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Greetings!
 Where did the summer go? All those lazy, hazy days when I was going to write a lot,
polish my marketing plan, build my prospect pool...relax.
Like so many of my clients and students, I found myself too
busy to do all the things I thought I would do. I have lots of excuses-travel, house remodel, clients-but the
truth is that I just didn't use my time as well as I could have. And my plans were way too ambitious for
my resources.
Sound familiar? We try to do too much, then are disappointed with the amount we
accomplished. That disappointment
often drags us down, making us feel that we "can't" get anything done. And then we focus on all the things we
can't do.
Mary Ann Laun, the Dean of the Library at Pasadena City College, always talks about "the Power of Yes." To me, that means focusing on what we CAN do, rather than
what we can't.
As summer wanes, look at that long list of things you were
going to do. Pat yourself on the
back for the things you did accomplish. And then decide which of the things left you still want to do and start
working on those.
And let me know any strategies you have for ensuring that
your "To Do" list turns into a "Done
Did" list.
On my "Done Did's" is getting my book (with co-author Bo Morton), Get Ready, Get Set, GET GRANTS, ready. It'll be out in the next couple of weeks. Look for that announcement. And if you can't wait, you could take our online class "Get Grants" at your local community college or at http://www.ed2go.com/courses/ggr
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Serendipity plays such a large part in our
lives. I write a lot-and often I
publish what I write as an Ezine article. Which, as you'll read below, brought me a connections
with
Charles Lojko. a senior manager at Cozality, a leading web design and
development firm to the nonprofit sector.
Cozality specializes in state-of-the-art, socially integrated,
CMS-powered nonprofit websites.
Among
other things, Charles is an experienced fundraising campaign manager, marketing
and communications consultant, entrepreneur, and writer. He and I share a
belief in the importance of relationships. You can contact Charles at clojko@cozality.com.
Putting First Things First: Relationships
Treating people well is also very practical
Let's face it, relationships are one of if
not the most important things in life, and not just for our mental health, but
also for our potential to succeed. This truth is made apparent to me time and time
again. Every sincere relationship provides opportunity in some form or another,
and you never really know the extent of the potential that exists until you take
the time to care.
Take this article, for example. A small act
of kindness that took only a minute to begin with eventually resulted in an
invitation to write for Janet Levine's newsletter. I merely took the time to
acknowledge her and to let her know that we were "tweeting" a link to an ezine
article she wrote to our followers on twitter. It was a simple gesture that only
took a moment, yet many people would not have bothered. It's a fact, a lot of
opportunity is missed because we fail to heed those famous words, 'Love your
neighbor as yourself.'
Our exchange went something like this:
Me: "Great article on Stewardship. A solid tweet! ;P"
Janet: 'Thanks!
And good to know about your services. I'm forwarding your information to a
client that might need them.'
P.S. I have a newsletter that sometimes features content by guest writers. Why don't you
write for it sometime?'
We share this private exchange with you to
illustrate a basic truth: mutual respect
leads to success. Treat people well and they will usually treat you well in
return. One thing leads to another.
Unfortunately, as Janet points out in her article "In the US, donor attrition - the rate at which donors cease to
be donors - is scandalously high. Over 65% of first time donors don't ever make
a repeat gift. By year five only 10% of donors remain active." (READ MORE)
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A Wake-Up Call
Beyond the economic crisis, the nonprofit
sector faces an even greater challenge.
Jeffrey Wilcox, CFRE, a nonprofit leader for over 25-years, contends
that "antiquated nonprofit business practices and models pose an insurmountable
succession planning challenge if the sector is to survive."
Jeff, the President and CEO of Interim
Solutions for the Nonprofit Sector, has just published a book, The Nonprofit
Leader of the New Decade which responds to this critical issue. Available at Third Sector Report or from www.lulu.com the book challenges readers to rethink their assumptions about organization
community service.
The seven principles Jeff outlines in his
book offer a series of solutions to this problem.
· Nonprofit leadership is all
about forging a cause, not an organization.
· Values drive community people
to action, not elaborate strategic plans
· Society advances only through
calculated risk-taking that is fueled by passion.
· Human capital is much more
significant than financial capital for building communities (READ MORE).
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Sharing Your Pain
In June of this year, Guidestar surveyed
public charity and private foundations to find out how these organizations
fared during the first 5 months of the year. Over 7,000 people responded; 92% of them from public charities.
To say this has been a difficult time would
be a great understatement. More
than 60 percent of the respondents saw an increase in demand for their
services. At the same tie, about 40%
saw a decrease in contributions. What made this harder was that contributions had been decreasing over
the past year.
Not surprisingly, since about 75% of all
charitable gifts come from individuals, 67% of the respondents said that their
contributions decreased because "Fewer individuals gave." This was followed closely (66%) who
found that the gifts they did get from individuals were smaller than they had
been.
Corporate and foundation giving decreased
according for 40%. Organizations who make grants agreed. While 28% increased their grantmaking, over 70% either kept
their grantmaking about the same or decreased their funding. What made this
difficult for grantees, of course, was the fact that 41% of these funders
reported an increase in applications and/or grant requests.
Responding to the financial situation, 58%
of the nonprofits reported that they reduced their activities and/or services,
while 58% reported a salary freeze.
Read the entire report at http://www2.guidestar.org/rxg/news/publications/nonprofits-and-economy-june-2010.aspx
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Are your fundraising results down? Janet Levine Consulting can help. Email or give me a call at 310-990-9151 to schedule a free 30-minute consultation.
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