The Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse rotate around a very large table. Yet when Alice arrives, they wave her off, crying "No room! No room!" When staff and board at your organization sit down to hammer out a strategic plan, are donors welcomed to the table? Or are they sent away, as Alice was?
We all know that a strategic plan will result in the need for more money. And we all know that, in any campaign, the bulk of the resources come from a handful of donors. So why not invite those people who are most likely to be your major donors to pull up a seat, pour themselves a cup of tea, and join the party?
� When your plan is a twinkle in the eye of a visionary board or staff member, invite a handful of smart supporters to bat the ideas around and give them some shape.
� When the plan is a rough but coherent document, invite a handful of smart supporters to ask tough questions and give candid reactions.
� When the plan is nearly refined, share it with smart supporters, and ask what resonates and what doesn't.
You will end up with a better plan. You will end up with lead donors who understand your ambitions and feel some ownership for them. And you will avoid rotating endlessly around the table, as the Mad Hatter and his friends were destined to do, listening to the Dormouse drone about "things that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness-- you know you say things are 'much of a muchness!'"