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Fundraising Metrics That Matter: A Relationship Quotient?

Posted on  October 11, 2019
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Fundraising Metrics: Measuring More Than Money proved a hot topic! Over 100 people liked the article and many took time to respond or comment.

Featured in that article is what is now an award-winning book, Kathleen Loehr’s “Gender Matters: A Guide to Growing Women’s Philanthropy“. Reading Kathleen’s book led me to the text of a speech by James Hodges:

Philanthropy & Relationships: If Philanthropy is All About Relationships, Then Why Do Metrics Only Measure Money?

In the piece, Mr. Hodges suggests going beyond measuring money and focusing on a relationship quotient. On what factors might such a quotient measure?

  1. The degree of “relationship equity” that the fundraiser has with a donor (How well the two connect.).
  2. The “institutional relationship quotient” (The degree to which the fundraiser is building the donor’s relationship with the institution).

Are you saying

There’s a metric that we can use to measure what matters most, the relationship!?

If you are a fundraiser or are leading a team could you use, as Mr. Hodges indicates, a simple Likert scale to measure these two items for each donor in a fundraiser’s portfolio?

Sound like a lot of work? New software systems are already available that can help you track such data. As well, AI is already and will surely continue to enable those in even smaller nonprofits to measure what matters. Check out my Charity Channel articles:

Artificial Intelligence and Fundraising: Is a Bot Coming to Take My Job?

Fundraising and AI: Bots Don’t Trot

Are you using simple or sophisticated methods to measure relationship quotient? If so we would all welcome hearing from you because we can all learn from one another.

Sophie Penney, Ph.D. is the President of i5 Fundraising and in that role is a teacher, coach and consultant to nonprofits. She is also on the faculty at Penn State University, teaching online courses in fundraising and fundraising leadership.

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The Fundraising Times They are a Changin’: Lead the Way!

Posted on  October 3, 2019
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Yes, Virgil, there is a lot of change going with regard to fundraising:

·        There are five generations in the workforce (and one would think donors) and

·        There are a mind-boggling number of ways to give,

·        Yet the overall number of donors is on the decline.

·        We used to be the fundraisers, but now

·        Everyone is a fundraiser,

·        Maybe even robots (with the use of AI on the rise!)

This is a short list. What would you add?

At the AFP Central PA Capital Conference I led a discussion with 40+ professionals about leading through change. We didn’t talk about any one change, rather how to lead through all types of changes.

We explored a concept called Change Intelligence© (the brainchild of Barbara Traultlein of Change Catalysts.*

Session attendees discovered their own change leadership styles. Some led more with their head, others with their hands and some others with their hearts. (And yes, we noted that people might use some combination of the three).

The most interesting part involved a case study. What made that interesting? People had to work together with people who had different change styles.

This might seem a simple task but think about it:

·        We talk about diversity. But I wonder, when was the last time you sat with team members and spoke about how each of you deals with change?

·        Have you used the knowledge of how you each manage or lead through change to your advantage?

·        Put another way, by engaging others who possess diverse styles of change intelligence have you come up with better solutions to a problem than you might have working on your own?

Want to know more? I offered a few tips about leading through change in this piece. I didn’t have an opportunity to hear him speak but know that Dave Tinker spoke about fundraising after a tragedy. I too have led discussions about fundraising in times of crisis (and a crisis definitely results in change!).

·        What have you found to be an effective way of dealing with change?

·        Do you have a story to tell about how you or your team successfully navigated a change?

I hope that you will comment because we can all learn from one another. If you want to know more about my AFP session give me a shout out here.

*I don’t receive any remuneration for recommending Barbara or her work. Change intelligence is for me a fascinating concept, maybe for you too. 

Sophie is the President of i5 Fundraising and the Senior Program Coordinator and a Lecturer for Penn State programs in fundraising leadership and fundraising and advancement.

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Fundraisers: You Didn’t “raise it” (money), donors “gave it”(their gift)!

Posted on  September 18, 2019
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Have you attended a donor recognition or campaign closing event where you heard a leader make one of these statements?

“This year we raised a $500,000 (or $300M)!”

“We reached a milestone, raising X% more than last year!”

“This year’s fundraising total reached a record $Y,000,000!”

“You didn’t raise it (money), donors gave it (their support)! As I have said in other missives, such as Flip the Focus, we need to change the narrative. Don’t believe me? Consider reading Ron Schiller’s book Belief and Confidence. In the introduction, Ron notes that:

“almost every major and transformational gift described as highly satisfying and/or the most successful was also described by the donors as self solicited.” (p. xvii).

Ron goes on to suggest that the dichotomy which I describe above, an “us or them” mentality, doesn’t best describe the type of relationship we as fundraisers should seek to have with donors – a philanthropic partnership:

“. . . it became clear that environments marked by high levels of belief and confidence produce philanthropic partnerships: a culture in which both organizational leaders and donors talk about each other as partners . . . which blurs the line between solicitation  and self-solicitation.” (p. xvii).

This led me to wonder, what might be the best way to declare that exciting goals or milestone have been achieved?

As partners in philanthropy we together have . . .

Thanks to your gifts the lives of people seeking to lift themselves out of poverty will be changed.

Together, we can and will (fill in the blank – find a cure, save a child, feed a family, etc., etc. etc.)

As you think about this you might revisit last week’s post, Summer Reading: Lessons Learned about Women and Philanthropy, which focused on women’s philanthropy. Kathleen Loehr’s book, Gender Matters, invites us to think differently about the language used when speaking with and about women as donors. The same can be said for Lilya Wagner’s Diversity and Philanthropy: Expanding the Circle of Giving.

What say you? What language do you employ at your recognition events or in your impact or annual reports? Is it all about your or your donors (or a bit of both)?

FYI, not sure where to begin? You might review this diagram from Mark Phillips (Bluefrog Fundraising Limited): The Fundraising Paradox. Also, check out Anne Manner-McClarty’s blog posts at Heurista. 

I look forward to hearing from you because through our work together we help change and save lives.

Together we can elevate the conversation far better than I can do on my own.

Sophie Penney, Ph.D. is the President of i5 Fundraising and the Senior Program Coordinator and a Lecturer for Penn State programs in fundraising. Sophie does not receive compensation for recommending any of the above persons or resources.

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Summer Reading: Lessons Learned about Women and Philanthropy

Posted on  September 11, 2019
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Summer will soon be over! (Take a moment to shed a tear if you wish). In 93 Days of Summer: What’s on Your Reading List? I shared a few books that were on my desk. This week I have been reading Kathleen’s Loehr’s:

Gender Matters: A Guide to Growing Women’s Philanthropy

I have met Kathleen who was with Indiana University and is now with Aspen Leadership Group. I wrote to Kathleen yesterday to say that I’m only halfway through her book and it’s already dramatically shifting my perspective.

Gender Matters is a thought-provoking piece focused on women and philanthropy. Here are a few early takeaways:

  1. Women hold an increasing amount of wealth. (I have also noted in the past that about 20% of Boomer women nevers had children of their own — are you thinking estate gifts?)
  2. All donors are not the same, what works for men will not necessarily (probably will not) work with women.
  3. Stand-alone programs which are not integrated into a larger vision and framework are likely to fail. (And when they fail 5 or 10 years from now when the idea of engaging women resurfaces someone will say, we tried that and it didn’t work).

This topic matters because so many donors to your nonprofit are most likely women. (Don’t believe me? Run a list of your top 100 donors or 250 donors, check the names). Even if your donor base is well balanced these questions remain:

  1. Are you engaging women in ways that are meaningful to them?
  2. Are you involving women in ways that will inspire them to help further your mission (including making gifts to ensure that your services have an impact)?

One final note, the above may focus on women but one could ask similar questions about donors from a diverse array of backgrounds. You can learn more about diversity from

  • Angelique Grant, Ph.D. (Senior Consultant and Certified Diversity Recruiter at Aspen Leadership Group),
  • Armando Zumaya who also offers thought-providing perspectives about diversity, and the
  • Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-IDEA — Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access).

You are also welcome to contact me about a session that I can present about diversity and fundraising.

Are you engaging women in meaningful ways that has increased their philanthropic giving to your educational institution or nonprofit? If so, what has proven successful?

Sophie is the President of i5 Fundraising and Senior Program Coordinator and a Lecturer for Penn State’s certificate programs in fundraising.

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Is Fundraising Going Down for the 3rd Time? Don’t Fret Harbor Hope!

Posted on  August 28, 2019
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Last week seemed a particularly bad week in the headlines. So, I asked the question Is Fundraising Going Down for the Third Time?

There is no doubt that we live in changing and even challenging times. However, we live with change every day! Sometimes change is welcome (even hoped for, such as a promotion) and sometimes not.

I have been reading, speaking, and thinking about leading through change and crisis ever since meeting Barbara Trautlein, Ph.D., author of Change Intelligence, at the PA Association of Nonprofits conference three years ago. I’ll be talking about change again at the AFP Capital Conference being held in Lancaster PA on October 1, 2019.

Before I offer a few tips about leading through change I wanted to say, harbor hope!

Challenges come and they go. I was also reminded by fellow travelers that things are not always as they seem or there may be information to be learned that enabled me to move from thinking about gloom and doom to being hopeful. For example:

  1. Michael Rosen from ML Innovations noted that charitable giving was actually up in 2018. Yes, you heard that correctly, giving was up. You’ll learn more in this article which Michael penned.
  2. Deb Taft, CEO of Lindauer Global mentioned a 2016 Marts & Lundy study that she believes still holds true with regard to the use of incentives to promote staff retention. Deb noted that some institutions are seeing success with “thoughtful compensation incentive programs”.
  3. Another reader noted that donors still give because they “understand the impact of their philanthropy.”

Should you find yourself still wondering how to harbor hope I offer these thoughts about dealing with change:

  1. Reach out to others. Hearing from professionals who read the article reminded me that I am part of a community. We are here for a can lift up one another during difficult times. Thanks to those who responded so thoughtfully and kindly.
  2. Seek out the advice and counsel of those who have experienced great change, even significant crises. There is much to be learned from those who have traveled rocky roads.
  3. Consider learning about your own change leadership style and/or learn about resilience. If you have not read it Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance is a terrific book about resilience and there is a TED Talk on the same topic.

FYI I’m not saying any of this because I am expert at dealing with change or nor am I always resilient, I’m still learning. However, what I have discovered in that knowledge, time, and the support of others have proven powerful companions when navigating change or rough waters.

Finally, remember that as a fundraiser you can harbor hope and be a Harbinger of Hope for others. May these thoughts enable you to move more easily through another week.

Sophie Penney, Ph.D. is the Senior Program Coordinator and Lecturer for Penn State’s all online Graduate Certificate in Fundraising Leadership and Undergraduate Certificate in Fundraising and Advancement. Sophie hs not received any remuneration or other benefits for mentioning the above professionals or their work.

 
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"I have often spoken about the importance of intentionality in philanthropy: that it has to stir the soul. This is true whether you are feeding the homeless, mentoring a child or working on climate change."

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