Don’t JUST Know Your Why
I am still blown away by the story of the MP3 player and I’m not talking about the iPod. You have probably heard the story by now – a company out of Singapore called Custom Technologies created the technology for the MP3 and eventually released the device some 20 months before Apple ever dropped the first iPod. But it is probably fair to say more people know of Apple, Inc. than know of Custom Technologies (full disclosure I had to look them up for this story).
But why is that? Sure, Apple has dominated the MP3 market for a while. Ironically, with the sales success of the iPhone they no longer produce dedicated MP3 players. And we all know the ‘designed by Apple in California’ motto, and Cali is much closer to our collective market minds than anywhere in Singapore. However, we all know that deep down there is something else at play in Apple’s iPod success and Custom’s MP3 anonymity – the Why.
That’s right. And we have all heard it before, ‘know your why.’ Know why you sell, do, love, live and believe in what
you do. Know your why. What we do is easy to share, but why we do it is much
more challenging. However, the point of this article is not to remind you to
know your why – you already know it – but rather to take the all-important next
step in knowing how to communicate your why.
It’s one thing to know your why. It is an entirely different skill set to be able to clearly and compellingly communicate it. Here are three helpful ideas to get you started:
When it came to that MP3 player for Custom Technologies, they marketed it by saying 5gb of Music MP3 player. However, when Apple debuted the iPod, they marketed it by saying, ‘1000 songs in your pocket.’ Which would you choose? Or better asked, which did you choose?! Apple’s marketing was better (the What) because they understood they are a lifestyle brand, and it is through that lens they market. The WHY makes all the difference. Know yours, and just as importantly, know how to communicate it.
To learn more about using your WHY to secure major donors in 2019, register for our webinar on Tuesday, January 15th, at Noon ET. It’s FREE! – Register HERE.
We’ve been there. And can show you how as well.
The private Christian School market is sometimes complex, with all the competing issues you will
face. Choosing curriculum, recruiting and retaining top-notch faculty, weighing athletics versus
education, maintaining legal compliance, satisfying target audiences, and managing annual and
capital fundraising.
Kent Vanderwood, Vice President at The Timothy Group, heads up our Christian School division and
can help you navigate these issues and more. As a partner here at The Timothy Group, he has been
there and done that. His non-profit stewardship journey has prepared him well.
Kent felt the call to be an educator while pursuing his undergraduate studies at Grand Valley State
University in Michigan. After beginning as a special education teacher in a public school system,
Kent went through a personal philosophical search for the best way to educate his own children. He concluded
that a Christ-centered education was imperative for his family and he headed up a
steering committee of interested parents to explore opportunities. In 1980, a private Christian
school was formed from scratch.
In addition to serving as a key member of the organizing committee, Kent was one of the first
faculty members, a coach, janitor, headmaster, fundraiser, compliance officer, curriculum director
and even a member of the founding board of directors. Starting with 43 students in grades K-6,
Tri-unity Christian School in Grand Rapids, Michigan grew to over 700 K-12 students under Kent’s
tenure.
During his time at TCS, Kent was heavily involved in both the Association of Christian Schools
International (ACSI) and Christian Schools International (CSI). He served as the Michigan
representative on the ACSI regional council for eight years. He led his school through initial
accreditation with ACSI in 1987 and the renewal process in 2004. He was a regular conference and
workshop speaker.
Kent learned development and fund raising the hard way – by getting in the trenches and digging. He
hired his first development director in 1990, 10 years after the school was founded, and in 1998
launched the school’s first ever capital campaign for $1.5 million. The campaign reached its goal before Kent
left the school after 20 years in 2000.
Kent has personally served hundreds of K-8 and K-12 private Christian schools in the areas of
strategic planning, board development, development assessments, executive searches, pre-campaign
studies and capital campaigns. He has personally assisted on campaigns ranging from $500,000 to
over $40 million. He has served on various non-profit boards including Christian schools. Kent
brings a wealth of real life experiences to every project.
As a VP of development at a rescue mission, a large international para-church ministry, and another
Christian school, Kent not only understands the principles from a consulting perspective, but he
has been in the trenches “doing” development.
Can we put this experience to work for you?
I have been consulting with Christian ministries since 1981. Some of the hardest working servants in the kingdom today are non-profit directors. They write, speak, recruit, manage, lead, raise money, counsel, and they even clean the restrooms and sweep the parking lot. They are mission-driven people with a real passion to help others. They work long hours for compensation that is sometimes a bit short or low or both.
Networking is not a new concept with multi-level companies like Amway and Herbalife and a multitude of other such organizations. Jesus started a multi-level organization that most of us are a part of today (the Church). Jesus recruited and trained the most unlikely bunch ever and impacted the world. He gave them assignments, held them accountable, loved them, and even chastised them, but accomplished His mission (the establishment of the New Testament Church). Think of His down line or immediate team – it was Jesus then Peter, James and John – a pretty effective group who worked together and got it done.
Since the invention of social media, we stay connected with legions more people than in past years. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram. You get the idea. But think of your board, your volunteers and in some instances your donors as your family. Great families communicate and work together to sustain a home. You pass along assignments. I used to assign the lawn maintenance to my son, “Hey Matt, can you mow the grass this week?” Then I held him accountable to get the mower out and get after it. Matt had three days to mow the grass from the point of request. If he did it, I paid him $10; if I ended up doing it on the 4th day, Matt paid me $10. Now, I don’t want or need his money. I need him to realize his place in the family structure and to be accountable to help out. Volunteers can do the same if we ask them and hold them accountable. Keep in mind “volunteers do what we inspect … not what we expect.”
Let’s get real, you need two resources to be effective in your organization. Human resources and dollar resources. You need bodies and bucks. Staff, board, and volunteers need to help you work and network at your ministry by utilizing their existing relationships. Every board and staff member become a center of influence. They help you open doors of opportunity, they become a networker. You build a plan to ask everyone connected with your organization to become an effective “Friend Raiser.” When we ask our family and close friends to help, they step up and do it. Somehow, we have missed this concept in building our networking teams. Instead of asking others and holding them accountable for the outcome, many of you just step up and do it…which leads to more frustration, more burnout, less effective management.
Won by one, is the timeless strategy for reaching out to others. Ask each board, staff, and key volunteer to reproduce themselves over the next 30-60-90 days by recruiting another person just like themselves to plug into your center’s ministry. As your volunteers increase (bodies) so will your gift income (bucks). Volunteers can and do share their time, talent, and treasure with their favorite ministries. Many hands and additional check books lighten the load.
Your best recruiter for your ministry is someone who already believes in you, who gives to you and prays for you. This month don’t ask for more money (just yet). Ask each board member to help you recruit a volunteer. Do the same with your staff and key volunteers. See if some effective “Relationship Marketing” could help surface another Peter, James, or John.
Provide a job description and share expectations with each and every volunteer. Tell them what it costs (time, talent, treasure) to join your team.
Pat McLaughlin
President/Founding Partner
The Timothy Group
pmclaughlin@timothygroup.com
On Friday, December 9th, Tabor College of Hillsboro, Kansas dedicated their $13 million Shari Flaming Center for the Arts. Through the determination and enthusiasm of Dr. Jules Glanzer; Ron Braun, VP for Advancement; Trustees, the Advancement team and the entire Tabor family, Tabor completed this facility debt free and exceeded their $18 million Signature Campaign with a total of $18,683,630. Since 2,000, Tabor has raised just under $60 million for capital, annual and endowment funds!
The Timothy Group has partnered with Tabor College since 2008. Pat McLaughlin, President and Founder of The Timothy Group spoke at the dedication and then was honored with a surprise award for his service to Tabor. The Tabor College/Timothy Group team has been a great partnership. Dr. Glanzer shared some kind words about working together, “Everything I know about fundraising, I learned from The Timothy Group. Pat went on donor visits with us for this campaign. One important thing Pat taught us was to listen to your donors. If you listen to them, they will tell you when and how much. I would attribute our fundraising success solely to the help of Pat and The Timothy Group. When we did what they asked us to do, it worked.”
The award presented to Pat is inscribed, “The Timothy Group – In grateful recognition for your service to Tabor College – Shari Flaming Center for The Arts – Dedicated 12/9/17.”
It’s appropriate that the first performing arts event in the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts was, Handel’s “Messiah.” Hallelujah for God’s provision of this wonderful new facility through the unparalleled generosity of the Tabor College constituency!
Patrick McLaughlin is President and Founder of The Timothy Group. Pat has personally assisted more than 1,654 Christian organizations. In 27 years of service, The Timothy Group has raised over $2.2 billion.
When Warren Buffet purchases a company, he requires his new managers to purchase stock. He believes that executives with “skin in the game” make better decisions. Buffet is unknowingly expressing a biblical truth, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). Board members who don’t give show that their heart isn’t really aligned with that ministry’s mission or vision. Every board member may not be able to give or get $100,000, but every board member should give a generous, sacrificial, annual gift.
How can you engage your board in fundraising? Paul wasn’t writing with nonprofits in mind, but he offers four applications for board members:
“Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person … ” (1 Thess. 5:14 MSG).
1. Warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Some boards are populated by “obit” members who only serve to build their obituary resumes. A board member’s job isn’t just to set policy to manage the money you already have, it’s to help you find more money. One board member commented, “Every one of our board members should constantly be in conversations with people to find out where God is hiding money!” Board chairs should prompt “obit” members to get a move on, or graciously ask them to move on.
2. Gently encourage the stragglers. The most successful fundraising is peer-to-peer. Some board members agree to raise money, but don’t follow through with their assignments. They keep promising to contact a potential donor, but they never call. They talk a good game, but it’s just talk. Solomon describes these board members, and even a few donors this way: “Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given.” (Prov. 25:14). It’s not what you expect, but what you inspect that actually gets done. Encourage board members to take an active role in fundraising. If nothing changes, refer to step one.
3. Reach out for the exhausted. Don was a rare board member who jumped into a capital campaign with abandon. As he made donor calls, he discovered that many of his contacts weren’t as excited about the ministry as he was. At one board meeting he shared, “This is hard work. I’d rather be out digging dirt with a shovel than asking people for money.” Don was doing a great job and needed encouragement. Donors weren’t giving because the ministry had done a poor job of telling its story, not because Don was doing something wrong. Don kept asking and by the end of the campaign he had raised three times more than anyone else. Reach out to exhausted board members and pull them to their feet.
4. Be patient with each person. The stress level at board meetings usually tracks with the monthly financial reports. As gift income rises so does everyone’s mood, but when donations go down, attitudes often follow. The executive director looks at the board and wonders why they aren’t helping. The board looks at the executive director and wonders why he or she doesn’t visit major donors. Paul ends with, “And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.” (1 Thess. 5:15 MSG).
How can you bring out the best in your board? Have the “skin-in-the-game” conversation with your board chair. As a group, set giving and getting expectations and hold one another accountable. Start with a small assignment. Ask a board member to invite a friend to meet you for lunch. Good things happen when ministry leaders and board members work together.
This article can be found in the Summer 2014 issue of Outcomes Magazine
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.
How do you know when the donor isn’t ready? If you’ve been involved in development work for long, you’ve probably had a situation where you made the “ask” of a donor before they’re weren’t ready. How so? A couple of differing ways, probably – either they were offended, said “no”, or gave a significantly smaller amount than you hoped for. No worries, we have all been there a time or two.
Maybe a better question is – how can you know (for next time)? The relationship between a donor, the development staff person or volunteer assigned to the donor, and the institution in need of support is a tricky one. There are guidelines of when a donor is ultimately “ready” for solicitation, but no hard, fast rules. Every donor, every organization, and every campaign is different.
In my 33rd year of helping Christian organizations with their annual, capital and endowment funding needs, my conviction only deepens that it’s all about donor relationships. In our stewardship experience with over 1,500 clients here is what I have learned about those relationships….in three’s.
