For as long as I can remember, the term WIFM has been an essential part of training for anyone in the sales, fundraising and other related fields. If you're not familiar, WIFM is an acronym for (W)hat's in (I)t (F)or (M)e. In other words, if you're selling or promoting something i.e. a product, service or even a donation to your favorite charity, you should put yourself in the place of your customer/donor. Most importantly, as you're making your case, you should be thinking just that. What's in it for that individual. What benefit do they receive? How does it serve them?
Easy examples of the above come to mind. If you're suggesting a portfolio of stocks to an investment client - as I used to many years ago - you wouldn't attract them with the stocks. Rather, the attraction or the WIFM was the benefit of a happy retirement or funding a child's education. As a fundraiser, you'd steer clear of talking about how big an endowment could become because of a donor's gift. Instead , you'd focus on why your donor will feel an intrinsic sense of joy at having supported better education, ending homelessness or hunger - you get the picture. As important as WIFM is, I wanted to look at something different today. I'll call it WIFY or What's in It For You. In other words, what's in it for you, the individual that's selling, fundraising or developing new clients? I'd even argue that this may be even more important than WIFM. If you don't have - or don't know - your WIFY, it will be extremely hard to be successful in your efforts. Your WIFY is your purpose in doing what you do. It's why you get up in the morning. It's why you focus on the mastery of your craft. It's how you got to be doing what you're doing in the first place. If you work for a nonprofit, there's a good chance, this looks and feels like your personal connection to the work. If its coaching, its a profound love of serving individuals and helping them be their best selves. There's no one right description here. As one of my favorite coaches once told me, if it's true for you, then it's true for you. In my experience, when a professional knows this, it ultimately becomes one of the most powerful parts of the case for working with them. It comes through with both subtlety and clarity in their sense of service and it makes their offering ever more attractive. If you can't fully and clearly define this, I'd challenge you to set aside time till you can clearly articulate it. It's well worth the effort and the exploration.
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The other day, a fundraiser I work with was sharing that she's great at prospecting and bringing new donors on board. At the same time, she's been struggling to upgrade donors. Her existing portfolio of donors has stayed relatively flat with slight upticks here and there.
I was also impressed that she refused to use the pandemic as an excuse for her performance in this area. She acknowledged that one of the positives of this difficult moment is that she's seen increased interest in her nonprofit. With this in mind, we took a deeper dive into her daily habits and where there might be possibilities for change. My client shared how she structures her day. She diligently starts by creating a call list for prospective donors and hits those calls first. This fundraiser follows this up by doing research and identifying even more prospects for the next day. After this, she spends time connecting with the clients, volunteers and staff that are part of the programs at her organization. This fuels her fire for their mission and realization of the vision. She wraps up the day by connecting with existing donors on cultivation calls. Sounds like a pretty solid plan, right? Personally, as someone who loves and thrives on the prospecting process, I was impressed. Yet, when we took a look at her larger goal - to create a culture of giving at her organization, bring in more funds for increased impact through BOTH increased giving and new giving, we realized something was off. As happens in the best coaching sessions, my client had a key recognition: She was putting donor cultivation at the bottom of her priority list - looking back at the daily structure, that became obvious. It's often glaringly clear what priorities are when looking at how a day is spent. The solution: We're honestly not sure yet. BUT, the new practice she's trying for the next two weeks is that she's turning her day upside down! She's going to reverse things and see what happens if she starts her day with a focus on existing donors and the potential for them to increase their giving. After this she'll move onto prospecting. Ultimately, she's living out the age old point that it's much easier, efficient and effective to keep and grow the customers (or donors in this case) we already have. As I noted above, we're not sure if this is the complete solution to my client's challenge. But it is a starting point for change and the creation of something new. That's what I love about the work I get to do with nonprofit leaders: Being a witness to courage and creativity every day. Over the past few days I've been having an interesting and surprisingly informative experience. I decided last week that I wanted to revamp my website and find a professional to do so. On Friday, late in the afternoon, I put an RFP on a national website and in the interest of supporting local business people in my community, I posted an ad on craigslist. I was very specific about what I want and don't want in terms of the design, platform and add-on services. I was instantly flooded with automated emails, phone calls and even texts.
I'll skip sharing about the first call I picked up - it was a nightmare. But the second call I picked up was engaging, professional yet pleasant and friendly - I was hooked. After a fifteen minute discussion, the individual and I agreed that on Monday at 10 AM, I would get a call from one of his designers. However, shortly after I hung up, I was surprised to receive what appeared to be an automated template telling me that, "we haven't spoken yet and we'd love to schedule a call." It was a little off putting but I understand automation and don't expect perfection. But then 10:00 came around. No phone call. I then got an email confirming our 10:30 appointment. That was curious. Again, no call came. It was all disappointing as I had high expectations of moving forward and not making this into a mega-project. I'm guessing my little story above sounds like a bad Yelp review. But trust me, my goal in sharing it is positive: As both a fundraiser and coach, I spend a lot of time on the selling side of things. I'll remind you, I have a very positive perspective on sales. To me it's the transfer of my enthusiasm for serving to someone else. Being on the customer side of this experience was a helpful reminder of what I want anyone working with me to experience and know about me. I'll save the specifics of the above but my main point for today: If you're going to be a seller, take the time every so often be a buyer. It's a very telling experience. One issue I find myself speaking with clients about frequently is delegation. Or more specifically, the challenge of Effectively Delegating. There are a few common reasons that leaders hesitate to delegate but in an informal (kind of an accidental) survey, it seems the #1 reason is that it's simply easier for them to do the task that was to be delegated. This often stems from a lack of trust in the individual that would be taking up the task. And drilling down further, the lack of trust is from perceived incompetence or proven incompetence.
To illustrate, a leader was sharing how he questioned why a board member would genuinely want to help. I shared that I find the subject of volunteerism to be a fascinating subject as it brings up several dichotomies. First off, there's the whole idea of recognition. While we as nonprofit professionals spend lots of time, energy and resources thinking of how to effectively recognize our best volunteers and donors, I've been grateful to find a major irony here. Our very best volunteers and donors don't care about acknowledgement. They are there out of a true sense of service and giving. This doesn't mean for a second that it's not a worthy endeavor to show our appreciation. Rather it's one of the wonderful aspects about working in a field where we see true generosity in action. And for no other reason that service. So how do we start changing the perspective on delegation? What if we recognized that when we delegate, it's truly creating the most giving form of service. As leaders (or managers, supervisors) etc. when we delegate, we're truly being of service by showing confidence in those we delegate to. We're saying "we trust you and value you". Equally important, we're giving those we delegate to the chance to live out their their possibility for growth, mastery and expertise. And in the nonprofit field, when we entrust our volunteers and board members with sharing our work, we're providing them with an opportunity to live out their generosity of spirit. It might be a bit of a cliche but the above way of thinking about delegation is truly a Win-Win for all. Give it a try. The other day I noticed a trend among the folks I was coaching. Several of them identified the need to be more intentional about both recognizing and celebrating their wins and that of their teams. In a moment where I'm also hearing plenty about burnout, the need for a break and other less than positive ideas, this is an important thing to recognize. It's also an opportunity to create a shift in both our own perspectives as well as those we work with.
First, let's tackle the Recognition aspect. How do you measure a win? In my experience, we tend to be pretty tough on ourselves. The win has to be tangible, measurable and "Big" in the eyes of many. In the nonprofit world, a win is typically measurable success in one of our programs, a successful event or getting that big donation. But does this have to be the case? Could there be value in celebrating new thinking, a healthy brainstorming session or even the acquisition of some smaller but still significant donors? How about a volunteer or staff member getting out of their comfort zone and creating a calling plan to reach out to five new donors in a very personal way? While these may not seem like the big game changers, these "little wins" add up to measurable long term wins for ourselves and our organizations. Now, how about the Celebration. How do you celebrate? Everyone is doing the virtual happy hour but what can you do that's a different? When celebrating your own win, how about treating yourself to a half hour of time to think, relax or read? If you're celebrating something that was accomplished by your team, what could you do to help solidify relationships? Or when it comes to a single employee, sharing a favorite book or article that speaks to something they're trying to learn? These of course are just some ideas to get you thinking. My main point is that there are so many ways to celebrate if we can be creative. Here's my end point: At a time when all of us could you use a bit more lightness and reasons for gratitude, let's identify more opportunities to celebrate and get creative about doing so. Have a safe and healthy weekend! Me: So, when you were writing songs, were there any rules you adhered to? Things like chord structures, progressions - things like that?
Jon Anderson (from Yes): No. Some of us knew that stuff. For most of us, we just did what felt right. What felt real to us in that moment. Paul Westerberg (from the Replacements): What are you talking about??? Rules? We never paid attention to rules. There were times when we played a song six different ways on six different days. Steve Chandler (an awesome coach): Write the book you'd want to read. Don't pay attention to the way you're supposed to do it. Leave the shoulds behind... Me: Thanks guys. Thanks for reminding me to write what's real for me. That goes for writing books, posts and music. The above "paper conversation" was yet another exercise in the Accidental Genius by Mark Levy. While my writing over the past couple days may seem a bit like a book report, I find that the best way to put new ideas into practice is to put them into action. I'd recommend that for anyone committed to change. And I do it here in the hope that my attempts at these things might help you if you're looking for new approaches. But to the point of the conversation above, over the past few weeks I've gotten a bit caught up in whether there's a "right way" to write. I think this may come from being a musician. I've known since my early days of learning music that there are chord structures, progressions and melodies that work - simply put, they're pleasing to the ear. And there are plenty of books and articles out there about the right formula for writing an article or book that connects with the audience. For example, a typical how-to for writing is "Start with a Grabber". A grabber could be a shocking or inspirational quote, a brief story or something like "These are the top 5 mistakes people make when...". I have no doubt these things do have a wide appeal and can get the attention of a reader. I may even do them from time to time. Anyway, don't get caught up in the identities of the people I'm talking to in my paper conversation. Suffice to say they're musicians and a professional coach that I have a ton of respect for and admire. More importantly, they're what I would call Originals. They do what they do in a way that leads and doesn't follow whether it's with the music they're written or the coaching they're offered and books they've written. Holding this little conversation was my way of reminding myself and you of one of my favorite sayings: Don't be the next (fill in the blank with someone you want to be like). Be the first and best version of you. Simply put: Be an Original Over the past eight years, I've wrestled with different feelings about the value of Giving Tuesday. The first several years after it was launched, I was a fan. The idea that a rising tide lifts all boats seemed to be the appropriate sentiment. I say this because the day provided nonprofits with a heightened sense of awareness from the public and a great recognition of the need for financial support. Some of that positive feeling may have been contextual. Around the time Giving Tuesday was introduced, I was splitting my time between growing my own new nonprofit organization and leading another more established nonprofit. I could see that for less visible organizations like mine, Giving Tuesday was especially helpful.
Over the years, that sentiment has shifted. I still believe Giving Tuesday is a wonderful idea, but I've also experienced some of the pitfalls. Please know I'm not generalizing here - I'm merely stating some of what I've experienced. I've worked with several nonprofits where Giving Tuesday cannibalized the launch of a year-end holiday appeal. There was an organization which made the process of donating and fundraising so complicated that it became an 8 step process requiring numerous emails many weeks in advance. I've talked to organizations that spent lots of time, energy and resource planning elaborate campaigns for the day only to see very small amounts raised - sometimes pretty much what would have been raised with little or no effort. Here's my end point: Giving Tuesday provides a unique opportunity to globally raise awareness of the important work of the nonprofit community. That in and of itself is of value. At the same time, organizations should decide whether it's a worthwhile investment to dedicate significant resources to the effort. How do you make that kind of decision? Pretty much the same way you'd decide on and structure any campaign. Understand the results you want to create. Have a good understanding of what you'll need to raise to create those results. Know your donors and how they receive messages. And finally, figure out if Giving Tuesday is the best way to connect with those that are eager to support you. And my final endpoint: Wishing all of you a Giving Tuesday that rewards your efforts and supports the important work you do. With one breath, with one flow
You will know Synchronicity - Synchronicity, The Police This concept was on my mind this morning as I was reading so I decided to focus on it in today's post. I'm also listening to this old favorite by the Police from 1982 as I write this. I haven't listened to it in quite awhile and just thinking about the ability to write a song with the main verse structured around a five syllable word served to remind me just how talented a band they were. But back to the concept of Synchronicity. First off, despite the sadness of not being able to be with my family up north, I had a nice holiday. Most importantly, I took almost a straight four days off of what I would call Deep Work. For me, that includes focused coaching or consulting, writing and the other daily practices that are so important to me. While I love what I do, the fact that I can enjoy stepping away from it doesn't demean my love for the work. Quite the opposite. In fact, what was incredible was that with a lighter mind, the full concept and design for my next program offering simply came to me. Some of you know that in October/November, I was excited to launch the Emerging Nonprofit Leaders (ENL) program. I thoroughly enjoyed co-creating this program with six fantastic leaders in the nonprofit space. We wrapped up a few weeks ago and I've been thinking about what ENL 2.0, which will be launched in January, will look like. After a wonderful bike ride Saturday morning, with nothing much on my mind, the whole concept of what it will be came to me. I know that if I would have sat down to think deeply about it, I couldn't have come up with something better. So, if you're interested in joining for January, keep an eye out on my website www.yournonprofitnow.com as well as these posts to check it out (yes, shameless plug!) Sure enough, the focus of the chapter in the book I was reading this morning, the Accidental Genius by Mark Levy, was the Value of Disconnecting. My hunch is that we've all had that experience of trying to think of remember something and we just can't get it. The minute we give up and figure that we'll eventually remember it, we remember. It's very similar with creativity. Sometimes we have to stop being so creative and stop being so much in our thinking to really come up with ideas and designs we love. Very much like what happened to me this morning. So, the takeaways for this morning:
Over the weekend, an individual I have a ton of respect for read my suggestion about Slowing Down in my weekly newsletter. She suggested I address the reality that many of us are facing during these challenging times. She noted that we may be looking at reduced funding for our organizations, more demands on our time, and competing priorities. Finally, if we're lucky enough to have our jobs, we're faced with a mixture of deep concern and gratitude. She understandably noted that perhaps some of us don't have the luxury of slowing down. Perhaps the best we can hope for is taking a break.
In looking at what I just wrote, my first reaction is similar to what I often tell people if I invite people them to a coaching conversation and they respond "I can't do that- I have absolutely no time!" If I hear that, I feel even more conviction in my offer this person an introductory coaching conversation. The thought is that if you can't take an hour for yourself, you should probably take two! But perhaps that's unfair of me to say. I'm not in anyone's shoes but my own. While I can advise myself to slow down and believe that can be universally helpful. it is simply my perspective. And that's what the coaching is. It is me (as the coach) being clear that I'm not the expert on anyone - you are the expert on you. The best I can do is ask you questions that get you talking to yourself (in a good way that is!). It's me making some inquiries to help you get to the greatness that's in you out there in the open. So, here are questions I'd ask or you can ask yourself - if you're in a place where you feel like you can't slow down - or take a break:
I don't know if there's responds to what my friend was asking. I can say that this is the most honest answer I can give while still believing I'm sharing out of a genuine sense of service. I hope it helps any of you who might be feeling like you can't slow down or take a break. In yesterday's post titled Happy Accidents, I alluded to the beauty of doing whatever you do with the willingness to have an important and incredible experience - what would typically be called making a mistake. But as so brilliantly explained by Bob Ross (the TV Artist), "we don't make mistakes, we have happy accidents." I thought this idea was worthy of more exploration.
Personally, I know whenever I start a new venture - creating a new organization, starting new work like coaching or learning a skill, I struggle with trying to be good. Or let's call it what it is. I want to be perfect. The perfect entrepreneur. The perfect employee. The perfect student. On it goes. And for so much of my life, I worked really hard at that. In a few cases I guess it worked - in my own head at least. I felt there were areas where I really tapped into my "inner perfect." But I rarely found joy in that because if you think about it, when you're striving for perfect, it's impossible to reach that. For example, with my mentality, if you run a 4:30 marathon, you rarely savor the 4:30 before you're wondering what it will take to do a 4:20. More importantly, you're highly unlikely to stop if you see something amazing along the way and savor it's beauty. If you do that, you'll never hit that 4:30! Not to mention missing the fun of meeting new people, learning a new city. Those are just some of the happy accidents in this example. Moving onto creativity, the examples are more robust. If you're determined to launch the perfect nonprofit, you may read all the right books, set up all the right structures, envision the perfect program and apply for a 501c-3. But there are other paths. You could pilot a program in your community and see what happens. You could create a hybrid model of several program models you admire. Bottom line, by willing to experiment and make some mistakes you open yourself up to the joy of happy accidents! And serve people more effectively in the process. To close, I'll share one of my favorite sayings from my coach Melissa Ford. She describes how when she was starting, she would ask herself " What can I screw up today?" I know from working with her, the result of screwing up is a brilliant coach that's of service to so many. So ask yourself "What can I screw up today? If you do, you may find yourself with some Happy Accidents. |
AuthorRobert Grabel is the President of Nonprofit Now! You can find his posts here and at www.robertgrabel.com Archives
August 2022
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