Shifting focus

There comes a time when everything that can be said on a subject has been said, at least in the absence of new data.

That's kind of where this blog is at now. When you start repeating yourself, it's time to move on.

The purpose of the blog was, and is, to assist new or struggling organizations in achieving greater success. In many cases, my mail tells me that mission has been accomplished.

I am aware that every day brings new people into the marketplace, whether it is in the nonprofit or for-profit sectors. If this blog was monetized, then prospecting for new fledgling businesses to advise would be useful, to me if not to you.

That was never my intention. The primary reason the blog exists is to provide free information and hopefully to prevent the readers from making expensive newbie mistakes.

Lately however, most of my mail has been from people looking to game the system.  The only mission most of them have is to scam the public and incidentally, figure out how to get rich doing it.

Those are not the people that any legitimate grant writer or consultant wants to help.

In the future, the blog will probably focus on RFP notices, trends and legislative issues that impact nonprofits and small businesses. In some cases it might stray into political climate changes affecting those groups.

Readers that specifically request "Climbing the Ladder  to Nonprofit Success" can still receive a PDF copy by emailing me at rightwords@ida.net, and of course I am still available at that email for grant writing, business plans and funding research services for qualified entities.

To those following the blog, if you have specific, germane questions about the process of running a successful nonprofit or small business, feel free to ask questions using the comment section. I'm always available for consulting services as well.

It's been a great ride. To all of you struggling to make the world a better place, my hat's off to you. 

Don't be this person.

An email from a prospective client reads like this:

"I am looking for someone to tell me how to start a nonprofit.  I need to put my business degree to work, and I like to help people, so I think that starting a nonprofit would give me the best of both worlds."

Of all the reasons to start a nonprofit, this is the least likely to succeed.

I'm not sure exactly why people think that the best path to financial or professional success is to start a nonprofit, but apparently a lot of them do.

In "Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success" I wrote this:

"How do most nonprofits start? The founders find each other through their mutual interest in a problem."

Notice that nowhere in that quote do I say "to make a living." Not that making a living is a bad thing, but it's not a good reason to start a nonprofit. 

Nonprofits should exist because there is a societal problem that can be addressed on some level by a consortium of people with ideas to solve or mitigate the problem.

There are a lot of pitfalls in starting any business. Finding operating capital for the initial year or two, finding good people to move the business forward, marketing, managing growth, and dealing with setbacks are common to any new venture.

Add in the unique challenges of running a nonprofit, and you can multiply all of those challenges by ten.

In "Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success" I try to give an unvarnished, down and dirty look at the world of startup nonprofits from that first meeting of minds through the next two or three years.  It's still a free whitepaper, and I offer it to anyone who asks for guidance in starting a nonprofit.

I also offer an inexpensive service designed to measure the viability of a specific group or nonprofit idea from a financial and organizational viewpoint.

Those resources aren't going to help win the race if you start from the wrong gate.

The person who wrote that email doesn't understand the differences between the motivation behind a startup for-profit and a nonprofit. I can help someone with either concept, but if they don't start with the right expectations, nothing I say or do is going to overcome that handicap.

Don't be that person. If you need help in deciding between the two business models, give me a shout. I'm happy to help you find the right gate. 

Donor Development and the Entrepreneurial Mindset

The word entrepreneur conjures up a vision of a person who plans to start and run a for-profit business. Actually, the definition in Webster’s is “one who organizes, manages and assumes the risk of a business or enterprise”. (italics added)

The skills and vision needed to start and manage a successful nonprofit are not very different from those needed to start any business.

You need a goal (mission and vision), a market niche (statement of need), product or service (program), a business plan (strategic plan) and  investors (donors)  for you to stay around long enough to succeed.

So why is it that most fledgling nonprofits can’t accept the idea that they have to have good planning and sound structure to succeed? Why do they approach donors with a vision but no way to make it happen?

There seems to be a sort of “build it and they( the donors) will come” mentality among nonprofit start-ups. Sometimes that works in business…the first personal computer was conceived of and  built long before the investors arrived. More often though, new nonprofits are more like some of the ill-conceived niche carmakers. The DeLorean was a good marketing  concept but it was a lousy car mechanically, and it didn’t capture the market share needed to survive.

Taking your nonprofit from concept to functioning entity requires so much more than just a passion to help someone or something.

Chickens don’t come out of the egg fully feathered and ready to lay eggs, small businesses don’t begin as multi-million dollar corporations and nonprofits don’t attract millions in donations in the first few years, if ever.

In “Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success” I try to prepare new nonprofits for the realities of becoming the next successful  local,  national or global nonprofit. I get a lot of nice feedback from people, but I also get a lot of “you don’t understand the mentality of a nonprofit founder”.

Oh yes, Virginia, I do. That’s why I wrote the darn thing. Every person that strikes out on their own has a dream, but not all of them realize it. The difference is that at some point,  the successful ones learn to borrow from or assimilate existing knowledge to succeed.

There is a “reality” show on TV about prospective small businesses competing to win backing from a group of investors. Yeah, it’s dramatized, but in many ways it is very much like the donor development environment. There has to be value in it for both sides.

For instance, both donors and investors (including social impact investors)  look hard at your team. For nonprofits, that’s your board, your CEO, your CFO, and your program administrators. Let’s face it, there are tens of thousands of nonprofits all targeting exactly the same problems. Donors are going to pick the organization with the best chance to have an impact and the quality of the team is what determines that, not how much money you have.

Telling or showing  donors  that you are the only working and involved member of the team is the kiss of death for your grant application or donor recruitment.

Donors want to know that you have a solid path to success. They want to be a part of that success, but they don’t want to own your nonprofit. On your side, you need to be able to use donations to build your organization’s impact, not just keep the lights on.

Thinking like an entrepreneur isn’t counter-intuitive to achieving mission success. The skills needed to succeed can be learned and developed. Marketing, publicity, planning, results reporting, program design and financial controls translate very well from the for-profit to the nonprofit world.

Want your new nonprofit to succeed?  Start thinking like an entrepreneur.

Need more information on planning to succeed? Drop me a line at granthelp@ida.net.  Let’s talk! 

Seven nonprofit dream killers (and how to avoid them)

Many good people want to start nonprofits. They usually have great passion for their cause, and want to solve problems. They expect smooth seas and clear sailing on the way to their destination. Unfortunately, they often run aground on the rocks of reality. Here are some common pitfalls associated with starting a nonprofit.

1. You haven't developed a support network.

Nonprofits don't function well as one-man (or woman) shows. Start by identifying supporters, and hold a well-publicized informational meeting or two to assess the interest in your nonprofit. These folks will be your potential board members, donors and volunteers and the meetings may generate immediate financial support.  

2. You think your organization is the only one that can address the problem you want to solve.

It is unlikely that no one else has seen the problem you are seeing. Don't re-invent the wheel. Check for nonprofits in your area that are addressing the same issues, especially those that are currently receiving funding. There is a good chance that you may find not only kindred spirits, but organizations that are already dealing effectively with the issues that you can join. If no one else is in the arena, there is probably a good reason why they aren't.

3. You believe it is easy to get money to support the organization.

You may be willing to invest every dime you have in your organization, but the world of nonprofit funding is competitive and notoriously difficult to access for fledgling organizations, particularly for day-to-day expenses. Only about 20% of nonprofit support nationwide comes from grants and unrestricted donations. The other  80% is up to you to figure out.

4. You haven't researched the skills needed to operate the organization.

The mission is important, but it takes real-world business skills to achieve success and longevity. There are serious legal, financial and administrative aspects involved in being a nonprofit. If you don't have all the skills needed, you will need to attract or hire people that can fill in the blanks.

5. You are easily frustrated when things don't immediately go your way.

Growing a viable nonprofit is often arduous, expensive, frustrating and time-consuming. Starting a nonprofit is not the place to find instant gratification.

6. You think it will be an easy way to create a paying job for yourself.

Founders usually form part of the board of directors, since their goal is (or should be) to guide and expand the organization. Board members normally don't and can't receive a salary for serving on the board. If you can accept being an employee of the nonprofit as the CEO or executive director and understand the potential risks associated with that, there may be income potential, but it isn't a sure thing.

7. You don't have a coherent plan for long-term success.

You may know what you want to accomplish, but you need to have a way to get there. The time you spend on a five-year plan now will save you innumerable wasted and expensive hours spent in crisis management later.

Knowledge really is power. Know what you are getting yourself into before you start. For more in-depth insight into the realities of starting a nonprofit, I offer a free whitepaper, "Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success". Request your copy at granthelp@ida.net. If you need assistance  in implementing or understanding  any of the steps, or just have a comment, drop me a line. Want to know more about my services? You can view my website here.

Successful Nonprofit Fundraising

On a Personal Note

To all the people that requested Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success-Thanks! To the "marketing guru" that emailed me to tell me I was missing "an awesome monetizing opportunity" - I'm not interested.

I'm not exactly stupid when it comes to marketing, internet or otherwise. I know about landing pages, and "free" offers that require me to enter my email just to look at something to see if it I want it. I couldn't even begin to count all the content pieces I've written for that type of campaign. Those marketing/sales techniques do have a place in many industries. If just getting subscribers to view your blog is how you make money, or you have a product that many people use, but lots of competition in the same product line, I get being able to mass email your contact list constantly. I really do understand top-of-mind branding.

That isn't what I intended to do when I wrote Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success. That's why I gave you MY email address. If you are interested in starting a nonprofit the right way, or struggling with one that didn't start with a good business model, I figure you'll contact me. If not, bombarding you with a sales pitch every week isn't going to make you a client. That's when I become known in a negative way. "OMG!  Another email from that pest again!" is not how I want you to remember me.

What does all this have to do with YOUR nonprofit funding plan?

 

Don't be a robo-fundraiser

There are certain organizations that seem to live on seemingly never-ending cycles of email or direct mail appeals, especially around the holidays. We all get them. Every few days there is an email or a fundraising letter in the mail. Pretty soon, the intended recipient simply drops them in file 13 or its electronic equivalent on the way to opening the rest of the mail. Even at nonprofit presort rates, that is expensive. The marketing firm that produces the appeal materials doesn't work for free. And we wonder why their fundraising costs are 50%-plus of their budget?

   

Robo-mailing typifies the way many nonprofits approach fundraising. Nag, nag, nagging for money or shot-gunning your grant applications aren't always viable plans. It can be an ineffective, time-consuming and expensive way to turn off your donors. Purchasing one-size-fits-all mailing lists costs money.

One of my services is researching probable matches between funding sources and a specific nonprofit. Some people email me with a request to "send out up to 100 applications for grant funds". It ain't gonna happen. If I can find 12 good matches, that is a rarity. A half-dozen or so really good prospects per grant cycle is more like it.

Why less really is more

Are there 100 foundations, corporations or government grants that generally support your type of cause?  Maybe…but they aren't all a match. Some are not geographically matched, some are already locked in to supporting specific nonprofits, some require a depth of organizational development that your nonprofit simply can't provide at the time, and some actually don't support your specific mission at all. Just because they say they support youth doesn't make them candidates for a pitch for advanced dress designing classes for girls 8-13. Researching grants takes time and in-depth analysis. Why not spend your money to develop a really targeted campaign?

Spend Wisely

That's why I offer fund raising planning services. That can be a part of a larger strategic plan, or a stand-alone service, but the idea is to focus your time (and money) on developing customized strategies that actually have a chance of succeeding.

Get a focus. Develop a real plan. Know when you will need money and think ahead, not a week or a month, but a year or even five years ahead. For that you'll need a budget, a easily explainable program and verified positive outcomes. Develop these now, not when we're writing the grant, because making it up as you go along is not a strategy. And if you need help, give me a shout. Helping you to succeed is what I do. Just drop me a line at granthelp@ida.net.