james m. langley, president amy gregg, senior associate langley innovations
TRANSCRIPT
James M. Langley, President
Amy Gregg, Senior Associate
Langley Innovations
Areas where partnering is most essential Strategic information gathering Volunteer identification and engagement Projecting a plan for the school, not just making a
case for more private support
Not about fundraising, but creating the conditions that encourage and inspire philanthropy
New realities A smaller percentage of donors influencing fundraising
totals An erosion of long-term, broad based support, the
bond portion of our philanthropic portfolios Fundraisers having greater difficulty in securing
appointments with new donors Skepticism toward all contact from schools
(tantamount to a request for funds) Even insiders rebuffing requests for feasibility studies Loyal donors asking for a plan not another case for
support
New realities A rigorous questioning of our cost-value
proposition Educational cost as a percentage of family
income The economic contraction revealed these issues but
did not cause them Gaps have been slowly growing
The realities of the school vs. the perception of constituents
For all institutions
What in fact we’re seeing are three realities that are continuing to diverge; that of The board/administration The advancement operation The current and prospective donors
The most successful schools will have the strongest alignment of those realities
New Realities
Barriers and gateways
The keys to securing more support in the face of these challenges are not: Increasing the number of fundraisers Being more aggressive Strengthening communications Launching a traditional campaign (based on long-
held assumptions) Particularly if you are emphasizing capital
improvements
The area where boards and advancement operations need to effect the strongest collaborations is in and around intelligence gathering
In exploring the potential divergence between what schools are seeking support for vs. what their supporters assign the greatest value to
And the degree to which its most important current and prospective supporters feel valued by the school – for their time and talents, not just their treasure
The way to accomplish both – to explore the gaps between the expectations of the school and those who might support it, and to make your current and potential supporters feel value – is to interview them Board – top donors and prospects, loyal donors Head – commissions, blue ribbon panels Advancing – polling (through means generally
reserved for one-way communications)
The Georgetown Experience 93% - excellent or very good education 84% - “profound impact” on my life 17% - giving
Student Discovery 7,000 interviews Alumni assured they would not be asked Overall giving (among lapsed donors) increased by
43% 20 percent gave their largest gift ever “I never felt more respected” “I can’t believe you sent someone all this way just
to see me”
Experience of other institutions
Discovery interviews Annual fund Pre-campaign Salon events Curricular reviews/longitudinal assessments Encouragement of class notes, “share your voice”
When relationship management appears to be relegated to advancement (or development), the constituent draws the obvious conclusion – the value the school assigns to me is conditional
Yet, the potential supporter thinks about a different set of conditions – time, talent and treasure
Volunteers give 10X
Relationship management should be, and perceived as, coming from the very top Current donors – most likely to give Lapsed donors, LYBUNTS Major gift stewardship/review
Donor Questions Was the experience satisfying? Do you feel good about the impact of your gift? Was there an emotional return on your investment? Do you feel closer to the school as a result? What have been your most positive interactions? Who best exemplifies what you most value about the
school? How could your relationship with the school be
improved? How do you feel about the direction of the school?
Donor Interviews Ongoing feasibility
Not just the usual sampling Skewed results
Identifying barriers and gateways Even if you are in a campaign, this outreach gives you
time to adjust/adapt Many will be more candid with you than with the staff,
and more apt to speak with you than a consultant
Prospect Questions What issues concern you most? What do you hope for your children? What must never change about this school? Where do you think change is most needed? How have you been involved? When was your last engagement, interaction
The next most important area for board-advancement partnerships is strategic volunteer engagement Seek out relevant talents Look for those who are grateful (in general) and
don’t take sole credit for their talents (self-made) Put them to work – task or task force Beware of boards, committees
Don’t build advancement staff, add volunteers Create one-hour work modules Provide toolkits Train Monitor performance
Time/talent is a treasure (must be a true offset of costs) Volunteers should not cost an organization Not a form of entertainment
Predictive of future treasure giving (money)
Think of every genuine need as an engagement opportunity
Greatest costs -- salaries
Identification/Recruitment
The best are the hardest to get, take the most time to court but ultimately make all the difference
Don’t just accommodate those who come to you looking for something to do
Avoid the “heavy hitter” syndrome, look for the mission driven, socially responsible, those who give outside their immediate self-interest
Create a farm system – task at time
If you survey your constituents – by any means – you will find a pent up desire to “be more engaged”
Engaging volunteers allows you show not tell, create a greater sense of ownership, shared purposes
Mayflower Compact 1620 “ …combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our
better ordering, and preservation …; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony.”
Preamble to the Constitution, 1787 “We the people ….”
“There’s a tremendous opportunity for nonprofits to build greater awareness and understanding of how they manage their organizations by sharing insights into their funding structure, project management and volunteer coordination practices. Transparency through open and frequent communication with current and prospective donors should always remain a priority.” -Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Volunteer Match
Survey
“Americans are practical people. They want explanations not soaring rhetoric.”
Value/cost proposition
Role of philanthropy
Traditional/Existing Strengths
New Capabilities
Current and Emerging Realties
Opportunities(Intellectual)
Limitations(Fiscal)
Challenges(Moral)
Alignment Potential
+$
Diminished Relevance/Effi
ciency-$
Strategic/Obligatory
Adjustments
Strategy: The Means by Which Internal Aspirations Are Conditioned by External Realities
Maintaining Relevance: A Sustainable Model
Increasingly important starting points in philanthropic discussions What difficult decisions have you made? How have you reallocated resources – from
inefficient uses obsolescent purpose to efficient uses and a strategic purposes
What specific objectives do you hope to achieve with specific levels of private support
Increasingly important starting points in philanthropic discussions Sources and uses Tuition dollars vs. private support
Core needs vs. the margin of excellence Value sustaining vs. value added
Growing numbers of donors express a concern that fundraising is being used to patch over systemic issues, avoid difficult decisions and that they don’t see the net impact of their support over time
Absent this, advancement staff, no matter how capable, will have an increasingly difficult time securing appointments, particularly with new prospects
Even when they are able to secure appointments, they will have difficulty advancing the discussion; prospects will remain “in cultivation”
They will be viewed as nice sales people incapable of addressing critical issues – and that will say something about the schools that deploy them
Old paradigm Identify, cultivate, solicit
New paradigm Afford voice, validate, volunteer talent, promote
ownership through problem and opportunity sharing
We the people …a more perfect union
Questions?
Real Work Beyond boards, please (especially fundraising
boards) Task forces Blue ribbon panels Commissions
Immerse in mission, delivery systems Touch the baby, render real service Trust
Real Issues Emotional health Family health/dynamics The creation of community
Students as stakeholders, responsible The anatomy of bullying, alienation Commitment to a common cause The celebration of values
Athletics vs. academics
Create work modules Look at political campaigns Define important work that can be done in one
hour, try out volunteer, increase increments according to interest, capability and performance (Student Discovery example) Tours Interviews/Polling/Market Research
Peer to peer Parent to parent
Create work modules The running of every organization requires the
assessment of what people are capable of doing and finding the appropriate level of work
People with sophisticated skills do not want to be assigned administrative tasks
If administrative tasks need be completed, find volunteers capable of and content with doing them Phone answering, stuffing envelopes, staffing
events
Reached a point where the greater logic says that volunteers need to be a permanent and critical extension of the professional organization How we began How we got so much done Institutions over-professionalized, stilted volunteer
spirit Cannot continue to increase costs Need more financial support
Need to think about building a professional organization and think about volunteers as non-paid, part-time professionals Job definition Recruitment/application Goals, objectives, metrics Performance reviews
Volunteer Skills High end abilities that we couldn’t otherwise afford
(voluntarism tied to years of formal education) Investing Law Strategy Marketing Computer science Health
Think of professional staff as functional core
Volunteers as selective, strategic augmentation
Advertise, interview for specific skills
Create a certain amount of redundancy
Stop thinking of them as prospects Humoring, ingratiating Tiptoeing around
Every time someone says, “I need more staff to ….”
Ask ourselves if that need represents an opportunity for volunteer contribution
Peter Drucker – A knowledge worker needs to be treated like a volunteer
Need to explore the relationship of control to productivity
Volunteers are unmanageable, undependable How much time did you spend seeking out
specialized talent vs. accommodating those that showed up?
When you don’t train and trust, how do you expect people to feel valued and essential to the enterprise?
When someone is given inconsequential work, how do you expect them to stay motivated?
If volunteers are highly successful in their professions, how could they not offer valuable service?
In too many cases, volunteer sub-optimization is attributable to one primary cause – urgent, unimaginative fundraising
“Volunteers” were/are really prospects; we sought to engage them to advance the fundraising process
Since they were more prospect than volunteer, we put them on boards and put on shows for them
We need to get real Real skill Real work Real contributions Real assessments Real decisions Real results