Top fundraising CEOs with whom we have had the honor of working have the ability to endear themselves to those who have capacity to make their institution’s dreams come true, are capable of articulating the vision for the institution to a variety of audiences, and spend a majority of their time doing these two things.  Read on to see if these essential CEO characteristics are present at your organization or as a frame for a potential new hire in the “number two” position for your organization.

The CEO is the voice, the visionary, the leader and the face of the institution and thrives in this role.  They are the ones in whom major donors/funders give their trust.  The CEO is who a donor considers before making a significant gift. A top notch Chief Development Officer* (CDO) knows when and how to use the CEO’s time for the greatest return.  The CEO motivates the Board members to be personally involved in fundraising and acts as a negotiator between Board and staff.

The CDO spends considerable time working with development staff, CEO assistant or Board assistant, volunteers, Board members and donor connectors to do the following tasks as they relate to major gifts work: planning and organizing, strategizing about prospects and calendar, setting goals and priorities, and learning about new and current donors through conversations and reviewing background information. The CDO is seeking always to put the President/Chair, the CEO, and key leadership in positions and conversations with donors for a win. The CDO's goal is to be so well prepared that the best suited leadership member (CEO, CDO, volunteer, Chair or combination) makes the right ask of the right person for the right project at the right time.  The CDO and CEO work in close partnership to raise funds.

A successful fundraising organization has the CEO and CDO spending a lot of time together building a strong and respected partnership.  Both parties share a joint commitment to the relentless pursuit of people who can help the institution.  The CEO and CDO share a joint ownership of problems and goals, a joint ownership of relationships, and a joint ownership of success.  This can only successfully occur through trust and constant honest communication.  The CDO is always lobbying and fighting for the priority share of the CEO time and knows that when she gets it that she can't blow it!  A good CDO has familiarity with the strengths, comforts, and places a CEO ‘shines’ and plays to these settings.  The CDO demonstrates loyalty, dedication, and confidentiality and offers ongoing relationship building and learning opportunities for volunteers.

There should be a disciplined schedule where the CDO and CEO meet each week to talk about the past, present, and future of relationships with donors and funders.  Time is spent reviewing meetings, stewardship plans, and discussing updates on donors.  Calendars are reviewed and a “top 25” visit schedule of recommendations are discussed.  Challenges for re-engaging donors or funders are discussed.  From there the CDO reviews the calendar daily and ensures the CEO’s assistant feels comfortable with all the meeting and conversation details to serve the donor and provide success for the CEO.   The CDO also works throughout the organization and with volunteers to ‘stop and celebrate’ the wins and keeps the team motivated between wins.   As issues come up with donors a good CDO is quick on her feet to present solutions and/or knows how to ask the right questions to move the relationship forward.  The CDO is also responsible for ongoing communication to the CEO and Chair/President including sending reports via e-mail of gifts that come in and suggesting donors to thank or call with scripts that make it easy for the leadership to act and say just the right thing.                      

*Chief Development Officer refers to the top development person in the organization who may or may not have this title                                 

This article was written in collaboration with the smart fundraising expert Debra Minton, Founder of Philanthropia Partners and is a salute to one of the best fundraising CEO’s, Dr. Donna Lopiano and the  successful partnership we had at the Women's Sports Foundation


 

Jennifer Buffett will change the world. You may not know her now, but when all is said and done I believe she will own the title, The First Lady of Women’s Social Change Philanthropy.  Jennifer is the life size symbol of NoVo – to alter, invent.  The NoVo Foundation she created with her husband Peter is based on the premise that if you give a girl an opportunity, she will become a successful woman who will in turn create successful communities, businesses, and families.  Jennifer’s story is just that.

After deep examination of the focus of their philanthropy and a personal examination of her own expression of her values and influence, Jennifer is speaking around the world sharing her personal story and experiences. She and her husband Peter spent years examining the interrelation between systems, culture, and relationships to determine place of impact and opportunity for change before launching the largest foundation serving women and girls, the NoVo Foundation.   Jennifer has incredible perspective to offer activists, social change drivers, and philanthropists and after hearing her recently, I distilled these ten concepts that are worth sharing; 

1. Look at the roots of the problems, examine patterns and themes and find the programs and the stories that rule the world and which ones make sense.
2. Acknowledge two conflicting truths:  1. Girls and women are the primary drivers of change.  2. Cultural attitudes and systems put girls in a vicious cycle; blaming them and affirming that they are not valued.   The girl effect demonstrates that if you invest in a girl, her family thrives, she contributes to her community, and eventually her country succeeds.
3. Invest in places where value is held and not yet recognized.  Note:  there are 600 million adolescent girls living in the developing world who are currently ‘undervalued assets’. 
4. Value balance and partnership and affirm feminine values. 
5. Encourage women to use their voice, say what is want and needed, take credit, and invite men to join as equal partners and co-creators. 
6. As a woman, choose to be seen and heard and work to change the course of the boat named Earth Community. 
7. Improve gender dynamics by recognizing that the qualities in the masculine ‘toolbox’ - force, hierarchy, punitive, and a focus on head not heart - are learned, normalized, and internalized. 
8. Honor and showcase the characteristics found in the feminine toolbox; listening, connectedness, experiential learning, honoring innate cycles and rhythms, and wholeness. 
9. Establish learning environments that allow for inquiry and participation. 
10. As conduits of feminine energies, allow the most precious qualities of clarity, strength, knowing and vulnerability of yourself to come into full light. 

photo © 2006 Riza Nugraha  | more info (via: Wylio)

Seriously, how fun is it to celebrate and dance and how often do we do either of these things?  I love Emma Goldman’s statement – “If I can’t dance I don’t want to be part of the revolution.”  At the Women Moving Millions session we heard from the co-chairs, donors and leaders – all who danced as they came on stage to share their stories and ideas.   

 One of many highlights for me was the dancing!  Chris Grumm, Helen LaKelly Hunt and I dancing with the audience as we all took ‘back’ the word REVOLUTION moving to Tracy Chapman.  Next session we will be moving to Miriam Makemba’s Pata Pata.  

After hearing updates and perspectives on the campaign from the leadership and a distinguished panel of women, including Dobkin Family Foundation founder Barbara Dobkin, Mama Cash Executive Director Nicky McIntyre, Women Moving Millions Co-Chair Jacki Zehner, ACCION USA's Elizabeth Bueno, and Women's Foundation of Greater Kansas City President Dawn Oliver, I encouraged people to check in with our own individual experience of philanthropy and “moving millions” in our own lives.  

I believe that a key aspect of a good leadership is the practice of consistently looking at our own motivations and experiences around giving and receiving.  Spending time to reflect on what it is that keeps us open to receiving and to giving and understanding the conditions or environments that help us feel more generous is a good growth opportunity.    

Feel free to take some time to look at an exercise that I created that examines – “What is it that allows me to give time, talent or treasure with joy and ease? And how can we move towards this?”

During a recent gathering of 600 dynamic women working for social and economic justice (2011 Women’s Funding Network Annual Conference), I facilitated a discussion  with my friend and frequent co-pilot, Ellen Landis, founder of Sharevision. The discussion was on donor activism (which later turned into a great conversation on power!) with the goal to create a safe space for women to vocalize their engagement and feel more confident and empowered to be the social change leaders they are.  As well, we had an intentional sharing of donor activism work from a mind, body, and spirit focus which helps people enter the “activist” conversation from different perspectives.

For that hour and a half these 40 women were able to share their successes, their challenges, their personal and professional triumphs and tragedies with each other. And, when it was over, almost all of the women remained to engage with each other like old friends with so much to learn from each other.  

The format of the donor activism work session was exercises that could be done with staff, donors, community leaders, Board members, etc.  One of the fun tools we used, that I am sharing, was the attached Donor Activist Bingo game.  We had the attendees go around and inquire of each other whether they were associated with or had used one of the action items (i.e. been a vocal advocate for an issue or has donated time to a campaign or made a bequest to an organization and told someone about this).  After this exercise, attendees were directed to find and listen to one other person talk about their proudest successful activism activity.  Finally, attendees were asked to move to another person in the room and imagine that she/he was a mentor in their life, describe what the mentor represented for them in their activist life, and then tell their success story again to their ‘mentor’. This is a good ‘get to know the people in the group’ exercise.  

I hope you found this helpful and feel free to let me know how it went!

When we think of human rights activists, we are often challenged to name five women across the globe who have fought for those in their community, state, or nation.   Roots to Resistance is bringing forth the images and stories of 12 remarkable women activists, bringing their stories to life via a web based platform, postcard distribution to schools and organizations, and a four city touring exhibit with Denise Beaudet, the award winning visual artist and creative activist. An art and activism project featuring the portraits of 12 women doing activist work in the world, the project is a political postcard campaign that will link people around the globe.

These incredible 4x9 foot portraits are done on recycled wood, wrapped in and connected to plants and nature. Denise portrays these women in their true activist flame and spirit; sharing the stories of their communities, their hearts and the extraordinary effect that their powerful life forces have had on the planet.

 Featured Activists include:

Natalia Estemirova-Chechnya-Murdered Human Rights Journalist
Malalai Joya-Afghanistan-Woman's Rights Activist
Chouchou Namegabe – Congo – Journalist/Women’s Rights Activist
Zapatista Woman-Mexico Environmentalist/Indigenous Rights Activist
Vandana Shiva-India-Eco Feminist/Environmental Activist
Rebecca Gomperts-Netherlands-Environmentalist/Reproductive Rights Activist
Dita Indah Sari-Indonesia-Labor Activist
Aung San Suu Kyi-Burma-Human Rights Activist
Wangari Maathai-Kenya-Environmentalist
Marina Silva-Brazil-Environmentalist
Yvonne Margarula-Australia-Civil Rights Activist
Maria Gunnoe - U.S. -Native American Human Rights Activist

Denise and selected installations were presented at this year’s Women’s Funding Network Conference in Brooklyn. To learn more about the Roots To Resistance project and the global political postcard exchange visit: http://www.facebook.com/rootstoresistance.

Amidst the political banter, I would imagine that there is consensus on one thing;  there are far too many great organizations going unnoticed.  I call them diamonds in the rough.  Meanwhile there are thousands of folks who need their services and funders who would appreciate their smart work.  How do we resolve this issue in the philanthropic community and inspire donors to invest in marketing and technology?  

Everyone knows that a business spends a tremendous amount of money bringing their product to market.  They do focus groups, create brand profiles, build marketing plans for several audiences, and use a myriad of avenues to promote their product.  For a nonprofit, it is challenging to get a funder who understands that 1.  Spending money on marketing will make money, 2. Doing marketing is imperative for success, 3. Nonprofits are a business with customers, and 4.  Smart branding, media relations, and marketing is not cheap.  

Time and again at the Women’s Sports Foundation we struggled to fundraise for dollars that would pay for consulting help for a marketing plan or to underwrite promotional pieces about the programs.  We would build the costs into the annual budget to do marketing events, hire public relations firms, pay for print materials, etc. and always, when budget challenges arose, this was the place that was cut first.

Thankfully, the work we did was not so edgy or radical that corporations were willing to step up and carry the logo or message on their packaging.  This helped build the visibility of the organization for sure.  But it took a sophisticated donor who agreed to release some of her endowed gift to help update the organization’s brand, messaging, and website; an organization’s most important marketing platform.  I promised her we would return the funds to the endowment within a year because the new look and website would build shareholder confidence.   Donors had made it clear the image did not match the level of excellence of the organization.  As a former corporate marketing executive, she got it.  And yes, within a year we did repay the $300,000 to the endowment.

I know that some of you are thinking – wow, $300,000 seems like a huge sum of money!   But guess what, that is what it costs to do it right!  Recently I had lunch with Jason Franklin, the Executive Director of Bolder Giving, a great next generation mind and spokesperson for what I am calling the “generosity movement”.  He and his organization have a three year history of providing quality resources for giving and, with a recent matching gift from Gates Foundation, they are investing wisely in marketing. 

The investment Bolder Giving is making in a branding consultant, social media coach, and web development and media relations teams has paid off.  The organization was named or referred to every other week in the Chronicle of Philanthropy for three consecutive months and they are well on their way to meeting their fundraising goal with a dollar-for-dollar match by the Gates Foundation. 

Jason is engaging regularly with writers from more than 50 philanthropic outlets and, in so doing, is building public engagement on ‘what is enough?’ and making bolder gifts.  “We have made an investment of more than 25% of our budget on media, web, and communications and we know this is already paying off with increased interest and investment in the work,” says Jason.  

Suffice it to say, the next generation gets it.  The challenge is convincing some of the longer standing or smaller organizations Boards and funders that this is important.  

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. 

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. 

Looking at all the inhibitors to sport participation for women – sexism, patriarchal systems, sport segregation,  homophobia – they sought partnerships with funders and organizations that understood these issues to elevate their work.  Within this environment, three key lessons were gleaned that can help you as you continue your work as leaders in social change.

1)  Be inclusive of all generations in your work.  

Involving next-generation leadership in your work as social change leaders is critical for success.  Having and listening to voices of youth and from the perspective of naïveté / innocence but mostly passion feeds both sides of the age continuum. 

Each year Billie Jean King spoke to the Women’s Sports Foundation interns - they got to learn from her lessons and ask her advice on everything from pay equity to co-ed sports and she got to learn about new technology and their dreams for working in women’s sports.    

As you move forward in your social change work it is essential to make sure you are inclusive of other women; hearing from one another the lessons and ideas from a continuum of people who've lived through different experiences and in differing cultures in sport as allies or as gay, lesbian or transgendered athletes. 

2)  Demonstrate the need for change with statistics and a compelling message.

Continuing on the idea about successful social change occurring with leadership, message, resources and hard work. “Message” is the critical need to make your case with memorable statistics, data and/or case studies that tell a compelling story about how your work is changing the system and changing people's lives.   If you are lucky enough to have your message delivered by a popular icon, your visibility will increase and often your resources will be easier to get.   
Within your presentations think about how your research could be distilled to a phrase or simple story about why further work is needed on policies, visibility or resources.  As social change leaders, consider asking one another for advice about the best way to express your message or to suggest a practical application of your research.  

3)  Be able to recognize overt discrimination tactics and speak up about them 

As protections’ increase -- the Lilly Ledbetter law, legislation against hate crimes, legal decisions that classify decisions against LGBT as harassment – it is important to understand that legislation doesn’t prevent discrimination from happening. In reality, it drives overt discrimination underground where it becomes more covert, more difficult to identify, and often, harder to talk about. 

As we are successful in getting the legal systems in place, we must also increase our vigilance over the expression of more subtle and covert forms of discrimination.  

For more information about the Women’s Sports Foundation, please visit http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/

The Women’s Funding Network – a great convener of thought and networks of people working in the women’s funding movement - has spent more than 30 years researching and promoting social change work.   They have identified how we can really measure what we are doing in these long struggles for social justice.  They have demonstrated that the evidence of change really occurs in the form of five shifts.

1. There is a Shift in Definition - the issue is defined differently in the community or larger society.  A clear example of this was defining sexual harassment – previously unnamed and unheard of until the Anita Hill hearings or ‘trial’.  Homophobia has been well defined although I might suggest we now reframe it to just call it ‘heterosexual supremacy’ and it would probably get more attention. 
2. There is a Shift in Behavior - people behave differently in the community.  Through education of the ‘definition’ of an issue, people understand where and how they can change their behavior.   All the smart efforts of the ‘green movement’ have families and businesses purchasing materials that are reusable or recyclable.
3. There is a Shift in  Critical Mass or Engagement - where now groups of people in the community are more actively engaged in the issue.  There are formations of social clubs, groups, events – think of what President Obama’s campaign did for political organizing.   
4. There is a Shift in Policy - a change in organizational, regional, state, or national policies or laws.  This is a critical place where the GLBT movement is at right now and there are several issues we are all aware of – Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, marriage laws, and Employment Non-Discrimination Act.  Ideally employment protection would pass at the federal level but imagine if every athletic department or sports league implemented an employment non discrimination policy based on sexual orientation and identity? 
5. And finally, sometimes a Shift can simply mean "Holding the Line" – maintaining earlier progress on the issue in the face of opposition.  An example of this would be the undeniably strong efforts of the choice movement to protect Roe v. Wade or all the organizations in the Coalition for Women and Girls in Education upholding Title IX through repeated attempts to weaken or amend the law.

So within the context of these shifts, there are key elements that we can identify as requirements for success.  No social justice issue is moved forward without strong leadership, resources, a good message, and passionate hard work.   Sometimes this is wrapped up in one person – like Martin Luther King and  civil rights or Gloria Steinem and the women’s movement or Donna Lopiano and gender equity in sports.

Sometimes, it is wrapped up in a belief, as in the words of Margaret Meade: “never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

For more information about the Women’s Funding Network, please visit http://www.womensfundingnetwork.org/

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