A friend and client of mine was just about to get started in a new Executive Director role.  I’m grateful and flattered that she frequently reads my posts so with her upcoming role, she  suggested the post you’re now reading.  The title is self-explanatory so off we go….

1.   Don’t bring your playbook:  We all have the event that worked perfectly at the last organization.  We have the fundraising approach that just killed it somewhere else.  And of course we have that board structure that was the perfect fit.  Here’s the thing:  While that event, fundraising approach and board development hack met the moment, that moment is past.  Trying a one-size fits all has at best, a 50/50 chance of working at the new place.  Instead of bringing out the old stuff, take your time, assess, and see what the organization truly needs.  As my favorite old saying goes, just because you’ve got the perfect hammer, don’t assume everything (or nonprofit) is your nail.    

2.  Don’t assume your leadership style will work:   Similar to techniques and strategies, just because the way you led at the last place worked, don’t assume the same exact approach will connect at a new place.  An ED I was coaching shared the story of her transition from leading an affiliate of an international nonprofit with a budget of over 1 billion to joining a five year old organization striving to hit the $1 million mark.  She had gone in with a pre-conceived notion of how she wanted to interact with the staff, who unlike her previous team, thrived on creativity, flexibility and failing fast.  Fortunately she was able to adapt.  However, the first several months were quite rocky as she tried to apply her highly structured approach that had worked at her prior nonprofit.  After finding her footing, she noted that she was probably way too authoritarian and buttoned up in the early months at the younger organization.
By the way, with these first two, this isn’t a question about you as a leader, your prior successes or how you show up.  Rather, it’s about what you do (or don’t do) with your new team.  Think of newly retired Tom Brady.  When he moved from New England to Tampa Bay, he had to figure out a whole new set of plays that would work with the new squad.  Nevertheless, he’s a great quarterback and that didn’t change with the transition.  (And don’t curse me if you’re not from either New England or Tampa Bay!)

And most of all….

3.  Don’t be afraid to Lead!  After all, that’s why they hired you.  One of the Executive Directors I coach shared the story of the what she called her biggest mistake.  She told me that while serving as an Executive Director for an International nonprofit, she was beyond frustrated with the board’s willingness (or actually unwillingness) to fundraise.  I know - stop me if you’ve heard this!  Anyway, after an extremely disheartening board meeting where she pulled out all the stops, she threw up her hands.  She decided to write the board an email outlining  five options for moving forward.  What followed wasn’t very surprising.  Crickets.  Follow up two days later.  More crickets.  And on it went.  The bottom line was that the board was not looking for a myriad of options or her analysis of them.  Quite simply, they were looking for leadership.  Her leadership!
If you’re a James Bond fan and you’ve seen the final Daniel Craig installment, the villain says something akin to: People love the idea of freedom but they really want is to be told want to do.  I think that’s extreme and don’t agree.   I truly believe people want and need freedom to make choices.  However, organizations need and want leaders - that’s why individuals are put in leadership roles.  While the organization may appreciate successes you had elsewhere, they see in you an intangible something they recognize as a guiding force and they want it.  Give it to them!

If this “Great Resignation” idea is true, that means a couple of things.  First, there should be  lots of job openings out there for fundraisers (as well as everyone else!).  One thing that has been documented for years is the level of rapid turnover rate for fundraisers.  My hunch is that this is because when we’re in this process, we tend to hear what we want to hear i.e. our entire organization is committed to fundraising, our board is really engaged in development and on it goes.  So, for those of you that are out there, I thought I’d do my part in hopefully helping you develop a better radar for what you DON’T want to hear.  Here are my top 5:

1.  You’ll be doing the fundraising.  We don’t get involved in that sort of thing.  That’s why we’re hiring YOU!    Oh no you’re not!  This is #1 for a reason.  This is a clear indication that this organization views fundraising from the good old rainmaker perspective.  We’re going to go out and find us a Rockstar, Lone Wolf, Hero (fill in the blank for the one man or woman fundraising show).  Fundraising is always a team sport so look for organizations where all staff members view fundraising as vital to the sustainability of their work and mission.  


2.  We don’t have any money to pay a fundraiser so we’re hoping you’ll work on a commission basis.  No thank you.   Let’s start with the fact that this is against Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Ethics and Standards.  There’s a good reason for this beyond the idea that working to ensure you’re actually paid something is a bad idea.  It puts you, the fundraiser, in a conflicted position where you may be forced to do almost anything to bring in donations.  This is also an indication that this organization lacks a gift acceptance policy - they’ll probably accept a gift from any source if that’s their only means of compensation. How to avoid this:  Confirm there’s an actual salary.  Nothing wrong with a salary and performance bonus but take a hard pass on commission deals.    These days, most ads on Indeed and idealist indicate the compensation structure but if they don’t, ask before proceeding further.    


3.  We’re spending our last dollar to hire you and we’re hoping it will work out:  Yikes... This is just a slight step up from #2.  If this is the conversation,  you may be talking to an organization that hasn’t given too much thought to their future and may be a fast-sinking ship.  Congrats! You’re getting hired to see if anyone out there - individuals or institutions - would like to throw you a life preserver.   I’ll never forget when the Executive Director of a nonprofit I was consulting for told me to start each proposal by noting we were in an emergency situation and they could fast track our proposal before we had to close our doors.  Not exactly an inspiring message.   The alternative here again parallels #2:  Look for work opportunities where the fundraiser is being brought on BEFORE they need the funding and/or their capacity has grown.  


4.  What’s your Rolodex look like?  Do you know some big donors you can bring over?  Rolo-what?  Beyond the reality that the last Rolodex might have been sold in 1996 - just a bit before the first version of the Palm Pilot came out - this should send you running for the hills.  Donors aren’t customers that follow a professional around from company to company.  Let’s get it straight:  While it’s true that people give to people, those people are connected to an organization due to the impact of the work - not the fundraiser who may have done a wonderful job creating the culture of philanthropy that makes it an engaging and enjoyable process.   Find opportunities with nonprofits that value the process of celebrating existing donors and finding new ones through engagement, cultivation and ultimately creating commitment.    


5.  We’re really hoping our board will start to step up...Me too!  If I had a dime for every variation of this, I’d make some pretty hefty donations to my favorite nonprofits.  This can take the form of “our board really isn’t a fundraising board”, “our board is in transition” and another favorite “ well, they give a lot of time but not money.”  A conversation I have at least three times a week is helping nonprofit leaders realize that having a board that provides the leadership required is an ongoing process that takes courage and clarity mixed with patience and persistence.  There are enough great books on board leadership so I’m not going to take space to describe what that looks like.  What I will suggest is to ask the hard questions up front:  Did you have 100% participation in board giving; Can you provide examples of board engagement in fundraising.  Develop a list of questions to ask that gives you the comfort you need to know that the board leadership needed for your success is in place.


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​If you’re a fundraiser and you’re reading this, I have no doubt you could add to the list and may even have your own.  Feel free to share more in the comments as it can only serve to help others as they explore.  

A nonprofit leader I coach recently started as the CEO of an organization that’s a significant step up in budget, staff and size from the charity she was with prior.  From the outside, this new job might look like a random opportunity that presented itself at the right moment.  It happens.  The truth is; however, that her applying for, being offered and accepting this role was so much more.  It was the culmination of a well thought out approach to to thriving in her prior role, building out the organization and it’s team (both staff and board) all while keeping an eye on the next ideal step in her career progression.

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I’m highlighting the above as leaders often want to be coached on how to strike that delicate balance between serving at a high level in a current role while being mindful of what’s next.  Since I believe this leader did such a masterful job of this, I wanted to share the best practices she utilized.  If you find yourself  in this inquiry, hopefully these suggestions will be helpful and support you in your career journey.  


First off, the leader I’m referring to truly models intention, integrity and clear direction.  When we first started our coaching work together, the first thing she wanted to focus on was helping her  team grow and develop professionally.  No agenda about her whatsoever - just a pure commitment to seeing the team she worked with be better and create results more effectively.  

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Ultimately, my client continued to make solid contributions toward the growth of her organization while casting an eye over the horizon.  This is an art form: staying committed while having an inner knowing that it’s time to start thinking beyond the now. She achieved this by doing the following:

• Building a stronger team:  As noted, she focused on developing the team around her for their benefit and in service to the organization itself.  For example, one member of her team was content to play a supporting role and had little interest in stepping into a leadership role.  My client met her employee where he was at, gave him opportunities to shine, learn from other leaders and see the joy in helping others develop.  For another staff member, she created opportunities for them to learn new marketable skills.   Bottom line, my client made each member of her team better while creating a viable succession plan for that “whenever” moment. 

 

• Patiently developing the board:  When we began our work together, board engagement was a significant struggle and my client was laser-focused on changing that.  This leader’s persistence, patience and commitment to the ongoing development of her board was key to the continued success of her organization and her attractiveness as a candidate to future employers.  She was willing to experiment, risk failure and truly lead.  This approach developed the board into a group of leaders that, while disappointed with her departure, are equally committed to taking a proactive role in continuing the important work they’ve been doing together.

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• Developing thought leadership:  Early on in our engagement, my client shared that she wanted to give back to her profession and share what she was learning.  She developed a daily practice of writing and eventually had several articles published in professional journals.  In addition, she volunteered for a leadership role within her professional organization.  Participating and contributing at this level enabled her to establish long-term relationships with colleagues, network both inside and outside of her sector and develop an even deeper level of service.  The beautiful byproduct is that she is now looked at as a thought leader in her field.  

 

• Having the will to act:  This leader had the courage and willingness to act when the opportunity presents itself.  As she shared with me recently, the hardest thing about putting all the work in to be ready is that it makes the current position much more comfortable when the better opportunity presents itself. The leader must be ready and willing to act when the time is right.

 

• Staying fully grounded in the present while looking over the horizon: Yes, I hear you...This is much easier said than done.  I won’t take the easy way out and say it’s the “secret sauce.”  There are however a few opportunities to look at here.  However, the one intangible demonstrated by this leader - and others that create this type of success story - is a mindset of service.   This starts with asking the question every day:  What can I share today that will truly be of service?  ​​When this is your authentic mindset, it’s hard to NOT manifest good things for those you serve as well as opportunities for you to move forward.  

I've often joked that if I chose to, I could build my entire coaching and consulting business around helping Executive Directors in their efforts to have an outstanding board.  And while much of my work is focused on young and growing nonprofits, the opportunity to do this work is much broader, spanning newer organizations to older and established national charities.  Suffice to say, I rarely hear from  a senior leader of a nonprofit organization anything along the lines of "Nope - no need to improve our board!  We've got it all going on - 100% of our board members are hitting it out of the park on the three T's.  They contribute their Time, their Talent and their Treasure.  All good here."   That's not to say that I don't run into or hear of boards that are more functional than others.  For example, they might have a decent amount of all of the aforementioned T's.  Or, they might have board members who lean into one or two of these components but have an obvious gap in others.  But it's super rare - in my experience - to see a board that's hitting it on all three cylinders.

Why do I bring this up?  Because I was recently discussing a board and its vast improvement in all three key areas with an Executive Director I've had the pleasure of knowing for a little over a year now.    When we started our talks, one of the biggest challenges he faced was that while his board had lots of talent and minimal struggle providing financial support, they struggled with contributing much more than the bare minimum of time.  And more importantly when they "showed up" that was pretty much it.  They showed up, allowed the ED to fully run the show, and simply check the boxes.  During our conversations, my coaching client and I discussed a number of strategies -  one-on-one meetings, individual members goals, committee assignments and several others.

Here's the little twist in this true story.  As I noted above, this ED and I have known each other for about a year.  However, in terms of coaching, we worked together for about two months then, due to a variety of circumstances, there was a pause.  We picked up again in November and it was just recently that we had the discussion about the significant strides his board has made in engagement and taking more ownership in outcomes.      

How did the improvement come about?   That's where I've got some good news and let's call it less good news.   The less good news is that several of the strategies worked better than others but there was no one that jumped out as "the one."  I'm not here to reveal the magic formula for board development.  I'm still working on it but haven't uncovered it yet.  The good news, in my opinion anyway, is that sticking with this plan of being patient, testing out things and reflecting on their success has paid off in a big and very noticeable way.  But it's after a year of being patient and knowing that great boards - and true exemplary leadership - aren't built in a day, a week, a month or even a year.  They are built steadily.  Over time.   On an ongoing basis.

Let's call this new formula for board success Time, Treasure, Talent and Time To Build.  

Should I stay or should I go now?
-  The Clash, 1981

​Sure the Clash made this question pretty popular in 1981.  But in fact, fundraisers are constantly asking themselves this question.  This is borne out by the fact that the average turnover for development professionals is still in the range of 16 to 18 months depending on which of the myriad of articles you read on this topic.  

This was on my mind the other day as I was speaking with a Development Director who had been with his organization for a little more than two years.  As we chatted, he shared that even through the pandemic, the nonprofit he was with had met their fundraising goals and then some.  He was especially proud of that achievement as many of his fundraising colleagues had seen significant declines in their revenue.  Beyond that, he noted that his board of directors wasn't particularly effective.  While three of the nine person board were pulling their weight - they both gave and got  - the rest of the board really wanted to focus on governance.  In my experience, this is the death knell for boards that are going to help their ED and development team fundraise.  In summary, the Development Director was starting to feel that the job wasn't a great fit and that it might be time for a change.  Yet, he wasn't sure and in fact, was very much on the fence.

Truth be told, the story I've shared above is not real.  However, it many ways it is.  It's actually a composite of the conversations I've had with both Development Directors as well as Executive Directors and  it was done this way to maintain confidentiality and provide a broad overview of some common themes.  Does any of it sound a little (or maybe very) familiar?  The reality is that this is a much longer conversation requiring lots of thinking, a bit of stepping back to see  where you're at as well time itself.  Nevertheless, I thought I'd share a few of the key questions I often start with when this is the topic....


Have the reasons you joined the organization originally changed?   Maybe you joined your nonprofit because you loved the mission.    Or, perhaps you thought the CEO was an incredibly dynamic leader you could learn from and was incredibly inspiring.  You might have even gone there because you saw all the seeds of a strong development operation that lacked the right person to nurture them (you!).  These of course are just a few of the reasons I often hear when a fundraiser shares why he or she went to an organization.  A solid first step in evaluating whether it's time to seek your next conquest is seeing if any of these or other reasons you joined have materially changed.   And if so, what is the impact on you?  

Have you done all you've set out to do?  If you came to an organization to fulfill a specific goal, have you truly achieved that goal?  Are there opportunities to do more and do they excite you?  In my conversations, I often find that a fundraiser has gone to an organization as a next step in their career.  That next step can be about the chance to raise a certain amount.  For example, a fundraiser raising a $1 million budget is offered an opportunity to step into a role responsible for raising $3 million.  Or a fundraiser is offered the chance to create a new program such as a major gifts program or launch a capital campaign.   These are just two examples where a fundraiser can notch a very important career achievement.  Does staying at the same organization offer equally compelling opportunities?   

What's your gut (also known as your heart, intuition and inner wisdom) telling you?   In my nearly two decades of working in the nonprofit sector and speaking with fellow fundraisers, I've noticed something consistently:  By the time I'm having this conversation, the individual has usually made up their mind to move on to a new role.  Sometimes they've already been offered it.  Sometimes they're on the cusp of starting a search.  Regardless, if they're talking about it to me (as a coach or otherwise), something is telling them that there's a fit problem - whether it's perceived or real.  It's at this point that I'll typically tell the colleague, friend or person I'm coaching to go back and truly look at the first two questions but with a more realistic perspective.    

If you find yourself in this quandary, I hope this can help encourage some thinking.  But it should be just the beginning as opposed to your call for action.  




  

This past Saturday I participated in a three hour training session for Braven, a terrific nonprofit I'm volunteering with.   Braven's mission is to empower promising, underrepresented young people—first-generation college students, students from low-income backgrounds, and students of color—with the skills, confidence, experiences and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact.  They do this in four cities including Bay Area, Chicago,  Newark and NYC.   You can learn much more at (www.braven.org)

This training was Efficient, Engaging and Energizing!  If you read my stuff you know I love 3's of anything (see 3B's To Focus On) so there you have it! I'm grateful that some - maybe many - of the nonprofits I have the privilege of working with read my posts.  If so, here are some best practices when training a new cohort of volunteers - these were all evident in the training I experienced.   Let's go straight down the line.

Timing and Length:  The training kicked off promptly at 10:00 am and went to 1:00 PM for a total of three hours.  Not too much to give up out of a weekend.  More importantly, all of the time was well spent. No filler. Just real content mixed with the opportunity for the volunteers to get to know each other as well as the key team members from the organization.  More on that below:

Content:  As noted above, the training was a valuable mix of the Why, What (Happens) and How.  Specifically, the training started off by providing us volunteers with background information about the nonprofit and why it does what it does.   In this case, since the organization deals with young people, the team shared the benefits to those we'd be serving when we serve in the role we're training for. Next, we took a deeper dive into how we'd be doing what we do.  This included providing a full understanding of the dynamics of the program, the platforms, the technology and the resources that would be available to us.  This included plenty of access to guides as well as yes, humans that could help us (yea!).  Finally, we had the opportunity to test drive what we were learning in small cohorts.  (Bonus:  This gave us additional opportunities to build our network among the volunteering group).

Continuous Learning and Development:  This was just the beginning of the training for what will be a full semester engagement.  Too often I've seen volunteer training viewed as a one and done deal.  Here's what you  do now off you go and do it.  Not here.  After this first session,  we have several more sessions before we begin the actual role.  Once the real program commences, there is ongoing training as well as a liaison - an exemplary volunteer from last year - there to support us as we do our work.  

Oh and other thing - GRATITUDE!  While no one volunteers for the thank you (or the t-shirts, bagels or the other niceties), it's always nice to hear thank you.  And we heard it from everyone on their team both during and after the session.  Personally speaking, I felt beyond appreciated.  

I look forward to continuing to share - and hopefully you've got a takeaway or two that you can add to your toolbox.  

 

A few days ago, I was in conversation with Amy Soper who serves as the Director of Volunteer Growth for Women Doing Well (www.womendoingwell.org).  Among the many things that has impressed me about Amy and this new organization is their approach to developing their team.  Amy mentioned that in the beginning of this year, their President, Julie Wilson shared that their theme for this year is Pace.   In other words; their leaders should be looking at their own Pace, helping others with their Pace, and even perhaps occasionally questioning the Pace of the organization and its growth.

Something about the word Pace immediately resonated with me.  At a simple or surface level, I tend to think of the word as it applies to running, one of my passions.  And in that arena, Pace is simply another way of saying how fast you’re going - or the average speed you were running for a given training run or race.  Pacing can also apply to many other areas of life as we pursue personal goals as well as results we want to bring into the world.   So, as Amy and I talked, we went a bit deeper.  

Since this was actually a coaching conversation, Amy and I were discussing the priorities she was establishing for her new role.  In terms of her work, we discussed what activities and relationships could contribute to the Pace of her recruitment and training of volunteers.  As we explored, I found myself again paralleling this with running and improving your pace.  I say this because I know intuitively, there are things that will help improve your pace.  For good measure, a quick google search brought me to an article called 7 Expert Tips to Improve Your Running Pace.  If you’re a runner, I encourage you to click on the link.  If you’re not, stick with me, as there’s plenty beyond running coming up....

My point in sharing the above is that if you’re like me, there are times you struggle with priorities.   You question whether doing more of this or less of that will get you to the results you’re looking to create.  This is true whether it’s something as critical as your organization’s mission, a personal goal like writing a book or running a marathon or perhaps just finding some inner peace and calm.  It begs the question of what you truly need (to do, be, or focus on) and what you can truly leave behind.  

For example, to build your pace in running it’s worth focusing on your cadence, arm swing and body posture.  You probably don’t need to worry about things like your height (you can’t change that anyway!) or running “harder”.  The same goes for delivering on your mission.  No doubt having quality programs helps, strong servant leadership can make a huge difference and a sustainable financial position is critical.  At the same time, you could spend less time securing the best bagels for your fundraiser, having the snappiest website around and tweeting once an hour and still have a substantial impact on those you serve.  And finally inner peace and tranquility?  I’ll leave that to you but suffice to say getting stuck believing you are your thoughts and vice versa probably won’t help.

Like all good articles, you’ve got to have THE BIG TAKEAWAY and here it is.  I created an acronym to help you as you work to find the optimum Pace in your world.  I truly hope it helps.

P -  Priorities;  Have you identified what results you want to create and how critical it is that you create them?   
A -  Actions; Do you have a clear sense of what you need to do to create those results?
C - Clarity around Challenges; Have you identified the obstacles you’ll need to overcome and what you don’t need?
E - Effort and Energy; Are you truly ready to Expend the Effort and Energy?
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