Pursuant Webinar: Creating a Culture of Philanthropy
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The document discusses creating a culture of philanthropy within organizations, emphasizing the need for collaboration between fundraising and program departments. It highlights effective communication, storytelling, and the integration of development goals into staff evaluations as key strategies. The document also offers a series of actionable steps for leadership, development, and program staff to enhance fundraising efforts and achieve organizational goals.
Pursuant Webinar: Creating a Culture of Philanthropy
- 1. Creating a Culture of Philanthropy
- 2. Welcome!
- 4. Webinar housekee ping We’ll be doing polls and taking questions
- 5. Founder: Girlstart VP Training, Pursuant Featured on: Oprah, CNN, the Today Show AFP Outstanding Fundraiser of the [email protected] T: @rachelmuir (214) 866.7747 Your speaker Rachel Muir, CFRE
- 7. Programs and development had a crappy divorce and they’re only speaking to each other because of the kids.” “ Alia McKee, Sea Change Strategies
- 8. Is the bond broken or hanging on by a thread?
- 9. Is this you? Siloed or competing to meet your fundraising goals?
- 10. Funder goals vs client needs Funder goals vs client needs That’s my donor! Hands off! That’s my donor! Hands off! Programs that are deep vs broad Programs that are deep vs broad “Everyone’s funding X!” “Let’s change!” “Everyone’s funding X!” “Let’s change!” Established vs entrepreneurial Established vs entrepreneurial
- 11. Whose donor is it?
- 12. Poll: What’s your biggest challenge?
- 13. What is a Culture of Philanthropy?
- 14. Mission is focus. Fundraising is valued.
- 15. We embrace that we all play a role in fundraising
- 16. We’re all on the front lines together.
- 17. We need each other.
- 18. What makes power couples powerful? .
- 19. Respect & understand different needs.
- 20. Programs May not know donors May feel intimidated by donors Can feel at the whim of “cause du jour” Lives the “what”and the “how” You told a donor we’re going to do WHAT? Felix, gimmie a story that’s a tear jerker.
- 21. I was once in your shoes.
- 22. Our courtship We speak programs. We speak CEO. We speak fundraising.
- 23. How we turned it around Brought in a trainer Filtered decisions through mission & core values Explored myriad program benefits Celebrated gifts, wins & encouraged storytelling
- 24. Don’t ask programs for stories. Ask them questions.
- 25. Source: Boring 2 Brilliant, Author Lori Jacobwith Who did you turn away? What made them come to us for services? What are we able to do for them? What are we not able to do for them? Is there anyone you met lately that made you feel so proud we exist? Get programs talking!
- 26. How Girlstart gathers stories Programs authors blog posts Surveys Social media Interview & video volunteers Application questions
- 27. 5 things development can do Steward program staff like donors Build development plan with programs input Sit in program planning meetings Shadow programs in field Prepare program staff (donor cheat sheet)
- 28. 5 things programs can do Give development program cheat sheets Tell development who clients are Shadow development on an ask Build donor showcase into program events Sit in on development planning meetings
- 29. 5 ways for leadership to create a culture of philanthropy Put development goals in staff evaluations Put development goals in staff evaluations Reward assists and points scored Reward assists and points scored Celebrate what you want more of Celebrate what you want more of Articulate in handbook, interviews Articulate in handbook, interviews Set a model example Set a model example
- 32. Poll: What is your greatest obstacle to building a culture of philanthropy?
- 33. How will we know we’re there? Everyone is willing to do what it takes regardless of their role Everyone is willing to do what it takes regardless of their role Everyone knows “the story” and case for giving Everyone knows “the story” and case for giving Donors visits are welcomed Donors visits are welcomed Everyone understands the importance of each department Everyone understands the importance of each department Everyone is fluent in programs and development Everyone is fluent in programs and development
- 34. Questions?
- 35. Thank you! [email protected] T: @rachelmuir (214) 866.7747
- 36. Did you know Pursuant offers classroom and custom training?
- 37. Join us: Fearless Fundraising Training Aug 19th The Art of the Ask How to Build a Portfolio How to Qualify, Retain & Upgrade Donors How to Tell Your Story
- 38. Join us for training, Aug 20 or Sept 17th Earn CFRE credit
Editor's Notes
- #3: Welcome from Cassie
- #4: Cassie gives folks twitter handle & hashtag
- #5: Cassie explains: Rachel will be accepting questions anytime – but will answer them at end. Please use question box! We are going to do a couple of polls You will be invited to a SUPER short survey after the webinar – please share your feedback, we value your opinion and delivering you great content! You will receive the webinar recording in your inbox in about 24 hours
- #6: Cassie gives Rachel introduction. Rachel has over 20 years experience starting and running nonprofits. When she was just 26 years old, launched Girlstart, a non-profit organization to empower girls in math, science, engineering and technology in the living room of her apartment with $500 and a credit card. At Girlstart they raised over 10 million dollars and were featured on Oprah, CNN, and the Today show. She LOVES helping people become more confident fundraisers and build strong rewarding relationships with their donors. Serves as Vice President of training at Pursuant and without futher ado I will turn things over to her!
- #7: Thanks for joining us! Not too long along this is what programs and development looked like at the organization where I worked. A lot of you on the call might feel like this too. There could be a dividing line between programs and development or it could be between direct response and major gifts. Maybe its between your staff and your board. We are going to talk about how to change that and how to get back together today how to transform these teams, in particular programs and development into a happy, healthy power couple and build a thriving culture of philanthropy at your organization.
- #8: I told my friend Alia McKee I was doing this webinar and she made this comment about some of the strained tensions she’s seen in the field. If this is how you’d describe your relationship at your organization you are not alone.
- #9: You may be hanging on by a thread or as Alia said, just talking for the sake of the parties involved.
- #10: You could be feeling as frustrated as this fundraiser. You may be siloed, or worse have competing goals, maybe your CEO or other key leadership aren’t engaged in fundraising and you are having to carry the burden alone. Maybe you have a board of directors with an endless array of great fundraising suggestions, like “Hey! Richard Branson has a lot of money and he is a parent, so he must care about kids and education. Rachel, go ask him for money.” when in truth you have no one to open a door to you to Richard Branson and even of they could, your mission doesn’t fit into his priorities.
- #11: You could be caught in real tug of war between your teams and priorities. I like to call this 1st one “cause du jour” – otherwise known as mission creep – changing your mission to follow the funding…” If your “Funder’s goals don’t meet up with your clients deepest needs” you are going to have conflict between programs and development. Or maybe there’s tension around the format of the program – big picture vs narrow in scope. I know at Girlstart I often saw a real see saw between preferences for the “new” and entrepreneurial or the proven, tried and true programs that could boast a long track record of success. Finally you may have Turf wars with donors, where a particular staff member might be hoarding access to a donor and treating them as “Theirs” – Donors don’t BELONG to people, they should be connected to the cause. When we look at these challenges its really no wonder there’s conflict.
- #12: This is one of the toughest challenges to overcome. Again, donors do not belong to staff members they belong to the organization but that doesn’t stop turf wars from happening. Some of that happens because of our internal systems. Direct mail may be reluctant to see donors move to a major gift portfolio and risk not hitting their number the next year. The more invested leadership is in creating a culture of philanthropy that is donor centered and the more they reward collaboration and resolve conflicting or competing targets the faster and more transformative the change.
- #13: Which is your biggest challenge with your internal culture: We aren’t engaged building and nurturing relationships Our leadership isn’t committed to fundraising Fundraising is seen as development’s job without support from other departments There’s too much competition between departments
- #14: A culture of philanthropy is your organization’s attitude toward philanthropy. Is it embraced and celebrated? Or is it misunderstoood and seen as a means to an end? Leadership sets the tone for what is valued and celebrated but we do too - our attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values that we share at work each day can dramatically influence our culture of philanthropy.
- #15: A culture of philanthropy is one where everyone’s focus is on the mission, and fulfilling it and we embrace the role of philanthropy in fulfilling that mission. Naturally, fundraising works infinitely better when everyone sees the value of philanthropy. But what happens too often is that organizational attention drifts. Focus drifts way from fulfilling the mission to the organizations needs and not society’s needs. My colleague Gary Cole Organizations talks about this and explores that drift in detail in his whitepaper on rethinking a culture of philanthropy: Surf to Gary’s whitepaper: http://www.pursuant.com/fundraising-resources/rethinking-a-culture-of-philanthropy-key-concepts-to-assess-an-organizations-culture/
- #16: Creating a culture of philanthropy is NOT about making everyone a fundraiser - About embracing the role and meaning of philanthropy for the organization. The truth is that every person in your organization has a role to play in fundraising.
- #17: Fundraising is everyone’s opportunity. Do you remember playing red rover on the playground at school? Think of this girl breaking through the chain as a major donor leaving your organization because the philanthropic links were too weak – there wasn’t enough of a strong bond and connection to nurture and keep them.
- #18: At the end of the day we just have each other. We are tying to fill the same mission. We have the power to change our culture. Let’s talk about power couples for a minute.
- #19: What makes them great? They have a common goal, they know each others strengths, and they play to them. Respect each others individual role – programs and development can have tension here – i.e. programs feel like they are more noble, development feel like they are more important. They are confident in themselves and letting the other person shine and get the credit.
- #20: Starts with understanding the unique experiences, motivations and perspective of the other person.
- #22: Julie assumed Rachel would sell just about anything to get a new donor , i.e. robot goes through fire (Rachel will do anything and Julie has to make it happen and fire is bad) Rachel assumed programs were uncomfortable with being sensitive to donors wants. Rachel assumed that programs felt inconvenienced by donors demands.
- #24: Rang a cowbell when gifts came in, regular staff retreats, rewarded assists as well as wins, solicited stories from clients & program staff, shared stories at each staff meeting. Identified all possible wins: from the impact on students, to raising money, reaching a broad audience, attracting great community awareness. What gives us the greatest rewards? Financial? Exposure? Impact? Brought in a trainer to help with communications & core values
- #25: My advice is do not put programs on the spot. It’s too overwhelming to ask for a tear jerker story. Make it easy for programs. Develop your relationship with programs and ask questions to reveal the stories.
- #26: Go to Lori’s site boring 2 brilliant
- #27: Part of program staff’s job description is sharing stories through blog posts Survey girls (and parents) before, during & after Asking stories on social media, doing tweet outs Interviewing volunteers, just started using instagram video Asking questions on scholarship applications with permission to use
- #29: Finally… Create opportunity for donors to see programs in action Just like development can shadow a program visit, programs can shadow a donor ask! Huge way to build understanding and respect for roles. If you tell them about the clients you can help them prospect – here’s an example at Girlstart. Once we restored trust in our power couple’s relationship, programs would let development know “Hey, that high tech company you’ve been courting for a corporate sponsorship? We have 3 campers whose moms work there!” If educate development on what programs are they can better position them to potential funders
- #31: NeighborWorks America is one of the country’s preeminent leaders in affordable housing and community development.
- #33: What is your greatest obstacle to creating a culture of philanthropy? Buy in from leadership Buy in from staff members Focus on short term over long term
- #37: 2 offers (also train staff)
- #38: Classroom training core description: Fearless Fundraising