Sangha Solutions

You might remember MacGyver, the action-adventure series that aired for seven seasons in the late 80s and early 90s. The title character was a secret agent who never carried a weapon more dangerous than a Swiss Army Knife. Yet each week, he always managed to escape life-or-death situations by fashioning an explosive device out of a paper clip, some aluminum foil, a bottle of Windex, and a roll of duct tape.

In a small nonprofit shop, we often feel like MacGyver – asked to come up with cheap, clever fundraising solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems at the last second. While we usually survive and move on to the next challenge, it’s hard not to imagine how successful we might be if we were simply given the right tools for the job.

Understaffing your fundraising department and then expecting it to pull off minor miracles is a recipe for disaster, especially in challenging economic times. In my nearly two decades in the philanthropic sector, I’ve encountered innumerable organizations that ask their executive directors or Boards to tackle tough fundraising tasks without the necessary expertise, training, or support. While we might scrape by with this approach, the problem with asking your development team to do more with less is, eventually, we expect them to do everything with nothing.

If this sounds like an all-too-familiar plot line for your nonprofit, consider undergoing a fundraising audit. This kind of capacity assessment – overseen by an experienced, third-party professional – can help increase your stream of sustainable funding by identifying exactly what you need to be successful. Fundraising audits ask and answer a number of important questions, including:

1) Does your organization have an adequate staffing structure, with the right people doing the right jobs with the right tools?

2) Does the development office have the time and skills to perform all the fundraising functions it is being asked to complete?

3) Is your nonprofit organization investing in appropriate training and professional development resources for the fundraising team?

Remember that MacGyver was just a television show. In real life, he wouldn’t have survived many terrorist attacks with chewing gum, a can of WD-40, and underwire from a bra. As nonprofit leaders, we’re already asked to do the impossible.  So why make it more difficult than it needs to be?

If your nonprofit is seeking to raise more money, strengthen its leadership capacity, or develop more clarity around its mission and goals, please contact Sangha Solutions at Steve@SanghaSolutions.org for a free initial consultation.

You’re probably familiar with the movie “Speed.”  The premise is that a madman rigs a bomb to a city bus in Los Angeles.  Once armed, the bus must stay above 50 mph  - if it slows down, it will explode and kill everyone on board.  Every time I watch this movie, I find myself with one persistent thought: “Wow, isn’t that a great metaphor for life?!”

We live in a culture that prizes and rewards busyness above almost everything else.  If we’re not doing something – or, ideally, doing several things at the same time – we believe that we’re missing an opportunity to check something important off our list.  We fear that if we dare to slow down or stop, our dreams of success and happiness may self-destruct in front of our very eyes.

Nowhere is this feeling of “stay busy or die” more vivid to me than in the nonprofit world.  Almost without exception, our organizations are understaffed, overworked, and being asked to do more with less.  And while the lives of dozens of commuters may not be at stake, for those of us who are working to provide health care, education, social services, or food and shelter to our constituents, the consequences may feel just as dire.

Every December, our anxieties are heightened, as we struggle to complete our charitable solicitations, prepare for the holiday season, and call attention to the impact of our work amidst the clutter of hundreds of other year-end appeals.  More often than not, however, this frenzy of perpetual motion keeps us doing but dizzy.  We tend to lose sight of the importance of our mission while depriving ourselves of the opportunity to connect in genuine ways with our donors.

So, this month, I’d like to encourage you to develop daily habits that cultivate presence in the workplace:

1) Start each morning by calling a donor – not to ask for another contribution, but to thank them for their support and to ask why s/he has chosen to invest in your nonprofit.

2) At least once during each workday, randomly stop what you’re doing, take a deep breath, and sit for one minute.  Pay attention to any tightness or tension in your body, the primary emotions to which you’re present, and the swirl of thoughts in your mind.

3) Choose one work activity each day that brings you joy.  If that task also allows you to check something off your to-do list, that’s great!  But if not, there’s still tremendous value in rediscovering passion and joy in what you do.

When we slow down and bring presence to our work, we find that the experience of “getting things done” can be filled with new energy and life.  Unless, of course, you’re driving a bus strapped with enough C-4 to put a hole in the world.  In that case, keep the pedal to the metal.

If your nonprofit is seeking to raise more money, strengthen its leadership capacity, or develop more clarity around its mission and goals, please contact Sangha Solutions at Steve@SanghaSolutions.org for a free initial consultation.

Somewhere in the South Pacific, between Tonga and Tahiti, there exists a small, uncharted island populated by a secret society of expert Board fundraisers.  These are the volunteers every nonprofit has been looking for.  The island’s inhabitants possess an unrelenting passion for our mission, with Rolodexes the size of encyclopedias.  They don’t think twice when asked to write large checks to support our work, and absolutely love asking their friends for money!

I know that this mythical island exists.  It must, because nearly every client I’ve worked with insists that they can’t find the “right” people to serve on their volunteer Boards.

If you’re like most organizations, I’m guessing that you think your Board doesn’t have the thick checkbooks or strong networks to help win your development campaign.  But armed with the proper motivation and support, any Board can fundraise!  Start by asking  and answering these five simple questions:

1) Are you being clear and specific about fundraising expectations when recruiting new Board members?  Or do you shy away from addressing these responsibilities in a direct manner because you’re worried about scaring them off?

2) Do you meet with each Board member at the start of the fiscal year to thank them for their support and to develop a short, collaborative, and manageable fundraising plan that they can follow throughout the year?

3) Do you check in with your Board members regularly throughout the year, monitoring their progress, identifying where they’re falling short, and sharing their successes – large or small – with others?

4) For those Board members who seem reluctant to engage in fundraising, have you sat down with them and asked them why?  In other words, have you identified where their comfort zones lie and what it would take to make them feel more comfortable with fundraising for our cause?

5) Do you have advocates within your Board that can reinforce the important messaging around fundraising?  And do those advocates bolster their words through personal action and example?

When we begin to treat our Boards as genuine partners in fundraising work, listening and communicating clearly and consistently, it’s amazing what we can accomplish together.

If your nonprofit is seeking to raise more money, strengthen its leadership capacity, or develop more clarity around its mission and goals, please contact Sangha Solutions at steve@SanghaSolutions.org for a free initial consultation.