Jerry Twombly - Funding Your God Given Vision Through Relational Development

Getting People There

All non-profits schedule meetings to share with prospective donors, clients, partners, and friends the nature of their work. The purpose of the meeting is to share the organizational mission and vision and to offer opportunities for those who attend to participate with them.  The problem is getting people to come and making certain they are the "right' people.

Here are some thoughts.  Step back and respond to these questions, "If your non-profit is going to have the kind of impact that you envision in your soul, what would it look like in ten years?   What groups of people would be involved in the success you will have experienced?"

Take your group lists and begin asking others to assist you in identifying the key influential leaders within each of them.  Identify those who  you know that might have a relationship with them. 

This will be your key in getting the right people to come.  The invitation that will get people to your meeting will come from someone they know.  Ask people who know people to invite one or two of their friends to join them at the meeting.  It will have far more impact in getting the right people there.

You're On a List

Here's an exercise that is worth the effort to complete.

Make a list of all the organizations to whom you gave financial support in the past year.  Once you have your list completed, put a number next to each charity ranking that organization in terms of its priority to you. 

There are some who are very special to you.  Should the time ever come where decisions regarding whether or not  you will continue to support some of them, those on the top of your list will survive the cut!

Next to the top three on your list, write down the reasons why you have ranked each one so high.  Are you treating your donors in the same way you appreciate being treated?  You see, you're on someone's list too.  

Defining Success

Success is hard to measure.

Imagine this board conversation:  "Well," begins the chairman, "it's time to evaluate our organizational development director.  How do you feel about this?"   There's a bit of squirming around the table as individual board members begin to ponder the question.

One board member slowly raises her hand and says, "Well, first of all, I really like our development director."  Everyone nods approvingly.   She goes on, "but if I were to measure success on a 1-10 scale, I'd have to give our director a 4."  People look up from their papers as the board member takes a long deep breath. "We hired this person because we needed to raise money but I'm not sure we're getting our monies worth.  Last year she raised only 17% more than the year before and that's simply not acceptable."

"But," another board member interrupts, "what did you expect?  I mean, it wasn't like we sat around and said this is what we expect you to raise.  We only said we want you to raise money and on that scale I think our director has done just fine."  The group nods again in agreement.

Another board member timidly raises his hand, "Well, what irritates me about this director is that she is asking me all the time to be involved."  His exasperation begins to rise with a definite increase in his agitated voice, "Good night, what did we hire a development director for in the first place?"  

The meeting goes on for hours and dismisses at midnight.  Every board member shares an opinion and no one wins.  And why?  Because we never defined success in the first place.  And when you don't define success it's up for grabs.

Crisis Fund-Raising

Some of the greatest crises in history have been effective in stirring the consciences of the masses.  The list is a long one that includes tragic events like the 9/11 attacks, natural disasters as hurricanes and tsunamis, and deeply troubling moral issues such as genocide, hunger, homelessness, and abortion.  Tragedy and the sense of helplessness it creates stir our emotions and  one way in which we can express ourselves is through giving what we have to help address desperate situations.

The current economic crisis has resulted in significant revenue losses among many worthy non-profits causing the elimination of services, reductions in staff, and even threatening their existence.  The innate mentality of survival often leads to desperate measures.  Companies on the brink of folding for any number of reasons reach out for help in the same way that non-profits pursue others for economic relief. 

Most individuals are forgiving and understanding as disaster seems to impact everyone. There are limits of toleration however, that can quickly move people from sensitivity to indifference.  A worldwide economic crisis has impacted everyone and its consequences touch both our hearts and our intellect; hearts are moved at the suffering caused by job losses while intellects find little tolerance for some of the corporate greed and irresponsibility that facilitated it. 

The new "bailout culture" has created an adverse environment for non-profit fund raising. Approaching potential givers for their financial support to avert a crisis that could impact organizational survival could be counter productive.  Words spoken, articles written, and letters mailed send messages.

What message are you communicating? 

How to Maximize the Developmental Impact of Event Fund-Raisers

Steps to Commitment

Falling in love is an interesting process and an helpful comparative analogy to illustrate the process of development.  

Most of us can remember seeing someone for the first time, the initial attraction, curiosity, infatuation, interest, dates, courtship, proposing, and commitment.  They were clear steps that moved us from emotional upheaval to rational commitment. 

People move into all kinds of relationships exactly the same way.  The challenge for us is to identify the steps unique to our organization that lead to commitment  and then begin developing strategies that can  introduce  these potential new ministry partners to our work.  It can be a slow process but it needs to be a deliberate one.

You wouldn't ask someone to marry you on the first date.  Why do so many organizations ask people to "marry" their organization before they have even made the effort to get to know them?

Economic Crisis Suspicion

Have you noticed that people are a whole lot more suspicious these days?

This isn't the time to bring to your constituents the "latest new financing plan" to fund your capital need.  And while creativity hasn't diminished in these days of economic crisis, our willingness to investigate creative alternatives to meet financial challenges has.

The level of distrust is strong.  People are tired of schemes and the kinds of things that make other people rich.  This inherent distrust has made life tough for financial planners, insurance salesmen, car salesmen, and anyone else who has some unbelievable new plan that will help you get what you want or resolve forever your financial problems.

People are thinking differently. Saving accounts are taking on a new popularity, living with less is OK, and a "maybe it's time to go back to what worked for mom and dad" attitude is developing.  I guess that's not all bad.  I need to run now and catch the latest rerun of The Walton's!

Success Is Not One-Dimensional

The reason why success is so elusive is that it is too often perceived as one-dimensional.

What would a client you serve (a student, a graduate of a particular program, an "alumnus" of your congregational ministry) look like if you were totally successful in fulfilling your  mission?  If small groups were 100% successful in fulfilling their intended purpose, how would a participant look at the end of the process?  What would be different if the mentoring relationship in which you are involved were perfectly accomplished?

The answers to those questions will always be multi-dimensional.  A graduate of your school would know certain things, act in certain ways, and relate to his or her world differently.  A member of a small group would not just have comprehended the subject matter of what was taught but would have experienced how relationships work, the value of mutual accountability, and how to take knowledge and practically apply it at home, at work, and within the body of Christ.  A life-long member of your church should be distinguishable by their understanding of Scriptures, their servant heart, and the light to the world their life reflects at home and at work.

The problem with success is that we look at it one dimensionally and that is almost impossible to plan.  A more focused look illuminates the areas where planning must occur, what ministry emphases must address, and where support networks focus attention.  The results of that kind of planning will yield success others mostly dream of.

Elusive Success

Success catches most organizations by surprise.

Occasionally something happens that confirms to us that what we are doing is really making a difference.  The life of someone is impacted in ways consistent with our mission, the programs we introduce actually accomplish that for which they were intended, and the plans we put in place really come to fruition.

It's not that success is impossible, it's just that it is elusive.   And the reason is that we don't plan for success, we just kind of hope that it occurs.

Programs, curriculum, activities, the message we communicate, and all those other things we do to facilitate change have marginal impact apart from planning and strategic execution.  Small groups in churches might result in community, accountability, spiritual growth, and a growing vitality within a congregation but too often they don't.  It's not that the medium is inadequate, it's that the planning, execution, and monitoring of it were.  Too often we think that our plans have energy in themselves; that small groups (or anything else, for that matter) will work just because they have worked somewhere else. 

Success shouldn't be the exception, it should be the rule.  Only you can change that. 

Lost in the Crowd

Another trend emerging out of the current economic crisis will be downsizing.

People are downsizing.  We're evaluating our lifestyle, our priorities, our needs, our desires, reining in expenses, and moving toward the simple.  We're tired of big.  We're exasperated with big churches, big corporations, and big government.  Big is bad . . . or at least "badder" than we've perceived it in the past.

Individuals are tired of feeling helpless and without influence.  The larger and more encompassing the groups to which we belong the less influence we exercise on decisions that impact us.  

Organizations are going to need to "think small."  They must "slice and dice" programs, opportunities, and outreach to the point where people engage at a level where participation means something.  If they fail here they will find loyal constituents moving away in search of a place where they have a say in determining their destiny.