Episode 18: How to Plan for Success in Trying Times



Welcome to another edition of “Around with Randall,” your weekly, ten-to-12 minute podcast about making your nonprofit more effective for your community. And here's your host, the CEO and founder of Hallett Philanthropy, Randall Hallett. 

I'm always so appreciative of anyone's time when they download or listen to this podcast, “Around with Randall.”

I caught an article this week that made me think a little bit about planning. And even though it may be in February, podcasts last forever. So if you're beginning your year in January, you can find something of value here. If it's June, it gives you something to think about or July 1st. And if you're listening to it later on, maybe it's applicable.

The article was from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a publication I enjoy reading quite seriously. I really think they do some really good work. This article was entitled “Fundraisers Were More Confident. At Year-End, But Worried About 2021.” Eden Schiffman had done the article on February 5th.

If you want to go read it, let me cover a little bit of some of the highlights from the article. And as we try to each week, we'll try the, to give some tactical thoughts as to how this might be applicable for you as an individual, or for your nonprofit. The article is based on a study done from the Association for Fundraising Professionals, AFP, as they were trying to get some insight on what organizations and fundraisers are thinking about year-end. 

So some highlights, not the whole article, but that optimism that fundraisers would reach their goal in 2020 jumped quite a bit from September when they did one survey, and then ask the question a second time in December that there was almost a half a point jump in fundraisers, thinking that they could reach their goals.

Is also embodied in the fact that the fundraisers felt like that they were confident they could raise more money in 2020 than 2019. In one of the earlier podcasts I had predicted, and we won't know all the numbers for another five, six, seven months probably, but that we will be surprised on two fronts.

Number one, that the total amount of money that is given in the United States went up in 2020. And that as a percentage of GDP also went up. I'm not saying we'll get above 3% of GDP. That wasn't my prediction, but I was sensing this three or four months ago that there's a lot of people who are wanting to make sure their communities are strong and non-profits play a big role in that particular perspective.

Fundraisers also indicated that they believed from September to December, that there was more of an opportunity for donors to be receptive to their outreach, which means building relationships. It also well highlighted that there's data that says some non-profits are struggling and that there are those whose financial models may not make it through this, which we're going to talk about here in a few minutes on the tactical piece.

We also know that governments are, we'll talk about this, depending on where you are listening to this, not only in the United States, but anywhere in the world, some governments are doing better than others, and we're not going to make this political because at the end of the day, our communities need non-profits to kind of fill those holes where there are challenges, but some governments are doing better than others, and that that's causing some issues.

Fundraisers. We're going to concentrate in 2021 on donor retention and stewardship more than anything else. And we'll come out that on the tactical. 

And lastly that the article goes on to end with the idea that no one size fits all is kind of the quote that they use. And I, if you want to read something that's paralleling that, I did a blog here recently on the idea of multi-channel communication and an interesting study out of a Dallas based firm talking about that if you don't have multi-channel communication, and defined by, you know, you do an email to a donor and you maybe do something in social media and you reach out and call. If you're not doing multiple things, you're missing out on opportunity because the study highlighted the fact that people make digital gifs or gifs online, so to speak after they receive a communication outside of the digital platform.

So cross pollination of across communication in different communication vehicles or modes is incredibly important. So that's true here as well, because not everybody is making gifts in the same way they used to let's say in 2019 before COVID, or just as the world continues to change. 

So there's four or five minutes on an interesting article. Again, fundraising or fundraisers. We're more confident the year-end and but still worried about 2021  - Chronicle of Philanthropy. If you're interested, you can read some of the details, just some highlights here. So what does this mean, tactically? Well, it goes back to something.

I was very lucky to have a mentor earlier on in my career, a gentleman by the name of father, Tom Peshy and Tom, a Jesuit priest, and I've said this before about him on previous podcasts, but kind of the influence of my career. He's an amazing fundraiser, a high-quality person, but an amazing fundraiser without the collar. With the collar he's deadly. But he always insisted on the idea of planning as an important part of success is that you don't get to success by just being lucky, that you prep. Your preparation is a huge part of that success, and then how you react in the moment. So, I started many years ago as the Chief Development Officer under his tutelage, and certainly under his guidance to really look at planning.

And I do this within my own consulting practice. I do this with a number of nonprofits. I have a day built out at the beginning of the year where we go through technical plans. What is the organization going to do? And we'll give you a high look at that. So some of the things are going to be organizational and some are going to be individual, but the idea is tactically, you can use these hopefully to get yourself ready for not only this year or next year, but in the years to come. It's something you can do on an annual basis. So the first thing is, in the first couple, are organizational things that can be done for preparation. 

The first is, and I talked about this a few minutes ago is reading your community.

I live in Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha, Nebraska is different than New York or California. Not better, not worse. It's just different. Now for me, I like Omaha. I'm a fifth generation Nebraska. This is my home and it fits me and hopefully I fit it. But at the end of the day, the needs that we have here are going to be different.

I mean, in this last week or 10 days, we've had something like 19 inches of snow. Well, The numbers in comparison to let's say in California, when we talk about things like homelessness are going to be totally different, here are the holes in our community are different. So the first thing that should be done in terms of non-profit planning is what is it, the community needs and how do we fit into that bigger picture?

Don't think you're isolated or an Island. You're not, you're not siloed. You are part of a larger group in the community and you need to fit into that community. And I guarantee you, if you think about it strategically, there are things you can do that nobody else can do as an, as a nonprofit organization.

So figure out where the hole is and what your mission does to support that hole, to fill it. To make it go away, if at all possible then just in terms of general basic business, a great article. I wrote a blog on this, about the ideas. It was a panel, a study from, I believe it was Non-Profit News that talked about how, and I wrote a blog on it.

You're welcome to go read it, but about some of the things that are really important in, in chaos, what to do financially. Number one is. Make sure you know what your revenue streams are. I'm still dealing with non-profits who are trying to put on special events and I'm like a, it's a Covid pandemic. It's not going to happen. They're just not going to happen. Maybe a golf tournament or two, but the idea of special events is not going to change. In fact, I just had a conversation with a client this week, the last three days, where the CDL was like, will you get on the phone and tell my CEO that we should kill all of our are special events, fundraising, special events. And I said, how quickly can you get him on or her on the phone? 

Yes. Number two, we know we've talked about this many times, statistics and data are out there. So I'm going to detail. The better ROI is major gifts, planned giving, you know, major corporation foundation support, bigger gift asks. And we got to move in those directions.

And by the way, in a pandemic, the numbers show that individual gifts or gifts that are channeled through like a donor-advised fund are the ones that are actually seeing the biggest increase. Number two is, is that you need to be open to all major gift variance. When I talk about planned-giving is a subset of major gifts.

The way I've always looked at it, it's the way people can maximize their investment, their belief in your mission. So make sure that you have lots of opportunities from five and 10,000 all the way up to an estate gift. And even if it's in a platform that allows for instant credit, meaning it's a charitable remainder trust or an annuity, whatever your organizational size can handle. Lots of options for donors to look at. 

Number three is this idea of communication. Communicate value, communicate in multiple channels. Talk about the difference you're making. Tell the good story people are looking for good stories. People want to believe that there are people out there who want to help like them.

So revenue is about lots of options. Lots of revenue streams, very probably conservative estimates in terms of fixed costs. I didn't say that, but I'll throw that one in and lastly, make sure that you communicate, as a part of this process individually, what can an individual do? Well, that's part of the session that I do on a regular basis during this planning process is.

Really honing in on an interview, responsibility, whether that's special events, which we've talked about is a lot more. Yes. Major gifts, principal gift, plan gifts, corporate foundation. It doesn't make any difference. I want everybody who's asking for money to do a gift chart, just like a campaign every year.

I created an Excel spreadsheet. If you want it email me, I'm glad to send it to you. It's not that complicated, but you just change one number and the whole gift table changes. And that one numbers the goal for that particular person. It's all designed with math to create the levels, the categories of what, or figures that go into these categories or levels to make up that ultimate goal.

And in that there's the standard three-to-one ratio. So how many people do you need at that level and how many gifts do you have to close at that level? But the real value in it is actually the last column on the right is what names can you put in there that you're going to ask this year?

Individual planning and the gift table is really about preparing gift officers to know exactly what their priorities are for that year. Who are they reaching out to? Who are they trying to bring into the fold? It can also help figure out who short a pipeline. And even though things are interesting. And I mentioned in that study at the beginning of the podcast here, that 60% of the respondents we're going to prioritize, but it was by far the most important donor retention and donor stewardship. I would advocate now is the time to make sure you have a pipeline of new people as well, because if you don't do new people, now you may get through this next year, but eventually in 2022 or 2023, you're going to be short prospects.

Pipeline development should always be something that's a priority. No matter if it's coming from a board or it's grateful patient or it's new opportunities that come from an alumni base in education, you need to always be prioritizing the idea of pipeline. 

And then the last thing is this is kind of a combination of individual and organization individually for like a gift officer. They can push the envelope so far, but this is more about the organization as a whole, make sure that the things you want to invest in are going to make a difference are important, are interesting to people.

I've done this for so long. And I'm always mystified when I hear an organization say, well, we just want to keep doing what we're doing. And I'm like, then why are you all here? I'm not saying change your mission. I'm saying, what is it that you can do new? That's going to make your mission more vibrant, be more effective, the goal or the outcome or the outreach or whatever it is your nonprofit does.

We're going to do the same thing, but the world's changing. And so making sure that you can. Have something interesting and new and individual gift officers might be able to press that a little bit. But at the end of the day, that's an organizational wide conversation. Make sure you can measure what you're trying to accomplish.

Donors are more sophisticated than ever yet gotta measure it. Show value how many people were taken care of how it changed the paradigm. Because now we do this, there's less of that in the community, whatever that is, measure it. And make sure they tell good stories at the end of the day. Great stories bring great fundraising. Great need brings great fundraising. And there's never been a time, I think at least in my career, that we needed great ideas to solve big problems. Don't be afraid to dream, even if things are a little interesting. Both community, financially, or just in general, in a COVID world.

Couple reminders for you. The first, it's a new request of mine, I've got a great team around me. I'm very lucky. They indicated this would probably be a good thing If you're listening to the podcast on one of these platforms of downcast or Apple or Spotify, leave a review and be honest. Forward this onto a few people - we’re catching more and more people. And obviously this may have some value to some individuals. I think that's great. I want to be helpful if I can - not to be paid just to get people to be more successful, because I believe in what we're doing. So forward this on, you leave a review. Subscribe. If that's helpful. 

Number two, if you want to send me an email podcast@hallettphilanthropy.com. That's how it with two L's two T's HallettPhilanthropy.com. And if you disagree with me, you can send me an email at reeks, R E E K s@hallettphilanthropy.com. 

Lastly, I'm posting blogs. I enjoy the writing aspect I find and read a lot. A thing. I find a lot of things I read a lot of things sometimes can apply them in a little bit different way. Check out the blogs, 300 words about each one of them. 90-second reads. Maybe they're helpful. Free. Just want you to have more material, more thought that might be able to help you in your career or nonprofit or your community, or however they could be applicable. 

I'll end. Like I do each week. It's a great profession. I love what I do. I love the people I work with. I've got 13 clients, having started just three months ago, on two continents. I feel like I'm so fortunate to watch people be successful. And I get to be a very, very small part of that, which leads me to what I always say. There's the old saying my favorite.

Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. And then there are those who wondered what happened. Non-profit work is all about a vocational call, which I hope you feel every day to make something happen for a person or a group or your community of people who are wondering what happened.

I can't imagine just going to work every day for the paycheck, I'll take the paycheck. But the reason I go to work is because I love what I do. And I hope you feel the same. I love being an incredibly small part of success for clients who are changing their community's life and changing the people who live in it at the end of the day.

That's a really cool thing, and I appreciate the opportunity. There. And I appreciate the opportunity here that you would take some of your time. Hopefully you found today's podcast to help a little bit helpful on the idea of planning. Appreciate it. We'll see you next time. And don't forget on “Around with Randall” we say make it a great day.