Smart ideas from Hartsook Companies, Inc.

June 15, 2010

Stop, Look and Listen!

One of the most successful tools we have as consultants is our ability to listen. Before we can raise one dollar, we must listen to our client and the donors they hope will continue to support them. When I arrived as the new Alumni/ae Relations Director at Claremont School of Theology, there were plenty of folks I needed to listen to - but also many that just wanted to be heard. Alumni/ae, like long-time donors, may have a complicated relationship with their school or nonprofit. While expectations may or may not have been met, truly hearing and understanding the needs of both our clients and our donors can lead to a fundraiser's success.

When presented with the challenge to revive a Founder's Day event that had fallen on hard times, I went on a listening tour and did some research. I re-read Bob Hartsook's account of a successful campaign that involved rebuilding alumni relationships in his book On the Money! Bob shares a great turnaround story that gave me inspiration as I began to rebuild the Alumni/ae Relations program at Claremont.

Next, I asked targeted questions about why this event had failed in the past few years. I spoke with my colleagues in the development office and the campus administrators who had organized the event in the past. I also listened to past participants. We discussed what had worked or failed and why. I also looked critically at the invitations, publicity, and cost of the events.

From my research, it became clear that over the years, the Founder's Day had undergone many shifts in focus and purpose. The annual Distinguished Alumnus Award had become adrift from any real meaning in context of the event or connection to our graduates. Content had shifted from a celebration to continuing education and back without any clear definition or announcement. No wonder the faithful were confused!

What this event needed was a clear rebranding. The Alumni/ae Association and the school needed a successful, well attended event to get its confidence back, renew ties with its alumni/ae, and bring new friends onto the campus.

We changed the name from Founder's Day to Alumni/ae and Friends Day to clearly state that this was an inclusive event for our Alumni/ae, donors, and new friends interested in the school. The invitation was designed to clearly indicate the purpose of the event and included lots of photographs of the presenters and the school. The Distinguished Alumni/ae award became the centerpiece of the day's luncheon with its own distinct program. New faculty members were on hand to talk about their work and commitment. We brought in a relevant and popular keynote speaker, but kept the focus of the day on the school and its vision for the future and our Alumni/ae success.

With careful planning, attention to detail, and - most importantly - listening to the needs and wants of both the client and the donor, we increased attendance by tenfold this year. The school was represented well and friends, energy and enthusiasm were freely flowing! New friends and old were engaged and renewed by the success of the day. Now, I believe everyone is more receptive to respond to their opportunity to support the school. Just as had been the consultant's experience in On the Money!, having a fresh pair of eyes and ears to stop, look, and listen made the all the difference.

The Written Word

Keeping up to date on the latest fundraising trends has never been easier with the Kindle ASR Publishing collection. Titles from Hartsook Companies' CEO Bob Hartsook include On The Money! - an enlightening collection of success stories and lessons learned from nonprofit fundraising campaigns nationwide; Closing that Gift! How to be Successful 99% of the Time - a reveal of the 29 secrets to closing a gift and the top 10 solicitation mistakes; Million Dollar Gifts - 101 strategies of amazing real-life stories of million-dollar gifts made by average Americans; Nobody Wants to Give Money Away! - stories, humor and more than two decades of fundraising experience in which Bob explores the nine fundraising truths essential to success; Getting Your Ducks in a Row - a tool box of strategies for effective campaign fundraising, including ideas, concepts, plans, strategies, approaches and suggestions that result in success; and "Reality Fundraising" - ideas, insights and lessons learned through hundreds of best practices from nonprofit professionals nationwide.

Fundraising Practices and Principles by Adrian Sargeant, the Robert F. Hartsook Professor of Fundraising at Indiana University, and Jen Shang, published by Jossey-Bass Wiley provides cutting-edge research and insight. "Sargeant is the accessible academic and this is typical of his work. It is rigorously researched, clear, concise, well written, well presented and entirely appropriate. Any fundraiser who knows what Adrian knows will outperform the others. It's as simple as that," notes one reviewer. The book is available at http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/.

Performance-Driven Fundraising: Taking Control of Your Success, authored by Companies' COO Matt Beem, offers insightful text, built on his years of fundraising for a variety of organizations. To order click here.

On the Web

• Examine This. In his most recent column for the Examiner, Matt Beem notes: “The most essential ingredient to nonprofit organizational success is effective volunteer leadership" and says the Kansas City Zoo has it in spades.

• Timely Tips and Tweets! Follow us on Twitter at HartsookTips. Today's Tweet: It's one thing to talk about the impact of a gift, but it's more convincing to demonstrate how that gift will translate into changed lives.

• Facebook: Become a Fan. Fundraising tips, event photos, news and updates - see what's new at Hartsook Companies by following us on Facebook.

• Hartsook Institutes is creating a new breed of fundraising professional: those who think, explore, and rely on, apply and build knowledge and research. Visit the newly re-launched and revamped web site with even more information and resources at www.hartsookinstitutes.org.

• Searches Made Simple. We recently added Google Search as an easy way for site visitors to find relevant resources and information on our web site.

• Global Reach. Empresas Hartsook, Inc. es una empresa de recaudación de fondos completo servicio de consultoría. Or as we say in our native language: "Hartsook Companies, Inc. is a full-service fundraising consulting firm." To better accommodate international clients and prospects, Hartsook Companies' web site can now be translated into 40 languages via the Google Translate button on our home page.

Another Smart Idea...From the Hartsook Best Practices Collection^SM

“My best practice consists of creating an informal coalition of Executive Directors in my city to share ideas and challenges.  We also have a 'listserve' where we can post questions to one another. - Marisa Galick, Executive Director, Joy of Music School, Knoxville, TN

If you are interested in Best Practices and smart ideas, see these additional resources from Hartsook Companies:

• "Best Practices Coast to Coast," a compilation of best practices from every state in the union.

• "Hartsook Best Practices Collection," our original collection of 250 best practices and great ideas.

For a free copy of "Best Practices Coast to Coast" or the "Hartsook Best Practices Collection", please email Tammy Weinman, tammy@hartsookcompanies.com, or visit our web site. We also invite you to contribute your own best practice by emailing Annette Lough, annette@hartsookcompanies.com.

Visit the Hartsook Companies web site for:

• Educational opportunities
• Books/reference articles
• Conference/workshop speakers

Strategies for Success explores smart ideas, connecting with more than 2,000 fundraising professionals bi-weekly. We welcome your contributions or comments. Send to Strategies for Success editor Annette Lough, annette@hartsookcompanies.com. If you'd like a free subscription to Strategies for Success - or its monthly companion, eHartsook on Philanthropy - contact Tammy Weinman, tammy@hartsookcompanies.com. You also can reach her at 816.298.8045, Ext. 8225.

Our web site is located at http://www.hartsookcompanies.com.