Came across New Zealand’s shortage of fundraisers. A recruiter’s view on Saturn Group’s website.
We all know there’s shortages of skilled people across many sectors, we almost hear it daily; but we seldom hear about the shortage of skilled fundraisers.
Have a read of New Zealand’s shortage of fundraisers. A recruiter’s view, to understand what’s happening.
http://www.saturngroup.co.nz/news/new-zealands-shortage-of-fundraisers-a-recruiters-view/
We all probably ”doing” and not seeing the bigger picture, not seeing what is happening with those around us. Missing out on warning signs.
This great article is certainly worth a read, even if you are part of only a small team; take the time and read it, I’m sure you will pick up some ideas, see where you could change in the way you work.
Leaders, Are We Too Busy With The ‘Doing’?
Where is your focus when you arrive at work? Are you thinking as a leader or manager?
One of the main factors that distinguishes a leader from a manager, is that that leaders lead by inspiration, whereas managers will co-ordinate people and tasks.
From time to time, however, as leaders we can find ourselves taking on a little more of the workload. Often we’ve been chosen to lead the team because we believe in the project or task we’re working on. We have a connection to it, or a passion about it, and we want to see it done well. That makes it all too easy to slip into a ‘doing’ role.
And when we’re ‘doing’, we’re not leading; we’re not inspiring the team to achieve bigger and better things. It becomes an issue when we become so focused on the tasks at hand, on all of the doing that needs to be done, that we become less aware of what’s happening within the team.
Read the full article here
Why is it that some in the charity sector don’t know how to handle donors who may be annoyed with you, donors who may feel you’re not deliverying on what you say you will do.
It’s not rocket science, dealing with disgruntled donors is and should be treated in the same was as businesses would deal with disgrutled customers. Simple, customer service skills are needed.
We all know the importance of having, and maintaining donors and that if donors aren’t happy how this can impact on the work of the organisation; so knowing what to do is important, as is acting in a timely manner.
As with dealing with a grumpy customer, dealing with disatisfied donor means listening to what the donor has to say, not forming judgement, and doing things to placate them whilst sticking with your organisation’s mission and policies.
The key to dealing with donor complaints is to listen, you can’t handle anything if you’re not listening. And by listening, I don’t mean hearing; you need to be able to isolate what the real issue is that the donor has.
Donors don’t just have the choice to call and complain these days, they will (and do) take to email and will share their experiences online; sometimes on your social media platforms, sometimes not. Where ever and however they complain, you need to know and acknowledge their complaint (which may not even be a complaint as such).
It’s important when dealing with any complaint to be patient, to not respond rashly and to show the donor you care about the issue they have raised.
You don’t want to just be answering their immediate concern, you should be referring to other things your organisation is doing to improve donor relations. Remember, people, donors or shoppers simply want to be treated courteously and to be listened to – AND – they want their problems resolved.
If the ”complaint” is online, make sure you repsond, even if you simply say ”thanks for raising your concern, let me look into and I’ll get back to you.” Anything is better than nothing. But, make sure you look into it, and make sure you follow up with the person.
Having said respond to online comments, one thing you should be doing, which many organisations don’t seem to be doing is monitor their social media accounts.
If someone says something on one of your accounts, it’s not just to vent, they do expect a response, so make sure you are getting notified when someone posts on your FaceBook or Twitter, or other site you use. Be timely with any reponse, it shows you care, not only care about the person raising an issue, but it also shows you’re aware and professional to others who seethe post – current and potential supporters.
Not all complaints or concerns will be by letter, phone or online, some people will send an email Most often the email they will send it to will be the info@blahblah.com, but does this ensure the person who can respond gets the email? Probably not, so make sure whoever receives emails to info@ knows what they are expected to do when they receive a complaint or other emails raising concerns.
Whatever way you handle complaints, remember never take it personally, the person complaining isn’t complaining about you, they are complaining about a situation. If you take things personally you will react in ways that won’t do you, the donor or your organisation any favours.
Remember too, that in the main donors are nice, kind and understanding, there are only ever a few occasions when things can go sour, so don’t dwell on the negatives, this won’t do you any good.
I’ve talked before about the importance of having those on the Board actively participating in all areas of the work of an organisation, including fundraising.
This post from the Sponsorship Collective covers it again, and is worth reading. In it, as I have said before, Board members usually have good business or friend contacts that can be tapped into to help an organisation raise funds and grow.
The post also talks about trust, ”Lack of trust has got to be one of the main reasons why Boards don’t donate and do not bring you their networks.
Boards, understandably want to protect their friends, associates and other contacts from being treated badly. They may even have been burned before, having taken the chance to make an introduction to a contact and then find that the contact has not been treated well by the charity. So help them to feel that they can trust you, but also in the charity, by demonstrating that you understand the process, that you won’t mistreat their friends and business associates and that you have impact in a cause that they care about.”
This is something I have had to deal with, I have introduced organisations to contacts, only to have the people call and tell me not to do it again as they felt pressured to support and also felt that the organisation wasn’t being upfront, they said in referring people I should know more about how they would present themselves. Since then I am more cautious, but I do use my connections where I feel there is a good fit.
Have a read of the full article and take on board some of the points it raises.
It’s interesting to see organisations grow from being something started at a kitchen table, to something substantial.
In growing though there is always a need to bring in others with more expertise, more experience; but in doing so there is fear of the loss of control.
I recall reading about a charity, I think in the States, where the founder who took on a manger; but with the charity operating in an adjacent building to where the founder lived, he would turn up everyday and staff were unsure as to who they should be listening to the new manager or the founder.
I’ve seen similar happen closer to home, and unless those passing on the reins make an effort to stand back and let the new guard run the organisation, chaos is likely to ensue.
If you are running an organisation and the time has come for you to stand aside, do it. This should all be part of your succession planning; and all staff when the new people at the helm arrive should feel confident that the organisation is in safe hands.
If the old guard remains it is likely to only case confusion, weakened trust in the new guard and, the focus of what the organisation is there for will be lost, opportunities could be missed and the beneficiaries of the organisation will ultimately suffer.
The new manager needs to know they can get on with what they have been appointed to do, this won’t happen quickly or smoothly if the old guard is always ‘hovering’ around, staff will remain confused and if allocated new tasks, if systems change they may feel as though they are betraying their former ”boss”.
Change isn’t always easy, it’s not easy on those standing aside and it’s not easy on the new people. But change sometimes has to happen and the more planning for it the better.
The management, more than anyone in an organisation knows, or should know, what the goals, vision, mission of the organisation are; but is this being shared with all staff, particularly those on the frontline?
It seems that some organisations have a diconnect when it comes to sharing key information with staff, leaving staff to wonder what is happening, where they are in the organisation and how they can confidently do their work.
If management aren’t sharing key information how can they expect staff to do their job.
Staff who are on the frontline, especially those in fundraising roles need all the information, they can’t be expected to do their job without all the facts.
If management have one story and others another, it does nothing but cause confusion. Everyone in the organisation needs to be singing from the same song sheet.
You may have seen the article on Stuff.co.nz about the hotel employee who was dismissed for making disparaging comments on Facebook about a blogger; how would you handle something like this, do you have a policy about what staff (and volunteers) can say and do with their personal time, their person social media posts?
Have a read of the article, then have a think about how you would handle such a situation.
Hotel worker sacked over abusive Facebook post to columnist
A Sydney hotel supervisor has lost his job after making a sexist and offensive comment on the Facebook page of Fairfax Media columnist Clementine Ford.
The Meriton Group confirmed that Michael Nolan was no longer employed by the company, after he labelled Ford a “slut” when she spoke out publicly against misogyny and online harassment.
Ford, a weekly columnist for Daily Life, made a number of posts on her Facebook page on White Ribbon Day, which aims to prevent men’s violence against women, in which she highlighted recent examples of online harassment she had received.
Ford included screenshots of a number of abusive messages that had been sent to her, including images Ford said were a “little violent in theme”, and included unsolicited images of male genitalia.
Continue reading the full article here
There are organisations that have internal social media policies, these generally state that an employee/volunteer won’t say or do anything that will bring the organisation into disrepute. They often will also point out the consequences should someone say or do something that could tarnish the reputation of the organisation.
But, is this acceptable, can an organisation state what an employee can or can’t do in their own time?
What’s your take?
Note: I don’t condone bullying, trolling or any such behaviour, so I am not defending the guys actions, merely raising a point of discussion.
A while ago I wrote Branding; when a refresh is in order and had some interesting feedback, with many saying it’s important to look at a refresh of an organisation’s brand from time to time, but that often people are afraid to refresh as it can be seen as a waste of time, money and other resources.
I came across The Eight Building Blocks of Strong Nonprofit Brands on Nonprofit Quarterly and thought it was a great piece and wanted to share it.
“To some, the very idea of nonprofit branding is a vulgar topic. No doubt, the nonprofit sector should be about mission, about performance, about excellence. We all want nonprofits to get the support they deserve, and we may sincerely wish that effectiveness were the coin of the realm—but it rarely is. Not only are measures of performance imprecise in many fields, the metrics we do have are incommensurable across fields. For all the talk of social investing and venture philanthropy, the reality is that brands still dominate the capital markets in the nonprofit sector. Decisions about support are a function of what the public thinks a nonprofit is doing far more than what it actually knows about what the organization is accomplishing.
“So, what is a brand? It is the construct that stakeholders hold about the identity, including the character, of a nonprofit organization. It is the sum total of perceptions about what a nonprofit stands for, what it does, and how much social impact it is thought to achieve. Brands are connected to reputations, in that recognizable brands are often, though not always, associated with good reputations. Brands can be tarnished and reputations ruined after scandals or bad press—and in that case, the brand may endure in the awareness of stakeholders but it will no longer be able to contribute to the organization’s ability to pursue its goals. Should one be fortunate enough to have a great brand, protecting it becomes an absolute organizational priority. Arguably, it is the most valuable asset in the nonprofit sector, because it is the gateway to all other assets, both human and financial.
Read the full article here
Ok, I have talked previously about knowing what’s going on the sector, what others in your same field are doing. But are you watching what people in general are talking about, issues, news items, documentaries and so on that have relevance to the work of your organisation?
It astounds me that there people in the sector who go to their office each day, do the work they feel needs doing; but aren’t aware of what people are talking about, what’s being shown and how this could be useful for their work.
Monitoring what’s happening is part of your job, well, I think it is. And for staff to only see their job as 9 to 5 is a little short sighted, especially when there’s so much competition for the charity dollar.
Staff should be encouraged to spend some part of their day looking at what people are talking about, someone in the organisation should be keeping an eye out for tv programmes etc that have some relevance to the work of your organisation. And, yes, someone should be monitoring FaceBook and the likes to see what others are talking and sharing that’s of relevance; and no cats are not really relevant unless they are at the core of what your organisation does.
So, who in your organisation is responsible for sharing news items, discussion papers etc? No one, tut tut, get someone onto this pronto, there’s likely gems you’re missing out on that could help you with your next fundraising campaign.
Remember, the people you are trying to gain as supporters are likely to have seen, read or talked about something that relates to your organisation, if you have seen something recently you can drop into a conversation or email; it could swing them to support you.
Who’s monitoring the social channels, again no one; no tuts this time, but please get someone to monitor, it won’t take them all day, just a few minutes each day is all that’s needed.
Ok, that’s a wee rant with some suggestions; so when you get back to your office, work out what you need to monitor and who the best person is to do this; unsure who – ask who would be interested, maybe someone is really keen but have been too shy to suggest that this is what you should be doing.
Now, get back to looking at what people are talking about in your sector.
We all have strengths and weaknesses, the important thing is to recognise them and acknowledge that sometimes we need to call on others to help.
Asking and accepting help is a good thing and doesn’t mean you’re a lesser person for asking.
This is true not only in our personal lives, but also in our roles organisations, and perhaps even more so within some organisations in the non-profit sector.
Some people starting out with a non-profit will have the skills for the job they are doing, but they may not have the understanding of the sector, how things can be very different to the for-profit world. And, this can also be true for those overseeing an organisation.
If you have doubts about anything to do with your organisation, your role or the sector in general, don’t be afraid to put your hand up and ask for help. Something I remember being told years ago, was there’s only one dumb question – the one you didn’t ask.
So ask ask and ask some more if you have any doubts about your organisation, your role or your organisation. People will respect you for asking.
charitymattersnz.com 