3 Things to Include in Your Org’s Year-End Plan

Strategies to Hit Your Goals for 2022

estimated read time: 5 minutes

The pandemic changed the way we all fundraise, but if one thing has remained constant, it’s that a huge portion of donations are still made in the month of December, making year-end fundraising a critical ingredient to our annual success. In fact, according to the Nonprofit Source, 30% of all annual giving happens in the last month of the year.

To help ensure you have a strong quarter, we’ve pulled together some tips to make the most out of this generous time of year.

1) Decide on a theme and stick to it. Studies have shown over and over again that stories about our work are 22x more compelling than data alone. If you haven’t yet, engage colleagues in a conversation about what mission stories stand out from the past year and then prioritize down to one story you’re going to focus on. This is tough because we all have great options to choose from, but focusing on one story and building your year-end theme around it will help avoid confusing donors with multiple messages at a time when they are most likely to give.

If you need help narrowing it down, here are some things to think about: 

• Which story feels the most relevant right now?

• Which story will resonate most with your donor base?

• Which story provides the greatest opportunity to extend it through the rest of the year, and on lots of different channels?

After you bring the story to life (interviewing the subject and/or involved staff members, writing out key points, etc.), now it’s time to build out how it shows up consistently in the following places:

• Homepage

• Donation page

• Holiday card

• Social media profile pages and content

• Newsletters (print and digital)

• Email signatures

• Event promotion and scripts, including ROC the Day

• Appeal letter

2) Personalize your ask. When drafting various appeals–whether it’s a letter, follow up email, or other touchpoint, there’s a few things to check off the list before they go out the door:

For current donors: 

• Recognize that they are already a donor in the top half of the communication

• Reference their gift(s) from the previous year as a reminder (they likely won’t reminder and may end up giving less than they intend to if they don’t know how much they have given in the past) 

• Enlist the help of staff and board members to write a personal note (ideally someone who knows the person receiving the communication)

For lapsed donors: 

• Thank them for their past support

• Reference their previous giving level 

• Invite them to return as an investor/partner in your work

• Give them an entry point back into the organization by suggesting a dollar amount

For all donors: 

• Use the word “you” multiple times throughout each communication

• Make it easy to donate by offering multiple ways to give

3) Don’t skip the follow up. After sprinting to the finish to get the appeal and other communications out the door at the end of the year, it can be tempting to breathe a sigh of relief and sit back while the donations (hopefully) roll in, but follow up plan is one of the most important pieces.

Thoughtful and intentional thank you’s and follow up communications to donors drastically increases the likelihood of a future gift. Based on the theme/story you selected and the make-up of your donor base, think about meaningful ways to say thank you, and to keep them up-to-date about future impact. Consider the following: 

• Who should be the one to say thank you for their year-end gift? The answer is different for every organization, but some options might be the ED, a board member, a development team member or the person from your org that signed the letter or wrote the personal note. 

• How should the thank you be delivered? Think about sending a handwritten note, giving a phone call, writing a letter or even giving a public thank you.

• Is there a way to incorporate the story into the thank you message? Think about a quote from someone featured in the story, a picture drawn by a child or, a pre-recorded video message.

Your year-end campaign is ultimately about building relationships with your supporters so when crafting the initial story, think about how that could tie into the initial thank you, and ongoing communications throughout the year.

Here’s a quick example from a University in NYC. After a donor gave for the first time, they received a thank you postcard connected to the theme of “firsts,” with images of the big “firsts” in life like buying a home, taking your first steps, etc. and language such as “Thank you for your first gift! Firsts mean a lot. Your first gift helped to provide students with scholarships, fill library shelves with new publications…” and so on.

Within the next quarter, donors received a phone call thanking them for their gift and specifically recognizing them as a first time donor. The following quarter, they received a handwritten note from a student through the thank-a-donor program. Finally, a month before the anniversary of their first gift they received a final impact piece explaining how their donation was used, with a soft ask for another gift of a similar or greater amount. 

Considering the primary reason why people stop giving is because they don’t feel appreciated, building in meaningful ways to say thanks and keep donors up-to-date is well worth the time and effort. After all, losing donors every year makes our jobs as nonprofit professionals a whole lot harder. Expressing gratitude – especially at year-end – and thinking about how to demonstrate the impact donors have had help establish a healthy donor base in addition to closing the year strong.

Given the many challenges we’re facing as a nation, donors have a lot of choices when it comes to making a difference with their dollars. Leverage storytelling, make it as personal as possible and follow up in thoughtful ways. These are all opportunities to end the year as strongly as possible.

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Need more guidance on planning for year-end, or even getting a jump start on 2023? Start here: email info@causewave.org to schedule a free conversation with one of our expert team members.

As a nonprofit that is all about nonprofits, we’re always here to help you navigate challenges big and small and connect you to the resources you need to meet your mission.

5 Barriers to Nonprofit Capacity Building

estimated read time: 7 minutes

Capacity building is how nonprofits can build thriving and sustainable organizations. But, with limited resources and competing priorities, you may find yourself stuck before you even start. 

 If you’ve questioned if this approach is worth the time, money and resources it will take to do it right, you are not alone. That’s why we’ve broken down 5 of the biggest barriers getting in the way and how to reframe your thinking in order to help you jump in, regardless of where you’re starting from.

Barrier #1: “We can’t afford to spend more money on overhead.”

Successful for-profit and nonprofit organizations need to have the appropriate infrastructure in place to support their efforts, whether it be financial, technological, or operational. While most agree with capacity building in theory, people can get stuck on trying to justify the cost and have a hard time actually allocating the resources needed to make progress. However, underfunding overhead can create a vicious cycle, making it difficult to sustain the organization and carry out its mission.

Using overhead as a way to measure a nonprofit’s effectiveness is not a sustainable strategy as organizations need to invest in the people, resources and systems to get the meaningful work they do done. Coined by Stanford Social Innovation Review as the “starvation cycle”, the persistent underfunding of overhead starves nonprofits of their ability to operate, much less succeed. As a result, nonprofits fall into the trap of what the Nonprofit Overhead Cost Study calls the “low pay, make do, and do without culture”. But, when nonprofits cut everything, they can’t properly serve their communities, retain the most qualified staff or solve complex issues. People too often forget that nonprofits are businesses, and if support and infrastructure are compromised or starved of resources, success will be limited. 

As a nonprofit professional, you of course know this all too well. Keep advocating for what you need to improve and enhance your organization’s impact.  Build relationships with supporters interested in helping you do that, and be transparent about where your dollars are going and where investment is most needed going forward.

Barrier #2: “We don’t have funding for capacity building. With limited resources and very little unrestricted funding, we can’t spend time in areas that aren’t directly funded.”

While we’ve all experienced the shift from unrestricted funding, it is possible to work your org’s effectiveness and sustainability goals into funding conversations and requests. Set proper expectations and accurately communicate what is needed to carry out your work–this is appropriate and necessary when asking for money from funders and donors. If they really want to invest in your mission, they should invest in all parts of it. So yes, submit your grant request to fund a new program, but the human resources, technology and other costs of running that program should also be included.

As Amy Fess states in this recent article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review, “To grow an organization’s impact and expand its reach, nonprofits need “profits” so they can invest in their own work, improve their infrastructure, and take calculated risks. You will never grow your organization if you cannot make investments in it. Breaking even is never enough.”

Barrier #3: “Our organization is too complex. It’s too much work to bring outsiders of our org up to speed enough to help us with our challenges.”

It’s true that it takes a lot of time and energy to articulate the ins and outs of our pain points to people who don’t live it every day. And when time is already limited, the effort it can take to bring a consultant up to speed can make us question, is it even worth it? Will the work they end up doing for us be worth the time I have to invest to make them understand what’s really going on here?

 The answer is yes, but it’s also, it depends.

 It depends on a number of things, which include  ensuring you are selecting providers that are right for your organization. Our region has many organizations and consultants who are committed to supporting the nonprofit sector. Each one has their own expertise, processes and style, so it’s not always about hiring the person your board chair knows personally, or the agency one of your partners just hired. They have to feel right to you and have what it takes to untangle the messiness of your org’s inner workings to help get to solutions that will work.

Impact HQ has a list of providers from across the region in the areas of strategic planning, fundraising, DEI, communications and more. All you have to do is create a free account and you can search the service directory whenever you need to. And, while Causewave has services that might be right for you, we also frequently make referrals to other providers and freelancers, and would be happy to make recommendations based on what you’re looking for.

Barrier 4: “Capacity building always means large scale improvements or multi-year commitments. We don’t have the bandwidth for that.”

Capacity building doesn’t have to mean long-term or large scale. While, yes, it is a strategy to set your organization up for success in the future, it is a constant improvement plan that adds up to long-term results over time. Making small tweaks can sometimes be more meaningful than big changes because the results are something you and your team can feel right away. Smaller examples that demonstrate capacity has been built could be a training that leads to staff modifying the way they deliver therapy and coaching to youth; utilizing information from a webinar that immediately changes how your organization recruits and screens job candidates; or putting one new thing from your fundraising plan into practice that brings in more money in your year-end appeal.

A large initiative always feels daunting at first, but by breaking it down into smaller, manageable chunks, you can make and measure progress along the way. Let’s face it - making changes to your organization can oftentimes be like that nagging house project you’ve been meaning to get to. But the need for repair isn’t going to go away, but instead is likely to get messier and more complex the longer you put it off. And, it certainly won't fix itself or go away on its own. 

Capacity building efforts should make your job easier, not harder, so start small, start from where you are, and start today.

Barrier #5: “We are results-oriented and capacity building isn’t.”

As competition grows for funding, staff, attention, you name it, we know reporting on impact and effectiveness is more important for nonprofits than ever. Finding an effective way to measure the success of your efforts is key, but not always easy. Your enlisted partners or consultants should help you think through this, as each practitioner has different methods for measuring the impact of their work. With that said,  here are a few things to consider.

• Start by documenting where your organization is today on the particular topic or area you’re focused on (e.g., DEI, training for staff, fund development), and state in 3-5 points where you would like to be at the end of the engagement/project, in 6 months, 12 months, etc. (e.g, participants evaluate programs more favorably re: cultural competence, staff strongly agree they have the skills and resources they need to run their program, the organization has defined fund development targets for the next 12 months).

• Identify a small number of key milestones or lead indicators to help understand if you’re on track to achieve your goals. Remember, sometimes there is a quality over quantity aspect of nonprofit work that is important to track vs. hard numbers.

• Document learnings, failures and wins along the way, to be used in funding reports, communication to stakeholders, and reports to staff and board members.

• Determine how and when you plan to update stakeholders throughout the process, including but not only at completion.

While it’s important to demonstrate where and how capacity has been built, it’s also just as critical to share what didn’t work, what you would do differently next time, or what you learned that can benefit future efforts. Because capacity building is a continuous improvement strategy, no single engagement or effort is going to solve all our problems. BUT, should we be able to demonstrate progress in some way? Yes. Should we be able to talk about what we’re able to do today that we couldn’t do yesterday as a result of our investment in this work? Absolutely.

We know these barriers (and many others)–plus the fact that the landscape is ever-changing–can cause you to feel stuck with no starting point. You're not alone. But if you can reframe your thinking, break down larger efforts into manageable pieces, and determine who can help you achieve your capacity building goals, you should be ready and able to jump in, regardless of where you're starting from. You've got this.

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Need more guidance on your capacity building efforts? Want to talk about another topic? 

Start here: email info@causewave.org to schedule a free conversation with one of our expert team members. As a nonprofit that is all about nonprofits, we’re always here to help you navigate the capacity building ecosystem and connect you to the resources you need to meet your mission.

Sources:

Nonprofit Starvation Cycle

What the World Gets Wrong About Nonprofits

Overhead Costs: The Obsession Must Stop

Crafting an Unforgettable Elevator Speech

Considerations for Your 60-Second Pitch

Estimated read time: 2 minutes

Maybe this sounds familiar: you’re walking down Park Ave with your dog, or standing in line at Wegmans, or sitting in the waiting room at your doctor’s office. You run into an old friend you haven’t seen in person since before the pandemic. As you exchange pleasantries, they ask how work is going and you realize how long it’s been since the two of you last connected. So much that has changed, and you find yourself struggling to decide where to start. 

Before you know it, your friend has to go as does the opportunity to make a connection that could help your organization. 

We’ve all been in this situation and fumbled our way through a mediocre response, kicking ourselves afterward for not representing our organization in the best light. With the world opening back up and people craving meaningful interactions with others, now is the perfect time to build relationships. And, it starts with a clear, concise representation of who you are and what you do. 

ENTER the Elevator Speech. 

An elevator speech is a concise but detailed description of your organization that sparks interest and maybe even advances the narrative to a deeper conversation. The idea is that it should be given in the time it takes to ride an elevator, usually 60 seconds or less.

The perfect elevator speech is not just about what you would say in one of the scenarios above. There is strength in numbers. Ensuring everyone on your team is able to briefly and accurately represent your organization can be a challenge, but clear and effective communication is a must towards building a marketing strategy that advances your cause.

Since capacity building is about starting where you are and making conscious improvements over time to create a sustainable and effective organization, let’s break this down. After all, the people you serve are counting on you to get to the next level of impact. 

When crafting your elevator speech—generally, or for a specific audience like a potential donor or volunteer—consider the following questions:

• What language in the organization’s mission or vision is most meaningful to you?

• What is the most exciting thing happening at the organization?

• What’s your favorite mission story? (e.g., example of someone the organization has helped, impact the organization has helped create)

• What excites you about working or volunteering for this organization?

Answering the questions above is a great activity to build into your next staff or board meeting, or can be done alone until you are comfortable asking others for feedback. Don’t forget, practice makes perfect, but it shouldn’t feel forced or robotic. You want it to serve as the launch of an authentic, meaningful conversation, which means it’s not about memorizing the employee handbook or industry jargon.

Once you’ve answered these key questions and used the answers to construct a compelling message, you’ll be ready for that next unexpected opportunity. And it could be right around the corner, so don’t wait!

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Want to know more about how to workshop your perfect elevator speech? Start here. Causewave connects you to the knowledge and resources you need to address your challenges and make continuous improvements to your organization. 

Email us at info@causewave.org with any questions, comments or personal experiences. We’d love to hear from you.

3 Steps to Building Your Most Valuable Asset

Estimated read time: 4 minutes

In our world, marketing is commonly misunderstood as promotion (or more specifically advertising) and often classified as a luxury nonprofits cannot afford. However, promotion is only one of the “4 P’s” of the marketing mix – there is also price, place and product. This time-tested formula demonstrates that marketing does not solely equal your advertising budget and should be thought of as much broader than that. 

The perception we have of any organization – for-profit or nonprofit – is shaped by the totality of our experiences with it. The helpfulness of the person we speak to on the phone. The feature story we see on the news. The respect afforded by a case manager. The cleanliness of the waiting room. The ease of the registration process. The quality of a service.  Each of these experiences contributes to our perception of the organization and helps us categorize it in our minds as a place we will (or will not) visit again, refer our friends to or post about on social media. Every interaction is a test for which our organizations get a grade. These grades add up to the strength of our relationships with our target audiences.

So, if every interaction is, unavoidably, an interaction that reflects our brand, then every staff member should have “brand ambassador” in their job description. While many may see customer service as part of their job, they probably don’t see themselves as responsible for your organization’s brand. But they are – at least as much, if not more so than the marketing department. Some of the strongest brands are built primarily on the customer/client experience, and that’s highly likely in the nonprofit sector where advertising interactions are low and human interactions are high.

So, we can agree that our brands deserve our time and attention, but what do we do– especially with limited time, resources and staff? To help, we’ve outlined 3 initial steps to prioritize your organization’s brand: 

• Define it. The people closest to your organization – staff, board members, volunteers and clients – all have some idea of who you are and what you stand for. But, as organizations get more complex and expand their programming, it becomes more challenging for each of these stakeholders (all of whom represent your organization to the community) to deliver a simple, compelling message that portrays a clear idea of why your organization matters. There are robust brand development processes you can engage in, and that might be an important step for your organization to take. But if you can’t justify that time and money right now, start by having a discussion with the people closest to your organization about your mission and values, focusing specifically on what they look like in action. Define and outline examples for the important words in your mission and core values. It’s one thing to say one of your values is “compassionate” and it is another thing to take the time to really define what that specifically looks like at your organization–in your programs, in your policies, in your physical spaces, and among your staff.

• Share it. A shared understanding of the brand among the Executive Director and Board chair isn’t enough. To be effective, involve your team at all levels–from other leadership roles and board members to frontline program staff and employees at the reception desk–in talking about the brand and its definitions. Broadening the circle of creators helps gain buy-in and ensures consistency and clarity across all parties. Keep sharing it across the organization in employee communications, at staff/department meetings, and in individual meetings with supervisors and staff. Everyone should understand and feel invested in bringing your organization’s brand to life.

• Live it. Defining and sharing your organization’s brand is hard work, but it can’t stop there. Our beliefs and perceptions of any brand are based on the sum of the experiences we have with it, so it’s important to define how the brand gets delivered throughout all of the interactions (or touchpoints) we own. Engage all people responsible for delivering regular, high-frequency experiences and make team members part of the process to define the ideal experience in their area of expertise, using the brand (or mission/values) as the measuring stick for success.

Getting your whole team to embody your brand is an integral part of what goes into building your org’s capacity, or, what it takes to move your organization from where it is now to where you ideally want it to be. Definitions of capacity building vary but simply put, it is a continuous improvement strategy toward the creation of a sustainable and effective organization. Can an organization be sustainable or effective if they don’t pay attention to their brand? Maybe. But we’ve seen the rise and fall of those who don’t view their brand as exactly what’s noted above: a continuous improvement strategy. So while defining and sharing your brand is not a brief or simple process, it is necessary as a way to create a well understood culture that guides behavior, shapes constituent beliefs and ultimately leads to what we’re all really after: a sustainable model to serve our constituents for years to come.

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Need more guidance on your brand strategy? Want to talk about another topic? 

Start here: email info@causewave.org to schedule a free conversation with one of our expert team members. As a nonprofit that is all about nonprofits, we’re always here to help you navigate organizational change and connect you to the resources you need to meet your mission.

5 Essential Tips for Nonprofits Running Virtual Events in 2021

There are numerous ways that organizations and nonprofits can run successful virtual events in 2021. Events are now physical, completely virtual, hybrid, or on-demand. Physical being with a small audience and following all health and safety guidelines, completely virtual tailored to a full online audience, hybrid tailored to both an in-person and online audience, and on-demand content being pre-recorded and allowed for access at any time.

So how can we make events engaging for every audience member?

1. Have an Agenda

An agenda is important to any event, but especially to one that is welcoming a virtual audience. Virtual attendees can follow the agenda so they know what to expect and so they sign in to event activities at the appropriate time.

2. Answer Questions

Monitoring the chat window is a must. By actively answering questions in the chat window, the virtual viewer will feel involved. It may also be useful to run a Q and A session at some point during the event, allowing specific time for participants to ask questions.

3. Have Breakout Sessions

This is a great tool for facilitating discussion, while also allowing guests to network, much like they would if the event was in-person.

4. Allow Attendees to Make their Schedule

Allowing attendees to build their own schedule during the event with their own virtual dashboard gives them the choice to participate in what interests them. For example: allowing your audience to choose a branded breakout room, workshop, or presentation they would like to attend. They can then sign in to the appropriate session at the appropriate time.

5. What About a Gala or Luncheon Event?

For gala or luncheon-type events, contacting a keynote speaker to open up the event is engaging for both a virtual and live audience. Sending out a party box with drinks and snacks is a nice way to include the virtual attendee during an event. Having a live demonstration of how to create your own classic cocktail or snack where guests can follow along from home is engaging. A contest or raffle is also a great way to appeal to the audience.

In conclusion, it is essential for organizations and nonprofits to adapt events for the online audience. Running an engaging event will create a satisfying experience, and will have your community anticipating what your organization is going to do next.

Written by Olivia Cambalik, Event Planning and Marketing Intern

The Nonprofit Sector in the Wake of COVID-19

We know that many nonprofit leaders in our region have had to make difficult decisions regarding the needs of those they serve and the viability of their programs. These decisions will have long-term effects on their organization and the community-at-large; we also know that more of these choices will have to be made in the months ahead.

This rapidly changing environment can feel overwhelming. Nonprofit leaders want to be confident that their decisions reflect the most up-to-date information so they can assess the possible impact it will have on their organization's mission. 

Causewave has identified four different trends that are affecting the nonprofit sector to help you prepare your organization for the uncertainties of 2021.

1. A PROFOUNDLY UNSTABLE, UNCERTAIN ECONOMY: A slow and uneven recovery is predicted; plus, an unclear future makes job recovery unstable. Reopening’s are coming with mixed signals for recovery. And those on the financial margins are more deeply affected.  

2. AN ACCELERATED DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: The transition to work from home happened overnight; it required rapid adoption of multiple technologies, and now virtually every job is more tech-enabled than it was before. The digital divide was exposed, and plans to close that gap are becoming a higher priority. Major changes to service delivery and event fundraising occurred.  

3. INTENSIFYING COMMUNITY NEEDS: Basic needs access continues to be the most pressing need and concern for the future. There is an increase in mental health and substance abuse needs, however, help seeking rates are down. Equity issues more prevalent across the board (race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age).

4. NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONAL VULNERABILITY ON THE RISE: Loss of event and  individual donor revenue resulted in significant revenue gaps. Government funding is more uncertain than ever before. Businesses are hurting and cutting staff, putting nonprofit support at risk. Traditional volunteerism is changing.

What does this all mean for your organization? What’s next? We encourage you take time to identify how these trends may impact your organization. To help focus your planning, we offer these three key takeaways:

BE REAL: Have honest conversations with your staff and board. Be willing to make tough decisions regarding program, staff, and board challenges sooner than later. Be realistic about what the coming year might look like. For example, there is not enough money in philanthropy to fill gaps created by state and federal funding cuts. What does that really mean for your org? 

PARTNERSHIPS: Embrace collaboration in deeper and more meaningful ways than before. Challenge your organization to be innovative; focus on what you're best at; partner with others to fill the gaps. 

FOCUS: This is probably not the time to add new programs or services. Think about what can be paused or stopped in order to focus on the most critical mission activities.

As always, Causewave is here for you and your organization. If you are interested in scheduling a time to discuss your COVID-19 planning and response, email us at info@causewave.org. We will get back to you as soon as possible with more details. All COVID-19 planning sessions are free of charge as an extension of our existing free Coffee & Consult program. 

Nonprofits Don't Need Donors

Nonprofits Don’t Need Donors
Change the Conversation to Investors, Not Donors
By: Todd Butler, Causewave Community Partners                                            

This is a heretical concept to the nonprofit struggling to make payroll or cover expenses, investing lots of time in an annual campaign or researching potential givers. In fact, the prevailing sentiment is currently the opposite. In an era of scarcer government funds, many longstanding nonprofits are placing more and more emphasis on seeking new donors.

But humor me for a moment. What is a donation? A common definition might be ‘a gift given without expectation of return.’ Except maybe a thank you note. Or a tote bag.

What’s wrong with gifts? If we’re lucky, we get them once or twice a year, largely from a few people who have an emotional connection to us. But it’s a good thing we don’t depend on those gifts to make the rent or put food on the table. No, the resources we need for those staples of life typically come to us because someone is paying us to achieve something, often between the hours of 9 and 5. These people, our employers, aren’t making an emotionally-driven gift to us every other Friday. They are investing in our work, with a very tangible expectation of return. If they don’t think we’re delivering those results, they’ll find another place to invest those dollars. It doesn’t even occur to us to ask an employer to make a bi-weekly gift. That’s just not the nature of the relationship. But in the nonprofit world, this is very often what we do. “Please give.” “Give ‘til it hurts.” “Become a donor.” “Make a charitable contribution today.”

This construct – where the implicit message to those with resources is “Please find it in your heart to give just a little of your excess money to us, because we don’t have any and we’re doing God’s work” – sets up a very dangerous and self-defeating dynamic. If we agree that the idea of “gifts from donors” come without the expectation of return, we shouldn’t be surprised when a few additional things come to pass.

• Donors have all the power, with nonprofits feeling a lack of control of their destiny, struggling to find ways to appeal and connect.

• Donors make largely emotional decisions about their gifts, giving a huge advantage to nonprofits with the most charismatic fundraisers.

• Because of these emotional decisions, donors are reluctant to allow their gifts to fund the overhead investments necessary to achieve outcomes.

• The best program models don’t necessarily attract the funds they need to achieve their outcomes.

• The nonprofit sector fails to deliver its potential value to the community it exists to serve.

Nonprofits don’t need more donors. What nonprofits need are investors. People who are willing to pay for outcomes they care about. When an individual invests in a company, s/he is driven by the idea of expected returns. Companies delivering the best returns attract the most investment. Period. Investors don’t care if the company invests 25% in overhead (the average for the food and beverage industry), 35% (the average for healthcare equipment or services) or even approaching 50%, as the software and services industry does. Investors don’t stop investing, as long as the promised returns are realized.

When nonprofits begin to think of their donors as investors in results, powerful forces can be set in motion to change the very nature of the organization.

• The nonprofit itself will be more driven by results in all its programs.

• Investors see the nonprofit as more of an equal – a necessary partner in achieving results, not a gift recipient.

• Investors build a strong bond with the organizations that give them the opportunity to make change happen.

• Staff will be loyal and highly motivated. After all, they got into this work because of a desire to make meaningful change.

• The nonprofit’s brand is strengthened, attracting more high-quality staff, volunteers, and investors.

If my daughter were to ask me for an allowance, I’d be willing to give her a few bucks a week. But if she were to commit to keep her room clean, take care of the dog and the fish, and tidy up the garage on weekends, I’d be digging a lot deeper into my wallet, and happily. The former is what I’ll give because of my emotional connection to her, and the latter is the investment I’ll make in outcomes I care about. She can decide she’s happy with the small resources that come as gifts, or she can decide to fundamentally change the conversation, and change her fortunes. She may not believe it, but she’s in control of her destiny. And so are our community’s nonprofits.

Want to discuss how to flip the conversation with your supporter base from “donor” to “investor” in time for year-end? Email us at info@causewave.org. We’d love to hear from you!

Don't Let Your Values Sit on a Shelf

Don't Let Your Values Sit on a Shelf
Bringing Your Brand to Life through Customer Touchpoints
By: Elizabeth Murray, Causewave Community Partners

Your organization worked hard to develop an inspiring brand platform that eloquently captures your unique essence and personality, while setting you far apart from others that have a similar mission and services.  Armed with energy and purpose, you eagerly set out to infuse your new brand into every nook and cranny of your organization!  However, when you start to consider the dozens—even HUNDREDS—of ways that customers experience your brand each day, you stop still in your tracks.  Where to begin?!

We’ve all experienced the exhilarating high that accompanies an invigorating, collaborative process.  It’s the “Now what?!” dread that sometimes follows that can take the wind out of our sails and leave us overwhelmed by next steps.  If your organization is feeling frozen by what comes next, we recommend a process called the Customer Touchpoint Analysis. 

As the name suggests, the Customer Touchpoint program methodically analyzes each touchpoint or interaction that your customers experience with you—and asks the all-important question:  “Are their experiences… big and small… consistently aligned with our brand?” 

Using a highly interactive, systematic process, we work with your team to develop a detailed inventory of your interactions with customers and align them with your brand.  We look closely at current and ideal experiences, then prioritize recommendations that your organization can use as a guide for “living your brand.”  Through this collaboration we carefully identify your biggest opportunities (your “Brand Builders”) and those that drain your resources (“Brand Busters”).

After completing their Brand Development program, the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network (FLDRN) decided to take the next step and embark on a Customer Touchpoint Analysis.  Nancy Ryan, Director of Marketing and Community Relations, shared, “Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network had never considered the full depth of our customer touchpoints, nor honestly judged ourselves on how we were performing in those areas. Putting together our Touchpoint matrix was both eye-opening and helpful in identifying where we should be focusing on energies.” 

After undergoing the Touchpoint Analysis, organizations are armed with prioritized, actionable steps that can immediately begin to bridge the gap between current and desired interactions.  In the case of FLDRN, Ryan explained, “Interactions with Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) was identified as a high impact, low performing touchpoint with the Public Education department. This led to the creation of an organ donation awareness program called “Partnering for Life: The Role Healthcare Professionals Can Play in Saving More Lives Through Organ Donation.” Through specific education and providing a variety of outreach opportunities for PCP offices, FLDRN has established productive and positive connections within major regional healthcare PCP systems. Many of the participating PCP offices have either fully integrated on-going outreach program with patients, or participate in special programing during National Donate Life Month.”

If your organization is ready to take the next step toward “living your brand,” we’d love to help. Contact us at info@causewave.org to learn about how the Customer Touchpoint Program can put your organization on the path to full brand realization.

Build a More Effective Board

Build a More Effective Board
Tips on Developing a More Productive & Engaged Board

Jump-start your organization’s board season with strategic goals and fresh thinking. Whether your organization is looking to build a solid foundation through fundamentals or boost board effectiveness, below are tips gathered from our workshop on developing a more productive and engaged Board of Directors.

Exceptional boards are made, not born. Know the lifecycle of your board and the role it should play. Know the difference between the board managing itself and the board leading the organization. Set and communicate expectations then follow-up! Comprise your board of people who are committed to being partners, listeners, consensus builders, ethical watchdogs, naïve questioners, discreet ambassadors and energetically engaged.

A strong board starts with a strong foundation. When recruiting new board members consider the current board profile (skills & demographics), the next 1-3 years of organizational work and gaps resulting from retiring board members. An annual recruitment calendar typically takes 9-months. Develop clear expectations around attendance requirements, committee participation, financial support, ambassadorship and confidentiality/policy understanding.

Plan strategically. Work from a strategic plan. If you don’t have one, create one. Regularly use your strategic plan to prioritize and manage your organization's work as well as assess how you’re doing. It should be the compass for deciding “what's in” and “what’s out” of scope for the organization. Strategic planning is a key responsibility of the board and should be revised every few years.

Make fundraising a priority. Create a solid fundraising plan and elect a fundraising committee chair with experience. Enlist support from board members to identify donor prospects, make thank you calls, solicit donations and host events. Develop a database to store donor information.

Continually boost your board's engagement. Value your board's time by starting and ending on time and sending materials in advance. Set a clear tone with leadership from the Board Chair. Review board member goals annually and conduct board performance assessment surveys every 1-2 years. Don't allow contentious board members to hijack meetings.

Questions? Let's chat! Email us at info@causewave.org with any questions, comments or personal experiences. We’d love to hear from you.

It Takes a Village

It Takes a Village
The Power of Collaboration in the Fight to End Poverty in Rochester
By Ebony Eli, Nonprofit Events & Marketing Intern, Summer 2019

It’s never just one person. The best ideas, the most noteworthy inventions, the greatest performances- none of them happen alone. Even though blockbuster superheroes and lore about “the chosen one” might have you believe that there’s one great individual who will save us all, the truth is, it’s millions. Collaboration is an integral part of success. What makes it such an important and valuable component of any effort, is that it brings together people with their own unique perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the table. Collaboration is a powerful tool for solving complex problems like poverty.

You’ve heard this story before: Rochester has a long-standing history with poverty dating back to post-civil war. Poverty disproportionately affects racial minorities, as well as women, people with disabilities, single families, the LGBT community, and the elderly. Decades of research show that education, housing and food security, transportation and much more are deeply-rooted in the poverty issue as well. More recently, the City of Rochester set out to explore the demographic and earning disparities in Monroe County’s workforce and the findings were striking. The report found that minorities earn less than their white counterparts in nearly every industrial sector and that the wage gap persists regardless of educational attainment.

It is a complicated, messy challenge that is not unique to Rochester. Many communities implement a service-based approach, tackling the symptoms of poverty – food pantries, shelters, and clothing drives certainly play an important role in providing real-time, basic needs to people in need. There is also a more comprehensive and collaborative approach, like what we’re doing in Rochester today, through the Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative (RMAPI).

RMAPI was started in 2015, after the city received a grant to help fight poverty. The initiative's primary goal is to improve quality of life by reducing poverty and increasing self-sufficiency. To do this, RMAPI is focused on increasing income, making basic needs more affordable and accessible, and lowering concentrations of poverty. RMAPI is a diverse coalition including community leaders, local and state government, service providers, funders, faith institutions, volunteers, youth advocates, and people impacted by poverty. By bringing together leaders from a myriad of backgrounds and philosophies, RMAPI coalition members have united around a common agenda to fight poverty in an intentional and collaborative way.

The RMAPI coalition is supported by many partnering organizations that provide expertise, resources, and services to fight against poverty, including Causewave Community Partners. Since 1950, Causewave (formally the Ad Council of Rochester) has been working throughout the region to make community change happen, in partnership with coalitions, foundations, community organizations and other nonprofits. Because of this, Causewave recognizes the power of collaboration. And as an expert in bringing diverse stakeholders together, Causewave has been providing support to RMAPI by helping to build stronger relationships with supporters, facilitating results-based meetings, guiding strategic communications, increasing awareness, and so much more.

An organization is only as strong as its members and doers. Building capacity and fostering collaboration is more than just making sure the staff get along and communicate effectively; it also means fostering positive behavior and mindset shifts. Thanks to the support of hundreds of dedicated volunteers, their backbone staff, and partnering organizations like Causewave, RMAPI coalition members have celebrated real success. Projects like the Bridges to Success/Family Independence Initiative, Clearwater Organic Farms project, City of Rochester/RTS Vanpool Project, the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, Raise the Age program, and housing anti-discrimination legislation are making real progress in the community. This wouldn’t be possible without the community members and leaders who recognize that ending poverty takes time, that ending poverty is everyone’s problem, and that everyone can do something. You can learn more and join the movement by visiting: endingpovertynow.org.

Questions? Let's chat! Email us at info@causewave.org with any questions, comments or personal experiences. We’d love to hear from you.

To Meet or Not to Meet?

To Meet or Not to Meet?
How to Save Yourself from Useless Meetings by Asking Yourself These Three Questions
By: Eric Phamdo, Causewave Community Partners

No matter what you dislike most about meetings, you’re probably not alone. Studies show that ineffective meetings result in lower employee engagement, delayed decisions, loss of revenue, and resentment toward management. All of which contribute to loss of productivity, no wonder we all dread a meeting from time to time. Despite that, the amount of time workers spend in meetings has only increased in the last 50 years.

So how can we address this scourge on workplace productivity? The most obvious place to start is to look at whether or not a meeting is even necessary. When should you convene a meeting -versus literally anything else?

Use these three questions as a litmus test for your meetings:

1. What is the goal?

   Effective meetings are convened for a specific purpose. Whether your group needs to deliver a decision, brainstorm new ideas to pursue, or develop an action plan, this answer will drive all other decisions related to the meeting. Participants are also more engaged when there is a clear objective for the meeting and when they understand how they will uniquely contribute (sending an agenda in advance really helps).

2. To meet or not to meet?

   With your goal in hand, ask yourself, “Do I really need a meeting to achieve it?” Meetings can waste time and money. But there are plenty of legitimate reasons to hold a meeting. Bringing people together is a valuable activity, when done correctly. Decision-making (with empowered stakeholders) is a valuable reason to convene a meeting, as are creative brainstorm sessions. A good test is to determine whether the results can be best achieved with a meeting or through other collaborative communication tools such as group chat, project management platforms, or simply a phone call. Tip: information sharing is usually not a good reason to have a meeting.

3. Who must be there?

Effective meetings depend heavily on one thing – the people in the room. For example, if your meeting result is to brainstorm new ideas, does the invitee list contain people with the necessary technical expertise, creative talent and diversity of perspectives to deliver the results? Or if your meeting goal is to deliver a decision, do the people in the room have the authority to do so? There is nothing more disheartening to a group than coming to consensus on a decision, only to have an absent decision-maker naysay the result. Too often, we invite the right people, but settle for whoever shows up. It may seem drastic, but if a key person can’t attend a meeting, reschedule for a time they can attend. This drives accountability amongst groups, letting everyone know that participation is vital and necessary for a meeting’s results. Achieving the meeting’s goal starts well before the meeting – with clarity on what each attendee’s unique contribution to the meeting result will be.

Keep your eyes open for the next articles in this series which will discuss designing and running meetings to produce results, and cultivating trust and relationships among participants. Resources used in this article can be found here.

Questions? Let's chat! Email us at info@causewave.org with any questions, comments or personal experiences. We’d love to hear from you.

Victim of Mission Creep?

Is your organization a victim of mission creep?

Mission creep is when an organization can’t achieve its desired impact because activities have expanded beyond the focus of the mission statement. Your mission might be creeping if you’re:

• Taking on things that aren’t supportive of or directly aligned with your mission

• Signing on to do things just to get funding

• Creating programs that aren’t part of your core skills and capabilities

• Expanding offerings without strategy

• Filling a service gap that’s outside of your core area or target audience

Can’t relate? Good! But, watch out. It can happen more easily than you might think. Sound familiar? It’s time to get to work.

You can avoid mission creep by having a mission statement that is clear, specific and strategic to help assess your activities and make sure you’re focused on the right things.

Here are 5 tips to help avoid, or fix, mission creep:

Communicate Constantly
It’s easier to correct mission creep at the beginning versus down the road after it’s embedded in the organization. Communicate often and effectively across your organization to reinforce mission-based activity and help prevent divergence. This includes communicating with staff, board members, volunteers, and supporters.

Leverage Partnerships
Who else is serving your target population? Find opportunities for partners to deliver services or take over programs that they can provide more effectively so that you can concentrate on your core strengths.

Align Funding
Chasing funding for the sake of having money is a giant mission creep trigger. Be sure your highest impact opportunities are the priorities for your resources (i.e., your grant applications and other funding requests should be focused on these high-impact areas).

Evaluate
Create time to evaluate  on some regular frequency: assess programs and prune, boost or stay the course based on their performance and impact. Evaluate your results, asking if the progress that’s being made is related to our mission.

 Learn to Say NO
When organizations try to be all things to all people, they risk not doing anything meaningful for anyone. Saying “no” is hard, but the most effective organizations have the discipline to make tough choices to stay on mission and give themselves the best opportunity to achieve the impact they exist to make.

Questions? Let's chat! Email us at info@causewave.org with any questions, comments or personal experiences. We’d love to hear from you.