Archive for category: Uncategorized

Are your barriers real?

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For several months, our road has been torn up – beautiful old trees cut down, wires buried, bike path roughed in, and a round-about and medians added. We are just now about to lay the final new pavement.

The ROAD CLOSED sign has been my daily companion for almost 6 months. For my neighborhood, Lacy Road is our only way to get in and out. Period. My car is constantly dirty, the wait can be up to 10 minutes for the flagman to give me a turn, and the loose gravel and holes at times make the trek feel like a safari adventure. Only this week, as you can see, did the first layer of new blacktop appear!

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Every day as I slowly make my way down our ever-under-construction road, I consider how this mirrors our lives. What started out as something really annoying has honestly been tremendously empowering. You see, every day I DRIVE THROUGH THE BARRIER! Every day I drove over the bumps and gravel..now the rough new pavement. Every day I get to where I want to go ANYWAY!

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A barrier is defined as a fence or other obstacle that prevents movement or access.

It is also defined as a circumstance or obstacle that keeps people or things apart or prevents communication or progress; “a language barrier”.

What are the barriers we come up against? Perhaps the better question we need to ask ourselves… “Is this really a barrier?”

Let me give you an example.

I recently had the privilege of keynoting, “Cumbre Iberoamericana de Desarrollo Institucional” (CIDI) in Mexico City at the invitation of Carlos Madrid, the President of the Junta De Asistencia Privada Del Distrito Federal. AFP Mexico Foundation sponsored my talk, “The Power and Joy of Philanthropy” as part of this conference. The conference presented many barriers for me.

  • I can say, “Hola.” (After the first day I figured out it is really “Ola” no “H”) When I was introduced at the opening ceremonies the guy next to me jabbed me so I knew to stand up and wave a greeting.
  • How do I sing, “People love to give me Money!” and my other songs? How do I slow down enough for interpretation? How do I share my slides in a meaningful way? Yikes.
  • As part of our arrangement, my book, “Empowering Your Board to Serve as Effective Development Ambassadors” was to be translated into Spanish and given to the conference participants. This proved to be a bigger barrier than first anticipated as there aren’t really even words for some of my key phrases!
  • The night before my talk the earthquake struck and folks within our conference family were not alive to be with us. How would I deal with this?

There were certainly barriers of the “circumstance or obstacle that keeps people or things apart or prevents communication or progress” definition variety!

But here is what I learned. 

  • No barrier could keep down my passion for sharing my message of positive mindset and the power and joy of giving.
  • No barrier could prevent my music from energizing others.
  • No barrier could stop a smile and a hug from being returned to me.
  • No barrier could stop us from staying the course at translation of my book and my slides. (Thank you, Rose Sandoval, AFP Mexico.)
  • No barrier could block the support we get from sharing with each other….even with an earthquake in the middle.
  • No barrier could keep me from communicating even with “Hola” as my only Spanish.
  • No barrier could take away the sincere gratitude I felt for speaking (even without being able to read the plaque).
  • No barrier could block my determination to share a sincere and honorable purpose.

We encounter barriers every day.

  • Perceived tight budgets.
  • Staff out on leaves or vacant positions.
  • Not enough major donor prospects.
  • Too many things on our plates.
  • Illness.
  • Program staff and leadership that doesn’t “get” fundraising.
  • Competition from so many non-profit causes.
  • Lack of technology or equipment.
  • Changing grant funding.
  • Flat tires.
  • Increasing costs of building mid-campaign.
  • Leadership changes.
  • Even…..hurricanes and earthquakes.

I’m sure you can add your own barriers to getting done what you want to do.

Barriers exist. But how tall, or wide, or menacing, or scary, or impossible they are…? That is ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE to determine. How frustrated, angry, discouraged, down, or ranting you get….? That is ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE to determine.

You can take a detour, drive through the barricades, ask for help, plan in some extra time for the delays, stay upbeat and use your amazing minds to create new ways. Get going! Year-end is just around the corner and your missions need you to be ready to navigate the barriers.

Let me hear you, “I create my life!”

You do. And I know that there really are no barriers that can stand in your way.

Invest in Joy!

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Artful Asker

Marcy Heim is a trusted authority in the development profession and helps organizations and educational institutions boost their major gift programs through artful, long-term relationship building that dramatically increases fundraising success while promoting increased staff job satisfaction. To receive a free chapter from Marcy’s book, Empower Your Board to Serve as Effective Development Ambassadors, click here.

Questions: Contact Cathy Yerges at Cathy@MarcyHeim.com

Are You ON FIRE With The Possibilities?

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As you move forward this fall, are you embracing the upcoming special holidays, sports and year-end fundraising tasks with excitement?

 Or, are you pulling out last year’s agendas and plans, digging out last year’s decorations and putting them up in the same places with a sigh, “Where did the summer go?”

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Here’s a few thoughts on how you can embrace opportunity:

1. Stir Yourself Up!  We must be willing to ask, “How can I show up every day filled with life and excitement about the work I GET to do?”  Don’t wait for your boss, your spouse, your donors or someone else to get you excited – Stir yourself up!

 2. Scrap the old, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.  If an event or process is just going along because you’ve “always done it that way,” SHAKE IT UP! Keep some things ‘comfortable’ for your participants (say… where they park) but make the rest of the experience sizzle with new energy!  If your personal relationships have turned sort of ho-hum (like your marriage), DO YOUR PART to initiate some excitement!

3. Start right now. Do something differently on the very next call you make.  What separates the really successful people is that they immediately IMPLEMENT something new consistently.

4. Be ok with Messy. Be ok perhaps making a mess of it. Life, and any action, is a process. You don’t arrive. Accept that it may be a bit wonky and that will feel uncomfortable. Same old, same old is boring. Don’t ask, “What if this goes wrong?” ask instead, “Why not try it and see?”   

5. “I Create My Life.” Start every single day declaring this out loud. Take back the knowledge that you create everything that is in your life. Life doesn’t happen to you.  You choose how you think about it, the words you use around it and how you will react.

Are you ON FIRE with the possibilities?

Go get it – your life, I mean.  Remember…I am dedicated to your delight and fulfillment as you embrace this honorable and noble profession.

Invest in Joy!

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How To (and not to) Create Emotion and Drive Action With Stories

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Stories told for good can raise millions. I’m a great storyteller. Sharing stories for 23 years about our UW-Madison faculty, research and students connected my donors to the results of their giving.  Givers felt uplifted by their giving experience.

But what happens when our stories so manipulate the emotions of the listener that their lives are haunted, hopeless or forever changed?  Or, they feel anger, disgust, or hate towards other people based on your story – a story strategically set up to elicit that action and it creates divides between people? Do we say, “bravo?” Where is the line drawn and who draws it?

Let me give you an example John Trybus shared.  Using virtual and augmented reality headsets, he said, is a new trend in storytelling.  According to John, prospective givers to Planned Parenthood put on a headset that puts them into a story of a young girl contemplating an abortion walking through heckling crowds. He also shared another example, where YOU are a cow given human characteristics and the truck is coming for the slaughterhouse.

Is this the future of our “honorable and noble” profession?

Does the lust for desired action (getting money, shutting down farms, getting our way) justify the means?  Is this part of the Donor Bill of Rights? Do we want children to see this?

And here’s the biggy for me. Does this foster more understanding, compassion, enlightenment, and unity? Does wealth or stardom provide different access or let you “off-the-hook” for some of the very practices you want the “common man” to take? Do our stories inspire actions we didn’t intend out of the emotional upheaval we created?

Now Tammy Zonker was just down the hall at AFP Fundraising Day Wisconsin with her session on the 5 Donor Love Languages.  It was a wonderful session on how to creatively, authentically and consistently shower our donors – especially our largest investors – with experiences that cement a positive, caring relationship between them and our organizations.  First off, donors deserve to enjoy their giving. And, the lifetime value of a continuous giver is significant. Beyond this, it is uplifting for all.

In the middle room of the conference was Penelope Burk – THE researcher who spent 47 years conducting sophisticated research to provide real data on how donors, fundraisers and leadership think and feel. I am a big fan because her research consistently supports what I say to be true, “based on my experience.” Thank you, Penelope for the documentation!

Perhaps Penelope would consider a research project to see if people want to be frightened, horrified, sickened, angered, and/or disgusted into giving. Or, would they rather see the positive results our good work can do to alleviate pain, increase understanding and empathy, discourage judgement and encourage appreciation and acceptance?

Now I am sure all the negative raises money.  Perhaps you have your comment ready to share about the success of your negative, scary, sad or violent campaign. Here’s what I know: There is a lot wrong in the world. People don’t agree on what is wrong or the best way to fix it.  We have the power to move people to action – peaceful and violent.

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Later this week, we’ll be driving our last child, David, to Berklee College of Music in Boston!  What will his future hold? Remember how YOU feel about anything is just that – how YOU feel, your perspective given your experiences and knowledge.  That doesn’t make it true or false, or right or wrong.

Please take some time to continuously reflect on these questions

  • Does your work indeed promote a better life for all?
  • Is it true to your values?

I challenge you to behave everyday in a way that fosters joy, deepens understanding, and embraces those on the opposite side of your beliefs.

Invest in Joy!

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No Fundrasing Close Involves Just One Person

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Consider every action you ask someone to take – call, write, volunteer, give–as a contract of sorts–an agreement. It is a partnership between you and them. BOTH of you are part of making it happen.

4 Actions to Improve Fundraising Results

1. Always have these questions in mind as you think about your prospective givers overall

“What do you need from me?

“When should I be coming back to help you?”

We talk a great deal about getting that first appointment, beginning the conversation. It can take special effort (and lots of it) to make someone comfortable with the shift from the transactional feel of an appeal letter to the relational face-to-face visit. Or perhaps, like our Loaned Executives, you are new to this relationship. Switch “Dollar Goal First, Donor Second” to “Donor First, Dollar Goal Second.”

2. Create 1-3 specific possible actions you can ask for before the touch ends

You should only have this awkward “first visit” once. From that point forward, consider that every touch you make has a beginning, a middle, and a close. I think we plan for the beginning and the middle but do we really think through what action options we want to suggest at the close? Take good care to plan what the NEXT steps could be BEFORE you make the call.

“I’ll suggest Sally meet up with Joe from the Board. He gives to the area I think she’s interested in too.”

“I’ll invite Sally to hold October 15 open for our next chance to visit–that’s just after we’ll have a key result in another area I think she’s interested in that I can share.”

3. At the call, make setting up the next steps a collaborative conversation

Always remember to build rapport with the person you are with and get a deeper sense of how they like to participate, how they are comfortable taking action, what sort of tasks they seem to get excited about, and what seems to be a drag to them. Ask them to take notes with you and read back what you agreed to in the conversation.

“How do you feel or think about the conversation we just had?”

“What is our next step?”

“Ok, so you and your wife will find some time to talk over these giving options and then we’ll meet again.”

4. Embrace helping them experience success as your cherished responsibility!

THIS IS A BIG ONE!  Often we are disappointed when donors or board members don’t take the actions they say they will. Or they don’t act quickly enough. Or, we feel it only happens with our prodding…and prodding some more. “Sure he helped make the appointment, but only after I bugged him 10 times!”

If you remember that every agreement is like a contract–and no contract on earth is signed by one person–it’s always two, then you can embrace a new mindset around your role. You are not chief heckler; you are chief contract-keeper–a service to your donor. Embrace your donor as really wanting to do the right thing but just needing your help and support. It’s simply YOUR part of the agreement!  

Here to help you TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for your Success!  

Let me hear you….”I CREATE MY LIFE!”

Invest in Joy!

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Creating the Best Relationships Includes Others – Our Partners

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You CAN’T, and shouldn’t, do it alone.

I used to try to do it all myself.  I’m smart, dedicated, passionate and pretty darn talented at creating sincere relationships that benefit all involved – personally and professional.  And for sure….by the time you get someone else involved, you could do it yourself THREE times over, right? 

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!  

Relationships are murky, but they add SO much to our lives.

Let’s look at our kids.  Sure, we are their parents. But navigating growing up involves more than you. Here’s an example of potential “partners” that help us raise kids (and I’m sure I’ve missed some). Our kids have opinions and beliefs that are shaped and reshaped by so many others and these partners change over time. Your kids certainly pick up your values and beliefs, but you aren’t the only one influencing what choices your kids make – the good and not-so-good ones. 

Creating our major giver relationships also takes partners 

 

Spend some time thinking about ALL YOUR potential donor partners! 

Ask your major donors, “Who are all the people you think about when you think about our organization?

Are you getting all these partner dots connected?

Certainly every donor has a unique experience with you.

Did they volunteer before they gave? Do they know others who have deeply benefited from your services? Do they really KNOW what you do? Do they feel like they have “friends” within your organization?  Is your organization a community connection for them? Are they clear on the impact various giving will have?

EVERYONE has a unique role and opportunity to be part of your organization’s culture of generosity – from the receptionist to the most major giver. Partners can help all around the Cycle of Successful Relationships.

How? Let’s take a tour 

1. Consider Shared Values and Interests

People like people who are similar to themselves. So, if your board and staff think about others they know who share their values and interests, chances are they will share an interest in your organization. Don’t just ask, “Who do you know who has money?” Ask, “Who shares your values and interests and would be in a position to also want to invest in us, as you have?”  This is a great way to add to your donor base.

2. Begin the Conversation

That tough 1st appointment. Are you having trouble getting that first visit? Partners open doors. BUT, they must trust that you will handle people they suggest with respect and not “Go for the ask” on the first visit.  Tell your partner what you will do during this initial conversation — get acquainted, share impact of the organization, get their advice, get a deeper feel for their values and interests, what else in the community is important, look for a next step.

3. Creating a Joyful Giver 

What partners will help you provide the most amazing experiences and passion for what your organization does? A student, a camper, a member of your friends group, a successful client, a staff member, a board member, another donor? And, as you engage partners more and more, they have more and more stories to tell– and they will! Brainstorm the best ways to connect and educate with your partners and ask them to take the lead. Sometimes, it seems hard to get on your major donor’s calendar. Well, an interesting partner will often make it happen! These folks ROCK at telling your story.. but more importantly, they can become a part of other givers’ lives – everyone wins. Think about it… don’t you tend to go with a friend to volunteer or attend an event? Help create these friendships.  

4. Making an Artful Ask 

Partners may be a good fit for smaller asks, but 95% of all board members and other partners HATE this piece. Frankly, it is ALL they think about when they hear the word “fundraising.”  I believe you will be so much more successful if you just take them out of this piece EXCEPT to go with you to share why THEY give. Let the professional speak the Ask.  

5. Being a Grateful Recipient 

This is THE BEST PLACE to engage your partners! As development professionals, we often have grand intentions of elaborate (or ANY for that fact) thank you experiences, but we just don’t get them done. Get a few partners together and explore, “What can we do so that our donors are crystal clear on just how very much we appreciate their giving?” and brainstorm. Ask if they might be comfortable taking that appreciation step themselves.  Bingo! They will get the hang of it – taking you far beyond the thank you note or phone call. It’s exciting and important because the donor deserves to enjoy the giving! (And sure, great stewardship also leads a donor to ask, “What else do you need?” which takes us to the next giving opportunity!)

Now, what do YOU need to do?

1.  Change your mindset about using partners from, “It’s a bunch of wasted time” to “It helps me best engage my donors.” Make this a priority!

2.  Be patient. Yes, it can take a long time to get a board member or another staff member to help at first. It’s worth it.

3.  Complete the circle. Be sure when you ask others to be a part of this, you stay in touch with them about the progress.

4. When you tell donor stories, mention everyone involved – from the receptionist to the Top Dog.

5. BELIEVE THIS –  It better serves your donors to have multiple connections to your organization… beyond you. It’s sort of a power move by some major giving officers to want to be the only one. That’s not best for the donor or the non-profit.

6. Educate your partners on the power of their partnership. Show them my cycle and explain how they don’t have to ask for money to really help you! Every time your colleagues do their work well, relationships are built.

7. Remember that your partners are benefiting too!

8. Get going! Right now – mid-year – is when you need to be making GREAT visits to set the stage for year-end asks.  Get these appointments done. It will give you a comfortable and wildly successful year end! 

Invest in Joy!

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Creating White Space in your Life – Part 2

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The bad news is time flies – the good news is you’re the pilot.

In the last Artful Action, I gave you eight take aways to create WHITE SPACE!

White space is the open space between blocks of copy or graphics.

The amount and location of white space gives you a feeling that reading a piece will be easy or challenging.  It also gives you the mental pause to digest and reflect on what you’ve read.

So it also is with your life.

Planning those moments of openness gives you the space to reboot your too-full and too-bombarded brains. It also gives you the space to be creative – able to do more than just numbly (and generally too quickly) react.

When I coach individuals and non-profits, I see environments that are out of alignment with time on several levels.  Today, I’d like to look at how some organizations function and steps you can take FOR YOU to be happier and more productive WITHIN these environments.

Does this sound like your non-profit organization?

  • There is a “do more with less” mentality.
  • The Board vomits ideas, and you jump to add them to the list without considering the impact on staff, systems, budgets and current priorities first.
  • The goal is to stay one step ahead of the shark biting you in the butt…meet today’s crushing deadline.
  • There is judgment around “value” based more on frantic activity than actual productivity.
  • There are bosses (cultures) who have absolutely no boundaries on their time and expect you to be the same. This blurs the lines between work and personal and both seem “on” all the time for everyone.

How do YOU Create a Better Relationship with Time?

1. Take control of your time

To control your time you must first understand how you are thinking about it, where it is going now and how you can redirect where you spend it.

What is your MINDSET around time?

I will begin where I always begin.

“We Become What we Think About” Earl Nightingale – the Strangest Secret.

So how we THINK about our time impacts how we FEEL about our time. How we FEEL about our time impacts the ACTIONS we take and our ACTIONS create our results. (Enough time)

How are you thinking about your time?

  • “How will I get this all done?”
  • “There is SO much to do.”
  • “Nobody else around here does anything.”
  • “I don’t have quality time with my family.”
  • “I am CRAZY busy.”
  • “There is never enough time.”
  • “I am exhausted.”

What you tell yourself IS what you experience.  So begin with, “I Create My LIFE” and take responsibility for deciding that YOU control your time.  Change how you talk to yourself about your time.

  • “I GET to do these visits/projects/tasks today.”
  • “I can focus 100% for this time on Johnny” (Moms, put down your cell phone, PLEASE)
  • “Today I will get this most important task done.”
  • “I am totally unplugged now.”
  • “I am clear on what is more important.”
  • “I take action in my time and focus.”

Nothing I teach you from here will make any difference if you continue to tell yourself you are crazy busy and overwhelmed. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.  

PROTECT YOUR TIME

NEXT understand that there is a difference between protecting your time and managing your time.

Protecting your time means you TAKE AND PLAN YOUR TIME according to your thoughtful, planned goals.

Managing your time is applying those tools and techniques you have all heard to try to maximize what you can get done in every minute – to perform at peak proficiency.

Too many of us only work on managing our time while allowing others to dictate how we spend our time.

In order to TAKE AND PLAN YOUR TIME, you need to know where is goes now.

About 3 times each year, I do a Time Audit. This is when I judiciously and honestly (this is not easy) track what I do in 15 minute chunks for 2 weeks. This includes how many times I jump to email or texts (for some this is Facebook) while allegedly doing a task.  This is eye-opening.

After you see where your time goes now, figure out where you need to better DIRECT it.

  • Delegate.  Determine your time cost per hour – delegate anything less expensive than what you make per hour – house cleaning, filing, etc.
  • Decide what is Urgent versus Important.  Important has to be discovered. Urgent is someone else’s agenda. Always seek clarity with your supervisor.
  • Take the Kolbe A Test. It will tell you how you work and where you need support.
  • Manage what you measure. Pick the key facts that speak to where you are trying to go.  Take charge of your data! Too much adds to the overwhelm. Number of visits instead of dollars is a great place to start.

2. Proactively manage those times when “everything happens at once!”

Schedule time to look ahead for “high-stress” times. You can see the potholes coming. For me, it’s a big client event, a band gig, flying out to speak, kid’s birthday all at once.

Be honest here – you see this coming. Proactively manage these times. 

  • Set clear priorities and when you are asked to add tasks, seek clarity on priority with what you are currently doing. I had a workshop participant who was constantly on email to the point where others ask me to speak to her about being engaged.  She said her boss was sending her emails and she was panicking about how she would get these and current tasks done.  After some coaching, the boss said he was just moving these things to her to get them off his mind and really hadn’t addressed a deadline. When she asked these to be prioritized, he was glad to do it in a way that worked for both.  He also was not intending his email to be read during the workshop. Really that was her unwillingness to turn it off, not his. He would have preferred she was fully engaged in the workshop.
  • You know when your child was born – you were there. Your friends/parents/key donors birthdays, anniversaries, do NOT Change. Give yourself a tickler to get a card, gift, order balloons well ahead and DO IT (or delegate it).
  • Ask others to shift to make these situations workable.  Sometimes, it’s better to celebrate a personal event on a different day so the key players can be ALL IN. How this works is largely dependent on how you feel about it – your mindset.  Are you apologizing or creating an exciting time, just on a different date?   
  • Build space into project timelines.  Look at everything you commit to in light of everything else you are doing – not just what this one task takes as if you had nothing else to do!  

3. Embrace structure as a source of freedom

The dog runs free in the dog park.  On a leash, he’s stuck at your pace and path.  The fence gives him this freedom.

Your Calendar is your friend.

  • Group like-work together so you get on a roll.
  • Block off time for recurring tasks. Maybe this is “write thank you notes” from 8:00-8:30 three mornings each week.  
  • Eat that Frog. Begin with your biggest, ugliest task each day and get it done.  You will be FREE of the weight of the big task the rest of the day.
  • Set (and keep) appointments for working on tasks. Block time to write that visit follow-up letter and then don’t let anything stop you!
  • Plan for the knowns. Hedge against “everything happening at once.”
  • SLEEP. For goodness sake, GO TO BED.
  • Create RAPS. Relationship Action Plans for each major donor gives you the freedom to know what comes next.
  • Schedule time to THINK.  This is the time you stare into space – a bit glazed looking.  But your mind is working – not frantically, but creatively.
  • Exercise. This can be as simple as standing up and stretching for 30 seconds.
  • Find something that takes your mind away. For me, it’s my band. I can’t sing and think about other things.  But take care here to prioritize the time this takes into the overall plan.

4. Manage yourself during times of overload 

  • Breathe. It’s always available to you. There is nothing like a few deep breaths.
  • Silence.  Step away and watch a second hand for 60 seconds. Go to the bathroom and hide in a stall if you have to.  
  • Laughter.  Just start laughing – really.
  • Mind-consuming activity.  I sing! What can you do?
  • Ask yourself, “What thoughts deserve my full attention right now?”
  • Break away for a bit.  Just yesterday I stopped to watch a sunset.
  • Ask yourself – “Am I hungry? Am I tired?” It makes a massive difference.  
  • Delay key conversations.  “This conversation is very important to me and I need a bit more time to reflect.”

Yes, the bad news is time does feel like it flies, but the good news is you’re the pilot.  And when you protect your time and prioritize what is most important, personally and professionally, you win!  

Thank you for allowing me to share this time with you. I am honored you made this a priority for you!

Invest in Joy!

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Creating White Space in your Life – Part 1

Issue 12 blog

Do some days feel too packed to even begin? 

Do your “smile” muscles hurt? Have you fallen asleep in a movie?  (Be honest here – my 19-year-old son has.)  Are you pushing through a fog all day? Do you feel like you’re ON all the time? Is it summer, but you feel like you’re drowning? Are you mentally exhausted?

This is not an age thing or a non-profit or fundraising thing. It’s a SPACE thing. It’s when there is NO WHITE SPACE on your calendar or in your brain! You are too FULL!

Mobile giving, monthly giving, tours, major gifts visits. You could literally be on a free webinar from 6am until midnight every day. Club leagues, summer programs, free concerts, movies on demand. There are so many options to choose from.

If you are like most people, you are overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time. As you struggle to get caught up, new tasks keep rolling in…like the unending waves of the ocean. Those ocean waves can be warm and caressing, or they can knock you over leaving you feeling panicky like you may
drown!

Let’s grab some white space and protect our time. 

What is White Space?

White space is the strategic pause taken between activities

The term came from literally looking at the white space on the calendar and realizing that on the days with more white showing, people were more effective and projects moved faster.

Think of an appeal letter. Narrow margins, tight line spacing and solid words look like a piece that’s a chore to read. White space is critical to how compelled we feel to even begin to read a letter, magazine, or book.

So, too, with your mind and life.

White space TIME can be created in tiny spots as small as 10 seconds. These intentional, thoughtful pauses laced through the busyness of the workday are the oxygen that allows everything else to catch fire.  They allow us to reconnect to us. 

As an advancement professional, you can use White Space to REBOOT and CREATE!

1. To recuperate, reinvigorate, restore, reconnect, reboot your taxed mind.

Our brains get fried. We become mentally exhausted.  There is a mindset component to this – the role telling ourselves how we feel plays.  But studies tell us we need downtime to “recharge our batteries.”  Just like our phones run out of charge, we too will be dead if we don’t stop to get plugged in and soak up energy.  Phones recharge faster when they can just charge…not work at the same time. While we may find time with friends enjoyable, time totally alone with our thoughts gives our mind the space to shutdown and reboot.

2. To create, innovate, renovate, plan.

In our daily push to reach the end of the task list, we move, usually at a breakneck pace, to cross off the list of mainly urgent (not important) tasks.  To mentally set aside the minutiae of the day opens up space to focus on big thoughts.  It gives us the room to evaluate if “we’ve always done it this way” is a good enough reason to KEEP doing it this way.  It allows us to think ahead (what a concept!)

As an organization, you can create a culture with built-in white space to think before acting (or reacting), set a pace that is productive yet avoids burnout and creative decline, and protects high-value action (personal visits) over technology (keying in data)

In an organization where white space is used strategically, Juliet Funk shares that staff will be ENCOURAGED TO…..

1. Schedule time between meetings to prepare and/or reflect on the content.

2. Control the amount of data and dashboards experienced so that they can be informed without being overwhelmed.

3. Create specific designated times for creativity and innovation.

EIGHT TAKE-AWAYS ABOUT WHITE SPACE

1. Everyone needs WHITE SPACE – a feeling of openness in your mind and schedule. How you “set your mind” to creating and enjoying this space is individual. How you think about your white space determines the complexity of the schedule you enjoy.  White space is not doing mindless activities like Facebook, TV, solo-drinking.

2. You define your white space by creating structure. Scheduling as little as 5 minutes of silence staring into space will make a difference in your overall feeling of calm.  Many mini-sessions are generally more impactful than fewer longer sessions.

3. Protecting your time (not managing it) means you place the same level of importance on your own work and personal “get to do” lists as those of others. Respecting yourself generates respect from others.  You are not selfish. Placing other’s needs before yours is a choice you make. You create the expectation for others about you. You can change it.

4. Placing white space in establishing timelines and deadlines produces healthier, more productive partnerships. The old “underpromise and overdeliver” holds true if managed with space. Look at each project within ALL your projects.

5. Protecting your time means you are PROACTIVE, not reactive. Every time you look at an email popping up, Facebook, a text message – you have turned over control of your time to someone else’s agenda.

6. Constantly evaluate with other priorities and timelines or tasks and projects. Give yourself a list of questions to ask when taking on new tasks. What can be delegated to someone else?

7. Your mindset controls your perception of how full your days and life are. Much of how you think is impacted by the rest you get. Rest is dependent on white space.  Sleep is white space.  GO TO BED

8. Your ability to select your most important task at each moment, then start on it and get it done quickly and well will be key to your success. YOU deserve to have White Space in your life.

I want you to enjoy success AND WHITE SPACE in your life!  It is always your choice!

Invest in Joy!

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Must Have Skills for Rock Star Fundraising Success

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Do you have these fundraising success traits?  Some things you just have to “be” instead of “know.”

Here are 8 Personal ‘Must Have’ Skills for Rock Star Development Success

1. A Healthy Ego

A healthy ego – that is – a mind that directs its thinking – gives us the ability to withstand the many “no’s” we get along the way to our many “yes’s”.  It allows us to review “no’s” and profit from the analysis. Perhaps we might better tell our story or manage our time to better engage more folks. Or, we might cast off our fear of “rejection” and the time wasted on the “drama de jour.” It also lets us buy-in to our unique place in the process – one that has us sharing or totally giving away “credit” to a volunteer or leader for a job we have actually done well. In fact, doing it well means others felt THEY did it!

2. Passion for your organization’s work

In his leadership Ted Talk, Simon Sinek says, “People don’t buy WHAT you do; they buy WHY you do it.”  I believe this means that donors don’t GIVE to WHAT you do, they GIVE because of WHY you do it.   When we lead our relationship building with our sincere passion to share why we do what we do, instead of our numbers and needs, we create lifelong donor relationship success.

3. People Orientation

You need to sincerely like people – talking with, and learning about, other people. Not in a snoopy way and not only because they have something you want (money, influence, connections) but because you genuinely want a win-win relationship with the other person. You need to be a likable person – fun, pleasant, positive, polite.

4. Goal Orientation

While a people-orientation is critical, you must also have a passion to accomplish goals driven by your beliefs. Taking responsibility for a certain level of activity – visits, phone calls, letters, etc. – each month leads to success.  You can control activity, goals, and success. You can’t control someone being ready to say “yes” to your request. We know activity leads to giving success. So embrace this. I often encourage hiring another admin before another fundraiser so that current fundraisers can devote maximum time to the relationship and someone else can do the data entry and follow-up pieces as much as possible.

5. Empathy

Empathy is about standing in someone else’s shoes, feeling with her heart, seeing with her eyes. Empathy is hard to outsource and automate, but it makes the world a better place. We need this at two levels. As a major donor, how does it feel to be “liked” and paid attention to ONLY because you have money, connections, or influence others want? Are you dropped like a hot potato if your fortune turns?

As the “user” of your services, how does it feel to be a struggling student, addict, homeless person, abused person, sick person, struggling leader, or hungry person? Also, How does it feel to be a well-performing student, drug-free, sheltered, out of harm, healthy, strong, and fed?

Feel this without getting dramatic. Don’t take on your victim’s victim mentality.

6. Resilience

Resilience is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness or the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity. My coach, T Harv Eker, says it’s not the size of the problem; it’s the size of you. Think about things that totally threw you at one time and later you wondered why it was such a big deal. Exchange the dramatic overwhelm with vigor to generate possible solutions and seek advice from others (like donors) to help create “wins” from any perceived evil.  Just keep going.

7. Aggressive patience

It’s the giver’s timeline, not ours. Your campaign timeline, operations needs or annual goal, while urgent to you, may not coincide with your donor’s giving timeline. We must be aggressive in continuing to reach out, insert urgency, tell our story one more time or a bit differently, try a different partner, or whatever helps continue the conversation and the journey with our major givers….on their timeline.

8. Creativity

You may not realize this, but creativity is really about self-care. It is rest, food, family, space, exercise, quiet – whatever renews YOUR spirit so it can soar in a vibrant way for the joy of others. When events drain us, metrics overwhelm us, lost grants defeat us, and schedules exhaust us, it’s our cue to re-prioritize our work and life and narrow our focus. What aren’t we going to do so that our marvelous God-given brains can WOW in our world – for ourselves, our families and our donors?

So our take-away from this list?

You must earn the right to ask. Your givers have the right to enjoy their giving. People care about what you do, but give because of why you do it.

Thank you for being the GREAT PERSON you are and allowing me to stretch you a tiny bit more!

Invest in Joy!

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A Tale of Two Non-Profits

A tale #2

Everyday you are a leader!

Leaders live life on their own terms. They don’t let circumstances plunge them into contracting. Leaders maximize what they have. They influence others to join in and can persuade others because they are confident they are on the right path.
Let me share a tale of two fictional non-profits.  Let’s say they are about the same size, similar budgets, and focus on educational experiences for youth. Both were looking at a $12 million goal over a period of time – a significant number. Both set out to increase major giving capacity. Both felt there were major donors that had not been engaged. Both were not crystal clear on how some prospective givers would invest. Neither had a history of clear major giving options and regular major gift asks or disciplined major gift practices.

Non Profit A

Non Profit A encountered a massive (almost $2 million) increase in the cost of a building project during the course of a campaign. These costs were explored but quickly we went to “This is the new number.” It’s a small shop. 2.5 people in advancement if you count the CEO.

What Happened?

The goal was increased by $2 Million. From $12.5M to $14.5M at a time when we were just over $9M raised and facing that last hardest final money to secure. This was the real number.

The new goal was announced in the monthly e-news.   This goes out to the Board, all major givers, all prospective givers, and all internal stakeholders. Message simply put, “It’s going to cost more, so we are going to raise more.”

Recommitted to major gift visits. The Chief Development Officer was inexperienced in major gifts and acknowledged getting off track with calls. We identified the distractions – (low-performing activities that seemed urgent) but then moved quickly onto solutions.  Two 3-hour blocks of time each week, away from the distractions of the office, was dedicated to refocus on moving major gifts forward.

Relationship Action Plans were updated and a specific ask date, project and amount noted.  Personal visits were the focus. No looking back, blaming and making up excuses on what didn’t happen prior.

An event and trip were dropped.  Time for personal leave to celebrate a major personal event stayed– life/work harmony is important.

Communicated excitement.  There is always a story to share.

Money already received was used.  This broke traditional “squirreling away” of gifts.  If dollars came in to support a young person and we had one that fit, it was spent and announced. Why give if it’s not used?  Can’t really be needed.

Look for amazing, wonderful surprises.  An unexpected gift came in, a new prospective giver ‘appeared’ during a function who had great capacity.

Volunteer help was embraced. We did not downsize support staff.

More time with counsel.  That’s what we are here for.

Non Profit B

Non-profit B also encountered an unexpected increase of expenses of over $150,000 to manage deferred maintenance, a decline in enrollment, a decline in revenue generated from outside sources, the end of two grants, and an increase in salaries due to some staffing changes. This was on top of an ambitious $12M overall goal that included new projects the Board wanted to pursue. (Many infrastructure costs were not included and some of these projects were added without clear staffing plans.) There were six folks who played some role in development.

What Happened?

Immediate crisis reduction in expenses. The Board panicked and directed the CEO to find immediate cuts to make up for a budget shortfall projected in the next year’s budget.  Support staff was reduced. All hiring, professional development, and travel was frozen.

The signature event that raised $300,000 was celebrated. Numbers were up, but the amount of staff/volunteer time was high and put major giving work on hold.

Development metrics were put into place to coincide with the new database recently up and running. Good move, but met with fear based on loose prior accountability. The board leadership pledged to support the team but the “budget shortfall” message added a feeling of desperation.

There was reluctance to ask. The event, after all, (with few gifts above $5000), was an ask. Options for giving were not clear. Endowments had been managed poorly with little communications to the donors.

Another event was planned. Yikes.

There was this sinking feeling. Key staff were involved in self-drama, personal problems and glued to screen. Bickering and criticism by staff became the norm.

Counsel was terminated with the expense reduction.  Of course – in challenging financial times, cut fundraising staff, hold another event and fire your consultant.

What’s the point?

  • The problem here is not the lack of resources; it’s a lack of resourcefulness.
  • It’s not the lack of solutions; it’s the lack of focus and confidence to pursue solutions.
  • It’s not the lack of a compelling story: it’s a constant undercurrent of negativity and desperation.
  • It’s leadership caring too much about what the board thinks: seeking approval from others reinforces the idea you need external validation.
  • It’s not the lack of opportunities for growth; it’s seeing only shortcomings. Focusing on limitations only builds their strength.
  • It’s not the lack of a bright future, it’s constantly reliving the past “good old days.” Bring your attention to the present moment and start building a better future.

Dial down the drama. Stressing and complaining about problems that don’t really matter just drains valuable energy you could be investing in good actions.

Non-profit A actually has the bigger challenge, but my vote is with them to make up what they lack in resources with a big dose of resourcefulness.

Where are you in this picture?  How are you contributing to your organization’s value and displaying your compelling confidence that you will stay the course and plant the flag on the moon?

Let me know if these tales reflect some of your experiences!

The unexpected tough surprises will always come, but so will the unexpected joys!  I’d look for the joys!

Invest in Joy!

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Does Your Mindset Impact Your Life – And Your Fundraising Results?

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Since age 17, I’ve been fascinated with the power of our thoughts.  “We become what we think about!” It has more to do with how your life is going than anything else.

3 Ways Your Thinking Impacts Your Life and Your Fundraising Results

1. You CAN change your thoughtsMind

It’s important for you to simply acknowledge that your thinking impacts how you FEEL inside. Thoughts generate an emotional charge.

If you are thinking happy, positive thoughts, you will find that you’ll feel much happier. And if you are thinking sad or depressed thoughts, you’ll find yourself sinking lower and lower into pessimism.

If you are aware of your thoughts – then you can change them.

Think of a light switch – if a thought wanders into your mind that is unhappy, critical or disempowering, try saying to yourself –

“Nope, I’m not going there.”

breath2. Just breathe

Our breath is always right there…ready to give us pause to think, calm down, consider.

When you are triggered, you can sloooooow down the drama simply by taking a deep breath.

And do you know what?  Those around you will be triggered to breathe too! It’s also a “leadership: strategy.”

3. Choose your words carefully

There are SO many tools I could share, but for me, remembering the influence of the words we utter on our thoughts and those around us is SO important. “We’ll never raise that much.” “Why is this so hard?” “I do all the heavy lifting around here.”

Our words are containers of power for ourselves and others.

Personally and professionally.  Do donors want to work with folks who say one thing to their face and another behind their back? “Pick the low hanging fruit?” Really? How we talk about our donors gets into our thinking and influences the authenticity of our relationships. Here are my alternative words for our common fundraising terminology.

Words

I believe that our inner game determines our outer game. We too often look at the fruit and aren’t happy –but we fail to look at the roots that produced the fruit!  When we sharpen our awareness of what we think we can choose to change it!  It’s a life-long practice, but I believe nothing is more important than to manage your mindset.

Bottom Line: we can manage our mindset and attract MORE good results into our lives.

It’s why I spend an entire morning on mindset tools at my MORE Major Gifts workshops! Join me June 12-13 in Chicago. I think you’ll think, it’s a great workshop!

“We become what we think about!” Happy Thinking!

Invest in Joy!

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info@marcyheim.com

(608) 772-6777

Marcy Heim Consulting | The Artful Asker
2679 Fahey Glen
Madison, WI 53711

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