Do you have an innovators heart for your nonprofit mission?

There is a gap that is growing in your nonprofit. It is the gap between the connected constituent, their expectations and the programs, products and services you are offering. 80% of the U. S. adult population uses the internet. Most of them have smart phones or will soon. Most of your constituents are constantly connected from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep. As nonprofits, our reality is a digital world. And so do you have a sense of urgency to bridge the gap?

What does it take to compete for the hearts of your connected constituents? Do you have a plan? Is that plan funded?

One thing to think through very carefully is the urgency to create a culture of innovation to be able to compete for the connected constituent. Someone is going to do it. Will it be your nonprofit?

You will be a hero if you take up that mantle. You will lead a journey to a new level of engagement for the connected constituent and their engagement with your mission. Do you have a heart for innovation? If so, then you will be a hero. You will be the champion for the new world. You will create amazing experiences to generate new loyalty to your cause.

So here is a challenge. Primarily for the C-Suite. Think through it carefully. One of the greatest opportunities before you is the evolution of the connected constituent. How your nonprofit is designed and structured today will work against you if nonprofit digital transformation is not on your agenda. As a leader, you know that management structure, goals, strategies, people, processes, systems, and rewards are all constructed to improve “what is” today. Typically we ignore “how it should be” for the new connected constituent. To innovate requires an innovators heart. Do you have one? Who else at your nonprofit does?

Your journey to change and transformation

You are on a hero’s journey. I am writing for you and your passionate desire to learn how to harness disruption, innovate in completely new ways and most importantly, transform your nonprofit into a constituent focused machine. You are being introduced to new connected constituents. You are seeing how they progress through a dynamic journey. You are discovering how they respond and behave at each moment of truth about your mission. Generation C’ers are different than their traditional counterparts. You can’t reach them through direct mail. Their phone numbers (remember land lines) aren’t published. They may or may not subscribe to your eNewsletter. You can only reach them if they choose to be reached. They are in control of who they do (or don’t) connect with.

We are learning that our constituents are far more informed than we ever imagined. They are very, very sophisticated in their decision making. They are extremely savvy in their digital prowess. They have a capacity to multitask across multiple platforms and devices during the day and pick up right where they left off at night. We have to adapt to this new world.

We all want to improve the experience for our constituents. We know that experience right now it can be very disjointed. We yearn for our leadership to be innovative and visionary. We want it to be meaningful and not fanciful.

We have this sense that innovation starts with something perhaps simpler than transformation. We must go back to the basics of our mission and vision and align them with desirable outcomes and significant experiences. We may need to invest in programs and services that our constituents may not even know they need yet.

Here is a summary of some of the things we know:

1. The new reality is the connected constituent that is opening up new touch points for our mission.


2. How connected constituents are influenced and influence isn’t anything like our traditional constituents are.


3. They expect something different. They are aligning with our missions for different reasons than we think. Think quality of experience. Think about how we treat our employees and constituents. Consider how sustainable the footprint you are leaving is visible. Obsess over engagement. This is what is important to our new constituents.


4. The channels they use may never cross other channels. They can be fully contained from beginning to end on one device in one network. My children will sit in front of a very nice iMac searching for content on their smartphone.


5. On the other hand, sometimes constituents will hop channels. They may look something up on the web and call you. What they expect is a seamless experience. It must be integrated. We have to bring these constituents with common goals together and intentionally design a seamless experience.


6. Connected constituents value highly being valued. How can we find a new way express value and measure it?


7. What does it take to connect with connected constituents?
   
   
   
   1. An understanding of how they behave and what they prefer.
   
   
   2. Some ability to read between the lines and innovate programs and services.
   
   
   3. Define the constituent experience and what it will look like across every channel and journey.
   
   
   4. A blueprint on how to change the philosophy, culture and technology to lead (champion) a new era of constituent experiences and engagement.
   
   
   
   

Simply saying we need to change probably isn’t the most helpful statement. We know that. Change takes, at a minimum, at least two things. First, you really have to want to. Desire and aspiration are essential. Second, it takes determination, stamina, fortitude and sheer will. It all however starts with a vision.

Most nonprofits are exploring new media, different technology, and alternative channels for better constituent engagement. To start with vision may sound trivial. Without vision, I would advocate, there probably won’t be any significant transformation. Transformation follows vision. Your next step may be to be the one to press pause. We can easily fall into the trap of chaotically rushing to the next big thing with understanding “Why are we doing this?” Be the leader to stop and ask why?

Guest Blog: Deborah Kerr - Nonprofit Talent Management

Deborah L. Kerr, Ph.D. is a performance measurement expert and a co-founding partner of Affintus, a pre-employment assessment company based in Austin, Texas. Her work in performance measurement and management has been written about in Financial World magazine and has been cited as “best practice” by SHRM. Her approach and success with organizational measurement were featured in Paul Niven’s 2002 book Balanced Scorecard Step by Step and Mohan Nair’s 2004 book Essentials of the Balanced Scorecard. Deborah led the development of the one of the nation’s first public sector balanced scorecards and in 2004, that measurement system was recognized as one of the world’s best when it was elected to the Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame. She is on the graduate faculty of Texas A&M University where she teaches management, public policy theory, and organizational performance measurement. Her teaching has been recognized with the University’s 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching (based on nomination and support from current and former graduate students) and with the 2009 Silver Star Award given by the Class of 2009 for outstanding service and dedication.

Nonprofit Talent Management

Employee costs generally make up more than 50 percent of a nonprofit’s budget so nonprofit talent management is critical to the health of every nonprofit’s “bottom line”.  This will be highlighted as the economy continues to grow and nonprofits face two major workforce trends:  the need to add staff to meet demand and the reality of losing experienced staff to retirement or “better” jobs.

Adding nonprofit staff has been a trend for the last three years.  Nonprofit HR Solutions’ 2013 survey of 588 nonprofits found that 40 percent added new staff in 2012 and 44 percent plan to create more new positions this year.  Turnover is expected to remain at 17 percent in 2013, the same as 2012, but voluntary turnover and retirement now account for 11 percent of total turnover.  This may grow as the economy’s recovery leads to more job options for good employees.

After hiring, retention of good employees is key to sustainability, but in the Nonprofit HR Solution study 90 percent of respondents reported they have no retention strategy even though they see it as a challenge.  Losing good employees is expensive.  Writing for www.philanthropy.com, Raymund Flandez found the average tenure of a fundraiser is only 16 months and the direct and indirect costs of replacing that fundraiser add up to a staggering $127,650!   For other employees hiring costs range from 25 percent to over 100 percent depending on the job and responsibilities.

Here are strategies that work to improve hiring decisions, reduce voluntary turnover, and improve workforce retention.

Hire the right person in the first place.

Most organizations have made at least one hiring mistake in the last 12 months and report spending thousands of dollars to fix it. Hiring mistakes are not only expensive, they negatively affect the morale of other employees and can damage donor relations.  Hiring the right person, on the other hand, results in 10 percent - 50 percent higher productivity and revenues.

Why is hiring so hard?  Most nonprofits base hiring decisions on resume reviews and interviews.  Yet over 50 percent of resumes contain erroneous information and applicants can be coached on interviewing tactics, so decision data may be flawed.  The best way to get objective, accurate talent data is to use pre-hire assessments - candidates can’t “fake” assessment responses as they can fake interview responses or experience on a resume.  Be sure to use an assessment validated for pre-hire use, one that matches job requirements with applicant preferences and strengths.

Pay attention to pay

In a 2012 study, Penelope Burke of Cygnus Applied Research surveyed 1700 fundraisers and 8000 nonprofit CEOs.  She found that good fundraisers begin to be recruited away after only three to six months in a position!  She reports that it would cost about $46,000 to keep a good fundraiser happy by providing better salaries and other benefits like more vacation... a bargain compared to $127,650!

The best pay strategy is to match the market rate for the job whenever possible.The closer pay is to the market rate, the less likely an employee will think about quitting.  When employees find the work interesting and feel valued, most will not look for a new job as long as the pay is competitive in their geographic area and the industry.

Pay is not the most important factor in most decisions to stay in a job or to quit, but it is one of the top reasons employees choose to stay when they are offered another job.  Fundraisers are an exception – most report that higher pay is the number one reason they leave current jobs.  Helping someone decide to stay rather than take a new job saves money every time.

Be flexible

Research has repeatedly found that a flexible work schedule is a key reason for staying with the current organization when an employee is offered employment by another organization.Flexible work schedules improve employee satisfaction and productivity while helping to reduce absenteeism.

Let managers to handle employee scheduling requests on a case-by-case basis or permit cross-trained employees to “trade” hours as needed to meet both business and personal demands on employees.  The key is to be as flexible as possible while meeting the needs of the business.

The bottom line?  Talent management is an increasingly important driver of nonprofit sustainability and every investment in hiring and retaining good talent goes straight to the bottom line.  With projections for increased service demand in 2013, nonprofits must continue to grow the workforce while trying to hire and retain high performers. Now is the time to review talent practices and make the changes needed to reduce costs and improve bottom line performance.

In the age of communities, how important is our nonprofit brand?

What does your nonprofit stand for? What (and who) does it represent? Now, more than ever before, our brand is vitally important. More time needs to be spent making sure it is clear. Our constituents are connected when our brand is clear. The values we share, the personal believes that we hold in common, the life experiences that are combined with personal and professional objectives are creating a need for personal engagement with our mission.

Is it about apathy? Is it about empathy? It isn’t either/or. We have to align with constituents in order for them to be passionate about us. We have to go beyond being constituent-centric. Notice I didn’t say our constituents need to align with us. This isn’t about us. It is about what our constituents love and can connect to in terms of our mission.

The best way to think about it is to think of community. That can mean a group of people living in the same place or it can mean having some characteristics in common. As nonprofits, we need to understand communities. We need to know why our constituents align with our community or they don’t. In most nonprofits, there isn’t a single view of the constituent because we are in siloes. And so we slice up the constituent by department and by desired result. Are they a donor? Have they given recently? Did they renew this year?

Or … are they an advocate? Did they respond to our last alert?

The list goes on. We wish it wasn’t true but while nonprofits truly value collaboration we typically aren’t measured by collaboration results. One way to think about it is if you are in the Advocacy department, do you have performance standards for the number of advocates who are also donors?

The traditional opportunity funnel is no longer working with the connected constituent. What is happening with the connected constituent is very dynamic and can feel like it is spinning out of control to you as a leader. We will need to adapt our mission, vision and models to react faster. Speed is paramount to the digital nonprofit.

There really can’t be a “top-down” movement to create a singular experience for the constituent. When you dissect the nature of a transactional relationship, there is never to be found a unified experience. Movements don’t create unity.

We have to change our minds.

In deciding to be intentional and design a better experience, we need to dig deeper and understand more about community. A simple example is Twitter. What are #hashtags if not a simple way to create a community around a topic? And it works.

Now community is much more than that. It is about doing something that matters and being a part of it. Why has the revenue of Habitat for Humanity exploded at a time when other nonprofits are in decline? Formed in 1976, the last revenue totals I saw placed them at $1.491 billion in total revenue. My niece can tell you about her experience. She gives her time and money to make a difference. And she does. That is what she wants to do. Habitat for Humanity simple aligns itself with that passionate desire she has.

So let’s think intentionally and design it from start to finish. To build a community starts with the passion of the constituent and then our nonprofit vision aligns with that passion. That is unified with our mission. It comes to life with our brand commitment. We must then define the experience we want people to have with our brand (the embodiment of their passion and our vision / mission). We then must align that experience with everything we do.  From development to marketing to advocacy to events, it must fill everything we design. It must be on the whiteboards in our conference rooms. It must be aspirational. It has to be something worthy of the communities we are building. Our constituents have to feel at their core that they personally and the entire world can’t live without our nonprofit.

The “old world” of branding has moved on. It isn’t about the jingle or tagline anymore. Today we have to build an identity, a persona, the essence of a feeling, a promise and most important, deliver on all those things. This is the new world of branding. And, thanks to technology and the deeper connections it can facilitate, it can happen.

How we as nonprofits connect with our constituents is directly impacted by technology. If you don’t believe it just look at the controversies that Susan G. Komen, LiveStrong or the Boy Scouts have/are dealing with. These great nonprofits have seen issues escalated as a result of blogging, social media, texting, etc. Look at how fast Blockbuster declined. It really wasn’t about finance. It was all about deep changes in how we all watch video.

Increasingly, in all these cases, the role of technology means that a nonprofit’s brand is very important. It is probably more important than it has ever been before. Brand is all about being intentional and design. Constituents want certainty. They rely heavily on the symbolism our nonprofit brand offers. Do you think nonprofit controversies are linked to a brand promise? Did technology accelerate the firestorm?

Nonprofit brands that fail to instill core confidence in their donors run the risk of failing and failing fast. Nonprofit brands that survive (even during economic downturns) will be the ones that are best able to evolve because they recognize the need to do so before their competitors do.

Should you take a second look at your nonprofit 990 form?

In the digital age, don't forget that all your important information that the IRS has about you is VERY public. With that in mind, you make want to take a second look at your 990 form from a different perspective.

With charity-evaluating websites forming and growing with every day, it’s no wonder so many donors and stakeholders are reviewing the publicly disclosed Form 990. One website has over 6.2 million views in 2012 alone. That being said, the 990 has many opportunities for you to tout the accomplishments of your organization. It all starts with page one and each page has an opportunity for you. Review your return carefully for these chances to make your organization shine.

via 5 Reasons You Should Take a Second Look at Your Form 990…Today | GuideStar Blog.

Here are the five reasons but number one may be the most important.

1. Marketing Opportunities


2. Governance Check


3. IRS Red Flags


4. Appropriate Allocations


5. Does the return make sense? If not, explain it.

Cool Friend: Debra McKnight

Recently I caught up with my cool friend Debra McKnight who agreed to be interviewed for my cool friend series. I've know Deb for over 10 years. She is currently serving as Director of Affiliate Technology Services for the American Heart Association. I consider her a great friend and truly value her insights.

So Deb, what single project would you consider the most significant accomplishment in your career so far?

This is a pretty hard question. ANY Project that that really transforms the culture of an organization for the better or helps a non-profit’s mission move forward is the project I love at the moment and value as significant. Providing technology to help staff help AHA save lives just rocks my world. Technology is so cool because it’s so broad in scope… everything from designing donor and volunteer-facing web portals and planning mobile app strategies to moving around infrastructure in field offices, it’s all great fun. Probably the most significant focus I’ve had over the years however was not so much around technology tool, but rather trust. I was asked to lead the first charge in building the organizational trust needed to centralize our IT services from regional self- governing groups into a true corporate IT organization. With the help of a lot of great IT and business folks, it worked out great and now we can leverage our enterprise size for even more impactful gains for AHA’s mission

What do you think is cool? Why do you think that?

The technology at the moment I think is pretty cool is definitely three-D printing’s application in the health field. It you haven’t seen the TED video of the researchers printing a human bladder, find it and watch it. This technology will continue to mature and save lives by disrupting the current lousy supply chain for human organs. People are dying today because we have more demand than supply – this technology is going to ultimately fix that. And, as an aside, I would have paid good money to be there when the initial innovator had that first thought. “ Hmmm, I wonder what other media I could use with this ink jet printer…” And in the not so distant future, some percentage of us will have three-D printers in our homes for generic use. Devices with a sub $2000 price point are already in the mainstream marketplace.

What is your favorite book?

Oh, gosh; that’s an impossible question. My favorite “just for fun” genres are historical fiction and science fiction, just for the entertainment of experiencing human behavior in different cultures and time periods. Ken Follett and Isaac Asimov are at the top of the list. It seems that our intrinsic motivators and basic human nature really never change over the centuries. I’m not sure what to think about that, actually. My favorite management books (for their concrete impact) are “Who Moved My Cheese”(actually changed jobs after reading it), “FYI: For Your Improvement” (a great coaching book for anybody responsible for developing staff) and of course the classic “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” (rules to live by.)  I can’t help but add “Six Thinking Hats” and “Please Understand Me,” too. Please don’t ask me to just pick one!

So thanks to my cool friend Deb. You can connect with Deb on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Why can't Amazon make a profit?

Why can't Amazon make a profit? The answer is, they choose not to. Now to some extent this defies logic on several levels. First, they are a publicly traded for profit corporation. Second, you would think the stockholders would demand it. Yet, Amazon has been one of Wall Street’s darlings in the past decade. Amazon’s stock price jumped 234 percent in the past five years alone, giving the company a valuation of around $120 billion.

In those five years, Amazon’s sales have tripled to more than $60 billion a year, while its profits stayed remarkably flat. The reason for Amazon’s stagnant profit is its founder’s notorious commitment to long term growth. Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon in 1994 and has lead the company ever since, has a track record of investing everything his company earns right back into it. Defending his investment strategy in his latest letter to shareholders, Bezos wrote:

  “Proactively delighting customers earns trust, which earns more business from those customers, even in new business arenas.”

This way, Amazon became the largest online retailer in the world and in the same way the company is now striving to become a dominant force in the distribution of digital media.  So far, investors seem to believe in Amazon’s long term success, but some day the company is going to have to proof it can turn a sizeable profit.

It is as Bezos recently noted:

“In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run, it is a weighing machine. We’re always working to build a heavier company.”

Is the reason for change about technology or more engagement in your mission?

We all know it. We all hear it. Leadership loves to talk about change. Employees love to ignore it. Talk is very cheap. If we are honest however, we all know it is true. Change is inevitable. The real question is what we will do about it. Will we lead it or will we be a victim?

The biggest challenge is knowing the right time to change. Often, by the time we realize we need to change, the moment has passed us by. The worst possible scenario is that others' realize it before us and beat us to the punch. Rather than being strategic, we are impulsive and reactionary. Our perceived nonprofit competitor builds a website that does X and we have to do it to. Why? Maybe they have just wasted a ton of money. Mimicking others is not a strategy.

Are you inspired by technology or overwhelmed? Are you keeping up with technology or are you getting left behind? Have you see what a three-year-old can do with an iPhone? Does that intimidate you? This is all very disruptive. You know it and your constituents know it. The difference is that our constituents are embracing it.

As a nonprofit, is someone else about to displace you in the marketplace? Are you staying up with the pace of change with technology or are you about to get left behind? Do you have strategies, systems, processes, and protocols in place that will recognize that this is disruption? We need to assess opportunity, and we will need to facilitate the testing of Ideas? Is this your job? How much time and resources that you control are you devoting to it quarterly?

These are very serious questions. They need to be answered now. From the point of view of your mission, is this a case of only the strongest surviving? What will happen if the pace of change is so fast that your constituents adapt and change before you can? This is the reality we all need to face. We all know the role that technology plays in our personal lives. Do our digital properties at work match up to our personal experiences?

This might be a time for humility. Is the economy really our problem? If your nonprofit did well before the downturn of 2009 during bad economic times, why didn't they do well during the downturn turn of 2009?

All nonprofits are facing disruption. Have you been displaced in the marketplace and simply don't know it yet? There are nonprofits who are thriving and growing.

In the for-profit world, this is clear. Over 40% of the companies that were at the top of the Fortune 500, in 2000 were no longer there in 2010. Who are some of the top nonprofits today that weren’t on the list 10 or 20 years ago? I talked with a nonprofit leader recently that illustrates this perfectly I think. They probably aren’t on anybody’s list of top nonprofits. They are a $5 billion dollar international nonprofit. They are a single corporation with no separately incorporate chapters. They have a laser focus on the digital world. Their marketing is absolutely unified. Why doesn’t anyone know about them as a leader in the nonprofit space?

So as a nonprofit, you have established a presence on Facebook and Twitter. And so? Is the constituent experience and relationship any better than it was before? Perhaps so or perhaps not. Do you know?

This may be about survival. It could take more than a presence in new channels to improve the overall experience and relationship with those who can support us the best. It may take more courage than you think. It will certainly take more persistence to break through the resistance. In the end, it could be about how you work with your leaders and we're back to you about how you personally lead.

Are you leading a movement towards empowered and constituent – centric culture? Are you setting in motion real business transformation?

You have a special path you can follow. You can set in motion the change that opens the door to an improved experience both inside and outside your nonprofit. You can lead the change you need your nonprofit to experience!

So is it possible that it is time for us as nonprofit leaders to refuse to play nice?

The reality for most nonprofit executives is that we have fewer resources and more competition for those shrinking resources than ever before. But it’s not going to change anytime soon. So it is up to nonprofit leaders to embrace and adapt to that new reality. Instead of beating our heads against the wall of change, let’s adapt to meet it.

In fact, it is time for a new kind of nonprofit leader, one who has the confidence, ability, foresight, energy, and strength of will to really lead the nonprofit sector forward. That requires skill at having the tough conversations. For example, what are you going to do about the Board leader who will only give their time, rarely gives their talent and refuses to give their treasure (money)?

So is it possible that it is time for us as nonprofit leaders to refuse to play nice? The culture of nonprofits is one of collaboration and diversity. We bend over backwards to make sure everyone has a voice. And that is a very good thing. The new leader, however, may need to overcome the nonprofit norm of politeness at all costs and gets real with funders, board members, or staff who are standing in the way of the mission and impact of the organization.

It is called tough love. It isn't always easy but it works.

The Wilson Nonprofit Report for Wednesday, May 22, 2013

New Book: I am working on a soon to be published book. The working title is “The Digital Nonprofit: A Manifesto”. Here are some excerpts from the introduction (with links to the full draft). I would love any input, thoughts or suggestions you might have.

Are our nonprofit constituent experiences intentional? What does the future of your nonprofit look like? Is it focused on your mission AND design?

The premise of this manifesto is all about being intentional about the experiences our constituents are having.

How many programs, products and services do you have? How many channels (Web, Social, Mobile, Call Center, Direct Mail, etc.) are you focused on? Do they all have a unified design and experience?

Mission + Design = Intentional experiences.

We are clear about our mission. Are we clear about our design? More …

Our nonprofit constituents are empowered and we can’t control that: Consumers are absolutely empowered through technology now. That means our constituents are as well. It has happened and it is a fact. We can’t control that. Sorry to point that out but that is our starting reality.

Our constituents are empowered. They know it. Do we?

They know they have influence. Do we?

Our constituents know they have voice that is powerful. They know they have more power than ever before. Do we know that and act that way? More …

Are we creating heartfelt experiences at our nonprofit or not? Is that experience stunning? There comes a time where we have to make a decision. What will we invest in? It is a serious question and not a budget exercise. If we are going to be intentional and proactive, we need to make an investment. At first that may be just time. Eventually it will be about people, our processes, our strategies and our technology. If we don’t become intentional in our approach to our digital constituent experiences we will continue to be haphazard in our approach; reacting, responding, solving toxic experiences in real time. This intention however must be about heartfelt experiences. It must create a passion for our mission. More …

Relevance is defined by how relevant the experience is: The constituent journey is evolving (albeit very, very fast). That shouldn’t surprise you but it is good news. You haven’t been left behind completely. Your constituents are changing though. Their experience of you and your mission may not be what any of us would want. In this case, relevance is defined by how relevant the experience is. Passion for the mission is contingent on amazing experiences.

How you personally decide to react or lead is up to you. It, of course, is not about technology. What is the journey of getting closer to constituents and staying relevant really about? Here are some ideas:

• Creating a culture built around the constituent and their experience being the focus of all you do.


• Empowering employees to do what it takes to create amazing experiences.


• Opening up the floodgates of innovation.

Saying we want to get closer to constituent won’t get senior management on board. While a constituent revolution is at the C-Suite doors, someone (meaning you) needs to convince the top that change is imperative. Without that we will fail. More …

Again, any feedback on “The Digital Nonprofit: A Manifesto” would be greatly appreciated.

 

Can you BLUF?

We all spend a lot time in meetings, sending and responding to emails and talking with others on the phone. More and more we need to cut through the clutter and get to the point quickly in meetings - and in messages.

Let's take a lesson from the Navy. We could all take advantage of BLUF. That’s the acronym they use in the military for Bottom Line Up Front. In a military setting, BLUF communications allow people to grasp the essence of a situation immediately and seek details only as necessary. It’s like a Cliff Notes for every situation.

Here is another nifty list, also from the military. Always describe:

• What’s what.


• So what.


• What next.

If you’re in a meeting that is focused on getting to the bottom of an important situation, these are great guides. Encourage people to cite their headlines from the start. It not only saves time, it ensures the communicator has a point in the first place.

How can you make your nonprofit press releases social and shareable?

Social media has forever changed how nonprofits and journalists distribute and consume news stories, yet the format of nonprofit press releases has not evolved at all. Almost every communication medium out there has been impacted by the rise of social and mobile media, but not press releases.

Enterprising nonprofits should be eager to try something new to help your nonprofit stand out from the hundreds of traditional press releases that journalists and media outlets are bombarded with on a weekly or even daily basis. There is no proof these tips will help your nonprofit get more media coverage, but at the very least they will help your nonprofit’s press release get more exposure on the Social Web.

More via 11 Tips for Making Nonprofit Press Releases Social and Shareable | Nonprofit Tech 2.0 Blog :: A Social Media Guide for Nonprofits.

Relevance is defined by how relevant the experience is

The constituent journey is evolving (albeit very, very fast). That shouldn’t surprise you but it is good news. You haven’t been left behind completely. Your constituents are changing though. Their experience of you and your mission may not be what any of us would want. In this case, relevance is defined by how relevant the experience is. Passion for the mission is contingent on amazing experiences.

How you personally decide to react or lead is up to you. It, of course, is not about technology. What is the journey of getting closer to constituents and staying relevant really about? Here are some ideas:

• Creating a culture built around the constituent and their experience being the focus of all you do.


• Empowering employees to do what it takes to create amazing experiences.


• Opening up the floodgates of innovation.

Saying we want to get closer to constituent won’t get senior management on board. While a constituent revolution is at the C-Suite doors, someone (meaning you) needs to convince the top that change is imperative. Without that we will fail.

You know that most executives don’t use social networks personally. While they have smartphones the primarily utilization is for email and looking at the calendar to know where to go to next. The reality is that most won’t read this. Trying to make a case that this is about technology will be a losing battle.

What is the future of nonprofits built on? It isn’t about how Facebook, Twitter, iPhones, tablets or real time-time geolocation check-ins evolve. The future of nonprofits does depend on relevance and the ability to at least understand technology to be able to make decisions about new opportunities. It does require the ability to strategically adapt to the new opportunities to create a competitive advantage.

So much of this is about change. There is a technology revolution occurring. Other nonprofits (and for-profits that you compete with) understand this. But it is also about a whole series of real-world revolutions that are seizing how our constituents live which impacts their experience with us. Expectations are moving fast. We can’t afford to get left behind. The kind of change we are talking about involves three things:

1. Listening


2. Learning


3. Adapting

Are we creating heartfelt experiences at our nonprofit or not? Is that experience stunning?

There comes a time where we have to make a decision. What will we invest in? It is a serious question and not a budget exercise. If we are going to be intentional and proactive, we need to make an investment. At first that may be just time. Eventually it will be about people, our processes, our strategies and our technology. If we don’t become intentional in our approach to our digital constituent experiences we will continue to be haphazard in our approach; reacting, responding, solving toxic experiences in real time. This intention however must be about heartfelt experiences. It must create a passion for our mission.

There is of course, a very real cost to reacting. Scrutinize your budget and you will see that most of our fixed expenses are reactionary. What if we invested in proactive and intentional experiences of the heart up front? Could we radically reduce our reactionary and bloated fixed expenses? In fact, my guess is the reactionary expenses vastly exceed proactive expenses. I know nonprofits that are ramping up their expenses in reactionary engagement and relationships. The good news is that they are succeeding in shifting the negative to neutral or even the positive.

So what is the outcome of taking a negative and balancing it with a positive? Is it engagement or damage control? So what is the cost and value of neutralizing the negative? Shouldn’t we start with the amazing? What is the return on that investment in the stunning? What is probably most concerning is that most nonprofits are not measuring much of this. And why are we struggling to raise more money? Now think about that question. Why is our revenue flat? Why are donors not engaged and renewing their contributions?

Is the experience we are creating wonderfully sharable? If not, what is our investment over the next 3 months going to be in changing that? We must invest in not only a positive experience but an experience that screams out for our members, volunteers and donors to share it with everyone they know. That encourages others to join in. It also offsets any negative experiences anyone else has shared. Think about it. We all read the ratings and comments. If there are 100 over the top ones we can ignore the one that is virally negative writing it off to a weirdo.

What is the biggest deal? Trying to offset the negative experiences or proactively creating amazing ones? Creating amazing ones is everything. That is not an exaggeration. You know, from your own experiences that it is true. The cost of reacting is always eclipsed by the upside of the stunning.

Think of what you want. You are a consumer. You are the constituent who wants something from your nonprofit. Are you looking for the ordinary? No, you are looking for an experience, no, the experience.

Any nonprofit that recognizes you, remembers you, and gives you an amazing service experience will win your heart. And it is all about your heart. You will be loyal to them no matter what. That is what we know as relevance. A passion of our heart that transcends anything else.

And so, that heartfelt experience is not just a so-so something. It is everything. That kind of vision is the father of innovation. Who needs the mother of invention in that kind of world?

You're Doing Social Wrong. Your Teenager Does It Right.

It seems that everyone is freaking out about teens abandoning social media sites like Facebook. By "everyone" I mean advertisers. They’re racking their brains trying to figure out why it’s happening. If you’re puzzled too, read this lovely piece in Medium by Cliff Watson, who argues that the number one reason kids don't need Facebook is that they "literally don't need Facebook."

After running through a host of theories as to why, including the fact that parents (ew) and even grandparents are on Facebook now, he comes up with a much more reasonable reason: Young people are gravitating toward messaging services such as Kik, and in doing so, they’re recapturing the intended meaning of social: "Making contact with other human beings. Communicating. Back-and-forth, fairly immediate dialogue. Most of it digitally."

In other words, it's not a post; it's an exchange. Snapchat anyone?

Why is your nonprofit struggling to bring money in the door?

The majority of nonprofits struggle to bring money in the door. And they often don't know why. When you are on the inside of an organization that is used to doing things a certain way it can be nearly impossible to see new opportunities, to understand what you could do differently. There can be many reasons why a nonprofit doesn't bring enough money in the door.

Here are several things to think about:

Too Many Programs Drain Money From Your Organization. It sounds like a truism -- you struggle with money because your programs cost money. But the reality is that few nonprofits analyze their programs to determine each one's individual impact on the bottom line. Often they will add a new program because it has an impact on the mission (or because a single funder wants the program), without understanding how the new program fits into the organization's overall financial picture. The end result is an organization that is stretched to the breaking point. Nonprofits must analyze all of their programs to understand their impact not just on mission, but also on finances, then they can make decisions about where to more sustainably focus resources.

You're Leaving Money Up to One Person. The financial engine of a nonprofit must be a team effort. Yes, it is important, if you are large enough, to have a staff member whose sole job is to think about money, but you cannot leave it all up to her. The entire organization, from the front line program staff all the way up to the chair of the board must understand the critical importance of money and what role they individually play in securing it. Although program staff won't actively solicit donors, they can still share client stories with donors, write blog or newsletter articles, participate in program tours with donors, and even suggest new ideas for tying money to their programs. And there are countless ways for board members to bring money in the door, but you have to make sure they are aware of and doing their part.

You're Not Effectively Telling Your Story. It is so common for nonprofit staff and board members, who believe so passionately in their cause, to think that it's obvious to outsiders why they should get involved. But it isn't. And in an increasingly crowded social change marketplace it is more important than ever that nonprofits be able to articulate, in a compelling way, what value they are providing a community.

You're Doing What Everyone Else Does. If you are struggling financially and witness another nonprofit's fundraising activity and try to replicate that perceived success, without analyzing if it makes sense, will it work for you? Just because it looks like a recent gala or a new thrift store rakes in the money doesn't mean a) that it did actually make a profit for the nonprofit and b) that it would make a similar profit for your nonprofit. The key is to make the best use of your specific assets as an organization. Think about what value you have to offer and who might be interested in paying for that value. For example, a homeless shelter could financially partner with local businesses to move people away from storefronts and into more stable and life-changing accommodations. You have to analyze what you have to offer and who specifically would be willing to pay for that value.

You're Not Investing In Your Money Raising Function. If you don't have enough or the right kind of staff in place to raise money it is little wonder that you struggle. And if you're not giving them effective tools they will be at a loss. Think about your financial engine and the various revenue streams you employ. Do you have the technology, staffing, systems, materials, space you need to raise money well in those ways? For example, if you want to raise money from individuals you need an effective database system that tracks contact information, interactions, history, interests. Whatever ways you bring money in the door, you need to ensure you have enough and the right kind of tools to do it well.

Are you saying pretty please?

Dan Zarrella is a great thinker on social media. He mines massive amounts of data and bases his recommendations on hard science. This is relatively rare yet needed in the field of social media marketing, and so he’s well worth following.

He recently analyzed 2.7 million tweets and concluded the following that people retweet when they are asked nicely as part of the original tweet. Conclusion? If you have something you want people to spread, ask them - with a pretty please.

Some basics of nonprofit grantwriting

Many nonprofits can't afford a full time grant writer. Odds are that at some point in your career it may fall to you to do it. There are some basics.

Seek support for a “fundable” project: Grants are usually awarded to projects, not to unrestricted annual support. Funders will want to measure the project’s success, not that of the organization. And, just because a foundation believes in your mission doesn’t mean they are going to say yes to your request. Identify projects based on your organization’s goals and objectives that align with the funding priorities of local grantmakers.

Identify suitable funding prospects: Having a board member that sits on XYZ Foundation doesn’t ensure funding success. And, if the “fit” isn’t right, it might put that board member in an awkward situation. Capitalize on connections you have, but take care to match your project to funders who support similar needs. Most states, often in partnership with the Foundation Center, publish comprehensive funder directories. Typically available online, these are excellent sources of grantmakers and their priorities. .

Focus locally first: This increases the likelihood that you will find a connection to champion your efforts. And, there is less competition for these dollars. Finally, a smaller local funder may have a simpler submission process than that of a national profile one.

Follow the directions: Make sure you submit the right information to the right person by the right deadline. Don’t give the funder a reason to eliminate you from the consideration process before they even read the proposal. Consider how you evaluate cover letters and resumes: Misspellings or missed deadlines make it easy to trim your list. Grantmakers will do the same.

Write, re-write and proofread: If you are not a good writer, find someone on your team who is. Proposals have to be well written. This goes beyond just correct spelling and good grammar. You need to clearly articulate your project in a sincere and compelling manner. This is the quintessential sales job—and you want the reader to buy what you are selling. All of the clichés hold true: tell a story, paint a picture. At the end of the day, you want the funder to invest in your organization. They aren’t going to do that if you haven’t touched them.

Submit required reports: Every funder has reporting guidelines. Do not overlook this step! Mark your calendar, gather needed information and do not ask for an extension on the due date. Most funders will be open to ongoing relationships with organizations they have funded. Don’t close this door because you missed a deadline.

Does your nonprofit have a LinkedIn strategy?

Is your nonprofit a part of the LinkedIn phenomena? If not, it is time to have a discrete strategy for it's use. It is evolving fast. Are you?

We are seeing the evolution of the LinkedIn platform in a move that is positioning it to become a central node of professional collaboration beyond an online identity. The company wants to draw additional web traffic, and by looking at the numbers it appears to have succeeded. According to the web traffic analyzer Alexa, LinkedIn now ranks as the 10th-most visited website in the U.S. and fourteenth internationally. Many of us in the recruiting industry have considered LinkedIn no more than a glorified resume database … granted, a very large resume database! But this influencer capability seems to be a game-changer to me that is drawing even more visitors to the site, and changing behaviors of how professionals interact. The effect has only sped up the rate at which unique profiles are being created to more than 200,000+ a day.

via LinkedIn May Become the Central Home for Collaboration - ERE.net.

Use your personal smartphone for work email? Your company might take it

If you use your personal smartphone or tablet to read work email, your company may have to seize the device some day, and you may not get it back for months. Employees armed with a battery of smartphones and other gadgets they own are casually connecting to work email and other employer servers. It's a less-than-ideal security arrangement that technology pros call BYOD — bring your own device.

Now, lawyers are warning there's an unforeseen consequence of BYOD. If a company is involved in litigation — civil or criminal — personal cellphones that were used for work email or other company activity are liable to be confiscated and examined for evidence during discovery or investigation.

More here: Use your personal smartphone for work email? Your company might take it - Red Tape.

Collaboration gone wild?

Is this what collaboration looks like in your organization?



The CEO and the C-Suite can set reasonable limits on what can feel like collaboration gone wild. For most decisions, a form of RACI, decided up front, can help. The key is discipline to stick with it.

R - Recommend (Who, hopefully an individual, makes the recommendation)

A- Approve (Who, hopefully an individual, approves the decision)

C - Consult (Who needs to have input before the decision is made)

I - Inform (Who needs to be notified of the decision)

How to use Instagram at nonprofits

More than most other businesses, your audience wants to know who you are. They want to see your personality and meet the people behind the doors of your nonprofit. Your biggest strength is the passionate community you already have. Take advantage of it.



Instagram is a fantastic place for you to show your audience who you are and what you do. Take pictures of your staff doing what they do every day. Take pictures of your volunteers working hard for the cause. Go behind the scenes to show your personality and what you stand for.

As a nonprofit, you probably hold more events and fundraisers than other businesses. This is a great opportunity to show your supporters what they can expect from your events. It’s also a simple way to promote your next event.

Taking pictures of your event is great, taking pictures of people at your event is terrific, but taking pictures of volunteers in action is powerful. Have your event attendees take pictures and use a designated hashtag to group all of these images together or use your handle when publishing the image. That’s right…Instagram allows you to use hashtags! If you’re not familiar with hashtags, they’re basically a fancy term for the actual # symbol used in front of a word or phrase on Instagram. Hashtags help categorize photos so that they can be easily found.

What should you do to start the journey of constituent experience?

The effect of everyone jumping on the constituent experience bandwagon is a slowdown in the maturation of this new business discipline. Confusion abounds as does disbelief. No one wants to risk exposing their constituents (and their job security) to new engagement practices that might increase instead of decrease frustration and churn.

However, the growing confusion opens unique opportunities. Here are a couple of strategies to start action plans around.

• Creating a disruptive mindset by reimagining your business and constituent relationships in a digital world.


• Making trusted content the center of your business strategy and constituent experience.


• Infusing social constituent experience across all business functional and digital touch points.


• Repeatedly measuring and proving the financial results.

If you haven't begun the journey, now would be the time to start.

“Lithium’s blueprint is in direct response to customer requests for advisory and insight services to help them make their social customer experience strategy a reality.” He defines social customer experience as “unlocking the passions of your customers in the digital world in a way you can capture those insights, measure them and empower your organization to bring your customers along.” ~~Rob Tarkoff, Lithium Technologies President and CEO

What is CoIT and why is it important to the nonprofit C-Suite?

IT budgets are down 5%, yet tech spending is up 18 to 20%. Why? Consumerization of IT (CoIT) enables the business side to take charge of technology decisions. With business seeking solutions that are simple, scalable, and sexy, line of business leaders who make technology decisions also must consider safety, security, and sustainability of those technology decisions.

CoIT and the new C-suite looks into the policies, technologies, and collaboration frameworks required to support the speed of business and the scalability of IT. LEAN and agile process methodologies are talking hold. It is essentially a fasten your seat belt time for nonprofit executives.

As technology democratizes across the organization, how will your nonprofit prepare for a world where consumer technologies may be more powerful than those in the enterprise? How will you harness the innovation without suffering from an external disruptive force? Join Business Technology Partner as we take the journey in consumerization and the impact on the new nonprofit C-suite.