipcode or trying to build a high tech immigration data base to protect our borders. What you need is to find who's done this before you. Chances are good that someone has tried. Maybe even succeeded.
The problem is, how do you find out what's been done so you're not starting from scratch or building something new that turns out to be not so new?
I can't help you a whole lot with the past, just encourage you to look and dig and talk to others before you start spending lots of time and money on a "new" idea. But starting now, I can encourage you to start using "tags."
This is a popular concept in Web 2.0, but even this isn't a new concept. In 1989, my mentor persuaded me to include keywords in the subject line of EVERY email I sent. It's easy to do. It only takes a little discipline. Once done, it's amazing how easy it is to search for just the right email you need.
It's also amazing (and frustrating) how many emails I get with little or no information in the subject line. Heck, sometimes they're even asking a question about an email written hours or days before without attaching the old email. I've noticed that sometimes I have another distraction or thought after I sent that email. Until my clairvoyance gets perfected, you're just wasting time and bandwidth.
So here's the deal folks. Starting right now. Take a breath. Put a significant word or two in the subject line of each email you send. This helps sort the clutter into categories. It helps bring order out of chaos. It gives you the opportunity to tell people you are practicing folksonomy (your new word for the day).
It you want to see how well this works, check out the folks at Technorati. They've done incredible work by getting the masses to put category names on blogs, photos, music...pretty much all the garbage - and treasure - that's on the web today.
Trust me. It's gonna help your life get simpler. And it's gonna make it a lot easier for those following you to discover your brilliant ideas and apply them to changing the world. You might even get credit for it. At the very least, it will help you find the recipe for Uncle Hiram's favorite, homemade cough syrup.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Spies, Terrorists, and Donors
What in the world do these groups have in common?
From today's news: "since February of this year, none of our phones have been tapped without a court order. Don't know if I feel relieved or disappointed about that."
Indignant is probably a better description. I like my privacy. I think I guard it pretty well. But between my frequent buyer cards, my frequent flyer cards, my frequent stayer cards, and just about anything else that calls for either a plastic card or my phone number, there's not too many marketeers out there that don't know a lot about me.
So pardon me if I'm more than a little annoyed that big brother isn't listening to conversations of suspected bad guys. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan of big brother. But do you really think the government has more of an agenda than all the marketeers collecting data on us??
Everyone has a right to privacy, but at what cost to the common good? Nonprofits are public organizations that must operate "in the sunshine" and at the same time protect the rights of their donors. Apparently some of our most noble np's are not very open about their operations. Ask the Smithsonian.
It's a good thing to give without expecting accolades. For those who really want to maintain their privacy, the BBB of giving acts as a watchdog that will bark loudly to insure there are plans to "take action to ensure that privacy concerns of donors are respected in the collection, dissemination, and securing of personal information, and allow donors opportunities to have their names removed from solicitation lists."
It's called a donor privacy policy. It's important to publish. It's easy to do.
On the other side of the coin, the public does have a right to know and a right to expect accountability of our funding - both expenses and income. That's not hard to solve either.
The answer to the question at the top? What do spies, terrorists, and donors have in common?
PRIVACY.
Some groups need the privacy of working in the dark to "succeed." But bad things rarely happen in the light of day.
Privacy is not a bad thing when kept it in balance. Take care of your donors. They take care of you.
From today's news: "since February of this year, none of our phones have been tapped without a court order. Don't know if I feel relieved or disappointed about that."
Indignant is probably a better description. I like my privacy. I think I guard it pretty well. But between my frequent buyer cards, my frequent flyer cards, my frequent stayer cards, and just about anything else that calls for either a plastic card or my phone number, there's not too many marketeers out there that don't know a lot about me.
So pardon me if I'm more than a little annoyed that big brother isn't listening to conversations of suspected bad guys. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan of big brother. But do you really think the government has more of an agenda than all the marketeers collecting data on us??
Everyone has a right to privacy, but at what cost to the common good? Nonprofits are public organizations that must operate "in the sunshine" and at the same time protect the rights of their donors. Apparently some of our most noble np's are not very open about their operations. Ask the Smithsonian.
It's a good thing to give without expecting accolades. For those who really want to maintain their privacy, the BBB of giving acts as a watchdog that will bark loudly to insure there are plans to "take action to ensure that privacy concerns of donors are respected in the collection, dissemination, and securing of personal information, and allow donors opportunities to have their names removed from solicitation lists."
It's called a donor privacy policy. It's important to publish. It's easy to do.
On the other side of the coin, the public does have a right to know and a right to expect accountability of our funding - both expenses and income. That's not hard to solve either.
The answer to the question at the top? What do spies, terrorists, and donors have in common?
PRIVACY.
Some groups need the privacy of working in the dark to "succeed." But bad things rarely happen in the light of day.
Privacy is not a bad thing when kept it in balance. Take care of your donors. They take care of you.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Three Seconds After the Snap
It's amazing what we're trying to do now. At least what some are trying to do.
Today's college football quarterbacks need to take a football snapped from the center, drop back a few steps, look over about a hundred square yards of grass, and decide what to do with the ball. They have about three seconds to make up their mind and execute the plan...or improvise....or get crunched. That's a lot quicker than 10 years ago.
Heck, I'm from Texas. I have trouble saying a simple sentence in three seconds. Don't even ask me to put "philanthropy" in that sentence.
College teams all over the country are spending big bucks for simulators from companies like Gridiron Technologies or Visual Edge to get their qb's into a better place mentally to make quicker decisions. The Air Force Academy allegedly has their football players jumping on trampolines and reading two eye charts, one inches from their face and one 10 yards away.
Is this a trend for social capital in the 21st Century??? Wikipedia describes social capital as the "advantage created by a person's location in a structure of relationships."
College football is all about having an advantage in the relationships on the field. The game is faster than ever. There are more options than ever. The relationships are more complex than ever. The costs are higher, and there's more money at stake than ever before.
This holds true for the rest of life as well. Relationships are the common denominator. What you do to maintain healthy relationships and prepare for change in a rapidly changing world is vital.
Sure hope my bifocals stay on when I'm on the trampoline.
Today's college football quarterbacks need to take a football snapped from the center, drop back a few steps, look over about a hundred square yards of grass, and decide what to do with the ball. They have about three seconds to make up their mind and execute the plan...or improvise....or get crunched. That's a lot quicker than 10 years ago.
Heck, I'm from Texas. I have trouble saying a simple sentence in three seconds. Don't even ask me to put "philanthropy" in that sentence.
College teams all over the country are spending big bucks for simulators from companies like Gridiron Technologies or Visual Edge to get their qb's into a better place mentally to make quicker decisions. The Air Force Academy allegedly has their football players jumping on trampolines and reading two eye charts, one inches from their face and one 10 yards away.
Is this a trend for social capital in the 21st Century??? Wikipedia describes social capital as the "advantage created by a person's location in a structure of relationships."
College football is all about having an advantage in the relationships on the field. The game is faster than ever. There are more options than ever. The relationships are more complex than ever. The costs are higher, and there's more money at stake than ever before.
This holds true for the rest of life as well. Relationships are the common denominator. What you do to maintain healthy relationships and prepare for change in a rapidly changing world is vital.
Sure hope my bifocals stay on when I'm on the trampoline.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Diversity is Dead!
Long live diversity!
Who ya gonna believe? Google "diversity" and you'll get 93.1M hits. It's an idea, a system, an industry, a hope, an argument in waiting.
Lately, it's getting even more interesting. Is it alive or is it dead? This all started recently at The Saguaro Seminar. In a nutshell, according to renowned Harvard social scientist Robert Putnam, diversity doesn't really build better communities. His studies show that the more ethnically and religiously diverse a community is, fewer people vote; less volunteer; fewer give to charity; and less work on projects for the good of the community.
But wait, there's more. Along with a decline in civic engagement, you get an increase in economic and creative innovation. This is actually kind of funny watching the conservatives and liberals switch sides of the diversity table.
For a really good summary of this new look at diversity, immigration, and social capital see Michael Jonas's story in The Boston Globe , "The Downside of Diversity" on August 5, 2007. Is this a new incovenient truth?
This Putnam guy is one of our nation's best when it comes to studying and understanding people. He's met with both Presidents Clinton and Bush. Putnam virtually coined the concept of "social capital" aka "social networks." His contention that when social networks of friends and associates are in good shape whether in church, around your home, at work, wherever - then you will have a greater number of voting citizens living in safer, healthier communities.
Hmmm....there's a key. Social networking. Wonder if that concept will ever take off in the 21st century?? In Dallas, The Williams Institute has some very interesting research on social capital and what makes a city healthy and whole.
Maybe the best (and shortest) read on Putnam's findings is by Daniel Henninger. See "The Death of Diversity" and make up your own mind.
So what's to be learned with all this new information? Things aren't always as they seem.
Who ya gonna believe? Google "diversity" and you'll get 93.1M hits. It's an idea, a system, an industry, a hope, an argument in waiting.
Lately, it's getting even more interesting. Is it alive or is it dead? This all started recently at The Saguaro Seminar. In a nutshell, according to renowned Harvard social scientist Robert Putnam, diversity doesn't really build better communities. His studies show that the more ethnically and religiously diverse a community is, fewer people vote; less volunteer; fewer give to charity; and less work on projects for the good of the community.
But wait, there's more. Along with a decline in civic engagement, you get an increase in economic and creative innovation. This is actually kind of funny watching the conservatives and liberals switch sides of the diversity table.
For a really good summary of this new look at diversity, immigration, and social capital see Michael Jonas's story in The Boston Globe , "The Downside of Diversity" on August 5, 2007. Is this a new incovenient truth?
This Putnam guy is one of our nation's best when it comes to studying and understanding people. He's met with both Presidents Clinton and Bush. Putnam virtually coined the concept of "social capital" aka "social networks." His contention that when social networks of friends and associates are in good shape whether in church, around your home, at work, wherever - then you will have a greater number of voting citizens living in safer, healthier communities.
Hmmm....there's a key. Social networking. Wonder if that concept will ever take off in the 21st century?? In Dallas, The Williams Institute has some very interesting research on social capital and what makes a city healthy and whole.
Maybe the best (and shortest) read on Putnam's findings is by Daniel Henninger. See "The Death of Diversity" and make up your own mind.
So what's to be learned with all this new information? Things aren't always as they seem.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
The Battle at Kruger
Okay kids. It's a battle for survival. Who you gonna place your bet on? Your choices are a lion, a crocodile, a water buffalo. Actually, lets make it a baby water buffalo...a calf.
If you've not seen this video, it IS amazing. Don't read any further if you want to sustain the suspense of the ending. It's on YouTube 24x7 and national tv tonight. Joe Bob says check out the Battle at Kruger. Background to the video is on the ABC news site.
If you don't have eight minutes to watch this, then bookmark it for later. It's a fast and fascinating video. Rated PG13. Some violence, very little blood, but heavy child endangement.
If you're an animal lover, you'll start with heart in throat and end with a grin. The least among them wins! It's not the stealthiest (or sneakiest). It's not the fastest and flashiest. It's the humble water buffalo who prevails.
And why did they win? Because the herd worked together (and showed a lot of courage). Funny how this paceline thing of working together to succeed keeps popping up in the world.
Do our bovine buddies have something to teach us more advanced animals? Do you think ANY of our politicians get it??
Lets hope our nonprofits get it when they're trying to save those that are the least among us.
If you've not seen this video, it IS amazing. Don't read any further if you want to sustain the suspense of the ending. It's on YouTube 24x7 and national tv tonight. Joe Bob says check out the Battle at Kruger. Background to the video is on the ABC news site.
If you don't have eight minutes to watch this, then bookmark it for later. It's a fast and fascinating video. Rated PG13. Some violence, very little blood, but heavy child endangement.
If you're an animal lover, you'll start with heart in throat and end with a grin. The least among them wins! It's not the stealthiest (or sneakiest). It's not the fastest and flashiest. It's the humble water buffalo who prevails.
And why did they win? Because the herd worked together (and showed a lot of courage). Funny how this paceline thing of working together to succeed keeps popping up in the world.
Do our bovine buddies have something to teach us more advanced animals? Do you think ANY of our politicians get it??
Lets hope our nonprofits get it when they're trying to save those that are the least among us.
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