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Greetings!
 Holidays and I have a strained relationship. I won't bore you with details. But as a friend was talking about her family's tradition of sharing things to be thankful for before the Thanksgiving meal, I thought that was something I could really get behind. Even on bad days, I realize how incredibly lucky I am.
I can start with my family. Crazy and flawed though they be, there is something extraordinary to know that there are generations of people who are always there for you and for whom you are always there. Then there are my friends. I'm particularly thankful that they don't drive me nearly as crazy as certain members of my family.
The work I do continues to put a smile on my face. Like so many people, several years ago I had gotten to a point where the politics of my job had sucked any joy from it. Unlike too many, I was able to take the skills I had developed and the passion for what I do and translate that to work that is meaningful to me and, I hope, to my clients and students.
I'm thankful that my house remodel is almost done-although I've been thinking that it's been almost done for a while now. Living with construction and without a kitchen has been a real strain. On the other hand, I'm grateful that not only am I still married, but we still speak civilly to each other!
And I am really thankful that the book that Bo Morton and I have been working on for a long time-Get Ready, Get Set, Get Grants-is finally out and can be orderedhere What things are you grateful for and how are you going to show your thanks-especially to your donors?
Fundraising capacity not where you want it to be? Need help in making Board members comfortable with fundraising? Contact Janet Levine Consulting for a free 30-minute meeting to see how you can broaden your base, increase your capacity and raise more money.
Contact janet@janetlevineconsulting.com to schedule an appointment
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WHY ARE WE ANXIOUS AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
Thomas Wolf is a Principal at WolfBrown a consulting company that helps funders, nonprofit institutions and public agencies understand their potential, set priorities and fulfill their promise.Tom is also a contributor to Asking Matters, an organization that addresses the timeless challenge of helping board members feel comfortable and prepared in asking for gifts.
The first time I had to make a fundraising call, I was panicked. I was fifteen and I was approaching a truly grande dame - Mary Curtis Bok Zimbalist - one of the great music patrons of the 20th century. My grandmother had worked for years at the school Mrs. Zimbalist had established (the Curtis Institute of Music) and the two were friends. So my grandmother had arranged the meeting. But after that I was on my own.
As it happened, the event was so positive, it overcame subsequent anxiety for future calls. All the credit goes to Mrs. Zimbalist. Like so many wealthy people, she knew how to be asked and how to put the askers at their ease even when she was going to say no. She steered our conversation from greeting to light chit-chat to my project description and finally to "the ask" in a matter of minutes. It was quick, pleasant, painless, and in the end, I came out with a check. Why are people anxious in fund raising? They are afraid they will look foolish (either to the prospect or to people in their own organizations if they are unsuccessful). They worry that they will permanently alienate or offend their prospect. They are afraid they will become disliked. The reasons are many and most are figments of their imaginations. Most of their fears never materialize.
The Five Anxiety Moments
When we break down their anxieties, we find there are basically five moments in the solicitation process that cause it. Address those and you reduce the anxiety quotient by 80%-90% - enough to get many people to overcome their worst fears. So let's look at those moments and figure out what to do about them.
1. Asking to ask
Setting up the appointment can be anxiety provoking. What should you say? The general rule of thumb is "no surprises." I like to warn people by "asking to ask." If I am going to do "the ask" by phone, I send a note first. If I want to make a visit, I will call and say, "I'd like to come over and spend a little time talking with you about (name of organization) and our fundraising needs (capital campaign) this year." The great thing is that once the person accepts the call or the visit, the contract is established. You are there to talk about a gift. There is no reason for the person to say (as we sometimes worry he or she will), "What makes you think I want to hear about this?" (READ MORE)
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Stuck on Project Evaluation?
Try a logic model
Bo Morton is both my co-teacher for our on-line Get Grants class, she is also the co-author of our new book,Get Ready, Get Set, Get Grants. Beyond that, she is a wildly successful grantwriter whose interests focus on the International sector and education. And did I mention that she is an intrepid and inveterate traveler?
If you are regularly writing and submitting grant proposals, you must have noticed this trend --- more and more proposals are being submitted in the same competitions each year and fewer proposals are being funded. The odds are changing; funders' expectations are growing, which in turn drives up the quality of proposals.
Another interesting phenomenon that has been taking place over the past few years is the growing importance of the evaluation section. While a few years ago it was not unusual to see as few as 5 points (out of 100) assigned to the evaluation section, now the norm is usually around 20 points. A solid evaluation section is more critical than ever for the success of a proposal as funders want to make sure that you will be able to assess the impacts of the project and measure at least some of its outcomes. Improving the evaluation section maybe the best investment of your time.
More and more often, logic models are used to map out the project impact. If you are familiar with logic models and are already using them in project planning and evaluation, this will just confirm what you already know. If you are not, it can serve as an introduction to a very useful tool and point you to resources where you can learn more.
What is a logic model? It is a simplified picture of a program or project that shows the logical relationships among the resources that are invested, the activities that are implemented, and the benefits or changes that result. It is a framework for describing the relationships between investments, activities, and results.
Think of the logic model as the "road map" of how you will bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Logic modeling is really a way of thinking.
In its simplest form, a logic model looks like this
This graphic representation shows the logical relationships between:
- The resources that go into a program.
- The activities the program undertakes.
- The changes or benefits that result.
Under Inputs you would list all the main resources and contributions that you and others make to the project. These include time, people (staff, volunteers), money, materials, equipment, partnerships, research base, and technology among other things. (READ MORE)
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The Anti-Th anksgiving
(or Yeah, the Rich ARE Different)
It's not ALL bad news, but a recent Harris Poll reports that because of the current economy, Americans (at least those interviewed) have changed their behavior toward giving. At the most extreme, twice as many people have stopped giving at all since the last survey, which was in January 2009.Breathing a sigh of relief, that number is still only 12%.
The same number (31%) say they are giving smaller amounts, which makes me wonder if giving less is frozen at 2009 levels or if another 31% have now decreased their charitable giving. Just asking.
According to the poll, the charities that U.S. adults care most about personally and donate their time or money to the most are charities that focus on youth and families (21%), medical research (14%), and education (10%). The same types of causes (though in a different order) - education (19%), youth/families (18%) and medical research (12%) - are also the causes that people believe should be a priority for charities to focus their resources;
Proving that the rich really aren't all that much different, a Bank of America study found that while the very wealthy continue to support nonprofits at a high level (fortunately as they account for about two-thirds of all individual giving and about half of all charitable giving in the U.S), their average gift decreed by 35% from 2007.
Volunteering is an area where the rich are unlike the rest of us. According to the Harris poll reports that only a quarter of people-down from 31% in 2007-feel there should be a personal responsibility to make the world a better place by being actively involved various issues. The Bank of America study, on the other hand, found that nearly 79% of high net worth individuals volunteered in 2009 and the percentage who volunteered more than 200 hours a year rose significantly, from 27% in 2007 to 39% in 2009. Maybe they just have more time than we do.
It will be interesting to see as (if!) the economy improves if people's charitable behaviors change or if nonprofits will continue to have to work harder just so they can stay in place.
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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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