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Are you a betting person? Know what a trifecta is? In horse racing, a trifecta occurs when a bettor picks the top three finishers of a race, in order. It’s a rare occurrence and accordingly provides a big payout for those that get it right. Trifecta has also been used to refer to a winning combination of three.
Consider this, there’s an organizational identity trifecta -- a situation that provides higher than average returns or a special prize for those few that get all three, and get them right.
Mission
For many nonprofit organizations the mission is their starting point. One of the first questions they ask is “what is our mission?” “What is it that we do that is unique and distinguishes us from other organizations?”
I appreciate that, on the whole, nonprofits are mission driven organizations. That is, they exist to fulfill a specific purpose or accomplish a significant goal.
Many organizations invest a significant amount of time and energy to get their mission statement just right. A carefully crafted and finely tuned mission statement provides direction to those inside the organization as well as establishing its identity for both insiders and outsiders.
I agree with the importance of mission. However, I personally think mission is not the starting point. Determining mission first reminds me of the famous lines from Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In the scene, Alice approaches a fork in the road. Puzzled over her choice,
Alice asks the Cheshire Cat, “Which road should I take?”
To which the cat replies, “Where do you want to to go?”
Alice - “I don’t know.”
“Then it doesn’t matter,” replied the Cheshire Cat.
The same holds true for nonprofit leaders. If you don't know where you're going, any mission will do.
Vision
Vision precedes mission!
Many of the struggles leaders encounter, wrestling through the questions of mission, are clarified when you’ve first addressed the issue of vision.
Vision answers the question -- where are you going? Mission answers the question --how are you getting there?
Mission and vision, or perhaps more appropriately vision and mission (keeping the order in mind) are both important. However, if you’re doing the math you realize we’re one short of a trifecta and nothing really magical is happening yet.
AH! I love writing for a bright audience. You’re right. Vision and mission are critical components. Vision precedes mission. Mission informs strategy.
However, there’s a third element that complements vision and mission to form the winning trifecta.
I’ve had three encounters in the last week with three different organizations (one on the East Coast and two on the West Coast). All three were experiencing very different situations and issues.
Their issues were hampering their ability to deliver on mission. While the issues were very different and unique, I recognize a common thread. Culture.
Values
Values shape an organization’s culture. Every organization, by declaration or default, develops a set of values that shape and, ultimately define, its culture.
Last week I was in a meeting with the leaders of an organization. I asked them if they had a written values statement. They did not. They knew they had values, they just never formally recorded them.
I knew they had values. I had witnessed their values in action while I was waiting in the lobby. I watched a young lady, Sara, demonstrate respect and compassion in the way she graciously interacted with one of their clients.
Declaring your values sets the boundaries of what’s expected and accepted as you carry out your mission. The Business Dictionary defines shared values as, “Explicit or implicit fundamental beliefs, concepts, and principles that underlie the culture of an organization, and which guide decisions and behavior of its employees, management, and members.” For nonprofits, values should be shared by its employees, volunteers, and board members.
The Trifecta
I like the way Tony Bell uses the metaphor of a car on a journey to describe the relationship of vision, mission, and values. In Great Leadership, he posits vision as the organization’s destination; mission as the driving force that propels the vehicle forward. Values are the guardrails that keep the organization on the road and from veering off the path.
Values, when clearly defined and articulated, and partnered with your vision and mission create a winning trifecta of organizational identity. These are not lifeless documents, but when your mission, vision, and values are embraced they become the lifeblood of your organization.
I challenge you to set aside some time and reflect on the current state of your mission, vision, and values. I bet if you invest the time to get them right you’ll see a big payout.
Here are links to the mission, vision, and value statements of a few visionary companies to illustrate how these three fit together as a trifecta of organizational identity. If you’ve developed all three, please share a copy or provide a link to your site in the comments. I’d love to see them and share them with others.
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/mission_vision_values.html
http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/About-Us/mission-vision.aspx
http://servicemaster.com/about-us/corporate-responsibility/our-commitment
http://www.pta.org/1162.asp
http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/MembersFunctionalCategories/AboutTI/MissionVisionandValues.aspx
I am continuing to take advantage of January as a month when many people are putting action to their resolutions or at least ,considering their aspirations for the year. I’m encouraging all nonprofit organizations to designate 2012 as the year of the board -- the year to get your board right and that by getting your board right many of the other pieces with which you’ve struggled with will simply fall into place.
That’s not pie in the sky thinking. The board is the starting point for ordering your organization and getting the board right will guide your organization to maximizing its potential and impact as well as seizing its destiny.
However, it is pie in the sky thinking that getting your board right is easy and that it will somehow just magically or mystically occur. Sorry Charlie, it’s going to take work and in some instances…,hard work. You can read this previous post for action steps to get your board right.
Consider this...
- If your board is critical to getting your organization right,
- And getting your organization right is essential for maximizing the difference you make for the clients and communities you serve and the impact you have with them,
- AND if board meetings are the primary place and time that the board gathers to decide and direct the future of your organization, then
- What does it say about your organization -- and it’s future-- if your board meetings SUCK?
Sorry, I was looking for a more appropriate word, but couldn’t find one that would get the point across and grab your attention. I don’t mean to offend anyone with that word. But it might just be the slap some people need to wake up and realize what’s at stake.
How do board meetings suck? Let me count the ways...
- Poorly planned - no meaningful agenda
- Lack of purpose - some boards just meet to meet
- Poorly led - inept board chairs letting the meeting wander or allowing the same certain few get on their soapbox and pontificate at every meeting
- Overly consumed with trivial issues- micromanaging the organization and scrutinizing operational issues
- Neither begin nor end on time
- Try to accomplish too much
The bottom line? Too many board meetings are boring. AND they shouldn’t be! Too much is at stake. It seems that some people mistakenly believe that board meetings should be boring. After all, is that what parliamentary procedures dictates? NO!
Roberts’ Rules of Order bring structure and order to what could otherwise be chaotic. Focus on one issue at a time. Board meetings should have tension. Not the kind of tension on a Fox News Show where all the panelists are talking, or yelling, at the same time trying to grab the floor and get their voice heard and their point across. The tension should come as you examine issues from all sides and perspectives. Pull the decision in every direction to find the best answer for your organization.
If your meetings are boring find out why. And find ways to reinvent the meeting and the meeting experience.
The board meeting should be the time when deliberations are held and discussions are made. Find ways to get the information members need to them in advance of the meeting (and create the expectation that they will practice their Duty of Care) and read the reports before the meeting in order to devote the time in the board meeting to the substantive discussion of the issues and decisions.
- Send meeting agenda and supporting documents out in advance.
- Create and manage the expectation that board members review materials in advance.
- Consider using a consent agenda. (Read more on the consent agenda).
- Revitalize your board committees so they are effective. (Read Debra Beck’s recent posts on committees)
- Read This Before Our Next Meeting by Al Pittampalli is a great book and a quick read that explores characteristics of the modern meeting. (Find out more).
- Create a short report card for each board meeting. Collect and evaluate feedback. Ask - was today’s meeting a good use of your time? was the agenda clear and sensible? were discussions on target? did we stayed focused on strategy and policy? did we accomplish our objectives?
I realize that boring board meetings may be a symptom of more serious issues and not the root cause. If that’s the case, find the root cause and address it.
Commit and follow through that you will not have bored meetings this year. You and your board members will be glad you did.
I’d love for you to share your best and worst experiences with board meetings. What makes a meeting worthwhile? What makes you crazy? Please comment below.
If 2012 is a year of destiny, and I believe it is; then what does it take to discovery your destiny? Here are four thoughts from my journey. 
- Coming to terms with where you are now.
Perhaps you missed an opportunity -- so what? We all have. Remember that Babe Ruth actually held two records during his legendary baseball career. He’s best remembered as the home run king for hitting 714 home runs. It’s easy to overlook the fact that during his career he also held the record for the most strikeouts - 1,330.
Was there a connection between his willingness to step up to the plate and either go down swinging or knock it out of the park?
What about you? Does the fear of failure paralyze you from taking the risk necessary to discover your destiny?
Helen Keller observed that, “When one door of opportunity closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
Have you come to terms with the current situation of you and your organization, if you happen to be its leader? It’s hard to move forward until you do.
2. Be willing to take risks.
Some of us are extremely risk averse. I say us, because this is an area in which I struggle. A few years back, I was at a very low point in my life. You see, I had taken a huge risk, probably the biggest risk I had taken up to that point.
I left the security of a 10-year career with a Fortune 100 company to join a start-up company. Plus, I took this risk just 6 months after being promoted to my dream job and feeling I was on track for success. By the way, this happened to be in February 2001. The economic downturn that followed the tragic events of September 11 buried that startup and dashed my hopes.
It was probably 18 months later I was visiting a church at the invitation of a friend and heard the minister say, “for some of you, the greatest risk you’ll take is to take no risk at all.” He was talking to me. I had become totally risk averse, had lost hope and was battling depression.
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A door opened and a ray of light and hope began to shine. Gradually I realized that what I was holding on to as security wasn’t very secure and maybe, just maybe, I’ll would take another chance. For me, that led to launching my own business, X Factor Consulting and I’m having the time of my life and fulfilling one of my life dreams.
3.
Make a decision.
It comes to a point when you just have to make a decision. Those of us that struggle with risk, want to wait until we have all of the facts in to make a decision. We want to be 100% certain that the decision is the right one and our success is guaranteed.
Let me channel Dr. Phil and ask, “How’s that working out for you?”
Consider this, “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved” (William Jennings Bryan).
When there are multiple doors of opportunity and you can only go through one -- that’s a time for a decision. The challenge is which decision is the best decision.
Do your research. Consult your advisors. If it’s an organizational decision, this is the beauty of the board for “in a multitude of counselors there is safety.” But it finally comes to the point and place that you must decide.
Don’t wait for a Hollywood moment when the heavens part and the trumpets sound. Recall these words from Agnes DeMille, “No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny in made known silently.”
Make a decision and when you have, then...
4.
Move in the direction of the decision you’ve made.
Take action and do you best to implement the decisions you’ve made. Without a doubt course corrections will be required. But that’s when I remember that it’s hard to steer a parked car!
Is 2012 a year of destiny? Indeed! You will discover your destiny through the choices you make and the actions you take to implement those choices.
What decision or decisions await you?
How did your board’s performance in 2011 compare to the stock market? You may be thinking... “What kind of question is that”?
Think about it. 2011 was a wild year for the stock market. A year that had an unusual
amount of highs and lows, plenty of bad news counterbalanced by good news. When all was said and done and the year over, the market was pretty much where it began. No significant gains!
On average, most investments did not produce an immediate return; they were flat. Perhaps you feel the same way about your board. You may feel that you’re pretty much in the same place you were last year at this time.
Does it have to be that way? My answer is a resounding NO!
Decide now that 2012 is the year you take action to get your board right. Getting your board right is the single greatest investment you can make in your organization that will produce ongoing returns for your organization. Guaranteed!
What does it mean to get the board right?
Simply put, it means having the right people in the right places taking the right actions for the right reasons and seeing results.
Getting the board right begins with an honest assessment. The assessment can be formal and utilize some type of standard assessment or even involve a board consultant. You can also go the informal route and ask tough questions like these:
- As a board, are we doing our best to protect, preserve, and promote the organization’s mission?
- Do we have the right mix of skills, talents, and perspectives on the board?
- Do board members take their roles and responsibilities seriously and put the organization’s interests first?
- Are we ensuring the organization has adequate resources (including funding) to pursue it’s mission?
- Are we providing appropriate stewardship over the organization’s assets?
- Do we invest adequate time to fully understand the issues and challenges of our organization?
- Have we developed a sound strategy for accomplishing the organization’s mission?
After assessing where your board is, determine where you want and need to be in 2012.
Do you need to increase the diversity of your board?
Are you seeking to expand programs and services?
Do you need more sustainable sources of income?
Once you’ve determined where you’re wanting to go, here are some of the options and actions you may consider as investments to help get your board right:
- Launch a recruiting campaign - identify the skills, talents, and perspectives needed on your board and get busy recruiting new board members. Here’s an article that will help you formalize this process.
- Conduct board development - Equip your current board members with education and training on what it means to be a board member and what boards do and how they do it.
- Explore options for making your meetings more productive. Take small steps like committing to starting and ending on time.
- Develop strategy and do strategic planning to determine how you best accomplish your mission.
- Address performance issues - if personality conflicts exist between board members that are ultimately impeding board effectiveness, make this the year to address them.
- Expand strategic funding options for your organization.
- Revitalize a dysfunctional or diseased board. We’ve addressed this in other articles and webinars. If you’re in this situation, it will take months to accomplish, but ignoring it won’t make it go away. Here’s an article that may help - and you can view our webinar on Board CPR.
Some of these you can easily do yourself with the right tools and resources. Other projects may require outside or professional assistance. If you need help, get it. Find mentors, coaches, or consultants that will work with you to get your board right.
Accept the challenge to get your board right in 2012. It’s one investment you can make this year to ensure that you end 2012 in a much better place than you began. Borrowing the slogan made famous by George Zimmer of Men's Wearhouse, “I guarantee it!”
It’s still early in the New Year and there’s plenty of talk and attention on setting and keeping resolutions and goals. Last week I challenged leaders, especially those in the nonprofit sector, to follow the time-tested advice from Archimedes and find the levers or leverage points which allow you to lift, move, and accomplish more than you could otherwise.
I want to build on that by sharing two BIG IDEAS to help you on your way to 2012 being a breakthrough year for your organization.
- Consider your board as the single greatest lever you have for your nonprofit organization.
- Make 2012 the year to get your board right.
The Leverage of the Board.
Archimedes’s concept of leverage was that little actions in the right place produce monumental lift and shifts. Think about it from an organizational perspective. Wise, strategic investments in getting your board right will produce rich rewards that ripple throughout your organization.
Getting the board right will:
- Multiply your fundraising potential
- Extend your reach throughout the community
- Amplify your voice in the community
- Increase access to volunteers and partners
- Open doors of opportunity for service and collaboration
- Solidify your standing in the community
- Clarify your identity and direction
- Fortify your strategy development
Getting the board right involves:
- Getting the right people on the Board
- Getting the right people in the right positions on the Board
- Getting the board focused on the right purposes
- Getting the board addressing the right priorities
- Getting the board strategically developing the right plans
- Getting the board asking the right questions
June Bradham puts it like this, getting the board right isn’t easy, but getting the board right makes everything else easier. I heartily agree! Getting your board right in 2012 may be your single greatest source of leverage for accomplishing great things in 2012.
In my next post, I’ll explore what’s involved in getting your board right and help you identify and plan little actions you can take with your board that will produce monumental lift for your organization.
For now, I encourage you to make 2012 the year of the Board. Commit to making getting your board right a top priority for this year.
If your board is right -- on the right track and moving in the right direction, count it a blessing, but also consider what actions you can take in 2012 to build on that momentum and harness those energies for even greater outcomes.
Make 2012 the best it can be for your board and make your board the best it can be for your organization in 2012. You’ll be glad you did!
As a leader sometimes its difficult to separate your personal and professional aspirations and goals as they are often intertwined and interconnected. This is even more the case if you happen to be the founder of your organization you lead. So, here we sit at the beginning of a new year and I’m confident that you have goals and aspirations for this year. Perhaps you’re the type that writes your goals out. If you are, good for you, as a body of research demonstrates that those of us who do so are more likely to achieve our goals than those that don’t - but that’s fodder for another post and I’ll resist the bunny trail.
Earlier this week I addressed the topic of leverage as one key for accomplishing your goals. I want to expound on the concept of leverage and specifically encourage you to identify the x factor or factors in your organization. Simon Cowell has heightened our awareness of x factors through his blockbuster TV show, The X Factor. (Just to be clear, our firm was formed before the TV show and shares no connection to the show although we occasionally receive calls from would-be contestants seeking help to get on the show.)
What is an X Factor? The term surfaces in many fields.
- In the entertainment world, an x factor is some quality that while it’s hard to describe, it’s easy to recognize. You know it when you see it and if someone has it, that it sets them apart from the crowd and immediately creates a following.
- In the sports world x factor describes one player or team’s competitive advantage over a competitor. When a person or team with an x factor gets in their zone, playing with high intensity and focus, they are unstoppable.
- In the business world, the x factor is something that gives a company an exponential edge or advantage over their competitors and contributes to their overall success.
An x factor, then, is a characteristic, quality, or even ability to focus that gives an individual or organization an edge, a competitive advantage that sets them apart from the pack.
Getting back to the concept of leverage, your x factor is that unique quality or characteristic that serves as leverage point or fulcrum. By identifying your x factor and then leveraging it by investing energy and effort to nurture and grow it creates extraordinary results.
I believe every organization has at least one x factor. Identifying your x factor(s) is key to your success and perhaps the greatest lever for making 2012 an exceptional year for your organization.
What is your x factor?
I love the New Year and this sense of a fresh start or new beginning. For many today is the first work day of 2012. Some approach today as the opening lines in the first chapter of their 2012 professional life, others view it as the first strokes on a fresh canvas. According to a recent Associated Press-GfK survey, 62% of Americans are optimistic about 2012. Another survey reported that almost half of us make at least one New Year’s Resolution -- how long we keep them...well that’s another matter.
Are you approaching 2012 with a sense of awe and wonder? I hope you are and that you have aspirations for 2012 worthy of what Jim Collins labeled big, hairy, audacious goals (BHAGs). If you’ve set lofty goals for 2012, one of the biggest challenges all leaders, including those from nonprofit organizations, face is determining where to begin chipping away at the your tasks so you can accomplish the goals set.
I encourage you to consider a bit of wisdom from one considered to be the greatest mathematician of his day, Archimedes. Archimedes made many notable discoveries and contributions that remain with us to the present day that you can explore on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes.
However, it was his understanding that little actions in the right places produce monumental shifts that fascinates me.
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It’s the law of leverage where Archimedes stated, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” Perhaps you’re familiar with this law or the 1824 engraving from Mechanics Magazine (see graphic). I’ve been pondering this concept of leverage in recent months and realize we all have access to leverage points that help us accomplish more than we might otherwise accomplish.
As you ponder your BHAGs for 2012, I encourage you to consider the Archimedean challenge -- what little things can you do that might exert the greatest influence on the ultimate outcome you seek to accomplish?
I’ll share one that I’ve adopted and begun implementing. Combining Archimedes Law of Leverage with Pareto’s Law of the Vital Few, better known as the 80-20 Rule (20% of our activity or effort produces 80% of our results) with the fact that I’m a morning person and do my best work in the morning, I’ve taken additional steps to preserve this time. One little thing is not checking email as one of my first tasks.
As a matter of fact, I’m taking what many consider a radical step and turning my email off the night before and not opening it until mid-morning after I’ve devoted my best time, focus, and energy to tasks I consider high priority. Emails have a way of seeming more urgent than they really are. The alert goes off that, “you’ve got mail” and immediately we have a Pavlovian response to check it and see who needs us and what do they need us to do. I assure you that, for most of us, 90% or more of our emails don’t demand an urgent reply, but immediately divert our attention and distract our concentration.
What leverage points have you discovered that help you move mountains and accomplish more than you could otherwise? Please share yours in the comment section below.
It’s that time of year when four things fill our email inboxes -- Season’s Greetings, Top 10 lists of the past year, Predictions for the new year, and an increased volume of holiday SPAM. Many of the top 10 -- or any other number -- lists are enjoyable and some are even enlightening. However, it’s the predictions that I find most intriguing, sometimes even amusing. However for a year like 2012 it seems predictions are abundant, especially considering the end of the Mayan calendar and other “2012 phenomena” waiting to unfold.
Since my crystal ball reception is slightly worse than satellite TV in a blizzard, there’s only one prediction I’m confident and comfortable about making regarding the nonprofit world ...
resilience will be an essential survival skill and sustainability strategy for nonprofit organizations and their leaders in 2012 ...and 2013, 2014, 2015, and beyond.
Why do I say that? Well, without getting political or raising anyone’s ire during the holiday season, let’s just say that we’re living in what military strategists call a VUCA world. A VUCA world is an environment characterized by:
Volatility
Uncertainty
Complexity, and
Ambiguity.
These four word summarize the environment nonprofits live in and the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity were intensified with the collapse of our economy. At the time of this writing it appears the VUCA world for nonprofits will continue unabated through 2012.
These four issues -- volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity -- often create enormous challenges for many boards. As you’ve probably experienced, most boards like issues to be black and white, either this or that. However, in the VUCA world there’s much more gray than black or white, and usually situations are more of a both and rather than an either or.
The grayness of the VUCA world paralyzes many boards and the most common decision many boards make is to table an issue until they have more, or complete information to make an informed decision. However, one of the realities of the VUCA world is that you may never have complete information, and the information you have may be outdated in a matter of days or hours. Tabling the issue may be a guise covering the fear of making the wrong decision. So, instead of making a decision that might turn out to be wrong, boards punt the decision into the next meeting when they hope to have more information. Frequently this action is repeated at the next meeting, and the next...until at some point, the decision is no longer required. You see, delaying a decision is often the same thing as not making a decision.
So what’s a board to do? I see two primary skills boards need to lead in our VUCA world -- courage and resilience. You need courage to make brave decisions. As Al Pittampalli wrote in Read This Before Our Next Meeting, “Brave decisions lead to a brave organization; fearful decisions lead to a fearful one.”
It’s decision time -- do you want to be a brave organization or a fearful one? Brave organizations rise to confront the challenges of their community. If you want to be a brave organization you need courage to make brave, even bold, decisions in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.
- As you look and plan ahead for 2012, realize the volatility and uncertainty of our world and its economy will require you to develop multiple scenarios in which your plans may, or may not, play out.
Rather than developing just one plan for a predicted, or ideal, future and hoping for the best; scenario planning encourages you to explore the alternatives that might emerge and challenges you to think through those scenarios. Scenario planning leads you to identify the key variables affecting your situation and develop a number of scenarios involving various combinations of those factors.
It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to accommodate all of the possibilities, but by considering at least 3 -- many organizations like to use the best case scenario, the worst case scenario, and the most likely case scenario -- you’ve increased the understanding of the situation and your options. Hopefully, this equips your board with confidence and insights to make wise and brave decisions for each of the various scenarios.
- the same concept applies to budgeting. Instead of creating just one budget, develop three different versions of the budget, each based on a different set of assumptions. One is usually very conservative using higher projections for expenses and lower projections for revenues. The other end of the spectrum is the stretch budget which is usually ambitious in terms of projecting income (all grant applications are funded) and conservative when it comes to expenses (programs come in under budget). Somewhere between these two extremes is another version that may be the most likely. One benefit to having a stretch budget arises if you receive an unexpected gift, or offer of a gift, you’ve already thought through where the money would have the greatest impact on your organization.
Working through these scenarios for plans and budgets provides a broader framework of understanding and hopefully equips the Board to make brave decisions that result in a brave organization.
Organizations also need resilience, as a complement to courage. Resilience is the capacity of an individual or organization to survive, adapt, adjust, and respond particularly through adversity or unforeseen changes. Your board must be courageous to make brave decisions based on the best information available at the time. Yet, as situations change, or new challenges arise, your board must also be resilient to adjust course as needed. They must be willing and able to adapt and respond when the changes of the VUCA world dictate a change in direction that will modify, even reverse a previous decision about direction. Scenario planning and budgeting help prepare board members to take these steps should they become necessary.
The VUCA world is not for the timid. The timid choose to play it safe and avoid all risks of making a potential wrong decision by refusing to decide or take action. And as Meister Eckhart wisely observed, “The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.” Not making a decision is usually worse than making a wrong decision because as the saying goes, “it’s hard to steer a parked car.” Scenario planning allows you to map your route to your intended destination while preparing alternate routes in case you encounter obstacles or detours.
In 2012 encourage your board to remember that progress, not perfection is what you aspire to. Be bold, be brave. Take wise actions that advance your mission. But be quick to be resilient. Recognize when decisions aren’t working the way you planned and make the necessary adjustments.
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NONPROFIT RESOURCES
Read This Before Our Next Meeting by Al Pittampalli
HBR Blog - Leading in a VUCA Environment
Scenario Planning Resources
“When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.”
This quote from John M. Richardson, Jr. sets the stage for the coming year. In 2012, do you want to make it happen, watch it happen, or look back at the end of the year and wonder what happened? Most, I would guess, would like to be among those who make it happen.
This month, we highlight . These 3 trends will help you as you strive to ’make it happen’ in the upcoming year. Though this is not especially new, the need for it continues to increase. Many sources (and our experience) show that mass marketing (blanket newsletters, direct mail, email, etc.) continues to reduce in effectiveness. This is due in part to expectations around how we communicate with one another, but also in part to the low tolerance people have for sorting through irrelevant or unsolicited information.
That means that investing in a database that allows you to segment by interests and communicate accordingly could pay big dividends.
We Are All Weird by Seth Godin highlights this fact. “The book calls for the end of mass and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values.” (Except from Amazon.com)
- Are you personalizing the information you’re sending to your contacts?
- Is the information you’re sending to each contact relevant to their interests?
- Are each of your contacts sorted or tagged by their interests in your database appropriately?
There are so many new technologies available to nonprofits as we enter 2012. The focus of most of these technologies is easy access to new information for the end user.
QR Codes QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes, are popping up everywhere. They’re on product tags, billboards, food wrappers, and a variety of other places. These codes are actually little boxes that store all kinds of information that can be accessed by those that have a QR Reader on their smart phones. Types of information that can be stored include website addresses, contact information, vCards, and other information that potential donors, clients, or supporters might want to access. You can read all about how QR codes work and how to create them in a great article by Kristiana Leroux titled
How to Create, Share, and Use QR Codes. Consider using them in 2012 to provide your current and potential supporters easy-to-access information about your organization.
Mobile All things mobile will continue to be hot in 2012. Convenience and accessibility are key. Consider making your website mobile friendly, adding text updates and giving, and if resources allow, explore developing a phone app for your supporters to stay involved. Our society is on the go, so to be one of those ‘making it happen’ we need to meet our supporters where they are.
Social media has now been around long enough that most organizations have begun using it to engage their clients and supporters. Many organizations have developed social media policies and some have even developed strategies to maximize exposure and contact. However, in 2012 we are looking at a big change.
Organizations are starting to realize that social media (and marketing) is about people and relationships. And the contacts we have online want conversation, not marketing. At the risk of having an inconsistent brand message, many are starting to decentralize their message. Supporters and contacts are not only empowered, but encouraged, to promote the organization - even if they don’t choose the right words.
The benefits of this can be huge because there is a sense of authenticity that shines through when the message isn’t
exactly the same from everyone. However, when starting down this road it is critical that the culture of your organization is clearly communicated and reinforced internally. This will allow people to communicate the brand - just in their own words.
Let’s look to Coca Cola for an example of how a decentralized message can allow an organization to reach many more potential supporters. Coca Cola is known for excellent marketing. However Duane Perera, an avid Coke drinker, created his own online initiative that had far more viewers and response than the #1 social media campaign ever created by Coke. This was primarily contributed to the authenticity and uniqueness that Duane was able to convey through his video.
View Video Here.
An old African Proverb says, “For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” Though 2012 holds much uncertainty, it also offers much promise for those nonprofit organizations those that are preparing and taking steps now to ensure their sustainability. I believe this includes many of our readers and I encourage you to get started preparing today. Please consider sharing any other trends you see coming in 2012 and have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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How to Create, Share, and Use QR Codes
Krisina Leroux explains what QR codes are and how organizations can use them. This is a great article for helping you get started.
2012 Nonprofit Communications Trend Report provided by Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com. Get your copy today.
We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
Great book that shares how by enabling choice we can enhance our marketing efforts and build real relationships with our supporters.
Can you believe it’s already December and we’re in the middle of the Holiday Season? Perhaps what’s even harder to believe is that we’re in the fourth year of a stalled global economy and no one can predict with any certainty the rebound and recovery. If you think back to when this began in 2008 most of us girded up to ride it out, but most were hoping it would pass in a year or two, but here we are having entered the fourth year.
I encourage you to pause for just a moment, take a couple of deep breaths, reflect back over the past three years, and express your gratitude for surviving this difficult season. How have you survived? Perhaps there are hundreds of specific ways you could answer that question. But I want to focus on what I think is perhaps the primary reason -- you’ve been resilient.
Resilience is the capacity of an individual or organization to survive, adapt, adjust, and respond particularly through adversity or unforeseen changes. Resilience is essential to sustainability. If your organization has weathered the storms of recent years, you are resilient whether you’ve labeled it that or not. I know that most of you have faced numerous challenges in recent years and, at many times, wondered how you would make it through a particular crisis, and here you are, still at it. Looking ahead, it seems that 2012 will be more of the same and the one thing that’s certain is well, more uncertainty of when, where, and how recovery will come.
- you know that having clarity of purpose is essential. In the immortal words of Lewis Carroll, “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” Being clear on your destination, or the ends of your organization and its work is imperative. Resilience, however, requires that you be flexible about the means you implement to achieve your ends.
Be open to exploring multiple options for achieving your ends.
- If you’re not satisfied with the results you’re achieving through your program, dig in, do some evaluation, and make wise changes to the program design. Don’t perpetuate failure! And don’t practice insanity (Einstein’s defined insanity as doing the same things but expecting different results.)
- If you’ve lost access to a site where you provided services, explore your options for delivering the program at alternate sites. Consider other organizations with which you could collaborate or partner to access space in their facility.
- Perhaps you’ve lost funding for employees, explore delivering your program by using volunteers. Or consider subcontracting to another organization that has a grant or a contract to provide a similar service.
- most of you have experienced some sort of disruption in the way your organization and programs have historically been funded. This year I’ve worked with numerous organizations that had grant funding that, for a variety of reasons, prematurely ended. As a matter of fact, I’m in a meeting of grantees now and heard several tell stories of having to secure replacement funding for their work from other grant makers or private philanthropists.
Be resilient in your approach to funding. A resilient seeker doesn’t hear no as never; but rather, they hear no as not now. In time they re-tool their approach and try it again. In many cases, this leads to success. If you’ve submitted a grant that wasn’t funded, don’t give up and assume the grantor has no interest. Contact them to follow-up on your application and ask if there were deficiencies in your request. If so, ask when their next funding cycle is and express that you’d like to re-apply. Numerous organizations have succeeded with this approach. You might be surprised to discover there weren’t shortcomings with your application, just their funding source and you may be at the head of the line for the next cycle...if you’re resilient and apply.
Develop multiple avenues of funding -- don’t fall into the trap of chasing the golden egg rather than raising your own gaggle of golden geese. Click here to read more about the Golden Goose Principle.
Commit to building cash reserves -- developing a healthy rainy day fund is prudent for all organizations. Having a healthy cash reserve has been a lifesaver for many organizations and allowed them to stay the course in spite of funding cuts. As this recovery progresses make it an organizational commitment and priority to establish or expand cash reserves as part of your sustainability plan.
- earlier we defined resilience as a way people or organizations cope with unforeseen changes. Consider what competitive advantage you could obtain for your organization by anticipating changes in advance. Combining resilience and anticipating the future is like becoming a clairvoyant Gumby. If you see the future before, or as, it’s occurring and have the flexibility to quickly morph and meet those emerging needs, it enhances your sustainability.
How can you anticipate the future? Here are a few ways.
- Watch for trends or changes in your client base. If you see multiple requests for a new service or see a sharp shift in client demographics, you may be on the front-end of a new trend. Thinking back to 2008, food banks saw a new level of clients presenting needs for their services. This was a leading indicator of the impending economic collapse. What trends have you seen or are you seeing? How can you adapt to meet those needs?
- Develop relationships with the community leaders and planners who are involved in these discussions and decisions. What can you learn about your community from these leaders and how can you be ready as that need arises?
- Engage in listening sessions with your community or clients. A listening session is an open forum where your community or clients openly and honestly share their concerns and needs.
Discover ways you can become a clairvoyant Gumby and combine your ability to adapt and respond with a knowledge of emerging needs or opportunities in your community or with your clients. It will be a great competitive advantage to your sustainability.
We’d love for you to share ways you’ve adapted to the various changes and challenges you’ve faced in recent months. What ways have you anticipated a change in your community or with your clients and morphed to meet them?
I commend you for your resilience; for being what Val Porter, Executive Director of The Foundation Center, Atlanta calls a “scrappy nonprofit”. It’s been your competitive advantage and is really a necessity to survive the challenges of our stalled recovery.
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The Sustainability Formula: How Nonprofits Can Thrive in the Emerging Economy, TCC Group
Exploring the Dimensions of the Nonprofit Leader, Anne Saporito, Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal