Transcript CCLT Webinar Series

School Fundraising Capacity Building
Kay Sprinkel Grace
January – June, 2014
Volunteer Leadership Development:
Why Nothing Works Without It
March 6, 7 – 8 p.m.
March 18, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
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Review of “homework” assignment from
Webinar #2 (meeting to review “MVV”)
The value of board member and other
volunteer involvement
Ways to increase the engagement of board
members
A quick review of AAA (reference April 2013
workshop for detailed information)
Danger signs in volunteer engagement
Additional ideas for building a culture of
philanthropy through volunteer leadership
Homework for Webinar #4
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How Are They Regarded by Your School?
Board and other volunteers are the primary
relationships for all organizations
They help you build other lasting relationships and
create a culture of philanthropy in your organization
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Volunteers are the only human beings on the
face of the earth who reflect this nation's
compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and
just plain love for one another. --Erma
Bombeck
Volunteers are not paid -- not because they
are worthless, but because they are priceless.
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Represent community and student interests
and needs to which your school must
ultimately respond
Willing to do many things to be part of your
mission work in the community in addition to
governance or advisory roles
In fundraising, provide peer-peer linkages
and vast knowledge of the constituency
They are “connectors” (Malcolm Gladwell,
“The Tipping Point”) and are our
Ambassadors in the community
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Volunteers leverage limited development personnel
resources through their involvement in case
development, validation and articulation (reference
your homework from Webinar #2); prospect
research and screening; fundraising strategy
development; cultivation of prospective donors;
personal solicitation of prospects and on-going
stewardship of friends and donors
When we grow them as leaders, we grow our school
To benefit from their experience in/with other
nonprofits and their knowledge of effective models
for developing donors and funds
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Your school’s relationship with its board and
non-board volunteers is the model or mirror
for its capacity to develop the kind of
relationships that will lead to long-term
relationships with donor-investors;
Board and non-board volunteers give more
and more often than others and many will be
or are already “major” donors (even if they do
not give big gifts, they should be treated like
they do)
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General Observations from
Decades of Experience
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Clear definition of role(s) and boundaries
relative to staff who work in parallel or
supervisory roles
Important jobs to do that are keyed to the
outcomes for the school and your impact on
the community (vision)
Clarity around expectations, outcomes,
procedures, assignments, timelines
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Training and coaching in how to be effective board
members or non-board volunteers
Appreciation that is sincere and tied to important
outcomes
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To be treated with trust and respect
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Transparency, accountability and disclosure
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To be given jobs that key into their motivation and
at which they can be successful (AAA)
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Concern about “mission drift” – organizational
issues that get in the way of their enthusiasm for
articulating the bigger mission, vision and values
message
Overlap and confusion about board and staff roles
Inevitable turnover in development and other staff:
need to rebuild internal relationships while
building external relationships
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Balancing organizational needs/demands
against those of their jobs and families
Feelings of being “used” and then not
appreciated; too little feedback on impact
of service
Lack of consistent policies regarding
volunteers
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Getting Engaged in Development
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Roles volunteers can, will and want to play:
◦ Donor development (identification, qualification,
development of strategy, cultivation, stewardship)
◦ Fund development (solicitation and renewal)
◦ Ambassadors in the community, building
relationships with others who share your school’s
values and vision and understand the importance of
your mission
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More roles volunteers play:
◦ Advocates (formal and informal) for your school,
particularly with community organizations whose
interests parallel yours and with whom partnerships
are possible
◦ Askers of their peers for investments (time and
money) in your school
◦ Architects, Approvers and Articulators of the case,
mission, vision and values (three ancillary A’s)
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Engaging all volunteers
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Everyone thinks “development” (of
relationships)
All volunteers and staff and understand the
importance and purpose of philanthropy
Volunteers and the community feel the
culture when they are with you
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Ambassadors
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Advocates
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Askers
◦ Making friends
◦ Building relationships
◦ Making the case (formal and informal)
◦ Key to volunteer recruitment
◦ Making the ask
◦ “Front line” fund raisers
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An attitude, more than anything: involves the
full development team (Board, non-board
volunteers, staff)
Organization-wide commitment to mission,
vision and values and building lasting
relationships (not just the responsibility of
the administration or development officer)
An understanding that each interaction with
anyone is part of the development process
Helping Create a Culture Of Philanthropy
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Systems liberate – have job descriptions for
every volunteer role and board
◦ Start with an institutional vision and plan that is
built around the culture of philanthropy
◦ Determine the kind of volunteers you will need to
advance that plan
◦ Recruit and enlist strategically
◦ Orient your volunteers carefully
◦ Create an environment that will motivate them
◦ Give them lots of support and feedback
◦ Don’t be afraid to de-enlist
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Composition of the volunteer group responsible
for marketing and/or fundraising
◦ Strategic recruitment based on a matrix that reflects the
needs you are anticipating if you are to grow your
relationships and giving programs
◦ Look for people with fund raising, marketing and other
volunteer or related work experience
◦ Look for people who enjoy relationship building and are
eager to share your mission and vision
◦ Provide job descriptions at the time of recruitment and an
orientation after enlistment that reflects the importance of
volunteer involvement in the long term vision of the school
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Increasing numbers of donors say that
leadership (staff and volunteer) is a high
influence factor in their initial and long term
major investment in an organization
Board /volunteer/staff relationship must
maintain a visible leadership balance that will
satisfy discerning major investors
You also benefit the volunteers who learn
leadership skills while volunteering for you –
a great gift we can provide to those who have
aspirations in the workplace and community
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Volunteers are leaders in the initiative; staff are
leader-managers
Emphasis on shared vision between staff and
volunteers and on articulating the partnership
between your school and the community (as
represented by the volunteers)
Volunteers play a critical role in engaging donors
in your purpose and plans so they need to be
part of the school leadership vision – they then
can communicate how fundraising will advance
the plans/vision
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Tips for Success
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Each is a competent professional or volunteer
and although s/he may be new to you, s/he
needs to be treated with great respect
One-on-one meetings and coaching sessions
are the best way to convey assignments, give
feedback and receive feedback to assess
satisfaction and progress
It is extremely important to convey
expectations honestly when you are
recruiting people: let them know just how
much time this will take
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There are ways to involve all volunteers in the
vision for fundraising: even though all of them
might not (or cannot) be directly involved in
asking they can be of great value in donor
development.
◦ Get them involved in the new messaging and
mission/vision/values clarification (Session 2)
◦ Share with them what impact increased giving can
have on your school
◦ Give them tools (case expressions) to use in their
roles as Ambassadors, Advocates and Askers
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Set high standards for the role of volunteers and
be sure to convey the requirements of those
standards for volunteer board composition,
commitment and roles
Be sure staff understands and respects the
potential and the limitations of volunteer/board
member time, involvement and commitment
Forge partnerships through trust, respect,
understanding of mission, common vision,
shared values
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John W. Gardner’s
9 Tasks for Leaders:
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Envisioning goals
Affirming values
Motivating
Managing
Achieving workable
unity
Explaining
Serving as a symbol
Representing the group
externally
Renewing ideas and
attitudes
◦ Charles DeGaulle,
citing France’s
unpreparedness for
WWII, wrote that
leaders were ”wedded
to errors that had
once constituted
their glory” – renewal
is the key to success
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A feeling of belonging
Belief that time spent in meetings and
activities is worthwhile
Volunteer experiences with the organization
and each other that are not only informative
and worthwhile, but fun
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A sense of the future advancement of the
school and a way to play a part in that
advancement
Knowledge that your school, and their fellow
volunteers, appreciate their gifts of time,
talent and treasure
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Each volunteer strives to
◦ Be a champion and create champions
◦ Be a leader and create leaders
◦ Regard each gift as an investment; each donor as
an investor
◦ Be a steward of investments and investors
◦ Market your successes in your community
◦ Keep your school’s message visible in the
community and among other partner organizations
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Danger Signals
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Declining attendance at committee or board
meetings:
◦ Evaluate meeting content and structure
◦ Be sure time is not perceived as wasted
◦ Be sure people can be heard and that one person
(or a small group) are not dominating
◦ Be sure to have a smart agenda and be very action
focused
◦ SOS (Share Our Success)
◦ Mission moments
◦ Board, not Bored…..
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Failure to complete routine or special
assignments on time:
◦ Evaluate clarity of your instructions and
communication of timelines
◦ Meet with the volunteer to determine whether the
assignment is something that motivates; if not, find
another assignment (AAA)
◦ Determine whether the volunteer has a change in
circumstances that precludes fulfilling the assignment
and let him/her off the hook
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Passing of complaints among volunteers
instead of passing concerns along to staff:
◦ Be sure people are listened to at meetings
◦ Inform all volunteers about the process for stating
their disagreement with a staff or other volunteer
decision
◦ Be alert to dissent and address it before it festers
and spreads
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If board members start to micro-manage:
◦ Be sure there is not a real or perceived leadership
vacuum at the staff level
◦ Meet with the volunteers to hear their concerns
◦ Meet with staff to review the problem
◦ At all costs, nip this trend in the bud
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When/if staff complain that volunteers
(including board members) are a burden
rather than an enhancement to their work:
◦ Develop better orientation of staff to the value of
volunteers and why “front end” loading of time
and effort into training and coaching will
ultimately make staff jobs easier
◦ Determine ways to help staff communicate better
understanding of shared roles with volunteers
◦ Provide better orientation of board and other
volunteers about appropriate ways to fulfill their
assignments and communicate with staff
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Webinar #3
Board and Non-Board Leadership Development:
Why Nothing Works Without It
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Volunteers add great value to donor and fund
development programs for a variety of
reasons
All engaged/trained volunteers are leverage
for small development staff(s)
Volunteers at all levels have needs that staff
must be sure to honor
Volunteer/staff roles and partnerships need
to be spelled out accurately in writing and as
part of board member orientation – the AAA
approach is one to consider
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You can create a culture of philanthropy in
your organization through structuring of
effective board/staff partnerships
There are tasks (John W. Gardner) that all
leaders need to fulfill
To be successful with volunteers, you need to
know what works as well as the danger
signals
Your success will be greatly advanced by
effective recruitment, enlistment, orientation
and deployment of volunteers
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“The usual trouble with volunteers is not
killing them with overwork, but simply boring
them to death. As with the arts of hospitality,
the rule is that if they have a good enough
time, they won’t want to leave, and they’ll be
sure to come back.”
◦ Harold “Sy” Semour, pioneer hospital development
leader and author of “Design for Fundraising”
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We have now bridged from an overview of
fundraising, to mission/vision/values and case,
to the role of the board. There are two (2)
assignments for our next session (April 8 from 7
– 8 p.m. and April 29 from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.) :
 1. Review existing job descriptions for a volunteer role
at your school and be sure it is clear and complete. An
example is attached to this email; send me one of yours
to review.
 2. Identify a foundation to which you would like to apply
for a grant, and prepare a strategy for creating and
submitting a proposal, using the “MVV” you have
refreshed. (homework from #2) A worksheet to help
you was provided when this power point was sent out.
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Kay Sprinkel Grace - Webinar #3
[email protected]
www.kaygrace.org
415-831-2923