Fundraising Gala Drawbacks

As we plan our fall event, I am intrigued by these insights…

When told that it was a gala day for him, Groucho Marx responded, “At my age, a gal a day is about all I can handle.”

The gala — day, night, whatever — is a time-honored method of increasing awareness and raising money. But in his book “Fundraising Strategies for Community Colleges,” Steve Klingman recommended scrapping the gala event and replacing it with an annual fund campaign. For him, the gala day is more than many nonprofits can handle.

Klingman acknowledged the positives of gala events: fundraising, showing the flag, cultivation, recognition, volunteer involvement and people having a good time and feeling warm and fuzzy, but he maintains that they are overwhelmed by the negatives.

• A gala event has a low yield as a fundraising vehicle.
• A gala saps annual fund dollars. Rarely do event-driven programs co-exist with robust annual fund dollars.
• A gala pre-empts other fundraising efforts for a significant portion of the year.
• When staff time is added in, net revenue is too low.
• A gala focuses donor attention on the event rather than the mission.
• A gala distracts volunteers from more beneficial involvement. Using them to make annual fund calls is much better use of their time.
• Donors quickly forget a gala.
• A gala is expensive to produce. The cost of such items as dinner, facility and balloons can easily eat up 50 percent of each ticket.

But Is Envisioning Biblical?

But Is Envisioning Biblical? Great insights from my friend Bob...

Authentic Leadership

Leaders have faults like all of us.  As fellow-strugglers, leaders need to learn the value of authentic apologizing.  Honestly owning a problem will go a long way in earning the respect of those you lead - if done correctly.  It might be helpful to have an ‘apology primer.’  Here you go:

• I’m sorry: this is the core of a genuine apology.  “I’m sorry.” or “I apologize.”  It’s the stake in the ground to communicate that you truly regret your behavior and wish you had acted differently. No apology is complete without this.

• Stay in the first person:  Many, perhaps most, apologies run off the rails at this point, when the apologizer shifts into the second person, e.g., “I’m sorry….you didn’t understand me.” Or “I’m sorry….you feel that way.” Suddenly, you’re no longer apologizing for your actions; you’re telling the other person that you regret their actions or feelings.  A true apology sounds like, “I’m sorry I….” or “I’m sorry we…”

• Don’t equivocate:  Once you said what you regret about your actions or words, don’t water it down with excuses.  That can blow the whole thing.  The former manager of my apartment building once said to me, “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten back to you about your security deposit, but you have to understand we’ve got hundreds of tenants.”  I definitely didn’t feel apologized to – in fact, I felt he was telling me I was being inconsiderate to hold him accountable!  Just let the apology stand on its own. “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten back to you about your security deposit.”

• Say how you’ll fix it.  This seals the deal.  If you genuinely regret your words or actions, you’ll to commit to changing. This needs to be simple, feasible and specific. “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten back to you about your security deposit. We’ll have an answer to you by this Friday.”

• Do it. I know some people who don’t have a hard time apologizing, but seem to have a hard time following through on their apologies. If you apologize and say you’re going to behave differently, and then don’t – it’s actually worse than not having apologized in the first place. When you don’t follow through, people question not only your courage, but also your trustworthiness.

So there you have it.  Next time you’re clearly in the wrong, take deep breath, put aside your self-justification, your excuses, your blame, your defensiveness, and simply apologize. Being courageous in this way is generally scary in anticipation. But it feels great once you’ve done it….to you, and to those you lead.

Leaders should model Humility as a Fellow Struggler

Leaders have faults like all of us.  As fellow-strugglers, leaders need to learn the value of authentic apologizing.  Honestly owning a problem will go a long way in earning the respect of those you lead - if done correctly.  It might be helpful to have an ‘apology primer.’  Here you go:

• I’m sorry: this is the core of a genuine apology.  “I’m sorry.” or “I apologize.”  It’s the stake in the ground to communicate that you truly regret your behavior and wish you had acted differently. No apology is complete without this.

• Stay in the first person:  Many, perhaps most, apologies run off the rails at this point, when the apologizer shifts into the second person, e.g., “I’m sorry….you didn’t understand me.” Or “I’m sorry….you feel that way.” Suddenly, you’re no longer apologizing for your actions; you’re telling the other person that you regret their actions or feelings.  A true apology sounds like, “I’m sorry I….” or “I’m sorry we…”

• Don’t equivocate:  Once you said what you regret about your actions or words, don’t water it down with excuses.  That can blow the whole thing.  The former manager of my apartment building once said to me, “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten back to you about your security deposit, but you have to understand we’ve got hundreds of tenants.”  I definitely didn’t feel apologized to – in fact, I felt he was telling me I was being inconsiderate to hold him accountable!  Just let the apology stand on its own. “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten back to you about your security deposit.”

• Say how you’ll fix it.  This seals the deal.  If you genuinely regret your words or actions, you’ll to commit to changing. This needs to be simple, feasible and specific. “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten back to you about your security deposit. We’ll have an answer to you by this Friday.”

• Do it. I know some people who don’t have a hard time apologizing, but seem to have a hard time following through on their apologies. If you apologize and say you’re going to behave differently, and then don’t – it’s actually worse than not having apologized in the first place. When you don’t follow through, people question not only your courage, but also your trustworthiness.

So there you have it.  Next time you’re clearly in the wrong, take deep breath, put aside your self-justification, your excuses, your blame, your defensiveness, and simply apologize. Being courageous in this way is generally scary in anticipation. But it feels great once you’ve done it….to you, and to those you lead.

Conform or Transform?

This week, I will let God do brain surgery on me.

Authentic love means thinking differently.

What’s the difference? If I get provoked this week — a donor disappoints me, a fellow staff member annoys me, a volunteer frustrates me — what makes me respond with grace? What keeps me from responding any differently than someone who doesn’t know God ... beyond the natural way — the supernatural way? How will that happen?

It will be a process, and the process will start in my brain. That 3-pound organ inside my skull. We change, we grow, we come to respond differently and more effectively and more lovingly than we did before, by something that happens in our brains. The Bible says in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” — don’t respond the ordinary way, the way a cynic might expect you to respond — “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind....”

“Your mind” is your brain. This Romans 12:2 transformation is not mystical ... it’s medical!

A medical doctor can tell you about the toggle switch of the brain stem: the Reticular Activating System, or RAS. It switches back and forth between the cortex, which might be called the learning brain, and the limbic, which might be called the emotional brain. Many wrongly believe that the Christian life happens in the limbic brain; it’s emotional. And certainly, when we realize what Christ did for us, how much God loves us, the kind of life he makes available to us, it’s a thrill — we get emotional. It’s a rush. We tap into our emotions significantly during worship. Emotions are a vital part of our lives.

But love is a decision; authentic love is a conscious act of the will. Genuine love happens in your cortex! It’s learned. How I respond when somebody hurts me ­— I learn that. How I verbalize about somebody who did me dirty — I learn that. How I function as a member of the Body of Christ — I learn that.

The brain literally teaches itself by routing images and impressions along certain neural pathways, across certain synapses. If I want to think differently, I have to tell my brain to switch paths. When Romans 12:2 says “be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” it’s saying, “Live a different way — by the re-routing of the synapses in your brain.”

Synapse re-routing doesn’t happen by osmosis. It’s proactive. The Bible gives us action steps to take: “Do not conform...” “Be transformed...” If I can’t do it on my own — and I can’t — then I have to ask God to take charge. Do surgery on my brain! Let me think differently ... and love authentically!

My Prayer for the Next Seven Days... God, you know about the annoyances and frustrations I’m experiencing in my ministry. Please give me a new way of thinking — so I can love authentically. Amen.

Inspiring Your Organization's Partners

Motivation is one of the driving forces behind a donor’s decision to give money. After all, why would a person give a potentially large amount of cash to a nonprofit if they didn’t have a good reason?
Understanding these reasons will lead you to greater success with your fundraising solicitations.
In his book “Tested Ways to Successful Fund Raising,” George A. Brakeley, Jr. wrote that virtually every fundraising campaign and development program depends on nine factors in motivating donors to support their organization. They are:

• The right person or persons ask them, at the right time, and in the right circumstances;
• People have a sincere desire to help other people;
• People wish to belong or be identified with a group or organization they admire;
• Recognition of how vital their gifts can be satisfies a need for a sense of personal power in many people;
• People have received benefits -- often, personal enjoyment -- from the services of the organization and wish to support it;
• They “get something” out of giving;
• People receive income and estate tax benefits from giving; and,
• People may need to give; that is, altruism might not be an option but a “love or perish” necessity for many people.

Direct Mail Tips

Chances are if someone has signed up for your direct mail, they are at least interested in what you have to say. But that doesn’t mean they are motivated to take action.
In his book “Direct Mail for Dummies,” Richard Goldsmith wrote that organizations have an obligation to word their communications in such a way that readers will be motivated to take action for your cause. He suggested the following techniques to accomplish this:

• Personalize Your Letter: Don’t use the phrase “Dear Executive” or other impersonal greetings. It might take a little more time, but it shows you care enough to know the name of the person you are contacting;
• Get the Reader Involved: Start your letters with the word “you” so that it’s about the reader from the get-go;
• Present the Benefit and Then Get Into the Information: Readers care about information only if you’ve already presented them with a benefit that gets them interested;
• Say How Features Benefit the Reader: Tell the readers how features benefit them, and you’ll make them happy;
• Use Everyday Language: Your readers need to understand what you are saying, so don’t assume they know the industry jargon;
• Ask: “Please contact us” is too impersonal. Ask the reader to call you directly.
• Don’t Overlook the P.S.: The postscript is one of the most important parts of the letter. Don’t make it an afterthought.