There are many pieces to starting up a new campaign. Especially for a small and growing organization this can mark a significant turning point. There are three critical things you should know about starting a new capital or endowment campaign:

1. Know if you’re not ready.

There are some very easy ways to tell if you are not ready for a capital or endowment campaign. One key indication is if your organization does not have a clear and concise idea of their mission and how to express this. This is true if for no other reason than a well formed mission statement is going to be the crux of your marketing materials. A capital or endowment campaign should be part of an existing strategic plan. If the organization does not have a strategic plan or the existing one does not involve the implementation of a new campaign, then this is another clear indication that the organization is not ready. Finally, if the organization has not outgrown its ability to deliver the services it provides. These campaigns are most effective, and just make the most sense, for times geared towards major expansions in staff, services, or space. If you don’t have any of these on the horizon, then this is not the time for such a campaign.

2. Make the right kind of goals.

There are three kinds of goals that should be associated with a capital or endowment campaign: mission development, strategic, and financial. The mission related goal should indicate how this campaign will work to further the overall objective of the organization. If your mission is to feed the hungry, then this campaign should have directly related goals, either expanding the scope or reach of your programs, or delivering existing ones in a more efficient or somehow superior way. The strategic goals should fit into the overall strategic plan of the organization. If the plan includes expanding services to a new neighborhood, then this campaign might be focus on a new office or community center to be built in that area. Finally, the most obvious goal is a firm and achievable financial goal. When you set the financial goal for the campaign, it should be a number that would be exciting and clearly beneficial to the organization, but also one you believe you can achieve and will not change throughout the campaign.

3. Have the available resources.

Having the right resources will be critical to the success of your campaign. There are several types of resources that will important: staff time, willing volunteers, a broad donor base and the appropriate software or other tracking systems. If your staff is already stretched to the limit, they will not be able to produce all of the necessary pieces of a successful campaign. Remember that this will include everything from marketing materials to gift acknowledgement and all of the steps in between. Your organization will also need buy-in from the board, who will not only be expected to donate, but will probably also be asked to do some of the hard work of fundraising for the campaign as well. Your organization will also need to be able to draw from a broad donor base. Not only should you be approaching your annual donors, but a large campaign is also a perfect opportunity to reach out to new people as well. Finally, you will need a way to process gifts and acknowledge them in a timely way, as well as track and report on the progress of the campaign. If the organization does not already have software or a proved system in place, this will be the time to get one.

It should be noted that there are certainly other factors to consider and detailed preparations to be made. However, if you’ve read over this and feel your organization meets or is close to meeting all the criteria mentioned above, then it may be time to at least discuss a capital or endowment campaign with you co-workers and board members.

“The deed is everything, the glory naught.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It is not uncommon in the world of philanthropy for gifts to be made anonymously. The first thing to do in this circumstance is make sure you are very clear about the donor’s intentions. Do they wish to remain anonymous only to the public? What about other administrators? Does their significant other even know they are making the gift? Once the level of anonymity has been determined, you can move on to the difficult work of appropriately thanking and recognizing their contribution without violating their wishes.

A personal phone call and note by the person who secured the gift and, therefore, obviously knows of its origins is always appropriate. Make sure the letter is sent to an appropriate address and correctly labeled to the donor only (meaning it is marked as private if sent to anywhere but their residence). If a public announcement about a gift is necessary, for instance they are underwriting a new building, speak with the donor about what is allowed. Perhaps they are OK with a public thank you to the ‘Anonymous Family’ who is donating the building. Just because they don’t want to be recognized by name doesn’t mean the public shouldn’t know about the gift, especially if it is as significant as a new facility or program.

The key here, as in all facets of nonprofit work, is communication. Ask plenty of questions so you know exactly what is or is not expected of your organization, and everyone will come away from the exchange happy. Only by respecting the donor’s wishes as far as appropriate use and recognition of the gift can you truly show your appreciation and hope for a continued relationship.

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Do More Mission founder and president, Todd J. Sukol, discusses the importance of choosing your words carefully when dealing with donors.

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I recently listed to a broadcast called Increasing Donations by Showing Impact. The key to the conversation was the word ‘showing.’ It is common knowledge in the nonprofit world that donors want to know how you are spending their money and the effect your programs are having. Communication is a critical element of fundraising. The discussion, however, made it very clear that the visual content involved in the communications can have a huge impact on your donors.

Meaningful images that demonstrate the difference your organization is making allows donors to see the real impact that their gift is having.  By focusing on behind the scenes examples and actual needs being met, your visual communications can allow for a different level of understanding and emotional connection. The best analogy used was shipping and tracking details. When you purchase something that needs to be shipped, you like to know where it is coming from and when you are going to get it. Even better is when the company allows you to see each stage of the package’s progress towards delivery.

Your donors can feel this same excitement to track the progress your organization is making. Clear visuals allow for a connection to the mission and transparency that donors will be enthusiastic about. And, by engaging them through visuals, they will ultimately feel a stronger connection which leads to more engaged donors and, ultimately, more money. The increase in donations will allow you to provide even more images demonstrating needs being met and impact being made.

The key, then, is to put together a visual story. Demonstrate clearly the need that exists using info-graphics or clear pictures. Then show how your organization is addressing that need. Use action shots or a series of pictures showing improvement in the situation over time. Finally, show the goal of the program. What will success look like for this project? Share a success or failure. By showing what is going on, donors will be able to see the story of where their money is going, what the money is being used to do, and the positive impact it is having.

Here is a great resource for putting together your own info-graphic.

Even school children know that the best way to make new friends is to already have some. Being seen around people makes more people want to be seen with you, and the same is true for foundations and nonprofits. Through connections and relationships with other organizations with overlapping interests, your organization can expand their reach and base of supporters in ways that would be impossible to do on your own. The best part is that this can help you do even more to address your mission, in addition to simply increasing your profile in the community. Collaboration is certainly not a new idea. For-profits have long been in the habit of collaborating or merging for financial reason and nonprofits have been discussing increased impact through collaborations for years.

The benefits of sharing resources have been well documented to improve effectiveness, efficiency and financial standing. This report by the Nonprofit Finance Fund follows two organizations through their efforts to collaborate and, eventually, merge permanently. While a difficult road, both organizations and their beneficiaries came out winners in terms of public image, finances and ability to address homelessness and related issues in Boston.

But it isn’t only nonprofit organizations that can reap the benefits of collaborating. Foundations also have a lot to gain by working with each other to fund projects or approach large problems from multiple angles. Many different types of funders are already working together to increase their impact, and this pooling of resources can have incredible effects. Clearly Aristotle’s  words are no less true today than in his time: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

I once learned that all thinking is a series of asking and answering questions in our minds. Most of the time we are totally unaware of the questions we ask ourselves — they live in our subconscious mind.  But if you pay attention to the kind of things you find your mind drawn to, you can uncover the questions you habitually ask. For example, I discovered that I frequently ask myself “what could go wrong in this situation?” This question can be useful in that it helps me anticipate problems and plan ahead in order to avoid them. But unchecked, this question can lead to a negative, defeatist outlook on life. My great discovery — and something I’ve been experimenting wit on and off ever since — is that we really do have the ability to choose what questions we ask ourselves and when. I have come to believe that by working gently but steadily at this we can take hold of our thinking and our moods in powerful and life changing ways.

Try this experiment:

1. Spend 10 minutes exploring what questions you habitually ask yourself. Write them down. Are these empowering questions or depleting questions?
2. Spend 20 minutes writing a list of questions that are more likely to lead to empowering thinking. Select a few of them to play with.
3. Throughout the rest of the day, ask yourself a few of these new, intentional questions over and over — don’t push, just gently ask these questions and let your brain do the rest. Notice how your mood changes and the quality of your interactions with co-workers, friends and family. Try not to judge yourself or worry too much about “doing it right. Just play.
4. Try this again tomorrow, maybe with some new questions. Play. Experiment. Be patient with yourself because completely changing our old ways of thinking doesn’t come easily for most of us. Don’t forget to breathe — life is better with more air!
5. Email me and let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear from you about this!

To help get you started, here are some of the questions I’m working on asking myself today:

• “What are you most grateful for right now?”
• “What strengths do you have that the world needs right now?”
• “If you were only going to accomplish one thing in the next two hours, what should it be?”
• “Who loves and respects you? Why?”
• “Whose deep potential are you in a position to encourage today? How can you best go about it?”

Thanks for reading this — I hope it helps you in some way. I know I needed the reminder, so it did me a world of good sharing this with you. Make it a great day! Or should I say — “How can you make today a great day?”

What a week — it’s only Wednesday morning and I’ve recharged my philanthropic batteries to the max. I spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning at the annual conference of the Council on Foundations in Chicago.

As usual it was stimulating to be among colleagues representing foundations large and small as well as many representatives of charitable organizations and vendors serving the sector. Of course there were many notable “movers and shakers” among the presenters (Click here for pics), which is always exciting, but the prevailing mood for me was one of hope. There are so many good people applying their talents, resources and energy to advancing the public good in effective ways.

On Tuesday I rode to Indianapolis with Philanthropy Archivist Brenda Burk for the inauguration of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The ceremony was inspiring and launching the world’s first academic school of philanthropy felt like a true turning point in our precious and important field. It was a particular joy to me to be present as a student in the Executive Masters program and to see some of my  teachers and classmates. Having been a practitioner in the field of philanthropy and nonprofit management for more than 20 years, it has been incredibly enriching to round out my perspective with the academic rigor of the Center on Philanthropy and now the newly inaugurated school.

Mrs. Irene Lilly McCutcheon, representing the Lilly family said it best when she paraphrased her great, great grandfather to advise the school’s leadership — and the rest of us by extension — to “take what you found here and make it better.” A great week for gaining perspective on the philanthropic sector — now back into the weeds to apply all that idealism on the ground…. where it is needed most.

A proxy is a way of measuring a complicated desired outcome using easy to acquire data about related outcomes. Also called an indirect indicator, these more manageable pieces of information allow an organization to have a better understanding of how they are making an impact in addressing complex issues. Everyone from Van Halen to the Grameen Foundation has used proxy indicators to help them quickly and easily assess how complicated variables are impacting a particular desired outcome.

For anyone engaged in nonprofit work, proxy indicators can be an immensely useful tool. They can be employed to evaluate complex issues through reporting and self-assessment. By using the most readily available, easily acquired, and simplistic data organizations can spend more time providing services and less time analyzing them. Some of the most complex problems, like environmental health, can only be understood using readily available proxies.

So, how do I use proxies to demonstrate the change being made by my organization? First, establish proxy indicators. Find easy to measure items that indicate how an impact is being made. Are there more dirty plates to clean in the soup kitchen? Maybe there are fewer reports of violence from the local precinct? In one example, maintenance staff reported on which displays made the biggest impact because the floor was dirtier and needed tiles replaced more often. Second, establish an easy way to record the information. If someone is going door-to-door to establish impact, make it as easy as possible to collect all of the information is a central, organized place. Finally, communicate the findings. Report on the indicators in a way that is meaningful. Be careful to explain why the indicators you are reporting on are integral to the mission and demonstrate whether or not progress is being made. When the appropriate information on these indicators is collected over time, you will be able to start to see where you are making progress, and also where you may need to reevaluate programs or refocus efforts.

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If your organization is providing services to youth, you may actually be doing them a disservice by not including them in part of the decision making process. In her article in The NonProfit Times, Susan Ellis explains that “if your organization provides services of any kind to teenagers and children, you have an obligation to ensure their perspectives as consumers are represented.” She explains that while most organizations are afraid of capitalizing on the potential of young volunteers, your organization might not only be missing a great opportunity but actually harming the same group you are trying to help. Younger volunteers are generally an untapped resource for a variety of reasons, but if your organization is providing them with services, they should have the opportunity to make their voices heard. The article suggests some very easy ways of including younger voices in your decision making process like peer review, advisors to the board, and panels at conferences or workshops.

The article above is a great place to start to make changes on how you engage and, therefore, how you can best help young people. For some other ideas on recruiting and making good use of young volunteers, check out these resources:

Top 10 Ways to Recruit and Engage Youth Volunteers

Tips and Tools for Organizations working with Youth Volunteers
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Do More Mission’s founder, Todd Sukol, likes to say that there is no magic bullet. People often come to us looking for that one, easy trick that will immediately transform their fundraising efforts. We aren’t that. But we can’t be because no such thing exists. There is no easy way to fundraise, no magic bullet, no simple answer to put you at the top of the fundraising hill. The world of philanthropy is, like many other things in life, hard work. And, similarly, you get out of it what you put into it.

There are many suggestions, classes, and online resources but the reality is that they all require time and energy to do right. Some people feel that fundraising should be left to only the professional fundraisers.  But they can’t do it alone either. They need the support and direct help of their executive director, board, and programming staff. Too often people feel that if it was just the right person, they would be able to raise the money and leave everyone alone. Unrealistic expectations lead to the sadly high turnover rate that so many nonprofits experience.

Fundraising requires a lot more than a pretty face and a sales personality. It requires planning, expertise, and hours of work. It needs to be aligned with budget planning as well as programs and service delivery. Fundraisers’ role, as the face of the organization the donors see, requires that they be well informed about all aspects of the organization. This takes time, trust and a willingness to cooperate throughout the whole organization. It also means that everyone in the organization has a responsibility towards the fundraising goals. Whether it is making direct pitches, accompanying fundraising staff to meetings, or contributing their time and stories towards making a newsletter – everyone must be an active participant in the fiscal success of the organization.

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