Fundraising Ethics

Fundraising Ethics

Nov 29, 2023 | Fundraising

Effective fundraising and development must include careful consideration of the laws and regulations that govern such activities, which include interactions with donors, staff, and volunteers. However, these interactions do not cease when a gift is secured and acknowledged, as ethical practice and transparency also include reporting back to various stakeholders regarding the ‘return on investment’.

If a gift was given for a particular program, for example, were the funds used for that purpose? What successes were achieved? What if there were unanticipated challenges?

The very nature of a gift can also bring about ethical considerations. A business might, for instance, want to donate their services ‘in-kind’. What services can be accepted in this manner? Should in-kind services be recognized and acknowledged similarly to cash gifts? What about gifts of stock?

The nature of a gift may necessitate different ways to acknowledge it. For instance, some donors might want ‘top billing’, whereas others may wish to remain anonymous.

Aside from the nature of a gift and its acknowledgment, ethical practice and transparency relate to the actual handling of the money and all aspects related to it, including donor record maintenance, gift accounting, financial management, and audit trails. In other words, the accounting side of receiving a gift must align with what is promised by the fundraiser/development professional to donors/philanthropists.

Development In Nonprofits

Development In Nonprofits

Oct 24, 2023 | Fundraising

Effective development requires a substantial amount of input from different kinds of ‘players’ throughout an organization. For example, a fundraising/development professional needs an accurate understanding of the accounting picture to communicate fiscal realities to donors/philanthropists.

Development should entail ‘buy-in’ from the organization’s leadership, whose vision helps to paint the proverbial picture the fundraising/development professional is ‘selling’ to donors/philanthropists.

Effective development also entails that the fundraising/development professional solicit internal support from program managers, for instance, who can provide insights into ways in which financial support can ‘transform’ some aspect of what they do or the lives served by their program. Development may also entail reaching out to individuals served by the organization through the staff who have directly worked with them.

At its core, effective development relies on internal relationships throughout the organization that result in actionable information that enhances every aspect of the fundraising and donor stewardship process.

Fundraising And Development

Fundraising And Development

Sep 19, 2023 | Fundraising

Fundraising is generally viewed as ‘asking for money’. This is essentially true. Whether you have been asked to support the local Little League baseball team or received a printed mailer that asked for your support to build a homeless shelter, you have likely been the recipient of a fundraising activity.

Fundraising can take place in many forms, some of which include face-to-face interactions, e-blasts, advertising campaigns (print and digital), stories in the media, social media campaigns, and formal written requests (grants) for support. The particular method of an ask is also dependent on the nature of the campaign — capital, program, or short versus long-term need(s).

‘Asking for the money’, however, is just one step within an intentional process at the organizational level. Whereas many community fundraising initiatives begin and end with an ask, organizations view fundraising differently. For organizations that have identified fundraising as a means to address community needs and/or support aspects of their services for which there are inadequate finances, fundraising is (or should be) followed by what is known as development.

Broadly defined, development is the careful nurturing and building of relationships over time between organizations and donors/philanthropists. In a sense, development could be seen as separate from fundraising. Effective development results in meaningful relationships that could be characterized as friendships.

Such relationships/friendships are based on trust, understanding, and shared values that enhance the experience of giving from the perspective of the donor/philanthropist. Development is thus an activity that takes place both before, during and after ‘the ask’ and continues at some level regardless of whether any money has actually been raised.

Effective development, then, helps to create, promote, and maintain a culture of philanthropy that becomes embedded within organizations and is not entirely dependent on individual fundraisers, but codified activities and processes.

Self-Reflection in Marketing

Self-Reflection in Marketing

Aug 20, 2023 | Marketing

Marketing is a business domain not only for promoting brands, products, and services but also as a platform for organizational self-reflection, engaging the entire staff in the process.

Why the need for self-reflection? Frankly, Western society shies away in general from genuine self-reflection, which I contend cannot be captured in a social media self-post curated in a local Starbucks. Maybe it can, of course, but let’s assume it cannot happen there.

The kind of self-reflection to which I am referring–at either the personal or organizational level–begins with simple questions, such as, “Why are we doing this?” Honestly, I have sat in many conference calls during which it occurred to me that several key elements were not clear to me (and obviously to others, too).

Let me use a specific example. Staff have developed what they believe is an incredible program, priced it according to what they feel is its value, and now present it to the marketing “guy” or “gal” to promote it.

The incredible part of this true story is that the marketing person was never consulted during program development or in any discussions related to its hypothetical value. Yes, I said “hypothetical,” because “value” is not something that exists “out there” in space and time, independent of our perceptions, preconceived notions, or cultural framework.

In many cases, value is quite arbitrary. Why can one museum charge $20 admission, whereas a seemingly similar institution cannot move anyone’s proverbial needle at half that price? Perception is reality.

While I am not a big fan of the word, “should,” I believe it applies here in that marketing should never be the final step in any process where revenue is concerned. When done well and from a systems perspective, marketing can invite deep self-reflection BEFORE (as opposed to after) money and time are spent.

Best Practices in Organizations

Best Practices in Organizations

Jul 16, 2023 | Strategy

Recently, I had a “conversation” with an individual about next steps related to further developing a nonprofit board. Excited about some of my recent research that touches on new ways to conceptualize the role of nonprofit board development, I indicated that perhaps we could consider new ideas.

I am not sure what I expected to receive for a response, but I was met with something to the effect that he wanted to move toward “best practices.” In that moment, I realized that not only was he not interested in what I had to say, but that he had employed absolute thinking.

Absolute thinking is a way to present an idea as incontrovertible, unassailable, and universally correct. How was I to respond to his statement of “best practices?” He left no room for dialogue or discussion. Was I to offer up “okay practices” or “less than practices?”

If you manage people or serve on a nonprofit board, I invite you to consider how you you think you know what you know. If you are not sure, that is perfectly okay. If your response is that your opinion is based in science or research, that is also perfectly acceptable.

My invitation, then, is for you to go farther in your inquiry. What has worked based on your experience? What do those around you feel or think about the subject? When developing an organization, there are extraordinary opportunities for self-reflection and process-building.

When anyone appeals to the somewhat amorphous and nebulously defined “best practices,” what they are subtly communicating is that they have no interest in any sort of dialogue within which new understandings may be co-created among diverse stakeholders.

After all, does anyone knowingly employ “best practices?” Ostensibly, the entire world is predicated on “best practices,” but for whom? Who benefits from these so-called best practices?

Heinz von Foerster developed something known in cybernetic thinking circles as the Ethical Imperative: “Act always so as to increase the total number of choices.” Are you increasing choices at your organization? For whom?

Not surprisingly, the gentleman I referenced at the beginning of this file never spoke to me again about nonprofit board development. The last I heard, he is developing various subcommittees and an overall board structure “by the book.” I wonder who wrote that book?