Special Edition 17: The Holiday Nonprofit Team | Staff, consultants, leadership, donors – Holiday Style
Welcome to another edition of Around with Randall, your weekly podcast for making your nonprofit more effective for your community. And here is your host, the CEO and founder of Halette Philanthropy, Randall Hallett.
Thank you for joining me, Santa Randall, on this short, fun holiday edition of Around with Randall. Today, we rebuild your nonprofit in 10 minutes. 10 minutes to tell you what holiday character should be a part of any great nonprofit office. And we started at the very top of our CEO, our executive director, our leader. Of course, that is the incomparable Santa Claus because he's the one that delivers that clear long term visionary leadership who stays true to the mission of what needs to be accomplished and on those critical days steps forth into the threshold to get the job done. They're the ultimate mission driver of this process. And I use the word he, maybe the world would be a little bit better off if Santa was a she at times.
We need major gift officers to go out and spread the word. And of course, they would all look like and be Rudolph the Red Nose reindeer. Think about Rudolph and what he would deliver as our major gift officer. He drives despite being underestimated as someone who can get the job done throughout his career. And he can lead the charge in those dark moments, bringing light to where the world could be with donors involvement. He brings people together, teams together to execute in one fell swoop and maintains that positive attitude. Even when things aren't looking good or when he or she is thought of in a non-positive way, they're always with that smile and we can get it done attitude. Don't forget that Rudolph shines brightest when the times are most important were to find that lead to get us to the final destination.
We need change management because we need to get better. And of course, we look and find the Grinch. The Grinch sees the flaws in the current business model and can change the picture very quickly. And so dedicated, so bold that they can literally steal from the organization all the bad ideas to put in their own, but great change management leaders, consultants like the Grinch can also change on a dime and find the right answers to make the organization stronger. Don't forget that the Grinch is skeptical of all like a good change management officer or consultant, but ultimately they inspire transformational change in the organization.
We need to have events. We need to have our message being put out to the masses and we turn of course to Frosty the Snowman. Think about Frosty as your special event leader as the unite and bring people together so easily and quickly that everybody seems to flock to them with their sense of joy and song in their heart, their humble but friendly and they get the job done approachable yet functional in all kinds of challenges. The one thing we've got to be careful of is we don't make it too hot for their performance. They're iconic almost unforgettable figures, these special events leaders and Frosty represents them with the best. Remember Frosty when the event is going is cool under pressure to get the job done.
We need a chief operating officer, someone who can keep the trains moving, someone who's really at the heart of the organization, really in many ways is in charge at times day to day and of course we turn to Mrs. Claus because is there anybody else that could be a better unsung hero handling those unexpected crisis being able to fatten up that bottom line at the last minute bringing compassion and connection to the organization and the trust that everybody in the organization has in them. Obviously they're behind the scenes that operator who ensures everything runs on time, on budget and on mission. They really run the show and Mrs. Claus exemplifies that.
We certainly have to market and communicate what we do and we turn immediately to Jack Frost because instantly they have that chill factor in terms of our brand and what we're trying to accomplish telling those stories that are instantly noticeable. You can almost feel it when someone like Jack Frost walks into the room. There's also this really strong ability to tell a story, to create reactions in people and they show up right when you need them and can leave when it's not necessary anymore. Jack Frost brings us the master of attention getting in visuals, in story and in making the moment bigger, always remaining cool under pressure.
We certainly need a compliance officer, someone to make sure we're doing the job correctly. I would immediately turn to the elf on the shelf because they observe everything but you can't ever seem to hide from them. They ensure everybody follows the rules because if you don't the consequences are great. They show up daily and in different ways and track the activity sometimes without even being seen. I like to think of the elf on the shelf as that person, the compliance, the auditor lurking, you're never quite sure where they're going to turn up but they always seem to know what's going on.
We'll need grassroots third party fundraising going on to drive a lot of the community effort to us and we start with and we work with the Little Drummer Boy. Think about how they operate under very limited resources. I have no gift to bring powder, but they bring themselves to dedicate the cause of celebrating the organization to celebrate the verbiage, the words, the messaging that come. They don't wait for recognition. They just get the job done and they remind us all that small contributions can be big when you put them all together. The Little Drummer Boy is really emphasizing the idea of funding through passion grit and everyday simple acts of generosity.
We need donors, major donors, people that we can turn to those prospects that might be the big whale, the principal gift individuals we're looking for. Of course, we should immediately think of Ebenezer Scrooge. They operate in with total oblivion of what you're doing in the beginning and it's really up to the team to embrace them. They have mass capacity, but they don't have the right cultivation. They have high standards of efficiency. Every penny must be used. Every brick of coal must be made sure that we measure and mark. They're one of those donors that is highly challenging because we need to show them the finances all the time. Eventually though, if we show them the long term impact of what we have, maybe even in death and a plan, if they come around because they are those high net worth individuals that we need to be building better relationships with asking what their passion is. They need a strong case of support like Ebenezer Scrooge, convinced of the importance and what it can do most importantly, not for the nonprofit, but for the donor like Ebenezer and how it can make the world and them better.
We're going to need advocacy and policy experts. People that can help sell our message, particularly with governmental entities and officials and we turn up immediately to Cindy Lou Who. Think about Cindy Lou Who and the voice for justice that she advocates with compassion and even mercy, even to those individuals like the Grinch that are the hardest to reach. They're small but mighty. They need big stabs but they can get in there and build those individual relationships and they bring a spirit of hope and then they inspire others. They convince them to come and join them in the cause. Cindy Lou Who is our advocacy and policy specialist. She brings a sense of justice, empathy and the ability to mobilize others for our cause for the social justice that we advocate for in our communities.
We need crisis management because things happen in immediate moments. We have to be ready and we turn to the Yeti to the Abominable Snowman because they're strong and imposing in those moments when we need a sense of clarity. They can handle those big problems. They power with their strength through the challenges and even the stress that occurs when a crisis is at hand. They are there as both a thought process of moving out of the threat and into protector as to what the organization is trying to accomplish. Finally, they're scary at first. But as we get to know them and as we figure out that they're really on our side, they bring a sense of direction and accomplishment and a sense of comfort in knowing that they can handle and guide the organization.
Finally, we need strategic planning and we should turn to the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Simultaneously, they see the past, the present and where we go and they can bring them together in a clear vision. They help visualize the strategy that we need to not end up where we don't want and the path forward to execute a plan. They can show the ripple effects of good and bad decisions in those moments in the past, present and future.
And they guide an organization through the thought of recollection and present-day clarity and most importantly through the midst of future forecasting.
I never thought of myself in this vein as a consultant and strategic planning, but here at the holidays, as I wish you the very best, I do understand that seeing where we've been and the value that we deliver, where we are now and what we can do to make the world a better place, and how we can always look to the future knowing that there's bright, good things ahead for what we do and how we do it in the nonprofit world.
I like this thought process because it brings value to the work we do in the nonprofit world. And to me, it exemplifies what I talk about at the end of every podcast, my favorite saying: Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, then there are those who wondered what happened. Being someone in the nonprofit world, you're making something happen for those, particularly at this time of year, that are wondering what happened.
And I can't imagine a better way, not only to spend a career, but to spend the holidays making the world a better place. From myself, Randall, and everyone at Halette Philanthropy—who happens to be me—I wish you the best of the holiday season, and I look forward to seeing you the next time on the next edition of Around With Randall. Make it a holiday great day.