October 28, 2019
As fundraisers who craft customized language each and every day, we are deeply aware of how words can be used to inspire, persuade, and inform others. However, we may not always be aware of the impact our language can have.
Research shows us that linguistic patterns can perpetuate real-life power disparities. Even small differences in language can reveal personal bias, beliefs, and perception of a situation or group of people.
While it may seem counterintuitive to mainly focus on the power of people when discussing their needs, here are a few key reasons to adopt empowering, strengths-based language in your fundraising strategy:
Empowering language reflects the full reality of those you serve.
Because language shapes perception, we have a responsibility to represent our constituent’s and their experiences wholly and truthfully – the way anyone would like to be represented when being introduced to a new party. The communities your organization serves are resilient, fully capable, and will persist with or without philanthropy. Every individual has their own agency, goals, and desires, and communities will always have existing networks in place to support their needs, therefore the stories we share should reflect that reality.
This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a need facing the community, but instead emphasizes that the need is not insurmountable. The need is not only multifaceted, but contextual. Reflecting on the real power of people through your choice of language is an essential part of building an empowering and authentic relationship between your community and your supporters.
Empowering language aligns with shifts in foundation priorities in the nonprofit sector.
With the understanding that language matters, many funders are choosing to lead the charge in adopting and modeling empowering language. Top institutional givers, such as Ford and the California Endowment, as well as young foundations like Echoing Green are shifting their priorities to focus on addressing issues of power and equity.
As fundraisers, using empowering language positions us to cultivate relationships with funders that positions us as advocates and educators for our communities, while also giving us the opportunity to respond to the shifting funding landscape. Choosing to use empowering language is one step towards building power and equity for your community – and can be a key method for demonstrating your alignment with funders’ interests.
Empowering language amplifies your mission.
Whatever your specific mission, your vision is built around serving a need in your community. Empowering language is a way of representing your organization and community. It is a method that can be applied across issue areas, interventions, and program structures.
Empowering language can amplify your mission because it serves to change the understanding of your work at a fundamental level – motivating others to see solutions rather than barriers. By focusing on the power, strength, and resources in your community, you are demonstrating how you are part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.
Want to continue the conversation about developing and using empowering language to advance equity?
Join Alison, LaTissia, and Sierra at the GPA National Conference on November 7th for a panel discussion for nonprofit professionals on how to use language strategically to build power for your constituents at every level of the fundraising process! To learn more about the topics that other Elevate staff will be presenting at the conference this year, stay tuned for upcoming blog posts.
Additional resources:
Written by Sierra Francis Perez and Alison Hight
This article was developed in conjunction with a presentation at the 2019 Grant Professionals Association Annual Conference created and led by Elevate staff.
October 28, 2019
Elevate is proud to share that several of our team members were selected to present three different breakout sessions at the upcoming Grant Professionals Association Annual Conference, which was held November 6-9, 2019 in Washington, DC!
Leading up to the conference, we’re sharing previews of these sessions, and some of what our presenters will be teaching. In this post, we’re looking at some of the complexities of fundraising for advocacy activities, particularly as they complement direct services, and how to craft compelling grant proposals that win funding for this type of work.
Many nonprofit organizations that aim to achieve social change by providing services to their communities have begun incorporating advocacy activities alongside their direct services.
But because the results of advocacy work are often long-term, and the context can get complicated very quickly, it can be difficult to write a compelling request for funding.
In this post, we’ll be taking a closer look at what advocacy work is and how it can complement direct service work, some of the challenges involved in fundraising for advocacy, and best practices for preparing compelling requests – all of which will help you find, pursue, and win more grants for your advocacy activities.
What is Advocacy? And how is it different from direct services?
The Alliance for Justice defines advocacy as any action that speaks in favor of, recommends, argues for a cause, supports or defends, or pleads on behalf of others. Advocacy is a powerful catalyst for change that can improve the laws, policies, and systems that impact entire communities. For the purpose of this article, we think of advocacy as systems change – in particular, policy change.
On the other hand, we define direct service as the provision of resources, programs, and benefits that work to address the symptoms of social problems and meet the immediate needs of your target population. Some common examples of direct services organizations include health clinics, food pantries, soup kitchens, and organizations that provide services like individual skills training or education, mentoring, or case management.
For direct services agencies, the most common types of advocacy are:
- Organizing – for example, building power at the base;
- Research – for example, gathering and presenting on-the-ground data;
- Educating decision makers – for example, meeting with policymakers to educate them about the issues affecting their communities;
- Educating the public about the legislative process – for example, amplifying the voices of people who benefit directly from an organization’s programs; and
- Lobbying.
Understanding the Funding Landscape, and the Challenges
There are many funders who recognize the synergies between direct service and advocacy, but there are many more (particularly at the local level) who are not well versed in the relationship between advocacy, direct service, and their own philanthropic goals. For this reason, fundraising for advocacy has several built-in challenges that are helpful to be aware of from the start.
For instance, local funders and foundations that are used to funding direct services may not always have the staff or the bandwidth to discuss specific proposals and advocacy strategies, to learn more about how an organization’s advocacy work aligns with their impact goals. Relatedly, these funders often shy away from funding advocacy because they conflate advocacy work with lobbying.
On the other hand, while there may be fewer funders willing to fund advocacy activities compared to direct services, the good news is that the funders who do fund advocacy often offer larger and/or multi-year grant awards, more general operating support, and a different (and often less-intense) focus on outcomes during the grant period – because they understand the nature of this type of work.
Of course, to win grant awards to support your organization’s advocacy work, you’ll have to prepare a persuasive proposal that makes a strong case for funding.
Best Practices for Crafting a Compelling Request for advocacy
When it comes to drafting a strong proposal, knowing how to frame your outcomes, goals, and objectives in the context of advocacy is often a major stumbling block. It may help to think of them as follows:
- Outcomes are the overarching changes you are hoping to bring about;
- Goals are the tangible steps that occur to make this change possible; and
- Objectives are the measurable activities you will implement to achieve the goal.
If we zoom out one step further, here is an example of how to approach some other key sections of your grant proposal when you’re requesting support for advocacy activities:
- Needs Statement – Demonstrate the need for advocacy
- Organizational Summary – Build your organization’s advocacy credibility
- Program Description – Spell out your key advocacy activities; do they tie in with your direct service?
- Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes – illustrate the systems change that will occur because of your work
In short, your objective in your grant application should be to clearly illustrate the change you’re hoping to achieve, how you expect that change will play out over time, and the role your organization will play in producing that change.
Written by Noura Hemady and Eric Spioch
October 21, 2019
At Elevate, we’re always looking for talented, motivated and collaborative people to join our team. We hire most of our positions on a rolling basis, which means we’re looking at cover letters, resumes, and work products on a weekly, if not daily basis.
Whether you’re applying for a position at Elevate, or another mission-driven organization, it’s important to put your best foot forward — which starts with your application materials.
From typos and poor formatting, to boilerplate resumes and cover letters that mention the wrong company name, there are plenty of chances to make a silly mistake and potentially cost yourself an interview!
To help, we’re sharing our best advice — compiled after reviewing hundreds of applications over the years. The five tips below will help you emphasize your strengths, avoid common pitfalls, and submit an application that increases your chances of standing out for the right reasons.
Tailor your materials to the organization and the position
As a grant writing firm, tailoring standard grant language to each specific funder is key to a strong grant. Similarly, a cover letter that’s tailored to Elevate and the specific position to which you are applying is key to any applicant’s success.
Your job as an applicant is to make the strongest possible case for why YOU are the ideal candidate for this specific position. As such, tailoring your materials to the specific role you are applying for is a must. Some hiring teams may place more emphasis on reading cover letters, while others focus more on resumes; you likely won’t know up front which type of company you are applying to, so it’s best to spend time customizing both.
The best candidates will highlight the direct experience that relates to the position, no matter how small. Make sure the reader knows that you understand the role and have experience that will translate into your new job. For Elevate, we look for candidates at all levels with a strong writing background, as well as those with nonprofit experience – even volunteer or classwork can demonstrate the kind of relevant experience we like to see. Make sure you include it!
Make every word count
Words matter! That is particularly true if you’re applying for a job at Elevate, where we’re a team of professional writers. Keep these guidelines in mind, to ensure your materials are top-notch:
- A job description is full of helpful hints to create a strong application. Look for the skills, duties, and requirements listed in the job posting, and make sure you align your skills and experiences to match.
- Just like a grant proposal, your cover letter should tell a compelling story. Remember to be concise, and avoid getting too far into the weeds.
- Focus on results, impact and outcomes. Don’t just list your job descriptions, activities, or extracurriculars; demonstrate how those experiences translate to this specific job, and why they make you uniquely qualified for the position.
- Be selective about which software, platforms, and technical skills you include. For example, Elevate uses Salesforce heavily, so we’re always interested in knowing when candidates have Salesforce experience. On the other hand, unless it’s relevant to the position, you likely don’t need to include your social media handles, experience with Microsoft Office or Gmail, etc.
- Enumerate! Use numbers and metrics to demonstrate the depth and breadth of your experience:
- How many people did you manage?
- How often did you deliver a report?
- What were you the first to accomplish?
- How large was the budget you managed?
- How much have you won in grants?
- Make sure your resume length is appropriate, given your tenure in the workforce. For example, a recent college graduate should not submit a multi-page resume.
- Space is at a premium, so aim for maximum impact. Avoid repetition, passive voice, and long lists; instead, use action words and persuasive argumentation to demonstrate your value and accomplishments. There are plenty of online resources available to help with this!
Highlight what’s important
Use the hierarchy of a resume to your advantage to highlight the most pertinent information. For example, unless you’re still in school, your Professional Experience section should be listed above your Educational Experience. Also, unless your GPA is outstanding, or the company has asked for it, don’t bother including it. And if you’ve been out of school for a year or more, don’t list your GPA at all.
If you don’t have the exact type of experience listed in the position description, draw attention to the relevant experience you DO have, and make a strong case for how it would serve you in this role. Don’t make the hiring team connect those dots – paint the picture for them. For example, what skills did you develop as a writer or editor at a college publication that would make you a strong grant writer?
Think like a hiring manager
A recent study from TheLadders shows that recruiters spend an average of six seconds reviewing each resume. That’s a very small window in which to make a strong impression! At Elevate, we review all cover letters and resumes in house – but there are a few things that jump out right away to demonstrate your interest in Elevate, not just any job. Things like:
- Did the applicant read the directions? For example, we specifically ask applicants to tell us why they want to work at Elevate. If a candidate’s cover letter doesn’t even mention Elevate, it notes a lack of attention to detail.
- Does the applicant understand and demonstrate the skills that tie to position we are hiring? The original job post will provide that roadmap!
- Did they complete the application? We ask for both a resume and a cover letter – make sure you provide exactly what has been requested.
Don’t skimp on the finishing touches
Make sure your cover letter and resume are saved in PDF form, and give everything a final review before you hit submit. (You would be amazed how many documents we receive with comments or edits in the margins.) Similarly, demonstrate your attention to detail by double-checking things like the date on your cover letter, and making sure you don’t have one stray bullet point on its own page. These seem like small things, but they could be a deal breaker for some reviewers.
Once you submit an application be ready for the next steps. For example, make sure you have a professional sounding outgoing voicemail for calls from hiring managers. Be prepared to interview in person on short notice. Watch you email (including your spam inbox) for follow-up – which may include tests or skill assessments.
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We hope these tips and tricks serve you well in your job search, no matter what jobs you apply for. And, if you’re the kind of person who loves working hard for social change, and you have experience in fundraising, grant writing, consulting, project management and/or other nonprofit work, we’d love to hear from you!
Keep an eye out for part two of this series, for tips on how to prepare for an interview and make the strongest possible impression during the next step of the hiring process.
Photo courtesy of wocintechchat.com
September 24, 2019
Dozens of Elevate clients experience executive transitions every year. To help our clients better understand how to engage funders throughout the process, we’ve partnered with Carlyn Madden, a search consultant and former grantmaker based in the Washington, DC region, on a three-part series to highlight the challenges and opportunities of executive transitions.
In this post, we’ll hear advice from funders in the DC region about how nonprofits can engage before, during and after an executive transition.
Thanks for following along over the last few weeks to learn how you can successfully manage (and even strengthen) funding relationships during an executive transition. For previous posts, check in with Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.
PART 3:
Prompt, consistent, and transparent communication is critical to engage funders throughout an executive transition process.
This summer, search consultant Carlyn Madden connected with three funders in the DC region. In discussing what makes for successful executive transitions, common pitfalls for nonprofits to avoid, and strengthening funder relationships throughout the transition period, this blog post draws upon experiences of professionals working in a variety of capacities with private and family foundations.
Special thanks to Julian Haynes, the Maryland Program Director at the Meyer Foundation; Mary Mulcahy and Tobi Printz Platnick, Associate Directors at The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; and Julia Baer Cooper, Philanthropic Advisor at SARC Consulting for sharing their perspectives on this topic.
On successful traits, common pitfalls, and internal candidates:
“The most successful transitions don’t come as a surprise to funders. If an executive director announces their transition alongside a request for funding to support that transition, I’m not often able to be as helpful as I could if we had been in an ongoing dialogue. I often check in with grant partners about their transition and succession plans during periodic meetings or site visits. Because we have established trust and candor, we’re able to have open and transparent conversations about the process. We had a recent example of a founder-led nonprofit that we’ve supported over the years. The founder and I discussed her need to get staffing structured in a way that would allow her to step back from the day-today, and ultimately transition. We provided funding toward a sabbatical, which gave the E.D. a needed break and allowed them to begin making a plan with their board and small staff. For me, this is a great example of when there is a trusting partnership between the funder and the nonprofit, it is easier for the transition to go smoothly.”
Julia Baer Cooper, Philanthropic Advisor, SARC Consulting
“There has been more than one instance of us finding out about an executive transition by someone forwarding me the job posting. It is not every day that an E.D. leaves, willingly or otherwise. So while often not a shock, I do expect to hear the news from the board. A mass email or something personalized – it doesn’t make a difference. The most important thing is that we are made aware of the situation. Very often, an E.D. or senior staff member who has left an organization will reach out to us directly, so it’s in the board’s best interest to frame the narrative quickly to stay ahead of any rumors.”
Tobi Printz Platnick, Associate Director, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
“It’s best when grantees are upfront and transparent with funders as early as possible. We like to see board leadership and a robust search committee engaged in the process. A thoughtful, thorough approach will identify new leadership to take the nonprofit where they want to go. That said, boards are often compelled to look for bright and shiny external candidates, missing an opportunity to consider inside talent. An internal candidate who knows what works and what doesn’t can do a lot for an organization’s culture and stability.”
Julian Haynes, Program Director for Maryland, Meyer Foundation
“One example of a well-planned leadership transition would be an Executive Director reaching out to me to say, ‘I just announced to the board that I’m leaving in six months. There is a succession plan already in place. I’ve made myself available to advise the board, but I won’t be a part of the process.’ On some occasions, however, an E.D. calls to share news of their departure, followed by an announcement that they plan to join the board. We’ve seen this set up their successor for failure and cause rapid leadership turnover, ultimately damaging the organization. Another challenging situation can occur when, in response to an unplanned departure, the board gives the job to a current staff member without enough due diligence. Often, the incoming Executive Director is not prepared for the role and lacks a clear understanding of what it takes to be an effective leader.”
Mary Mulcahy, Associate Director, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
On the role of the outgoing executive director during a transition:
“When an Executive Director confides in me that they’re planning their departure, I recommend they spend a week keeping track of their “billable hours.” Recording everything they do in 10- or 15-minute increments will help inform their job description. For example, a board might guess that an E.D. spends a third of their time on fundraising, but in reality, the E.D. manages a large federal contract and the time spent is closer to 60 percent. Only the current E.D. will really know this.”
Tobi Printz Platnick, Associate Director, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
“A period of overlap with the next executive director can be useful. I think it works best when the departing Executive Director is contracted as an advisor, rather than remaining on the payroll. Nonprofits that won’t be engaging the outgoing E.D. should consider hiring an interim director. Having stable leadership at the helm gives the board time to figure out what type of leader the organization will need moving forward.”
Mary Mulcahy, Associate Director, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
“I have seen successful transitions where the outgoing executive director has a limited connection in an advisory capacity. This allows an outgoing E.D. to remain accessible and available when the new E.D. reaches out for institutional knowledge, but do not insert themselves into the day-to-day affairs of the organization.”
Julian Haynes, Program Director for Maryland, Meyer Foundation
“The outgoing executive director’s role totally depends on the nonprofit – there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. An overlap can help with the hand off, but sometimes this isn’t possible. It is important that the board identify the E.D.’s ongoing relationship as the transition begins and communicate this during the recruitment process. For some nonprofits, having the outgoing E.D. join the board or serve in an advisory capacity makes sense, with deference to the new executive – but in other cases, and depending on personalities and many other dynamics – it’s best if the outgoing E.D. steps away completely so new leadership can flourish.
Julia Baer Cooper, Philanthropic Advisor, SARC Consulting
On getting acquainted with program officers:
“New executive directors should reach out early in their tenure. It’s best for them to introduce themselves by email or phone, and inquire when I’d like to meet. For me, it often depends on where their organization is in our grant cycle, but their other funders might prefer meeting face-to-face early in the relationship.”
Mary Mulcahy, Associate Director, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
“I appreciate the opportunity to grab coffee and discuss how I could be helpful beyond grant support to new executive directors. Timing can depend on the grant cycle, but I definitely would like to meet the new leader before I make a recommendation. If it’s off cycle, I leave it up to them – either now or wait a few months for when they feel they have a better grasp of things.
Julia Baer Cooper, Philanthropic Advisor, SARC Consulting
“Outgoing executive directors should ensure that their staff is prepared to brief the incoming E.D. on the details of our relationship, such as deadlines, reporting, and the basics of our last conversation. Many incoming E.D.s come in with strong fundraising backgrounds and know how to use our first conversation to maintain momentum. On the other hand, sometimes things get lost in the shuffle and we see grantees miss reporting and application deadlines because the staff was not given enough guidance to manage the moving parts during the transition.”
Julian Haynes, Program Director for Maryland, Meyer Foundation
On supporting organizations during transitions
“The Meyer Foundation supports grantees experiencing executive transitions, though obviously there are exceptions. Ultimately, pulling funding from an organization when its most vulnerable is completely counter to the way that we think about building grantee capacity. In fact, we have used capacity building grants to support the organization during transition.”
Julian Haynes, Program Director for Maryland, Meyer Foundation
“We typically fund our existing grantees during an executive transition. We are confident in organizations that can outline a process and timeline for a hiring process, but if things seem to be too in flux, we’ll hold the proposal to consider during the next grant cycle when leadership is stabilized. For Cafritz, an executive transition is not the right time for prospective grantees to apply. It is often better to wait until a new leader is in place, and they have been able to put ‘their own mark’ on a funding request.”
– Tobi Printz Platnick, Associate Director, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
“In general, I’m not opposed to supporting a nonprofit during a transition, but it depends on their approach. For a larger, well-staffed organization, I expect that it is probably business as usual – programming stays the same, administration and financial management remain constant. For a small nonprofit, whose executive director wears many hats, the organization may be less stable. A well-thought out succession plan supports how the board leads through the transition, and assists my case for sustained funding.”
Julia Baer Cooper, Philanthropic Advisor, SARC Consulting
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The Meyer Foundation, established in 1944 by Eugene Meyer, an owner and publisher of The Washington Post, and his wife, the author and social activist Agnes E. Meyer, is one of the Washington area’s oldest and largest locally-focused philanthropies. The Foundation’s mission is to pursue and invest in solutions that build an equitable Greater Washington community in which economically disadvantaged people thrive.
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation is the largest private, independent, local foundation focused exclusively on the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The Foundation is committed to improving the quality of life for residents of the Washington, DC area.
SARC Consulting, founded in 2000, advises foundations on philanthropic investment by assisting clients with long-term planning, grantmaking and program research. SARC provides short-term and project-based assistance for some clients while also serving as quasi-staff in an ongoing long-term relationship with others. SARC helps clients launch new philanthropic ventures and provides continuing support for long-established foundations
Preparing for your nonprofit’s next executive transition? Carlyn is offering Elevate clients a free phone consultation to help plan your next steps – from succession planning to promising recruitment practices. Learn more about her work at www.carlynmaddenconsulting.com.
September 17, 2019
Dozens of Elevate clients experience executive transitions every year. To help our clients better understand how to engage funders throughout the process, we’ve partnered with Carlyn Madden, a search consultant and former grantmaker based in the Washington, DC region, on a three-part series to highlight the challenges and opportunities of executive transitions.
In this post, Carlyn will share tips and tricks for strengthening funder relationships throughout an executive transition. Coming up, we’ll get insights directly from a few funders from the Washington, DC region. To start from the beginning, read Part 1.
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PART 2:
A good executive transition is a well-planned executive transition.
Executive transitions are common in the nonprofit sector, with research suggesting that 60%-70% of nonprofit executives planned to leave their jobs within five years. Most nonprofits report feeling unprepared to undertake an executive transition. BoardSource’s 2017 Leading with Intent: A National Index of Nonprofit Board Practices indicates that just roughly one in four nonprofits have a succession plan in place. Unsurprisingly, a lack of preparedness can cause funder relationships to become unstable.
Before consulting, I spent close to a decade managing grant portfolios and programs. These experiences have provided me with a birds-eye perspective of all types of transitions – from transformational leaders that accelerated their impact to poor placements that drove them out of business; from honoring an incredible founder’s legacy to emergencies following a tragic death.
A well-planned, well-executed executive transition offers nonprofits the opportunity to reflect on the future: the vision, skills, and resources necessary for their next chapter. Funders like to support great leaders – and a thoughtfully planned process is a cornerstone of great leadership.
Below are five pieces of advice I’ve gleaned over the years for how best to sustain your relationships with funders during executive transitions.
1. Don’t let them be the last to know
As a major investor in your nonprofit, they deserve to hear the news from you, not the Washington Post.
After notifying the board about their imminent departure, an outgoing CEO should reach out to their funders. The board chair should lead outreach in cases of sudden departures. Be prepared to introduce a new point of contact for the transition; discuss the process (i.e., if an acting or interim director will be named and/or if a search firm will be hired); any necessary (and truthful) assurances that the programs they have funded will be maintained in the outgoing director’s absence; and the role, if any, the outgoing CEO will play for the organization following their departure.
2. Inquire about capacity building grants
With enough advance notice, some funders can support a grantee’s transition costs.
As a funder, I could recommend discretionary grants to support one-off projects or increase an award during the regular grant cycle. Could one of your funders help with transition costs, such as search consultant fees? It never hurts to ask, as it indicates that your nonprofit is serious about managing the transition. It is important to request the right amount at the right time, so speak to a few consultants in advance to understand project fees and speak to your program officer about the process before preparing a formal inquiry.
3. Consider an interim director
An experienced interim executive director gives funders assurance about your nonprofit’s stability.
Interims are typically seasoned nonprofit executives who oversee key management and programmatic functions during the transition, while also helping the board assess the skills necessary for its next leader. Their costs are in the same range of an executive director’s salary with an engagement ranging from 6 to 18 months. Consider inquiring with funders to connect you to grantees who could make a referral. In the DC region, the Interim Directors Network is a great resource.
4. Tap into knowledge and networks
Funders work with dozens—if not hundreds—of nonprofit executives. They might let you tap into their network of qualified candidates.
Many, but not all, funders have warm, open grantee relationships. Inquire if your search consultant could include your program officer in their stakeholder interviews. Pass along the job posting, along with a request to distribute it within their network. Funders are well connected, and many are happy to circulate information about your search. However, this should be the extent of the collaboration–your funder should not influence the board’s hire.
5. Introduce new leadership early
Your funders are excited for your next chapter and will look forward to meeting your new hire.
Make sure your outgoing CEO has left great notes about the status of the relationship in your donor database and have development staff brief the incoming CEO on any pertinent talking points. It will be helpful for the new CEO to read through past proposals and reports. When the board chair shares the official announcement and a personal introduction, it reinforces the board’s commitment to the process. Take the lead from the funder on next steps – setting up an in-person meeting to begin building the relationship if they make themselves available.
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But what if they won’t fund us during a transition?
Some funders pause grantmaking during executive transitions.
Some funders use what Vu Le, author of Nonprofit AF, calls a “wait and see” approach, withholding grants until new leadership is in place. While a frustrating practice, it becomes that much more important to steward funder relationships during the transition. Inquire about what updates they would appreciate, make sure they receive your newsletters, and make a personal introduction to a new, if just temporary, point of contact. Involving other staff decentralizes the cultivation process and reassures funders that your competent staff is operating as usual with little negative impact on your nonprofit’s performance.
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Stay tuned for the final post in this series, where we’ll get advice directly from funders about their views on managing relationships during executive transitions.
Preparing for your nonprofit’s next executive transition? Carlyn is offering Elevate clients a free phone consultation to help plan your next steps – from succession planning to promising recruitment practices. Learn more about her work at www.carlynmaddenconsulting.com.
September 10, 2019
Dozens of Elevate clients experience executive transitions every year. To help our clients better understand how to engage funders throughout the process, we’ve partnered with Carlyn Madden, a search consultant and former grantmaker based in the Washington, DC region, on a three-part series to highlight the challenges and opportunities of executive transitions.
In this post, Carlyn will help us examine different types of transitions. In future posts, she will share tips and tricks of how to strengthen funder relationships before, during and after executive transitions and we’ll gain insights directly from funders in the Washington, DC region.
Follow along over the next few weeks to learn how you can successfully manage (and even strengthen) funding relationships during an executive transition.
PART I:
Each nonprofit is unique. Each executive transition will be different.
The grantmaking community has a saying, “Once you’ve met one foundation, you’ve met… one foundation.” I think you’ll agree that no two foundations are alike.
I would argue that the same can be said about nonprofits. For example, one education nonprofit is usually vastly different than its peers – different curriculum and different approaches; different client focus and communities served; different business model and financial resources.
Each nonprofit also has different executives with different tenures, leadership styles, and ideas about how their transition will play out.
According to BoardSource, the U.S. leader in nonprofit governance tools and resources, “the type of transition influences the challenges involved and the strategy the board will adopt to manage the process…” Identifying the specific type of transition an organization is experiencing can help staff more effectively understand its nuances, manage the transition’s challenges, and capitalize on its unique opportunities.
BoardSource uses an extensive range of tools, resources, and research data to increase board effectiveness and strengthen organizational impact. The graphic below outlines BoardSource’s five classic examples of leadership transitions. Click through to read more about considerations for each type of transition.
Once you understand the type of transition you’re experiencing and start to plan your executive transition, we invite you to consider these questions in context with your unique situation.
- Has your board approved a succession policy and a plan to handle sudden and planned transitions? Is your nonprofit covered in case of an emergency?
- Has the board recently reviewed executive’s job description and compensation? What additional financial resources may be necessary to attract a new CEO?
- How well organized is your nonprofit’s donor database? Is information about the status of different grants and funder relationships easily accessible to the new CEO?
- Who will manage the organization’s existing funder relationships during the transition? What steps will be taken to maintain communication following the CEO’s departure?
- Is a stakeholder communications plan in place to reassure funders that the transition will have minimal disruption to the organization’s programs?
Stay tuned for our next post where Carlyn will share some tips to manage funder relationships during executive transitions.
Preparing for your nonprofit’s next executive transition? Carlyn is offering Elevate clients a free phone consultation to help plan your next steps – from succession planning to promising recruitment practices. Learn more about her work at www.carlynmaddenconsulting.com.
August 9, 2019
THIS POST IS PART OF A SERIES ABOUT GRANT WRITING
DO’S AND DON’TS, STRAIGHT FROM FUNDERS!
READ PART 1 HERE
When it comes to winning grants, getting down to the numbers and making the ask is where the rubber truly meets the road.
But there are plenty of mistakes that even the most experienced executive directors, development directors, and grant writers can make when it comes to asks and budgets—mistakes that can cost their organizations significant grant funds.
Below are four strategies for getting the numbers right and making a winning ask. These strategies are based on survey responses from dozens of funders around the country who were willing to share their insights and experiences as grantmakers.
1. Do Your Research
- Avoid asking for an amount outside a funder’s giving range.
To determine an appropriate ask amount, learn as much as you can about the funder’s previous giving. Use all available resources: websites, nonprofit/professional networks, foundation staff presentations/panels, Google News Search, IRS Form 990s, etc.
- Never ask for budget items that are not eligible.
Foundation’s typically include funding parameters on their website or application guidelines. Typically, direct program expenses are safe bets (exceptions for staff, rent, equipment). If considering requests for indirect costs, check if there are restrictions. For example, some funders explicitly state that they will only fund 10 to 15 percent of a project’s indirect expenses When in doubt (and if you’ve made every effort to find out for yourself) ask the funder directly.If your program requires a cost that is explicitly restricted (like scholarships for a college access program, or computers for a robotics team), consider briefly mentioning in the funding request or budget narrative that your budgeted expenses include this item and how your org funds it (e.g. “Because tuition costs prevent so many students from pursuing a degree, we raise 100% of scholarship funds through our annual luncheon and dedicated individual donors”). This demonstrates your commitment to this specific intervention/expense while simultaneously assuring the reviewer that their dollars won’t be spent here. (Make sure this aligns with your program budget/request column as well.)
- Do not present an ask for 100% of project costs.
Funders are not monolithic, so this point will vary on a case-by-case basis. But generally, you should demonstrate the sustainability of your program to reassure funders that your program isn’t wholly dependent on their gift. Similarly, funders also want to see community buy-in (everyone wants to be on the winning team), and multiple funding commitments demonstrate a broad base of support.
As a general rule, requesting funders to support 10% of a project’s overall costs is a safe bet. If you plan to exceed 30-50%, proceed with caution. You might even consider reaching out to funder for guidance. Avoid asking for 100% unless you are confident that the funder is open to it—whether you heard that information directly from funder staff, through the “grapevine”, or by looking at recent grantees. (e.g. a $60K gift to purchase 3 vans seems like a possible 100% gift.)
2. Be Transparent & Consistent
Reviewers look at dozens or hundreds of proposals/budgets every application period, so it’s unlikely you will successfully pull a fast one.
- Don’t disguise an operating ask as a project ask (i.e. staff member salary). Or, relatedly, stay away from trying to include something like computers in a “Supply” line item, just because the funder explicitly prohibits requests for “Equipment.”
- Don’t include things in the budget that are not referenced in the narrative. At best, a reviewer may assume incompetence—at worst, deceitfulness. Neither will set your proposal up for success.
3. Be Realistic
Again, funders review tons of proposals. Even if they have never led a particular program (and many of them will have), they have a broad perspective of the resources required to successfully run a similar program.
Cost-per-participant is not the only tool a reviewer may use, but it is a basic way to compare proposed programs that may appear apples-to-oranges. Depending on their org values, some funders may wish to stretch their charitable dollars to support the greatest number of people, period. Others will understand that deeper/longer interventions require more intensive resources. Either approach has pros & cons.
Regardless of which route your program takes, take time to explain WHY your afterschool program costs $2,000/student vs. a peer program that costs $1,000/student (year-round vs. school-year only; meal vs. snacks; transportation provided vs. using school/metro bus system; highly-qualified staff/MSW/clinical staff/Special Education accreditation vs. volunteers; etc.)
With this in mind:
- Don’t ask for a large amount if you serve a small number of people without providing context.
- Relatedly, use caution when asking for the maximum of a foundation’s funding range. If you have explained your program well, reviewers will have a pretty good idea of what it costs. While it might be tempting, never inflate your budgets to get to the maximum amount.
4. Check Your Math
This might seem like an obvious tip, but details can get lost in a complicated proposal with a lot of authors or sources of input. Double-check your work using a calculator or spreadsheet—and don’t forget to update/confirm Excel formulas if you’re using them.
Your budget and budget narrative present another opportunity to justify the appropriate costs of your intervention.
- Never submit a budget that doesn’t match the proposal (a reviewer may think it was a mistake or will have questions about cost allocations).
- Similarly, don’t submit a budget that doesn’t balance for a program. Don’t leave room for assumptions—if your program operates at a loss that’s made up with General Operating dollars, show those General Operating funds in the revenue portion of the budget.
July 29, 2019
At Elevate, Authenticity and Acceptance is one of our core company values, and part of living up to that value involves communicating honestly with our clients and with each other. But speaking up and communicating candidly requires skill.
According to a 2017 report on The State of Miscommunication by Quantum Workplace and Fierce Inc., only 52% of employees surveyed said that they always or almost always speak their minds when discussing work-related topics with their immediate supervisor; even fewer (just 47.5%) reported always or almost always speaking their minds when talking to their colleagues.
These numbers aren’t shocking, when you consider all that’s at play — and at stake! — when it comes to speaking up in a professional setting. Whether you’re reviewing tasks and deadlines with your manager, brainstorming ideas with your team, delivering feedback to a direct report, or weighing your concerns about a workplace issue, candor inherently involves risk.
WEIGHING THE COST OF SILENCE
It’s logical, then, that so many of us often mitigate that risk by choosing the path of least resistance. We either stay silent about our concerns, agree to take on more than our bandwidth allows, or simply go with the flow when the group is moving in a different direction.
The problem is, we often fail to consider the costs of silence.
- When we agree to take on extra work without sharing that we already feel overstretched, we risk failing to deliver on our promises.
- When we decide to stay quiet about a workplace concern, we risk missing an opportunity to have an important conversation that others secretly want to have, too.
- When we fail to deliver constructive feedback because it’s too uncomfortable, we rob a colleague of their opportunity to learn and grow.
CLEAR, THOUGHTFUL COMMUNICATION IS POWERFUL
Thankfully, there are skills you can build to help you speak up and communicate candidly — and candid conversations don’t have to be fraught! In fact, when done thoughtfully, having these types of conversations more often at work helps increase productivity, build trust among colleagues, and enhance team performance.
The four tips below will help you speak up about important subjects in a way that’s both honest and clear, while still keeping things positive and setting a collaborative tone.
1. SAY WHAT YOU MEAN
- Use clear, direct language. This one seems obvious, and yet so many of us try to pad our message with things like apologies, over-explaining, or the dreaded ‘compliment sandwich.’ It may feel like you’re being helpful, when in fact you’re probably just creating more confusion. As they say in journalism, don’t bury the lede. Lead with your point, be clear, and resist the urge to dance around it.
- Take responsibility for what you’re trying to say. Don’t be vague, and rely on the other person(s) to connect the dots for you. Be as clear as possible, and take full ownership of whatever it is you want to convey.
2. SET A COLLABORATIVE TONE
- Ask questions. Before you dismiss or object to someone else’s idea directly, ask clarifying questions. Not only does this help you gather as much information as possible, it also demonstrates a willingness to engage with and fully understand their ideas.
- Look for opportunities to respond with “and” instead of “but.” To be clear, I’m not saying that dissent is off the table! The main takeaway here is that using “and…” sets an amicable tone by showing respect for the other person’s point of view, even if you disagree. It sets the stage for a more productive dialogue, stronger collaboration, and better outcomes. For example: “I like that idea, and I recommend we make one adjustment.”
- Be aware of your body language. Crossed arms and furrowed eyebrows send a ‘closed-off’ message, and typing on your phone or laptop while someone is talking to you signal that you’re not fully engaged in the conversation. Do your best to offer your full attention, respect, and focus.
- Focus on what’s possible, instead of what isn’t. It’s hard (if not impossible) to have a productive conversation if you’re just shooting down ideas, without presenting any alternatives. I think Tina Fey said it best: “Whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.”
3. BE TRANSPARENT, EVEN WHEN IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE
- Manage expectations proactively, and early. This involves looking at the conversation through the other person’s lens early in the conversation and looking for any possible information gaps, unspoken assumptions, or ambiguities. When it doubt, clarify.
- Avoid the people-pleasing trap. As tempting as it can be to go with the flow or tell people what they want to hear, you’re better off painting a clear and honest picture about any obstacles, hesitations, questions, or needs you have and opening the door for honest discussion.
- Deliver bad news as early as possible. Whether you’re running late on a deadline, or you need to ask for help, resist the urge to delay that uncomfortable conversations. (We might hope that’ll make it go away, when in fact it almost always makes things much worse.) Having that conversation early gives everyone more time to recalibrate, and come up with a new plan if necessary. I think of this as ‘front-loading the discomfort,’ knowing that it will pay off in the long run.
4. PREVENT AND LOOSEN GRIDLOCK
- Suspend judgment, and get curious. Sometimes hard conversations get stuck, when everyone is locked into their own point of view and the group keeps talking in circles, without listening or making forward progress. Forbes calls this gridlock, adding that it “leads to defensiveness, criticism, withdrawal and in some cases contempt—four signs of a complete breakdown of communication.” One way to loosen gridlock? Shift from a judgmental mindset to a curious one, where you seek to understand the other perspectives in the room and find ways to connect them.
- Use empathy to move the conversation forward. While many think of empathy as a “soft” skill, it can also be a secret weapon for having more productive, efficient conversations. When you’re stuck at an impasse with a colleague or team, consider questions like: what are their true, underlying objectives here? What can you suggest that meets those needs, without encroaching on your own bandwidth or boundaries? Don’t be afraid to think outside the box, and get creative. This gets easier with practice.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Below are a few resources we recommend, if you’re interested in learning more about candid conversations:
June 26, 2019
As a non-profit, chances are pretty good you follow a familiar pattern to generate funds. The annual mega-fundraiser is crucial, and you rely on grants to support key programs. Maybe you’ve even found an elusive corporate sponsor to provide some additional stability.
You do it because it seems to work well enough, and you know it’s a good idea to have diversified revenue streams to reduce risks to sustainability. Wouldn’t it be nice, though, to have more consistency and predictability—and the ability to keep expanding your base?
What Most Nonprofits Get Wrong
There’s another source to explore—one that non-profits often overlook. Individual donors can provide continuous, reliable funding that grows over time. However, many organizations don’t invest resources in pursuing recurring contributions in any meaningful, systematic way.
Instead of tailoring their approach, they target everyone using the old annual appeal, or a combination of the traditional newsletter and updates on a variety of social media platforms. These efforts target broad, generic audiences, and they fail to engage current or prospective donors in ways that develop lasting, rewarding, personal relationships. In the end, not enough of the “right people” are hearing what non-profits have to say. And, if they do, it’s going in one ear and out the other.
Shifting Your Mentality, and Getting Personal
Nonprofits that take this approach are effectively viewing donors as objects rather than as people. It’s easy to see existing and potential contributors primarily as cash, checks and credit cards—not as individuals with interests, preferences, and personalities.
It’s understandable—that’s the way it’s always been done. But not knowing who’s behind the money can make it incredibly difficult to connect with prospective and existing donors on a personal level. Even the most experienced nonprofit professionals can struggle to determine who they should be approaching, how to effectively reach their audiences, or what messages will resonate with them.
The solution? Get familiar with the donor pool!
The concept is simple: Find out who’s most likely to donate, where they get their information, and what makes them tick. Then, target those people through customized media and messaging over the entire life cycle from initial contact to conversion to retention.
In practice, it is more of a strategic commitment for non-profits than what many are doing now, but the returns are entirely worth it. The inevitable question, of course, is how to go about this.
5 Keys to Developing Tailored Messaging That Resonates with Your Donors
- Collecting—Having high-quality data on the demographics, economics, psychographics, and behaviors of your donors and prospects is critical. If you can obtain information on the donor pool, you can segment the population and estimate both giving potential and likelihood of contributing. This is how you “meet the people.” Explore your current donors first, and then expand to the general public through surveys and/or focus groups.
- Profiling—The data you collect can allow you to profile selected segments by building representative donor “personas” of individuals you want to engage. This is how you get to know the people you want to “befriend.” Give them a face and a name, and lay out the details using the information you’ve gathered. Test your profiles by running them by subsets of the segments they represent.
- Mapping—Personas provide foundational “journey maps,” which describe individuals’ status, thoughts, and feelings, and identify opportunities to facilitate their progression from contact to conversion to retention. This is how you “walk with the people” as they become familiar you’re your non-profit. Get a team together, grab some sticky notes, and have some fun with it!
- Customizing—The journey maps will inform your outreach approach, guiding the content, format, media, incentives, calls to action, access points, etc. at key milestones. This is “leading the people” to introduce yourself and the problem, make them want to learn about you, help them to help you, and give them what they need to give again. Focus on reaching, informing, and making things easy for your target audiences.
- Measuring—You’ll want to know when your strategy is successful and adjust it when it’s not. By using web-based platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, HubSpot) it’s relatively easy to gather and analyze metrics on, for example, who’s viewing your content and how they’re responding. If something isn’t working—if you’re not connecting, the messages aren’t resonating, or people aren’t following through—fix it. A little fine-tuning goes a long way.
How does this look in practice?
One nonprofit focused on poverty did this by asking its current donors how best to connect with them, segmented the audience, and then handed things over to teams comprising internal staff and external “customers” to create “snapshots” of the most promising groups—names, faces, and personal “stories.” These teams then “walked the walk,” stepping through each prospect’s journey from contact to conversion to retention. Marketing and Development took the resulting maps to design and execute targeted outreach strategies, focusing on messaging, media, and delivery channels they were confident would reach and resonate with prospects. Pushing out “before-and-after” stories through videos, blogs, and other media to the social platforms these audiences used was a key part of the approach, and the organization more than doubled contributions the next year.
Personalized “relationship marketing” changes the individual donor game for non-profits. It makes it easier to forecast with confidence and helps to maximize gifts that keep on giving. And, it works for nonprofits of all sizes. While it’s a big undertaking and it’s helpful to have a dedicated, innovative Marketing and Development staff, that isn’t completely necessary—with a little outside help, even smaller organizations can do this with executive leadership and program personnel.
For many organizations, individual donations can be a significant part of a diversified funding strategy, even if the results haven’t been there in the past. Let’s face it. Newsletters often tend to go unopened and tweets get lost in the crowd. But investing in a targeted individual giving strategy can have a significant return on investment.
There’s money to be had, but there are faces, names, and personalities behind each dollar. Taking the time to get to know them leads not only to more dollars raised for your programs, but also to strong, long-lasting relationships with your donors.
What to do next:
Read our article on this topic, Anatomy of a Non-profit Donor
View the related presentation, Targeting and Retaining Better, Long-lasting Donors
Contact us at info@snowflakellc.com or +1.540.931.9943
Visit us on the web: www.snowflakellc.com
Follow us on Twitter: @snowflakellc
Tom Morley is Founder, President, and Managing Director of Snowflake LLC, a Certified B Corporation® consultancy dedicated to helping organizations transform lives and build communities through strategic planning and organization, people, and marketing strategies. He worked for more than 15 years as a senior leader with “Big 4” firms BearingPoint and Deloitte Consulting before launching Snowflake in 2014, with the goal of collaborating with non-profits, governments, and responsible businesses to bring about social change. Over the course of his career, he has worked with over 75 different clients across sectors and industries, in the US and abroad, advising and supporting them in their efforts to accomplish greater things for the greater good.
For information on Snowflake, please visit www.snowflakellc.com or e-mail info@snowflakellc.com.
May 23, 2019
In our previous post, Where Do I Start with Corporate Partnerships?, we spoke with longtime consultant Derry Deringer on why and how your nonprofit should go about forming strong partnerships with corporate entities.
In this second part of our interview with Derry, we dig deeper into what corporations want out of a partnership and how you can go about finding out these answers.
Elevate: Thank you again for sharing your insights from the decades of experience you have. I want to spend a little bit of time going over how to engage a corporation and what they are thinking of. In your experience dealing with corporations, what are the key considerations or factors that corporations care about when they partner with a nonprofit?
Derry: Here are questions businesses are asking when considering partnership:
• How well does it align with our business needs?
• How well does it align with our culture?
• How much do our employees care about this cause or nonprofit?
• What does the CEO or if a local decision the region head think about the opportunity?
• What is our budget this year and over the partner period and is partnership a priority with our community giving/affairs policy?
• What issues in the community are most important to us as a business and why?
Elevate: Two key metrics that are often measured in corporate partnerships are the marketing value and programmatic impact. In your experience, do you think corporations care more about impact or marketing value?
Derry: This varies from business to business. These are very good questions to ask business directly when you are in the very early stages of courting business partners.
Elevate: I see. Every corporation wants some form of marketing usually. Do you find that corporations prefer certain types of recognition or marketing when they engage in corporate partnerships?
Derry: Generally, interest in recognition on event programs and signage has decreased, while interest in recognition on digital platforms has increased. Recognition preference can vary. Survey or talk to your current business donors. If you don’t have business donors, identify areas, industries, or links to businesses that make a good match for potential donors (ex. the employers of loyal individual donors). Ask for their preferences (without asking for money). The questions will be appreciated and would count as a relationship cultivation touch point.
Elevate: Speaking of relationship cultivation, the question I think many nonprofits always struggle with is who is the best person to talk to or get in touch with when establishing a corporate partnership?
Derry: Good question. This varies. Imagine a half dozen possible contacts and a half dozen to a dozen giving possibilities from a large business. Understanding how to navigate the contacts and giving opportunities is the art of corporate giving. Here are some possible contacts. There are others depending on the industry and size of the business.
Assistant to or the CEO
Head or officer in Community Affairs
Head or officer in Community Relations
Head or officer in Corporate Foundation
Head or officer in Government Relationship
Head or officer in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
Head or officer in Marketing
One just has to research, talk to employees and develop the skills to get to the right person. So talking to the right person is one important factor and another very important one is the decision -maker and decision making process. Asking these questions can save you time and frustration. This is where hiring a consultant/coach can help you build these skills and work with you to advance your relationships with your actual business donors.
Elevate: And just to clarify, what do you mean by the ‘right’ person to cultivate? How do you know when you’ve found the right person?
Derry: So, the “right” person or group is ultimately always the decision maker, right? Your goal is to have a direct relationship with that person or someone who is close to that person. Sometimes a group makes the decision. The art of corporate engagement is asking good questions and engaging with company staff in a productive way to learn about the inner workings of the program and decision making. For example: tell me more about how the corporate giving program works. Who heads that program? What’s the process for vetting nonprofits?
You might have different decisions makers for different giving programs in the organization. For example, HR might decide on workplace giving, whereas the CEO and executive team might decide on partnerships and the marketing head may decide on event sponsorship. A lot of knowing when you’ve found the right person comes with practice and experience. Be bold and keep pursuing it and asking questions.
Elevate: I’ve seen many cases where a nonprofit’s board consists of a number of their corporate partners. Is it a good thing for corporate partner’s representatives to be a part of a nonprofit’s board of directors or advisory board?
Derry: Yes, it helps. Good partnerships have shared culture, values and community interests so it makes sense for a partner to have someone on the board or advisory group somewhere. Also, the more ways that a nonprofit engages a business in giving cash, in-kind or services (time, expertise, network etc.) the higher the chance the business and its employees will continue to give.
Elevate: Can you give us some examples of innovative ways you have seen nonprofits engage corporations in their work?
Derry: I saw a regional technology company partner with a homeless shelter. They had a few executives on the board who provided management expertise and played a leadership role in successfully recruiting a new development director. In another case, a Fortune-500 food company gave cash and technical support to help a humanitarian NGO promote and grow entrepreneurship (food trucks and stands) and self-reliance in Bangladesh. I’ve also seen a small business donate computers and cash while the staff volunteer as teachers to low-income adults learning computer skills to secure higher paying jobs.
Elevate: Interesting. Sounds like there’s a quite a variety of partnerships out there. My final question for you today is whether you think it is a good idea to approach a corporation that does not have any sort of corporate giving or social responsibility program in place. Do you think this is an opportunity or a concern?
Derry: Good question. If the company doesn’t have any corporate giving program in place, you’ll want to see a lot of interest and motivation from the leadership. If you don’t have that from the start, likely not to be worth the effort investment. If they do have a program, make the case for your nonprofit being the better choice when they review renewing their partnerships or adding a new one.
Elevate: That’s a good principle to go by. Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us. This has been an extremely enlightening discussion that I’m sure many of our readers will find helpful as well.
Derry Deringer is principal of Deringer Consulting which was launched in 2011. Previously, Derry was Director of Corporate Relations at WFP USA. He brings twenty-five years of experience with nonprofit, business and international organizations. Deringer Consulting helps executives and teams grow faster with better fundraising and better strategic planning. His favorite work is helping clients accelerate growth through a unique blend of coaching, consulting and facilitation methods. And the best place to start with every new client? … right where they are. Schedule a call with Derry today! 202.494.9170 | derry@deringerconsulting.com
