Keep Your Donors E-Book

Tom Ahern

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: The AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 743

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Written by fundraising experts Tom Ahern and Simone Joyaux, Keep Your Donors is a new, winning guide to making disappointing donor retention rates a thing of the past. This practical and provocative book will show you how to master the strategies and tactics that make fundraising communications profitable. Filled with case studies and based in part on the CFRE and AFP job analyses, Keep Your Donors is your definitive guide to getting new donors--and keeping them--for many years to come.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

The AFP Fund Development Series

THE ASSOCIATION OF FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS

2006-2007 AFP PUBLISHING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Dedication

Preface

About the Authors

SIMONE P. JOYAUX, ACFRE

TOM AHERN, ABC

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1 - Beginning at the Beginning

WHY THE LARGER CONTEXT MATTERS

PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORK

EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS

EFFECTIVE FUND DEVELOPMENT

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

INTERMEZZO #1 - Why?

ENDNOTE

CHAPTER 2 - The Red Pants Factor

FINDING YOUR OWN “RED PANTS” FACTOR

A POSTSCRIPT FROM BLACK DRESS

ENDNOTE

INTERMEZZO #2 - What Do All the Words Mean?

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 3 - Key Components of Effective Organizations

ADOPT AN ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

BUILD A CULTURE OF PHILANTHROPY

PERSONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT TO CONVERSATION AND QUESTIONING, ...

VALUE OF RESEARCH—YOUR OWN AND THAT OF OTHERS

QUALIFIED OPINIONS ONLY, PLEASE!

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 4 - What Relationships Are and Why We Have Them

RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING

TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS IN THE NONPROFIT/NGO SECTOR

RELATIONSHIPS ARE DEFINITELY NOT TRANSACTIONS

DO DONORS REALLY WANT RELATIONSHIPS?

WATCH A GOOD RELATIONSHIP BUILDER

KEY CONCEPTS IN RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

APPENDIX 4A - Values and Mission of the Equity Action Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation

CHAPTER 5 - Five Rather Deadly Sins

SIN #1: SEPARATING FUND DEVELOPMENT FROM PHILANTHROPY

SIN #2: TREATING GIVING AS A FINANCIAL TRANSACTION RATHER THAN AN EMOTIONAL ACT

SIN #3: TRESPASSING ON PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS. PLEASE PROMISE ...

SIN #4: UNIVERSALIZING YOUR OWN PASSION. INSTEAD, FIND THEIRS—OR LEAVE THEM ...

SIN #5: ASKING PREMATURELY

NOT SINS BUT CERTAINLY WORRIES

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTE

INTERMEZZO #3 - Direct Mail and Relationship Building

CHAPTER 6 - Eight Steps to Develop and Nurture Relationships

DEVELOPING YOUR RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING PROGRAM

STEPS IN RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

APPENDIX 6A - Evaluating Prospect Interest, Readiness, and Capacity to Give ...

CHAPTER 7 - Identify the Predisposed

WHO ARE THE PREDISPOSED?

FUND DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS HELP ORGANIZATIONS IDENTIFY THE PREDISPOSED

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO SELF-IDENTIFY AS PREDISPOSED

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTE

APPENDIX 7A - Learning About People Through Conversation

ASSIGNMENT

CHAPTER 8 - Understanding the Fundamentals of Marketing and Communications

COMMUNICATIONS: FOR MANY, IT’S ALL THEY KNOW OF YOU

FUND DEVELOPMENT IS A TYPE OF MARKETING, AND USES THE SAME METHODS

IT’S NOT WHAT YOU’RE SELLING, IT’S WHAT THEY’RE BUYING

TARGETING: HOW YOU FIND NEEDLES IN A HAYSTACK

SEGMENTATION: HOW YOU INCREASE PENETRATION OF A TARGET MARKET

FREQUENCY AND REACH

WHAT IS BRANDING?

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 9 - Emotions

INTRODUCTION

ORBITOFRONTAL DAMAGE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR FUNDRAISERS

EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS: AN INTRODUCTION

UP TO 135 TRIGGERS TO CHOOSE FROM

EMOTIONAL TWINSETS: RAISE THE PROBLEM, BE THE SOLUTION

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

APPENDIX 9A - W. Gerrod Parrott’s List of Emotions

CHAPTER 10 - Relationship Building: Details about Steps #3 and #5

STEP #3 IN THE RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING PROCESS

A REMINDER ABOUT STEP #4

STEP #5: NURTURE THE RELATIONSHIP TO DEVELOP COMMITMENT

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

APPENDIX 10A - Building Relationships With Your Constituents

APPENDIX 10B - Member Survey of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island

APPENDIX 10C - E-Mail Survey from The Audubon Society of Rhode Island

APPENDIX 10D - Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Marking Milestones Brochure

CHAPTER 11 - Creating Your Relationship-Building Plan

GOOD PROCESS PRODUCES THEBESTRESULTS

PLAN PRACTICALITIES

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTE

CHAPTER 12 - Planning Donor Communications

INTRODUCTION

WRITING A PLAN

BUILDING AN ANNUAL DONOR/MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS CALENDAR ON THE SCHWARTZ PLAN

IN CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 13 - Characteristics of Effective Communications

ACTION IS THE OBJECTIVE.READING IS OPTIONAL

AN HON EST-TO-GOODN ESS SECRET TO SUCCESS: WRITE A CREATIVE BRIEF FIRST

THERE’S AN ONSLAUGHT, AND YOU’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM

YOU’RE SELLING FEELINGS, ESPECIALLY HOPE

YOU’RE SELLING A FEELING OF IMPORTANCE, TOO

INTEREST ME (OR ELSE)

HOW TO INTEREST DONORS AND PROSPECTS: THE BIG FOUR

HOW TO INTEREST ANYONE: FOUR CHANCES TO WIN

SELF-INTEREST: WHY GREED IS GOOD (FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION)

MAKE OFFERS

PASSING THE “YOU” TEST

DON ’T TALK SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT YOU DO. TALK ABOUT WHY IT MATTERS

HAVE THEMES

YOU’VE HEARD OF “VALUES VOTERS”? MEET “VALUES GIVERS”

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

INTERMEZZO #4 - What’s the Role of a Fundraiser?

CHAPTER 14 - Are You Really Donor—Centered? Are Your Donors Truly Loyal?

SOME FACTS ABOUT DONOR RETENTION

DONOR-CENTRISM: THE NEW OLD THING

SIMPLE DEMANDS OF DONOR-CENTRICITY

DONOR LOYALTY AND DONOR-CENTRISM: INEXTRICABLY LINKED

WHAT IS LOYALTY?

CURRENT DONORS COME FIRST

HELPING YOUR DONORS DREAM

ACQUIRING A NEW DONOR

YOUR ORGANIZATION CAN SPEAK OUT—BUT DOES IT?

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 15 - Telling A Story

WHY TELL STORIES?

WHAT IS A STORY?

FUNDRAISING STORIES REPORT RESULTS, WITHOUT LINGERING ON YOUR INNER WORKINGS

ANECDOTES VERSUS STATISTICS: WHICH ARE BETTER?

HANDLING THE TROPHY STATISTIC

USE STATISTICS LIKE A SPEAR

HAVE THEMES, THEN TELL STORIES THAT ILLUSTRATE THOSE THEMES

WHAT MAKES A STORY WORK? SENSORY DETAIL

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 16 - Communications and Social Styles

EVERYTHING BUT THE WORDS

WHAT DOES “SOCIAL STYLE” MEAN?

ASSERTIVENESS AND RESPONSIVENESS COME FIRST

WHAT’S YOUR SOCIAL STYLE?

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE? ARE OTHERS?

ARE YOU VERSATILE?

A FEW CAVEATS

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 17 - Conversation Nurtures Relationships

A QUICK ASIDE: QUESTIONS RELATED TO SOLICITATION

PURPOSE OF THIS CONVERSATION

HONORING CONVERSATION

STARTING A CONVERSATION: WHY TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER IS GOOD

WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO THOSE IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS?

YOUR DONORS AND YOUR MISSION

CONVERSATION WITH DONORS AT THE RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 18 - The Case for Support

INTRODUCTION

PRELIMINARY STEPS

A GOOD CASE IS, AT HEART, AN INSPIRING TALE

WHAT KINDS OF INFORMATION TO COLLECT? A CHECKLIST

BUILDING A CASE IN A SINGLE MEETING

GOING FROM A TO B: ANSWERING THREE BASIC QUESTIONS

TYPES OF CASE STATEMENTS

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

APPENDIX 18A - Thoughts About Creating a Case for Support

APPENDIX 18B - Housatonic Youth Service Bureau

APPENDIX 18C - Volunteers in Providence Schools: Case Statement for Operations

APPENDIX 18D - Audubon Society of Rhode Island

APPENDIX 18E - Talking Points: HousingWorks RI 2006

CHAPTER 19 - The Donor Newsletter

INTRODUCTION

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS ABOUT DONOR NEWSLETTERS

WHAT DO DONORS WANT FROM YOUR NEWSLETTER?

SEVEN COMMON FLAWS THAT UNDERMINE DONOR NEWSLETTERS: A CHECKLIST

THE FLAW YOU FIX FIRST: HEADLINES

HOW TO FIND THE STORY BEHIND THE HEADLINE

ELECTRONS OR PAPER? HIGH-PERFORMANCE E- MAILED NEWSLETTERS

YOUR E-NEWSLETTER’S SUBJECT LINE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

ELECTRONS AND PAPER: OTHER ADVANTAGES OF E-NEWSLETTERS

E-NEWSLETTERS MUST BE OPT-IN (A GOOD IDEA FOR EVERYTHING, REALLY)

FAST, EASY, STILL ON PAPER: THE “NEWSYLETTER”

SIMPLICITY ITSELF: A PROVEN FORMULA FOR A DONOR NEWSLETTER

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

APPENDIX 19A - Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket Newsletter

APPENDIX 19B - Example 1: Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Newsyletter

APPENDIX 19C - Example 2: Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Newsyletter

CHAPTER 20 - The Web Site Home Page

WHY WEB SITES ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

IS YOUR HOME PAGE READY FOR NEWCOMERS?

GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT: THE IMPORTANCE OF A TAGLINE

WHAT MUST BE ON THE HOME PAGE, KRUG SAYS

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 21 - Tips for Writing

INTRODUCTION

YOUR FIFTH-GRADE TEACHER WAS RIGHT: OUTLINE

AN EASY WAY TO OUTLINE: ASK YOURSELF QUESTIONS FIRST

KNOW THE POINT OF YOUR STORY AND START THERE

WRITE ABOUT BENEFITS, NOT FEATURES

WRITE LESS

WRITE FOR SPEEDY READING

BEGINNING WITH A HISTORY LESSON, AND OTHER COMMON FLAWS

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 22 - Readability

WELCOME, BROWSERS!

HOW WE LOOK

FROM GUTENBERG TO WHEILDON

ANATOMY OF A FAILED ANNUAL REPORT

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 23 - Monitoring Progress And Measuring Results

“IS IT WORKING?” HOW TO MEASURE YOUR RESULTS

MEASURING THE UNMEASURABLE

GET YOUR THOUGHTS IN ORDER BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO WRITE: A CHECKLIST

EVALUATING YOUR DONOR NEWSLETTER: EIGHT TESTS

MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

STANDARDS FOR E-MAIL SOLICITATIONS

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER 24 - Monitoring Progress and Measuring Results

WHY EVALUATION MATTERS

DECIDING WHAT TO MEASURE

MEASURING PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATING RESULTS

ANALYZING AND INTERPRETING EVALUATION RESULTS

COMMUNICATING EVALUATION RESULTS

POSSIBLE PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

MONITORING PROGRESS

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

INTERMEZZO #5 - You and Your Organization: Sprinting into the Future

ENDNOTE

CHAPTER 25 - Coda

POLITICS OF POWER IN PHILANTHROPY

MORAL DILEMMA FACING PHILANTHROPY

POWER, THE SILENT HAUNTING

UNDERSTANDING THE TWO TYPES OF PHILANTHROPY

TRADITION DOMINATES

HAVE YOU NOTICED: THE LESS SOCIAL JUSTICE WE HAVE, THE MORE PHILANTHROPY WE NEED?

PHILANTHROPY AS A DEMOCRATIZING ACT

ATTACKING THE MORAL DILEMMA

IN CONCLUSION

ENDNOTES

APPENDIX 25A - Questions About Privilege And Power

APPENDIX A - Joyaux’s Concept of Enabling Functions, Skills, and Attitudes

APPENDIX B - Basic Principles of Fund Development

Resources

Index

Additional Praise forKeep Your Donors: The Guide to Better Communicationsand Stronger Relationships

“KeepYour Donors serves as a reminder that what really counts in these donor relationships is the ability to communicate our organization’s vision in such a clear, relevant, compelling and passionate way that they actually look forward to hearing from us. This book offers a practical prescription for many nonprofit ailments, from failure to actively listen to failure to inspire action. It should be on every thoughtful practitioner’s bookshelf.”

—Sandra A. Adams, Senior Vice President, External Affairs National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund

“Every single person who considers themselves to be part of building donor relationships must read this book. Truly superb concrete, research based information. You will wish you had it with you all along!”

—Patricia M Dowling, MSW, Executive Director of The Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries, and past Board President of Interval House.

“This book isn’t about gimmicks, taste or (what we all secretly fear) manipulating relationships to take advantage of others. Simone and Tom synthesize the body of knowledge and research on fundraising to teach you to communicate so someone can tell if your organization is worthy of his or her interest-and gift. Your relationship with donors is based on their desire to make the world better in some way, and your organization’s ability to accomplish it. They transformed how I write (and I was good before) and made it more comfortable for myself and board members to ask.”

—Stephen Slaten, Ph.D., Executive Director Jewish Family Service of Worcester, Inc.

“With inspired precision, energy and passion, Tom and Simone have set a new milestone and raised the bar for fundraisers around the world. Keep your Donors throws down the gauntlet-it is now up to us to share their vision and step outside our comfort zones to meet the challenges of the flat philanthropic world head on!”

—Jon Duschinsky, Fundraiser France

“This book is a “must-have” for those who want to move beyond competence to excellence, beyond formula to strategy, beyond immediate “fix” to long-term stability.”

—Sarah C. Coviello, CFRE, President Coviello and Associates

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2008 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN: 978-0-470-08039-9

The AFP Fund Development Series

The AFP Fund Development Series is intended to provide fund development professionals and volunteers, including board members (and others interested in the nonprofit sector), with top-quality publications that help advance philanthropy as voluntary action for the public good. Our goal is to provide practical, timely guidance and information on fundraising, charitable giving, and related subjects. The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Wiley each bring to this innovative collaboration unique and important resources that result in a whole greater than the sum of its parts. For information on other books in the series, please visit:

http://www.afpnet.org

THE ASSOCIATION OF FUNDRAISING PROFESSIONALS

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) represents 28,000 members in more than 185 chapters throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China, working to advance philanthropy through advocacy, research, education, and certification programs.

The association fosters development and growth of fundraising professionals and promotes high ethical standards in the fundraising profession. For more information or to join the world’s largest association of fundraising professionals, visit www.afpnet.org.

2006-2007 AFP PUBLISHING ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Samuel N. Gough, CFRE, ChairPrincipal, The AFRAM GroupNina P. Berkheiser, CFRE Principal Consultant, Your Nonprofit AdvisorLinda L. Chew, CFRE Associate Director, Alta Bates Summit FoundationD. C. Dreger, ACFRE Senior Campaign Director, Custom Development Solutions, Inc. (CDS)Audrey P. Kintzi, ACFRE Chief Advancement Officer, Girl Scout Council St. Croix ValleyRobert J. Mueller, CFRE Vice President, Hospice Foundation of LouisvilleMaria Elena Noriega Director, Noriega Malo & AssociatesLeslie E. Weir, MA, ACFRE Director of Family Philanthropy, The Winnipeg FoundationSharon R. Will, CFRE Director of Development, South Wind HospiceJohn Wiley & Sons: Susan McDermott Senior Editor (Professional/Trade Division), John Wiley & SonsAFP Staff: Jan Alfieri Manager, New Product DevelopmentWalter Sczudlo Executive Vice President & General Counsel

TO TIM BURCHILL

There is no man easier to praise than one you didn’t know especially well but liked immensely each time you met; of whom no one has anything but loving, admiring things to say.

This book is dedicated to Tim Burchill, that man.

I am here to praise him, to throw him a brief Irish wake in words, something I am qualified by my family tree to attempt.

I am writing this dedication for my wife, Simone Joyaux. She did know Tim well and loved him deeply. As a learned, venturesome, impeccably ethical colleague. As a steady, comforting, generous, and wise friend. He had her utter respect and faith, neither given easily; her standards for conduct are inhumanly high, I’ll attest. But Tim met them.

The news came near midnight, an evil time for unbidden phone calls. Simone pawed up the phone in the dark. She heard a close colleague, Guy Mallabone, sob out the rumor of Tim’s sudden death a few hours earlier. By heart attack, not Tim’s first. A good man down. Gone between one sentence and the next.

This book is in praise of Tim. This book is in many ways because of Tim, as fabric is because of thread. His ideas, his principles, his beliefs, his practice, his observations, his enthusiasm, his advice, his urging are here, woven into these pages.

Morgean Hirt knew Tim well from his work as a board member and item writer for the Certified Fund Raising Executive program. She was amazed by her memories of him. “It is quite the thing to be both overwhelmingly saddened and unspeakably delighted in the same instant when I think of Tim.”

Dozens of Tim’s colleagues and past students posted loving farewells on a memorial blog created by Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Among his other ventures, Tim founded Saint Mary’s highly regarded master’s degree program in philanthropy and development.

Morgean summed up many sentiments in her posting to the blog. “He will be terribly, deeply missed for a long time to come but the world is a much better place for him having been here.”

Thomas J. “Tim” Burchill, III. Born March 30, 1947. Died February 20, 2007.

Beyond our reach now. But remembered with love and gratitude. For the proverb reminds us, “Good men must die. But death cannot kill their names.”

Preface

This was supposed to be a book about fundraising communications.

But that begs the question: communications to what end? So we changed it a bit.

In this book, we’re trying to fix a problem we see too often: organizations—and here we mean staff and board—launching into space without sufficient preparation. These organizations focus on how-to and are impatient with why. (By the way, our colleague Alexcia WhiteCrow has this view of the problem: “I’m not sure they focus on how-to either. I think they focus on mission, which is wonderful. They are impatient with how-to and why. They want to skip those steps and get right to fixing the problem the mission solves.”)

Our promise: This book will help you—no matter your level of experience. This book will help your organization—no matter its size or mission. And we think this book will help you and your organization—no matter your country or your culture or your life experience.

How can we make this promise?

Because this book incorporates the experience and knowledge of countless of professionals and organizations working around the world, in both the nonprofit/ NGO and for-profit sectors. Because every day, both of us use these strategies and tactics. But more important, we reflect on the larger context. Every day, we question and learn and imagine that you do, too.

This book is a paean to all the great professionals, researchers, and organizations we know. We learn from you. We borrow shamelessly from you and lavishly give you credit. Thank you.

By the way, we also used the job analyses conducted by CFRE International and the Association of Fundraising Professionals to make sure this book covers what fundraisers need to know. Whether you’re preparing for fundraising certification (and we believe that you should; we’re both certified in our fields) or not, this book is intended to advance you as a professional.

And finally, this book is full of questions. The best questions stimulate new thinking and produce change. So every chapter includes meaningful and cage-rattling questions to challenge your learning and encourage change.

Please let us know what you think. And thank you for your commitment to philanthropy.

Tom Ahern, ABC, Ahern Communications, www.aherncomm.com

Simone P. Joyaux, ACFRE, Joyaux Associates, www.simonejoyaux.com

P.S. We’d like to extend a special apology to our readers outside North America. The majority of the examples chosen to illustrate the points made in our book come from American and Canadian charities. Those choices imply nothing negative about the quality of fund development in other countries, merely the availability. On the contrary. We are deeply impressed and excited by what we see charities outside North America doing. It’s evolutionary. It’s revolutionary. And it’s happening worldwide.

We continue to seek examples from clients and our workshop attendees around the world. Please send us examples of your best fund development communications, so we can incorporate them into our teaching.

About the Authors

SIMONE P. JOYAUX, ACFRE

Simone P. Joyaux, ACFRE, is recognized internationally as an expert in fund development, board and organizational development, and strategic planning. She is the author of Strategic Fund Development: Building Profitable Relationships That Last.

After having worked for 13 years inside nonprofits, first as an executive director and then as chief development officer at a major regional theater, Simone left to establish her own consulting practice in 1988. She has worked with hundreds of nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes since.

Simone presents all over the world, including the prestigious International Fundraising Congress held annually in The Netherlands. She has also presented—in French—at the conference of the Association Française des Fundraisers.

Simone is a faculty member in the Master’s Program in Philanthropy and Development at Saint Mary’s University, Minnesota. She also teaches in the nonprofit program at Rhode Island College.

Simone serves regularly on boards; is the founder and a former chair of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island; and is the former chair of CFRE International, the baseline certification program for fundraisers worldwide. Simone is the recipient of the 2003 Rhode Island Outstanding Philanthropic Citizen Award for her commitment as a volunteer and donor. In 1987 she was recognized as Rhode Island’s Fundraising Executive of the Year.

She and her life partner, Tom Ahern, give at least 10 percent of their income to charitable causes annually and have bequeathed 100 percent of their estate to charity, mostly through their local community foundation. On a related note, they have no children, but they do own a second home in France.

TOM AHERN, ABC

Tom Ahern is considered one of North America’s top authorities on fundraising communications. He has published two previous books, one on donor newsletters in 2005, and in 2007, How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money.

Tom presents dozens of workshops a year. His easy-to-follow, practical advice has made him a popular speaker at fundraising conferences internationally.

He began his consulting practice in 1990. Before that, he had been marketing communications chief for a multinational technology firm, public relations director for a state arts agency, and an oral historian, and had written several books of short fiction. He’s received an NEA Fellowship in fiction.

His work for nonprofits includes several specialties. Tom evaluates and helps improve the yield from donor communications programs. He writes case statements for capital campaigns; on average, one a month. And he adds punch to donor newsletters. His clients range in size from national advocacy groups and universities, to local grassroots organizations.

His nonprofit work has won several prestigious Gold Quill awards, given annually to the most effective communications programs submitted to IABC’s formidable worldwide competition. He is also an award-winning magazine journalist.

Acknowledgments

We are profoundly indebted to the many generous, thoughtful individuals and organizations who helped us form and improve this book—by sharing their hard-won knowledge, by reviewing and editing the manuscript in progress, and by granting us permission to reprint materials. They include: Sandra Adams, ACFRE; Ron Arena; Tracey Biles; Jeff Brooks; Lisa Bousquet; Penelope Burk; Marcia Coné-Tighe; Marci Cornell Feist; Sarah Coviello, CFRE; Patty Dowling; Jon Duschinsky; Peter Duschinsky; Carol Golden; Kathe Grooms; Nisia Hanson; Ted Hart, ACFRE; Sally Kirby Hartman; Kris Hermanns; Morgean Hirt, ACA; Jim Hoyt; Dianna Huff; Louise Jakobson; Patricia Kern; Guy Mallabone, CFRE; Ari Matusiak; Rose McIlvane; Harvey McKinnon; Barbara Mulville, CFRE; Tony Myers, CFRE; Tina Palmer, CFRE; Jerry Panas; Bob Parks; Shawn Poland; Jim Rattray; Martha Rennie, CFRE; Susan Rice, ACFRE; Richard Radcliffe; Adrian Sargeant and Elaine Jay; Gene Scanlan, CFRE; Rick Schwartz; Steve Slaten; Lisa Smolski; Larry Taft; Clovis Thorn; Phil Valentine; Nondas Hurst Voll; Mal Warwick; Colin Wheildon; Alexcia WhiteCrow, CFRE; and Wendy Zufelt-Baxter.

CHAPTER 1

Beginning at the Beginning

THE CONTEXT FOR EVERYTHING ELSE

The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.

—BRIAN HERBERT AND KEVIN J. ANDERSON, DUNE: HOUSE HARKONNEN

DEAR READER As the title promises, this book focuses on increasing donor loyalty by nurturing relationships and using communications to help nurture those relationships.

But—and it’s a big but—something else comes first: the context for this work. For Tom and me, this context is the heart and soul of the book. We believe this context is critical, and that’s where we begin.

Simone

WHY THE LARGER CONTEXT MATTERS

I’m one of the forest-and-trees people. I embrace the big picture as well as the smaller items inside the picture. I believe in keeping both in my mind at one time, despite the occasional difficulty! As both business theory and self-help guides proclaim, it’s important to have a vision to know where you are going. That’s the forest picture. With that big picture in mind, it’s easier to understand why and how the trees—the smaller items—fit inside.

For me, everything is linked. That’s systems thinking. Ignoring one part of the system doesn’t work. It’s like a prospective client who wants me to help raise more money but doesn’t want me to talk about mission and values, governance, and management. I explain it’s like a house, one system. You’ve asked me to fix the plumbing, but you won’t let me fix the heating system that causes the plumbing to freeze. I can fix the plumbing but it will freeze and break again. We have to fix the heating system, too.

Just about every problem I’ve ever encountered in fund development arises because the organization or the staff (including the fundraiser) doesn’t understand the larger context. It’s like wearing blinders. For many fundraisers, no one talks with them enough about the larger context. For others, they’re focused on the trees and don’t respect the forest. Still others suspect there’s a forest and want to understand it, but are stymied by unsupportive leadership.

I’m not alone in this perception. Fund development colleagues around the world tell me that the larger context is critical but isn’t talked about enough. Well, this book talks about that, just like I do always.

I suspect we all need a larger context; otherwise, complacency sets in. We stay in our comfort zone. Perhaps the larger context can serve as a touchstone—or a lens or frame—to help us venture where we are less comfortable; to challenge us.

For me, the larger context includes two elements: (1) a philosophical framework for philanthropy and (2) effective organizations that create an environment conducive to effective fund development. I believe these two elements position organizations to develop better fund development programs.

Relationship building (which includes communications) is embedded within this larger context. In my experience, the ability to move back and forth through the layers of context—or preferably integrate them fully and seamlessly—affect all the work that nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) do.

PHILOSOPHICAL FRAMEWORK

I begin with the first element of the larger context: the philosophical framework.

I think that most professionals ask themselves this question: Why do I choose to do “this work”? I imagine that a doctor asks that question, so does a teacher, so does any professional. And each of them answers the question personally.

I imagine those working in the nonprofit/NGO sector answer that question by saying “I believe in the mission.” For example, someone working in an environmental organization might say, “I do this work in order to make sure we have clean air to breathe.” Or maybe “I’m fighting to reduce carbon emissions so we can reduce global warming and protect the planet and its species.”

But I think there is another question that those of us who focus on the nonprofit/NGO sector must ask and answer: Why do I choose to work in this sector?

I think this sector demands leaders who are committed to more than their organization’s particular mission. I believe this sector requires a broader commitment, to philanthropy and civil society. I call that a philosophical framework.

Who are these leaders with this broader commitment? I’m referring to fundraisers and executive directors at least, and hopefully many others in the organization. And in my experience, it’s often the fundraisers who have to lead the executive directors to this understanding.

Here’s my philosophical frame, part of the heart and soul of this book about relationships and communications.

This I Believe

This is my really big picture.

I believe in “the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family,” because this is the “foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” as it says in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And nonprofits the world over fight for these rights.

I believe in the European Constitution, described as

the first [governmental] document of its kind to expand the human franchise to the level of global consciousness, with rights and responsibilities that encompass the totality of human existence on Earth.... The language throughout the text is one of universalism, making it clear that its focus is not a people, or a territory, or a nation, but rather the human race and the planet we inhabit. If we were to sum up the gist of the document, it would be a commitment to respect human diversity, promote inclusivity, champion human rights and the rights of nature, foster quality of life, pursue sustainable development, free the human spirit for deep play, build a perpetual peace, and nurture a global consciousness.1

And NGOs around the globe struggle to make these changes.

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community.... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

—CÉSAR CHAVEZ, 1927 – 1993, CO-FOUNDER, UNITED FARM WORKERS

I hope that, together, we can build these communities. I believe that, together, we must try. And the nonprofit/NGO sector is critical to this community-building process.

Building Community

John Gardner’s 1991 monograph, “On Building Community,” remains one of my favorite writings.2 Gardner understands community as place and as belonging. “Where community exists it confers upon its members identity, a sense of belonging, a measure of security.” He recognizes communities of all types: workplace, school, religious organization, club, trade union, town, neighborhood, and so forth.

He talks about the importance of community: “Families and communities are the ground-level generators and preservers of values and ethical systems . . . the ideals of justice and compassion are nurtured in communities.”

He reminds us that the word “community” itself “implies some degree of wholeness.” The opposite, fragmentation, stops us from thinking or acting as a community. Gardner describes the breakdown of community and some of the causes.

A decade later, using the metaphor of “bowling alone” (where previously people bowled in teams), Robert Putnam echoes similar causes that erode social connectedness and community involvement: pressures of time and money, mobility and sprawl, technology and mass media, breakdown of the old-time traditional family unit, and generational, gender, and ethnic issues. All this contributes to “isolation, alienation, estrangement,” which means there is “no longer a web of reciprocal dependencies.”3

Philanthropy is uniquely able to build strong communities and improve people’s lives.

Yet there’s hope. Despite the collapse of community, renewal happens, too. Ingredients critical for building any kind of community include shared values, diversity, effective communications, broad participation, and systems to reinforce connections, among other things.

While Gardner’s writing is still applicable, other language is more common today. For example, a community’s ability to regenerate itself is often called “civic capacity.” Gardner’s “web of reciprocal dependencies” is today’s “social capital.” And “civil society” refers to all the organizations that, together with government, help build strong communities.

Here’s an overview of building community, using today’s vocabulary. Think about this as a philosophical framework for philanthropy.

Civic Engagement That’s me and you, our neighbors and friends involved in our communities, whether it’s our town or some other group we belong to. The word “civic” refers to the obligations each of us have by belonging to a community.

Civic engagement means people vote and volunteer. They participate in politics and advocate on behalf of others. They band together to build a stronger community.

Of course, the degree of civic engagement goes up and down in any community or society at large. For years the United States has had one of the lowest records of voter turnout in any voting nation. That’s an example of bad civic engagement. Around the world, growing numbers of people volunteer; that’s good civic engagement.

The nonprofit/NGO sector plays a critical role in civic engagement. People get together to form nonprofits to help others. NGOs bring people together for public discourse. And NGOs recruit people to volunteer their time and money to support important causes. All of this is civic engagement, a virtuous circle that happens when positive results continuously reinforce positive results.

Social Capital Social capital is the theory that a person’s networks have value. Made popular by Robert Putnam, the term “social capital” refers to the people we know (networks) and what we do for each other (reciprocity).

You use social capital everyday. You meet with some of your work colleagues to solve a problem. You borrow your friend’s car because yours is in the garage. You attend an event to meet corporate executives, recognizing that this expanded network might help your nonprofit in the future. Social capital makes individuals and organizations more productive.

Each of us has personal and public networks based on reciprocity, which produce mutually beneficial results. Social capital identifies two kinds of reciprocity. One is the exchange of favors: “You do this for me and then I’ll do this for you.” This form of reciprocity always worries me because it smacks of some form of “payoff.”

The second kind of reciprocity is more like philanthropy, a general commitment to help others. “I’ll do this without expecting anything specific in return—because someday when I need it, maybe someone will help me.” For example, you donate money to the hospital because someday you expect to use its services. I volunteer at the homeless shelter because I imagine how easy it would be to lose my job and default on my mortgage.

This kind of reciprocity recognizes mutual dependence and shared accountability for healthy communities. All this connecting reminds me of the “webs of interconnectedness,” from Peter Senge, learning organization guru.

Here’s how social capital works, inspired by Putnam’s descriptions in BowlingAlone.4

• Social capital helps people work together to solve problems they all share. A lack of social capital would mean that most of us just sat back and waited till others (perhaps too few) tried to solve the problem. I think of climate change and its effect on the planet. Regulations like car emission standards can make things better; that’s social capital. But we need a norm at the citizen level. Imagine a day when the peer pressure would be so great that no one would buy a gasguzzling Hummer. And then our social capital would require that General Motors stop making them. I’ll bet a nonprofit is working on this right now.

• The goodwill generated through social capital helps the community work smoothly. We buy things at stores assuming that the cashier isn’t cheating us. I get into a taxi expecting the driver to take me to my destination, not a different one. Your donors assume you’re using their gifts as directed. To behave otherwise would produce dysfunction in daily lives.

• Social capital helps us lead happier and more productive lives. Trusting connections and deep bonds actually help us “develop or maintain character traits that are good for the rest of society.” Both experience and research show that social ties reduce isolation and stress, provide feedback to mitigate negative impulses, and help people develop empathy. Research even verifies the health effects of volunteering and giving money.

• Social capital also helps us learn and change. Through our networks, we meet diverse people and connect with different life experiences. We pass information around, often increasing its usefulness through our conversations. That same information exchange helps individuals, organizations, and communities achieve their goals. Effective nonprofits join this information exchange to support their own progress.

There was this joke that when the women who worked in the lab were stressed, they came in, cleaned the lab, had coffee, and bonded. . . . When the men were stressed, they holed up somewhere on their own. . . . The “tend and befriend” notion developed by Drs. Klein and Taylor may explain why women consistently outlive men. Study after study has found that social ties reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. “There’s no doubt,” says Dr. Klein, “that friends are helping us live.”5

Not only do you use social capital yourself, you watch its use daily. From religious congregations to school boards, sports leagues to civic groups, Internet networks to professional associations and your own favorite nonprofits—all this is social capital in action, carried out through all those civil society organizations. Social capital produces civil society.

Civil Society “Civil society” refers to all the things people and organizations do together, without being forced to do so. The term itself is very old, and commonly used everywhere in the world except the United States.6 Just visit the International Fundraising Congress, hosted annually in The Netherlands by the Resource Alliance (www.resource-alliance.org). You’ll hear “civil society” all the time.

I think it’s easiest to understand the term “civil society” as those organizations and individuals that come together voluntarily to build stronger communities. Or, as Alexis de Tocqueville said, “proposing a common object for the exertions of a great many men [and women] and inducing them voluntarily to pursue it.”7

Most important, these people come together outside the boundaries of government. The “outside of government” piece is critical. Government doesn’t make us get together to build the hospital or found a museum. Government doesn’t form trade unions or professional associations. In fact, many civil society organizations fight government, for example, the struggle for civil rights and the right to vote.

For some, civil society includes the broadest array of collective action: every kind of nonprofit/NGO including charities, religious institutions, professional associations, trade unions, civic groups, academia, the arts, businesses, the media, and more. Others define a more limited view of civil society, focusing primarily on the nonprofit/NGO sector.

But no matter what you include or exclude, civil society helps build stronger communities. And many of us believe that it’s the spread of civil society worldwide that produces the most significant change.

Peace and prosperity cannot be achieved without partnerships involving Governments, international organizations, the business community, and civil society.

—UNITED NATIONS, WWW.UNORG/ISSUES/CIVILSOCIETY

Civic Capacity Without civic engagement, there is no civic capacity. And without the sector called “civil society,” there is reduced civic capacity.

Civic capacity is the ability of a community to identify its challenges and opportunities, overcome the problems, and capitalize on the opportunities. Inherent in the concept is the coming together of diverse community voices, not just the select few who traditionally wield privilege and power.

The term “civic capacity” most typically relates a town or city and the duties and obligations belonging to that community. The nonprofit/NGO sector has modified the term to “organizational capacity,” referencing the capacity of an organization to identify and solve its challenges and identify and capitalize on its opportunities—in other words, achieve its mission.

Civic capacity depends on social capital and civic engagement. It depends on a strong civil society to partner with or fight against government.

Building Community Redux

In sum, building community relies on the ability of individuals and groups to connect, to build bridges, to nurture relationships, and to work together for change. Healthy communities depend on civic capacity. Civic capacity is built through social capital (which helps increase civic engagement), civil society, and government (which are not discussed in this book). All this together produces a virtuous circle to build community.

Yet we’ve all encountered the exact opposite: insular people and organizations. For example, I know fundraisers who pay little attention to what’s happening in the field. I’ve watched nonprofits with similar missions ignore cooperative opportunities.

Insular people and organizations focus only on their own interests and issues, disregarding anything beyond self-imposed boundaries. Those who are insular ignore new ideas or different experiences. Their inward, narrow-minded approach limits their own possibility for success and distances them from connections that could generate meaningful relationships and build healthy communities.

Individuals acquire a sense of self from their continuous relationships to others, and from the culture of their native place.... Humans need communities—and a sense of community....An understanding of the mutual dependence of individual and group has existed below the level of consciousness in all healthy communities from the beginnings of time.

—JOHN GARDNER, “ON BUILDING COMMUNITY”

EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS

Here’s my mantra: Effective organizations are more likely to produce effective fund development. To reiterate my earlier metaphor about systems thinking: Your organization is the house. Fund development is the plumbing. The whole house has to work, not just the plumbing.

Key Components of Effective Organizations

Chapter 3 describes, in detail, five components that help make organizations effective and then directly impact fund development. They are:

1. Organizational development specialists

2. Culture of philanthropy

3. Value of research

4. Qualified opinions

5. Commitment to conversation and questions, learning and change

There are more, but I picked these five because they are of particular value to fund development. Also, they’re central to fund development, the most effective organizations recognize the value of relationships. And I’m talking about relationships beyond donors.

In Chapter 4 I describe four types of relationships. I do not intend to discuss all these relationships, although I believe that the first three are essential to all organizations. The fourth is optional, but you’ll see my bias soon enough! The general concepts of relationship building and communications in this book apply to any of these relationships:

1. Philanthropic relationships. How your organization relates to its donors of time and money. That is the focus of the book, discussed in detail in subsequent chapters.

2. Relationships with other organizations. How your organization relates to other organizations and to government. All organizations must build relationships with other organizations in order to fulfill the promise of building community and civic capacity and to be more effective. This relationship is referenced periodically in the book.

3. Relationships within your organization. How the various internal parts of your organization relate in order to create an effective organization. This relationship, which is required by all organizations to ensure effectiveness, is discussed briefly in this book.

4. Advocacy and public policy relationships. How your organization promotes public policy that fosters healthy communities. Some of us believe that ensuring democracy and freedom is the ultimate role of the nonprofit/ NGO sector. This topic is discussed briefly in this book.

EFFECTIVE FUND DEVELOPMENT

The sad truth is, you can raise money without an effective organization. You can raise money without embracing my key components of effective organizations.

Many successful fundraisers ignore the larger context that Tom and I describe in this book. But our experience shows you can raise more money more easily by embracing this larger context. And we’re convinced you won’t be so frustrated if you expand your view beyond the trees to the forest—and accept the power and responsibility you have for the forest.

Everyone looks to the development staff to make fund development effective. But too often, people ignore how organizational effectiveness impacts fund development.

Fundraisers are the most powerful voice to point out why and how organizational effectiveness affects fund development effectiveness. As a fundraiser, your power comes from this one truth: You work in the fund development office; therefore, you control money.

Here’s my theory: Everyone else in the organization fantasizes that you print money in the basement. Even though they realize that’s merely a fantasy, they count on you to raise money. That gives you the right, the power, and the responsibility to explain what compromises—or helps—the raising of money.

IN CONCLUSION

Philanthropy is in a unique position to build both civil society and civic capacity. But not, I think, without this larger context. A philosophical framework coupled with an effective organization produces the best fund development program.

For me, these remarks from Paul Pribbenow, CFRE capture the larger context: “Simply put, a focus on bold ideals often leaves us with vacuous principles untethered to the reality of our daily work, while a focus on the cold technique and ‘dull’ work of fundraising leads to a set of transactional rules and guidelines devoid of a sense of context.... We will not resolve this tension, but we must understand it and look for ways to develop a framework . . . that links the real and ideal in an integrated whole.”8

ENDNOTES

1 Jeremy Rifkin, The European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream (New York: Tarcher Penguin, 2004) p. 113.

2 John Gardner, “On Building Community,” occasional paper published by the Independent Sector, www.independentsector.org. Quotes from pp. 5, 15, 8.

3 Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revivalof AmericanCommunity (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000) p. 8.

4 Ibid., p. 288

5 Gale Berkowitz, “UCLA Study on Friendship Among Women,” posted at www.anapsid.org/cnd/gender/tendfend.html. Original source, Taylor, S.E., Klein, L.C., Lewis, B.P. Gruenewald, T.L., Gurung, R.A.R., and Updegraff, J.A., “Female Responses to Stress: Tend and Befriend, Not Fight or Flight,” Psychological Review, 107(3): 41-429

6 Used by Adam Ferguson in his “An Essay on the History of Civil Society,” published in 1767.

7 Nineteenth-century Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville talked about “the principle of association” while traveling in the United States. His writings have long inspired the nonprofit and philanthropic movements in this country and, by extension, to civil society around the world. This quote is from his Democracy in America, The Henry Reeve Text as Revised by Francis Bowen and Further Corrected by Phillips Bradley, Abridged with an Introduction by Thomas Bender (New York: The Modern Library, 1945), p. 404.

8 Paul Pribbenow, Ph.D., CFRE, speaking at the Ethics Think Tank, Washington D.C., September 2005, quoted in “The President’s Report,” Advancing Philanthropy, May/June 2006. Copyright© Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) 2006. Advancing Philanthropy is the bi-monthly publication of AFP, which promotes philanthropy through advocacy, research, education and certification programs (www.afpnet.org). All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

INTERMEZZO #1

Why?

It’s any day anywhere on planet earth. A child asks, “Why?” And the designated adult has an answer.

Which of course begs another question from the child: “Why?”

Another answer.

Another question.

Why? Why? Why? On and on.

Concluding sooner or later with, “Because.”

We are great little probers as kids. It’s one way we navigate our strange new world. Psychology calls this phase, or pathological examples of it, folie du pourquoi. a mania to ask why.

Too bad we outgrow it.

School tests soon teach us there is one “right” answer to every question. Questioning in the workplace or on boards may be seen as threatening or disloyal. Jobs in fund development soon teach us to adopt “high-probability solutions” that pretty much always produce some kind of result. “Lessons learned,” case studies, professional development—they all aim to give us better answers than we currently have.

Sometimes, though, better answers aren’t the answer.

What would really help are better questions.

Reactivate your childhood foliedu pourquoi. Stop assuming there are answers. Instead, start relentlessly asking questions. Of your donors. Of your prospects. Of your fundraising methods. Of your organization. Questions like “Why did you give us that first gift?” Or “What could we do better in your opinion?” Or “What happens when the grantmakers change their priorities?” Or “Are we still relevant?”

We believe that a question-driven fund development program lodged inside a questioning organization will always outperform and certainly outlast a complacent program inside a complacent organization.

And you probably agree, if not from your own experience, at least instinctively. Science and art, after all, advance by asking questions, often rude, stupid, improper questions that no reasonable person would ask.

Here’s our advice to you: Don’t be a reasonable person. Being reasonable won’t tell you anything explosively new. Reasonable people already know the answers. Or assume those answers exist somewhere.

Well, they don’t. Each organization is different. Different time, different place, different needs, different mission, different vision, different leadership.

For sure, this book doesn’t have all the answers. We are well aware of our limits. Oh, it has plenty of information, examples, tips, good advice from dozens of honest-to-goodness experts, sound theory and practice.

But you will also notice lists of questions without answers. We know what you might be thinking: Aren’t books like this supposed to explain things? Isn’t that why you purchase a book like this?

Not this time. This book is a bit different. This is a foliedu pourquoi book. A “why-to” as well as a “how-to” book. “It’s about going someplace fundamentally different. Remember, it’s not the activities that lead to success. It’s the understanding that produces success.”1

We think the best, most profitable habit we can promote is an itch to ask lots of questions. Cage-rattling questions. Questions without known answers. Questions that turn your brain upside down and shake it until the coins fall out.

ENDNOTE

1 Remarks made by Eddie Thompson, Ed.D., Thompson & Associates, at the April 2007 Kaiser Institute.