The Mission Paradox Blog

The Failure To Give

Click this link for a great article about the Paper Mill playhouse in New Jersey.  It talks about the problems that the company is having due to the Board's failure to consistently donate to the organization.

The article has a great line in it from a fundraising expert.  After noting that two of the company's officers did not donate to the Annual Fund he says, "If your leadership isn't giving 100% why should any else write a check?"

Amen.

This is the "double disaster" that occurs when Board members either can not or will not give money to a company.  Not only does it hurt the nonprofit financially, it also is a signal to the rest of the world to not give the organization any money.

Too Good To Be True

Had a meeting with a person that provides a fundraising service for nonprofit organizations.  From all indications, it is a fantastic service.  He throws an event for the nonprofit, does all the setup, etc.  Basically all the nonprofit needs to do is provide a few volunteers for the event.  Everyone who has worked with this guy says he really does provide a simple, effective way to raise thousands of dollars.

So what is his challenge?

Nobody believes him.

One of his biggest obstacles to getting clients is convincing the nonprofit that his fundraising strategy is legit.  To many nonprofits it sounds too good to be true.

We talked a lot about what he could do about this.  One suggestion we came up with was to actually make his service HARDER!  Make the nonprofit do more to get the funds.

The irony here is thick.  Nonprofits always want fundraising to be easier, but then when it is, they become skeptical.

Vote For Mission Paradox at Changethis.com

What do Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Thurman have in common? Nothing!  At least not yet.  While the first two names are New York Times Best Selling Authors, with your help all three of us could us could be listed as Authors who have had their manifesto's posted on ChangeThis.com

Here's the short version of the story, I have submitted a proposal to ChangeThis to write (or re-write) my e-book on finding Board members.  They have accepted my proposal.  Now people have to vote on whether or not they actually want to see my e-book on the site.

This is where you come in.  Click the link below and vote for the book.  It only takes a second and no registration is required.  Thanks for your help.

http://www.changethis.com/proposals/938

Find Your People

Check out this excellent post from the Escape From Cubicle Nation blog about "Finding Your People".  It is designed for entreprenuers, but I think the ideas there could be very useful for nonprofit managers.

Business Thinking and Nonprofits

It is a classic nonprofit debate, "Should nonprofits think/run more like a business?"  There are passionate arguments on both sides of the ledger.

My feeling is that business thinking is NOT the answer to making nonprofits run better, but MARKET based thinking probably is an answer.

Let's talk about the difference.

Most business thinking is based on a short-term manipulation of the bottom line, which is profit.  Notice I used the word manipulation, not maximizing, because we often see business organizations use every trick in the book to make their bottom line bigger then it is, which raise the stock price, which ultimately makes the shareholders a lot of money.

Nonprofits typically want to avoid this type of behavior and they should.  But every nonprofit exists in the context of a particular market.  In fact, every nonprofit has multiple markets:

There is a market for their services (i.e. art, food or health services) often this market can't afford the market rate for these services which means they have to find a second market.

The second market is the funding market, which includes all your donors, corporate funders, etc.

So while a nonprofit shouldn't be focused on maximizing a financial goal, they most certainly should (and I would argue MUST) be concerned about whether they are competitive in their particular primary and secondary markets.

The challenge is that many nonprofits are uncomfortable with the word competition.  They shouldn't be.

The reality is that as long as your nonprofit has competitiors, then ideas like branding, positioning  and competitive advantage become crucial to your long term success.

The beauty of it all is that nonprofits get to use this ideas to serve the public good.

A customer for life

This may not relate at all to your nonprofit, but it may relate entirely . . . you decide:

This morning I had just finished my workout and I was walking home.  I walked past a building where a restaurant was being constructed.  I am a massive food groupie so I couldn't help but try and peek inside through the window (the door was locked)

Someone comes to the door.  Turns out he is the executive chef of the restaurant, soon to be called The American Bar and Grill.  He sees me, smiles and invites me in to take a look around.

Now there is an important point here, at that moment I'm dressed in sweatpants and an old beat up T-shirt.  There is nothing about me that indicates that I could do anything positive for this man or his restaurant.

But he let me any regardless.

He took me around and showed me everything, where the kitchen would be, how the bar was going to be set up, he talked about the menu, the whole nine yards.

The whole thing may have took 20 minutes.  By the time he was done, I was hooked.  His passion and excitement for what he was doing was clear and I latched onto it . . . I couldn't help it.

So here's the thing, when that restaurant opens in a few months, not only will I be the first in the door, but I am also more then prepared to heap the praises of the place to EVERYONE I meet.

More importantly, his passion has bought my patience.  If I go there and the food isn't great the first time, I'll be back again.  Basically, that restaurant would now have to actively try to LOSE me as a customer, instead of working so hard to WIN me as one.

There are a lot of lessons here, but the biggest one for me is that passion still counts for something.

Just something to think about.

Hate fundraising?

Courtesy of Fundraising Success magazine here is a great article on what to say to people who hate the job of fundraising.  Of course, if you hate fundraising you may just end up saying those things to yourself!

Good News

In my e-book, "The Unfair Guide To Building A  Powerful Board" I talk about how the nonprofit sector seems to be filled with bad news about the state of the industry. 

That's why I am going to start working on a book that has nothing by nonprofit success stories.

Sound like a good idea?  A horrible idea?  Let me know at mission.paradox@yahoo.com

Free e-book: The Unfair Guide To Building A Powerful Board

Mission Paradox's first e-book, "The Unfair Guide to Building a Powerful Board" is now available.  Just click the link to get it.

The book is designed for small to midsized nonprofits who face the following challenges:

- Difficulty attracting Board Members

- Difficulty knowing which Board Prospects to select

- Frustration with the current's Board ability to fundraise

It's a good book, a quick read and it is yours to enjoy and share with others.

Comments on the book?  Send them to mission.paradox@yahoo.com

The purpose of special events

Here's a good answer to a classic question about special events courtesy of the Nonprofiteer blog.