Over the years I’ve had the honor to observe numerous Executive Directors, Presidents, Principals, Senior Pastors, Vice Presidents of Advancement, and Major Gift Officers in action. I’ll admit it’s very inspiring to see men and women in these roles make bold, strategic decisions that advance their school, ministry, or local church. But I’ve also seen a number of poor decisions made, which makes me wonder how quickly leaders admit they’ve made a mistake.
We like to say that fund raising is “equal parts art and science.” For the science part, we can apply formulas and strategies and be fairly sure about what the results will look like. But the art portion is where the “unexpected” comes in.
Paul instructed Timothy to “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2). Timothy was to constantly share the word—when it was convenient and when it wasn’t. Paul challenged him to “correct, rebuke, and encourage” those whom God had placed in his care.
If you’ve been around development work for any amount of time, or have worked with major donors at all, you’ve probably asked yourself this question – maybe more than once. “Successful fundraising is the right person asking the right prospect for the right amount for the right project at the right time in the right way1”.
Do you remember the old Ford Motor Company slogan that stated, “Quality is Job One?” Ford sold a lot of vehicles using that promise. They persuaded car buyers to buy THEIR product, under the belief that the manufacturer had a strong commitment to producing a quality product. But this raises these and other questions: “What does quality mean?” Or, “How will I know quality when I see it?”
The Beatles tune, Let It Be, written in the 1960’s by Paul McCartney is catchy and profound! In the 3rd stanza it goes, “And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me, Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.” Please allow me to shine a bit of light on your advancement/stewardship planning with this song as a backdrop.
Of the $335 Billion dollars given last year in America, around ten cents (10) of each dollar given by check or wire transfer was written by a Foundation. The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on Monday 14 April, 2014. The Article titled “Family Foundations Adopt New Mantra: Let’s Spend It All” by Veronica Dagher. A narrative about Family Foundations in America. 24% of those family foundations intend to give all of their assets away during the lifetime of the existing directors.
If you are involved in non-profit ministry and/or fund-raising for long, you will probably hear the term “elevator pitch.” Are you familiar with it?
From Wikipedia, ”an elevator pitch, elevator speech, or elevator statement is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a person, profession, product, service, organization or event and its value proposition.” (Pincus, Aileen. “The Perfect (Elevator) Pitch”.)
So how many leaders in your organization does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Change – what do you mean, change?!
Change does not come easily for many. That’s true with individuals and it’s true in the leadership of many nonprofits. While too much change certainly can do major harm, not enough change can be equally damaging. We all learn from successes and failures. Over the years, I’ve encountered both and have learned some lessons. Allow me to share a few.
When employees arrive for their first day at Apple they are greeted with this inspirational note:
“There’s work and there’s your life’s work. The kind of work that has your fingerprints all over it. The kind of work that you’d never compromise on. That you’d sacrifice a weekend for. You can do that kind of work at Apple. People don’t come here to play it safe. They come here to swim in the deep end. They want their work to add up to something. Something big. Something that couldn’t happen anywhere else. Welcome to Apple.”
