Simone Uncensored

I’m pretty much always thinking about governance. That thing that boards do.

Board = collective. Board member = individual. These 2 terms are NOT NOT not NOT never interchangeable.

And here’s what Colleen, SMUMN Cohort 28 wrote in summer 2019….governance….management….

“The thing that struck me most about my time spent [in the governance course at SMUMN] thinking, reading and acting out all things governance, was the balance of giving the best of me and willingly receiving the best of others. I wrote about it a little in my final project: how people come together to lead.

“I view leadership of a nonprofit as a separation of powers, not too dissimilar to our American governmental system in theory. I like the idea that people can come together, challenge and be challenged so that the result is the strengthening of an organization. I walk away with a much better sense of the importance of a strong CEO and how that person interacts with the governing board. Really, I have a greater intellectual respect for staff I think. In the back of my mind, I think I gave boards too much responsibility. I thought they needed to have all the answers, Not so.”

So how’s your governance going? And your management?

Did you read my special blog posted by Vitreo in its blog, The Provocateur?

PHILANTHROPIC PSYCHOLOGY  !!!  

A new education program for you and me! For all us fundraisers. Never anything like it before! 

Certificate in Philanthropic Psychology. On line. Starts January 13, 2020. WOW! This is an extraordinary opportunity. Learning none of us fundraisers ever learned before because it just didn’t exist! And now it does……!!

Jen Shang, the world’s first philanthropic psychologist (and still the only one, I do believe). And she’s the first PhD in Philanthropy, too. And Adrian Sargeant, the first Hartsook Chair in Fundraising at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Here’s the concept of philanthropic psychology (I’ve nicknamed it “phil psych”…) Phil psych focuses on how the actions we donors take make us feel. Phil psych research has shown that when people feel their giving is meaningful — and even transformative to a person’s sense of who s/he is — then those people give more and give longer.

WOW! Fundraising is growing up. Academic research and applying academic learning — and even learning about the academic learning — raises more money.

CHECK OUT THIS PHILANTHROPIC PSYCHOLOGY OPPORTUNITY!!!!

(And check out the Institute’s other education/training programs, too!)

MORE about Jen and Adrian…………..They co-founded the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy in the U.K. I sure hope you’re reading the research reports produced by Sargeant, Shang, and their team. Reports like:

• Everything Research Can Tell Us About Legacy Giving
• Great Fundraising
• Great Fundraising Events
• Learning to Say Thank You: The Role of Donor Acknowledgements
• Major Gift Fundraising: Unlocking the Potential for Smaller Nonprofits
• Measuring donor loyalty: key reasons why Net Promoter Score (NPS) is not the way.
• AND MORE!!!!

is now offering the Certificate in Philanthropic Psychology. On line. Starts January 13, 2020.

Jen Shang! And Adrian Sargeant!

You and I do NOT NOT know this stuff. This is NOT donor-centrism. Not behavioral economics. Not anything we’ve already learned.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/certificate-in-philanthropic-psychology-tickets-74968393483?aff=utm_source%3Deb_email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dnew_event_email&utm_term=eventname_text

I so enjoyed teaching governance twice at SMUMN this past summer. I’ve shared comments from Cohort 27 in previous “Notes from my dorm room”.

Now I’m sharing comments from Cohort 28. I hope these comments challenge you to examine governance in your organization…question your approach and level of knowledge…learn and make change!!

Mackenzie said: “I am extremely nervous about the amount of work it will take to make great governance. [But], I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Greg gives us something to laugh about: “Good governance. How do you make it happen? I wish it was as easy as getting fatter. Or mandatory, like aging.” And more seriously, he says: “The CEO and board chair/board members don’t have to agree, but they have to learn how to disagree with respect, using facts and data to support constructive discussion…. [T]hey have to be able to say uncomfortable things. They don’t argue to win; they argue to resolve.”

Rachel reminds us: “CEOs ned to be a governance expert.”  And…”The board is a collective.”

Nate reminds us that “we need to do a better job of bringing strategic questions and topics to our board in order to have more strategic conversations.”

Luke said: “I discovered the difference between management and governance. This, to me, is the most important part. The board and board members must understand thei roles. If they do not, it is a MESS.”

Lisa commented: “I love the fact that power – for lack of a better word – is distributed. There are checks and balances, and that there are people ideally together working on your mission and there to help. But it’s not a perfect system. If it was, it would be incredible. But not everyone is on board. People don’t know the rules, and people don’t want training. So it is up to the ones of us who know what’s going on to step up and help others understand.”

Samantha notes: “The relationship between boards and staff is often unbalanced.”

Colleen’s insight: “The CEO needs to be the most knowledgeable person in the room about board governance (in addition to the organization’s operations.) Previously, I’d really thought that was up to the Board Chair.”

What’s happening in your organization? How will you learn and lead change?

It’s fall. But I still have memories from my time at Saint Mary’s. This year I taught governance to 2 different cohorts…Cohort 27 and Cohort 28. And here are some more great insights from Cohort 27. Insights that you can use to stimulate your thinking, encourage you to learn more, and challenge the assumptions you might already have regarding governance.

Aaron said: “Governance is such tricky business for the untrained…But in reality, it is a set of guidelines to make the most use of everyone’s time as well as serve the organization to achieve its mission. [Governance] is not some mythical land where good organizations live and bad are denied. It is common sense coupled with good behavior.”

Brandon said: “The dialogue we had in class helped me see that it’s sometimes important to just acknowledge an issue. A board may not be able to command an end to racism, but the board can have a meaningful conversation about building a policy on diverseity. Smaller steps in part of a larger journey.”

Tyler said: “We can start by influencing what we have learned at our organizations. We can expand that by serving on a board ourselves and implement changes that we know to right in getting those organizations to do good governance.”

So what will you do with these insights? Most boards are mediocre at best…Darn few are really good. If you want governance to be better at your place, learn more!

Two cohorts graduated this summer… Cohorts 27 and 28. I can’t believe that I’ve taught at SMUMN since Cohort 9! For the masters program in philanthropy and development.

And every year, I blog about my experience in the program. Notes from my dorm room. We all live in the dorm!

I share these student comments with you all…Because their insights can help you ensure better governance in your organization!!

From Dan, cohort 27: “Board governance isn’t easy…it’s very complex. Pride is involved. Money is involved. Status is involved.”

From Kent, cohort 27: “I plan to implement some sort of governance development activity into each meeting. Not a big, time-consuming initiative, but just enough to keep the topic of governance top of mind.”

Brandon, cohort 27 asked (and answered his own questions):

“What is the sound of one hand clapping? Nothing.

What is the worth of a fundraiser in a silo? Nothing.

What is the value of a silent board member? Nothing.”

Cohort 27, Anna asked some great cage-rattling questions:

How can we ensure that we have an accurate understanding of the current organizational culture?

What would it look like if our organization took proactive action to develop our organizational culture?

To what extent is a disclosed conflict of interest different from an undisclosed conflict (in terms of the impact on public trust)?

How will we evaluate the level of spending that is necessary to best carry out our mission?

Such good stuff!! How might these notes from my graduated students stimulate your thinking? Challenge your assumptions? Help you do a better job?

In the olden days, when I was a CDO, we had 3000 3×5 cards. 1 card per donor/donor family. Typed the info onto the card. (Yes!! The days of electric typewriters.) One day, someone dropped 1 of the 3×5 card drawers. Approximately 1,000 cards all over the floor. Alphabetizing by hand.

(I still have an electric typewriter in my office. You never know when what etc.!)

Now we’re in the world of databases of all types. Donors. Fundraising. Ticketing. Advertising. Do you think the horse and cow farms have databases by horse/cow names?

Can you imagine a donor/fundraising database whose purpose is donor retention?! Remember, loyalty is the Holy Grail of any business. And thanks to Adrian Sargeant, fundraisers have research that defines how to build and measure donor loyalty.

Adrian’s research was built into a computer algorithm for donor software. Bloomerang. And check out Bloomerang’s free webinars and blogs and other resources.

If you want to keep your donors (retention first…then acquisition!!!), then check out more donor research.

Cool stuff!!!

The principles…fundamentals…key stuff… WHICH ALL FUNDRAISERS MUST MUST MUST NEED NEED NEED to know.

The Fundraising Standard is an interactive 40-hour online learning program…

START DATES: 2019: 10/7. 11/14.  12/2.  12/16.          2020: 1/6.  1/20.  2/3.  2/17.

Stuff you and I and all fundraisers need to know. Designed for newbies. (But I know lots of fundraisers who aren’t newbies – and need this program! These fundraisers have been fundraising for a while – even quite a while. But too many don’t know the basics.)

What will you learn?

• Thorough intro to the fundraising process.
• Intro to the nonprofit sector and fundraising ethics
• What we know about giving – who gives and why
• Science and practice of communication design
• How to raise lots more money by avoiding common errors that nonprofits too often make
• Focusing on donor satisfaction and wellbeing

And all of this comes from Adrian Sargeant and his team. With start-up funding from Bloomerang.

Check out the Fundraising Standard Program. Now!

P.S. And it’s pretty darn inexpensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Terry Graves, for asking me to write my thoughts. Cool to be with Gail Perry and Mary Cahalane.

Getting Past the Myths of Fundraising, Part 1.

TomAnd then, check out Part 2 with Claire Axelrad, Tom Ahern, and Jeff Brooks.

(Geez… I didn’t know Tom Ahern was in Part 2. Obviously, we don’t necessarily communicate all that well. So Now I’m reading Part 2. )

Are you avoiding these fundraising fallacies? I sure hope so. Always remember…opinion vs. expertise shouldn’t even be an option. EXPERTISE should win!!!!

Thanks, Terry, for inviting these writings and putting them all together.

Donor Experience Week. (And make your donor experiences more than 1 week long!!)

10 online sessions…ALL FREE. September 23-27.

Topics

• Optimizing the monthly donor experience
• Building donor funnels and journeys
• Donor stewardship: Engaging with donors online
• Optimizing your donation page
• Using data to strengthen donor relationships

Speakers: 

Beth Kanter.  Lori Jacobwith.  Amy Eisenstein.  Erica Waasdorp.  Brady Josephon. Ashley Pettifer.