I do not want to convey the impression that I never made mistakes. I made many of them, and each mistake helped me learn to do better in the future. Here are some examples of mistakes, which I share as lessons for learning:
Rejection by a Donor
A key lesson is that rejection by a donor is hard to accept, but if you seek advice, it will be a valuable lesson. Here’s an example: I spent a huge amount of time preparing a major proposal for the Ford Foundation. This was early in my career when I worked at the Institute of International Education, and I thought my future was riding on this proposal’s success. The proposal was rejected.
I learned from my boss that rejection of a proposal can be the first step to success. He asked me why the Ford Foundation rejected my proposal and what I would do about that. Good question. I found out the reasons for the rejection, revised the proposal with useful input from others in the organization, and we received a substantial grant for the new approach. The lesson: Get advice and persist! If you get a rejection, find out why!
Stuck in a Rut
Organizations can settle into a rut, and staff members and leaders often don’t think about what others see so easily. When I joined Save the Children Federation in the U.S., it was small and relatively unknown. Its branding had been established by internal traditions and ease of use. The organization used “SCF” both in internal communications and in external marketing. I knew we needed to change the “SCF” brand, but I couldn’t make any headway at first until I initiated a strategic planning process for marketing.
Following the planning process, we implemented the now-obvious branding of “Save the Children,” which is a vision, slogan, brand, and call to action all in one phrase. We replaced the old geometric logo with a figure of a child raising her arms, asking for help. We launched an expanded media marketing program with extensive testing to determine the best approaches to use with this new brand in our marketing and fundraising, and we had great success. The lesson: Think outside your organization’s box to get a brand that works! Don’t use initials!
Firing Somebody
Another hard-won lesson: Firing somebody is always difficult, and when you do it the wrong way, as I did the first time, it’s horrible. Early in my work as the new fundraising director, my boss told me to fire the long-time and much older public relations manager. I did this without warning or a performance review. The firing was warranted, but it was poorly thought out and poorly done.
I learned that the only fair approach to inadequate performance is establishing mutually agreed objectives, responsibilities, and deadlines with regular progress reviews. If progress is insufficient, closer supervision is needed with more pressure to improve performance. Eventually, performance improves, or the decision to end the employment may even be a relief for the employee. The lesson: Plan well and supervise closely as needed.
Making Tough Decisions
Making a tough decision, especially as a new leader, is very difficult. In my work, I had become accustomed to getting agreement on plans and strategy along with cooperation on next steps. Suddenly I was confronted with making a very important decision, which was not clear-cut but had to be made. And my decision would not be popular. I saw that, as awkward as it might be, it was time for me to step up. There was no way around it. This was my job as a leader. I just had to make sure I gathered all the facts and considerations on which to base my decision, and I would need to present my final decision clearly and confidently. A leader is often alone in making tough decisions. The lesson: Base tough decisions on organizational values, strategies, and goals.
Asking for Unexpected Commitments
In another hard-won lesson, I learned that asking for unexpected commitments is not wise. Based on advice from a consultant, we were launching a program to ask donors to include our organization in their wills by making a bequest or gift upon death. I thought it would be a really smart idea to get all of our board members to do the same thing. Without warning, I presented this request at a full board meeting. The reaction was clear and vociferous – this was not what they agreed to do when they joined the board! Not only was the idea rejected, but I lost some status and influence as a result.
I learned to raise controversial ideas in a very careful way and in an exploratory mode, preferably in one-to-one discussions. The lesson: “No surprises” is a smart practice in any organization.
Launching Major Changes
I learned that launching a major change without support from a critical area can lead to failure. When I was executive director of Foster Parents Plan, part of the PLAN International organization, we knew the name caused confusion in the United States between our international child-centered development program and the domestic placement of orphaned or abused children with foster families. After extensive discussion with staff and U.S. board members – and using the pro bono services of a top branding agency – our thorough research led to the decision to rename the organization “ChildReach, the U.S. member of PLAN International” with a transitional phrase of “Formerly Foster Parents Plan.” From a marketing perspective, the name was excellent. However, the members of the global organization from other countries did not face any confusion with the name and would not support the name change. The proposed name was dropped.
In any organization, coordination and cooperation with partners are critically important. Brand is a deeply emotional concept, which makes agreement more difficult. We failed to secure the essential global support. The lesson: Know your potential opposition. Gain allies. Do not seek to do the impossible. Pick your battles.
Stepping into Leadership Roles
Throughout my career, I would see opportunities to step into a leadership role to improve the organization, particularly when I saw potential for negative reports or even scandal if a nonprofit promised something but was not delivering it. At InterAction, an association of 140 American NGOs working internationally, we had a mission statement that included something like “setting a standard of the highest ethics.” At a board meeting, I asked everyone how we were actually doing this. Silence! Then I was asked to lead a process to implement this promise. We engaged in an inclusive process, securing support to develop a code of ethics, and then drafted the code with full engagement of the NGO members of the association.
Through involvement, discussion, and responding to all concerns, we secured the unanimous approval of the new code. One person standing up in a complex association can introduce substantial change for the better. The lesson: Step up when you see a need and others will appreciate your leadership.
Fundraising Without Support
In another lesson, I discovered that accepting a fundraising assignment without commitment from the organization’s leaders above you – and below you – will lead to failure. This happened to me on two occasions where top management and other staff members did not support my new fundraising objectives. In both cases, I was tasked to raise funds by myself in a complex, multicultural setting without organizational support. The results were not good. Fortunately, neither of these work positions lasted more than a year! I was able to move on.
A fundraiser cannot succeed without support and commitment above, at the board and executive level, and below at the staff level. These experiences led to my concept of Total Organization Fundraising™. The lesson: Without support throughout the organization (above and below), I could not succeed in the fundraising challenge.
Creating a New Organizational Culture
Creating a new organizational culture without the endorsement of key leaders will not succeed. I led a successful internal process to identify a desired new culture in a large department at a very large international organization based in Switzerland. In a day-long session, we engaged in a very candid assessment of the current culture, identified strong points and weaknesses, and drafted a document stating what we wanted. The final statement of our desired new culture was resoundingly endorsed by the eighty participants in the meeting. However, the top executive and directors of other departments who were not involved in the process were not pleased with the explicit criticism of the current culture. The process ended without implementation.
The reasons for the lack of endorsement may have been that they were not involved, didn’t accept the honest statement of the current culture, and felt our department was presumptuous to engage in the process on its own. The lesson: It works best to address an organization’s values and culture as part of a comprehensive strategic planning process with all the key stakeholders involved.
Having a Supportive Board
I also discovered that failing to have a supportive board will create problems. With a few colleagues, I organized a community organization in Boston, Massachusetts, to help “green our neighborhood.” The first year was highly successful with great plans, many people joining, and numerous activities. We received widespread recognition including an award from the mayor of Boston as the best environmental nonprofit organization in the city. Later, we added new board members from the community. After one year as chairman, I wanted to launch a modest fundraising effort, so we could hire a paid director. A majority of the board, however, preferred to remain a volunteer-based organization with no recurring fundraising responsibilities to pay a director’s annual salary.
Five years later, the organization has not progressed and is now less active than it was in its first year. The problem? Many of the new board members did not support the growth strategy. The lesson: When adding new members to your board, have clear expectations and assure their alignment with strategic priorities.
Coordinating Campaigns
This compares with an earlier positive experience when I was responsible for a fiftieth-anniversary campaign in another organization to raise $17.7 million (in current dollars). I would have failed completely without the involvement and support of board members who were corporate executives, university presidents, and wealthy social leaders. The lesson: I coordinated the campaign while board members and advisors raised the money.
Conclusion
These issues and the mistakes I made illustrate the inter-relationship of organizational systems. It is important to see any change as part of the overall system and to understand the connections with other units. No department or team or individual can succeed without sufficient support and coordination from the rest of the organization. And it is fantasy to think you can succeed independently as a fundraiser! The reality is that you are highly dependent on others. It takes working together to achieve success. And don’t forget my six steps to leadership: networking, seeing what needs to be done, seizing opportunity, stepping up, being persistent, and running meetings well!
See www.NGOFutures.com for more stories.
Ken
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