Being an athlete and part of a team has been an integral part of my entire life.  I sometimes walk through the world thinking that everyone knows what “team” means and how it manifests in our lives.  As many people may not have had the honor of being part of an orchestra, dramatic performance troupe, or been a member of a sports team, I am sharing a few team concepts I believe can be adopted for any group that works toward a common goal.

1. Define your legacy and go after it!  Any team or troupe is clear on what success means to them as a group and in their work.  They take pride in and value their contribution to their school, their community, and people who watch them in action.  They agree on a goal and a process for getting there (win the conference championship and do it with dignity, class, and respect for the opponents) and hold each other accountable to the team values and process. 

2. Trust that your teammates are there for you!  The camaraderie and support from being part of a team is wonderful when it works and people play to each other’s strengths.  When each player has been given a role or defined their contribution as a ‘player’, then the fun begins.  A highly functioning team exchanges messages of encouragement and feedback which are easy to receive as they have the team’s highest good in mind.  Put an emphasis on “positive” and “encouraging”;  teammates who challenge each other to rise to new heights rather than pulling teammates down.

3. Everyone is part of team success AND team failure and every team member understands that practice does make perfect!  People understand the concept of repetition of a task over and over again leads to success.  At least, in theory they do!  I often work with groups and ask people what their idea of “practice” when it comes to speaking your vision or sharing your connection to the work you believe in.  Ninety percent of the time people think that if they say or write their story once, that is the ‘practice’ they need.  Teammates know that repeating the effort to tell  your story many times is the difference between good and great.  Any good athlete or team member knows that together everyone achieves more so they encourage each other to practice.  And, we all know that there is something to learn from every loss; it is just how you use and share those lessons that matters.  Being good is not about not making mistakes, it’s about never making the same mistake twice.

I love this time of year for the magic it produces.  There is a sense of hope and possibility abounding.   At Imagine Philanthropy, I think of all the worthy nonprofits that are coming to their year end and awaiting donor’s gifts which will bring joy to their clients, their team, their Board and you, the donor!   One of my fun tasks next week is to process some yearend gifts and I encourage you to join me. 

Kudos to Tracy Gary and her team at Inspired Legacies for creating a list of deserving groups that are doing transformational work.  I invite you to spend some time reviewing Tracy’s list and making a gift that matters to you – that moves you and inspires you.   I am adding to her list three groups that make my heart sing as I feel strongly about their leadership, and their important work in transforming cultures, systems, and policies for women.   Know that either as an advisor or Board member to these groups, I have been immersed in their planning and feel strongly about the impact they are making in shifting humanity.   As well, any and all of the clients that Imagine Philanthropy works with on this list are doing incredible work and are deserving of your support.   

Tides is a values based, social change platform that leverages individual and institutional leadership and investment to positively impact local and global communities.

Women Win is recognized as a leading global organization using sport as a strategy to advance women's rights.  Women Win envisions a world where women and girls are strong leaders and agents of change in their communities.

Women Effect Investments is a field-building initiative that seeks to mobilize more investment dollars toward improving the condition of women and girls worldwide.

So - with the energy and passion that hopefully pervades the work of the organization and its leadership, come on out and tell your stories - then true Fun Raising can happen and campaigns can be launched.  Feel free to read another blog I wrote on this from a philanthropist's perspective. 

 

 

I got three ballots to vote for Board members for companies that I own stock in.   Normally they would go in the trash but why not take action?  I know that Linda Tarr Whalen in her book has spoken about the 30% rule of needing at least 3 out of 10 underrepresented individuals in a decision making body to make an impact.  I found this sample letter that seems easy enough to produce for each company and as soon as my executive assistant gets hired, she and I will tackle this!  

Joe Keefe and Jacki Zehner have written and spoken about the impact a letter can make on institutional investors and how we can use our voice to shift the dynamic of Board rooms.  Feel free to read more about why this might matter according to Catalyst and others. 

I remember in the early days of advocating for more sports media and a coach or athlete would write the network or paper directly.  The producers and editors would show us the letters with a sense of awe – that people actually cared about the lack or quality of coverage and took action!  Your voice does matter.

So I will be taking a sample letter from PAX to my good friends at Northwest Mutual and also TIAA CREF to see where and how they see the use of this.  Keep speaking your truth - they will listen if we all commit to taking action. 

 

photo © 2009 Tan-Anh-Khoa Pham | more info (via: Wylio)

I love working with Board members! There is something really special about a volunteer who tears up when you ask what inspires them about their work. Or a Board member who says that they have a moral duty to share their education model with others, if it is effective. And what about a Board chair who can be an ambassador, a door opener, cultivator, and ‘closer’?

All of these amazing individuals were in the room when I led a Board training session recently in Denver. This dedicated group came together to learn how they could be smarter fundraisers for this unique educational organization that champions the lives of babies, teen moms, and their families. The weather was 70 degrees, people were playing golf right outside the window and yet, for four hours on a Friday afternoon, these folks were fully engaged!

The topics we discussed ranged from “when you were asked for money, what worked?” to “what is your personal connection to the mission?”  to, my favorite, creating a leadership brand statement. To do this, we first talked about the levels at which a nonprofit markets its brand.  Remembering that the brand is the leadership, accomplishments, reputation, logo and visuals, it is important to ask ‘what are the values that are expressed in your brand and are you marketing these values?’

An organization is typically introduced to a community in phases. First: its broadest passion (safety, community, responsibility, etc.). Second: its core issues (human rights, housing, economic security, the environment, etc.)  Third: its policies or legislation (the point at which most nonprofits market their message.) These could be Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Fair Pay Act, No Child Left Behind, or TANF (Tax Assistance for Needy Families). 

Most groups are always looking for ways to reach new audiences or get people engaged.  Find folks and speak to them about the beliefs that underlie your shared attitudes and beliefs.  Talking to someone about their core values gets them to open their hearts, inquire more about charitable work that they can relate to, and eventually open their wallets.

For this exercise, each Board member tried on a new way of introducing their role and the organization to the public.  As we know, most folks always say, “I am a Board member of Florence Crittenton Services where we offer programs and schooling for teen moms.”  There is nothing wrong with this but what about this sentence really lifts up my curiosity or opens my heart?  There were 20 great responses all summarizing the work in a heartfelt and compelling way.  My favorite combination of a couple of their leadership brand statements was “I am a champion for a pioneering organization that works to end the cycle of poverty in Denver by empowering and educating teen moms and their babies who lives are being dismissed by society.”

Feel free to try this exercise out with your staff or Board and see how they ‘come out’ as fundraisers and become empowered to be spokespeople and storytellers for the cause!

For additional resources on branding and use of social media check out Beth's Kanter's Blog, Big Duck, Non-Profit Marketing Guide and  Non-Profit Marketing and Fundraising Zone. 

While talking recently with a philanthropist about her giving focus, I asked ‘What would commitment to that issue look like, feel like?’  We then ventured onto a deeper conversation about what qualities come up around commitment.    Trust, communication, flexibility, and respect were themes we both agreed were part of commitment.

With the work I do with leaders, we often co-create affirmations or sayings that provide a reminder or grounding place on a topic.  For this conversation, we developed ‘I am committed to philanthropy that fully engages my mind and heart while demonstrating impact’.   From here, we reviewed what this would look like with some of the groups and projects she was evaluating for her giving.

I love these conversations as they are the fabric of true social change and movement building - committed funders, staff, and activists.

I found this great poem in The Scottish Himalayan Expedition that I often referred to at the Women’s Sports Foundation when I was working with some of the volunteers around fundraising.  For those who had played sports, they got it right away.  For others, it was a start for understanding the powerful and magical principle of fundraising success using visualization, stories, and goal setting.  Enjoy!

Until one is committed
there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas
and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favour all manner
of unforeseen incidents and meetings
and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt
would have come his way.

I have learned a deep respect
for one of Goethe’s couplets:
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”

W.H. Murray 1951

The world of nonprofit Board development can be enriching and invigorating.

Recently, an Executive Director called to ask me if I could suggest a Board Chair for their organization or provide insight on who might be a good fit for them.

I was curious how he thought I could help so I started with questions. “What is the role of your current Board chair? What are the expectations you and the Board have for this role? What drives you to be energized about the mission of the organization?”

Throughout our phone conversation as it became clear that he wanted me to suggest prominent names of people he could recruit, I thought, “Where are the ‘headhunters’ for social profit board leaders?” I do know of several organizations that have used BoardNet (an online matchmaking site for Board members and organizations) with success.

While I am not a Board chair headhunter, I have recruited and energized many Board members over the years and have learned some key principles to consider with any Board chair recruitment and with Board and Executive Director relationships:

1. Build a partnership. First and foremost, a good Board chair has a similar amount of passion and drive to see the organization succeed as the Executive Director. Starting with this base, the partnership can grow.

2. Tell stories. For a leader to mobilize a team of Board members, he/she should have the ability to be a storyteller and paint a picture of where the organization is going and how their role makes an impact. Using all forms of communication, an ideal Board chair would be capable of motivating and mobilizing the Board and donors to act and engage in the ‘work’.

3. Meet with current investors. To ascertain what a good pool of Board candidates could look like, talk with your wise counsel, Board members, and top supporters. Seek out people who come from different industries or sectors to offer unique perspectives.

4. Establish rules and rhythms. For an ideal partnership, there would be a clear set of expectations for each role. Understanding what ‘dashboard’ items are important to share with one another and the Board is key to success. Consider having an established time that is set aside on a consistent basis for discussion on issues, topics, and future focus.

Experienced and engaged Board leadership is crucial for the health and stability of our organizations. Use these four principles as a baseline for your Board recruitment and Board chair relationship building.  Feel free to e-mail me at tuti@imaginephilanthropy.com with your ideas.  As well, visit Bridgestar for more resources on the topic of Board recruitment. 

As the Vancouver Olympics were being held during the convening of a Women Moving Millions Donor Institute I led in February, I couldn’t help but share the idea of bringing forth one’s “Olympic Fundraiser.”  I encouraged attendees to apply the following tools honed for years by elite-level athletes.

1. Self confidence – over time, wearing confidence starts to build on itself so that it occurs naturally and with ease;  think of athletes who try a new ‘move’ or skill for the first time and how they live the term ‘fake it till you make it’
2. Practice and repetition – good fundraising is like a muscle, it is only as strong and supple as it can be from being used and ‘worked out;’ the only way you perfect your musculature is to ask, ask, ask, and continue to share your story over and over
3. Visualize success – imagine what a ‘victory’ looks like in each conversation; role play and imagine your conversation flowing until it rolls like a Lindsey Vonn pre-race body visualization of the moguls
4. Build trust – use the tools, the team, the movement as a support team; trust that the ‘equipment’ will work, your partner will shine, and the setting and pace is ‘on’

From San Francisco I took this idea to Women in Philanthropy presentation on Tools for a Smart Development Office and will move it along (with music!!) to the Women’s Funding Network conference in Denver in April.  From there I look forward to convening in Sydney with others at the International Working Group on Women’s Sports and working with the great group of folks at the International Women’s Development Agency.   

 I will be sharing with folks there how we can integrate the women’s rights and women’s sports spheres of influence to elevate both ‘agendas’ – one of my true passions in life!  If you want a visual of what this looks like, check out Women Win and their great video.  There is some potential in educating policy makers working on the Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to lift up leadership issues in sports as well as health and physical activity.  And yes, it is still true that there are 188 countries who have signed on to CEDAW and the USA is NOT one of them.  More on CEDAW, sports, and women’s rights when I return from down under in June!

As I read the line in Time Magazine that 54% of men and 69% of women agree that there would be fewer problems in the world if women were more equal in government and business, I thought that the White House Project’s message was so true - - Add Women, Change Everything.  By filling the leadership pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women, the White House Project wants to make American institutions, businesses and government truly representative.  

These past two months have been a cascade of data and initiatives that seem to remind us all of the breadth and width of women’s capacity.  The Shriver Report shares research to demonstrate the need and urgency to reshape the structures we live, work, pray, govern, and play in to create a new model that will serve all of us.   To truly embrace the impact and potential of A Woman’s Nation is not a zero sum game but a transformational opportunity.  The annual women’s conference that Maria Shriver has produced is a highly energizing model to empower women to be the architects of this change. 

In the same breath, I read with interest in the New York Times that “Naissance Capital, based in Zurich, will start the Women’s Leadership Fund which will invest exclusively in companies whose boards include women, or take minority stakes in companies that do not “understand the need for greater female representation” and use it as leverage to push through changes.”

If I had a million extra dollars, I would put it here for sure! 

For years, Catalyst research has shown the financial strength of companies with women on their Boards.   The Women’s Leadership Fund has a board of strong women who have lived in the governance seat including Kim Campbell, the former prime minister of Canada;  Cherie Blair, a lawyer and the wife of Tony Blair, the former British prime minister; and Jenny Shipley, the former prime minister of New Zealand.

The Clinton Global Initiative understood the social capital value in bringing women and girls to the center of their philanthropic efforts with the announcement of donations to 13 strategic collaborative projects featuring women led solutions and development issues globally. 

At the same time, the Women’s Funding Network had organized a gathering of leaders to talk about women’s philanthropy at the Salzburg Institute.   Many of the people in attendance are leaders who have been living and creating the programs and social change similar to the impact Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn share in their hot selling book Half the Sky – Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

All of these initiatives and strategies are important - placing women in elected offices, using a gender lens while investing in corporations, distributing data to demonstrate the need for transforming workplace and societal environments, philanthropic investment led by women and directed towards women’s leadership, and a White House and a State Department that includes a focus on women and girls. 

Immediately my mind jumps to the question, What if these groups were integrated and talking to one another about creating a new shared power structure and system for the next 40 years?  What is our vision and dream of what this could look like?  Imagine the conversation if all of these players were in the same room.  I want to produce that show!

How people are treated and how customers and clients ‘feel’ about the changes a leader or team implements has a ripple effect on the brand and the organization’s mission.  Without a guiding set of values to anchor the ‘heart’ of an organization, one tends to drift aimlessly from project to event to meeting without a sense of conviction.   Values and principles are essential starting points for organizations seeking to create change. Most donor activists want to be part of an organization that has a sense of sincerity and passion. 

A friend was walking on a college campus in Virginia and texted me the statement she read that was engraved in stone across the entrance to the student union; “hearts on fire” - compassionate, confident, change makers.   What that statement implies about the schools’ values excites me.   Hillary Clinton’s campaign t-shirt that reiterated her June 7, 2008 speech line “For everyone who’s ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you!” spoke volumes about her values as a public servant in one sentence. 

Before I digress with too many examples, I want to make sure that we understand the intersection between productivity and values.  People often think that what they ‘do’ and what services they ‘offer’ are their values.  A mission or vision statement is not an organization’s values. 

The principles and values of an organization are how you expect the organization to act toward its consumers,  how you expect people to work with each other and   the feeling’ that you want to leave with your clients and community about how every staff member related to them.   Ideally everyone affiliated with the organization should be able to recite the values from their heart. 

Whenever I am asked to be part of a strategic planning or visioning exercise with a group, I first ask to see what values have been established.  Often they may not be there or they have not been dusted off for ten years, so we go through a series of steps to help shape these.   Feel free to notice the connection between imagination and creating values (a not so subtle link to the reason behind the name of   Imagine Philanthropy). 

1. First, imagine how you would like a constituent to view your organization.  Are you approachable and transparent?  Are you innovative?  Do you engender respect or courage?

2. Second, imagine a cocktail party where one of your clients, community members or donors is describing your organization to someone.  What words are they using?  Maybe they are saying energetic, smart, collaborative, warm, and effective.   

3. Third, determine the rhythm you would like to have in your office or headquarters.  If a visitor comes into the building, what do they take away?  Similarly, today, we need to think as well about a web site as the place where people feel the rhythm of your organization.  Contemplative space, cluttered desks, open doors, fluid movement, laughter, playful spaces, color, imagery  – all of these say a lot about the culture and values of working for your organization.

4.  Fourth, think about the mindset and behaviors of the people who work and serve the organization.  Are they inclusive and do they embrace diversity?  Are they risk takers?  Do they express themselves freely and with humor?   Do they exude energy?

5.  Fifth, and this is where the vision and values really intersect, imagine where your organization is five years from now.  What do people see in the world that would not be there without you?  What difference did you make and how did you make it?  What made you think you could do this?  What values enabled you to get here? 

The more people involved in this conversation – staff to Board leadership- the better.  Set a stage to allow full expression and conversation.  Once crafted, see what changes in your synergy, productivity and interaction with your constituents.  And, most of all – enjoy flexing your imagination muscles!