From the surveys I read and the people I meet, it is clear most nonprofit organizations and community groups need to make significant changes to be successful. Recent surveys reveal that more than 50 percent of nonprofits do not have a strategic plan and most are not able to measure their results very well. This is like having a boat without a rudder or a captain – the organization cannot know how to move forward to accomplish its vision or mission. And it is like not knowing where you are – what you have achieved. Plus, I estimate that 95 percent of nonprofits are not satisfied with their fundraising income. And remember the survey results I quoted earlier? More than half of the fundraisers surveyed want to leave their jobs in the coming year! And then look at the unmet needs in the world you were created to address. Clearly, it’s time to make some changes that will be significant.
If you are willing to step up to get the organizational changes you need for fundraising success, you’ll need to engage in a change process. Here are some key points on managing change. From a fundraising point of view, the rationale for promoting positive change is to raise more funds to support your organization’s programs. To do that, it is necessary for your nonprofit to have a more appealing image and reputation, which it gets by delivering results to participants and being more efficient and trustworthy in its work.
The three steps in marketing awareness are:
Aided awareness: Do you recognize this organization in a list of similar organizations?
Unaided awareness: Can you name the organization on your own without prompting?
Appreciation: Do you give the organization high marks as a nonprofit?
For fundraising success, you need to score well in all three questions. If you fail to manage the change process well, you will certainly encounter resistance from other department directors (“Don’t interfere in my department”), staff members in other departments (“I can’t do what you want, because you are not my boss”), and from the executive director (“Hold on – this is not your job!”), and maybe even from the board (“Why are YOU doing this?”).
Clearly, as a fundraiser, you cannot impose significant changes on another department or the entire organization. In any event, imposed change does not work very well. People resist changes they don’t understand, especially when they feel those changes are imposed on them.
The way to overcome resistance is by explaining that raising more money requires more than just a smart fundraising team or innovative marketing approach. It requires the organization to be appealing to donors in everything it does. This will result in more success in fundraising, more money to fund your programs, and a greater impact for the beneficiaries. (Why would donors give money to an organization that is not appealing?)
Strategic planning is the standard approach used by organizations to identify what they need to change. Good strategic planning includes careful assessment of external threats and opportunities and internal strengths and weaknesses. A good way to start is by conducting donor surveys and even former-donor and non-donor surveys to learn what they like about your organization and what they do not like. In most countries, good data about what donors want is also available.
To attract more donors, nonprofits need a more appealing image, a trustworthy reputation, efficient operations, and demonstrated results. This calls for significant change.
When you are not the boss, effective change management requires maintaining positive relationships, minimizing confrontation, and demonstrating the benefits that will result from the change. The sequence in successful planning for change is: Awareness leads to understanding, which leads to acceptance which leads to implementation!
Change per se is not resisted. Some changes are welcomed and some are not. It’s how the specific change is viewed that determines acceptance or rejection. The key concept to keep in mind here is to be able to answer anyone’s question: “What’s in it for me? How will this change help me in my work?”
It is not possible to expect behavioral change without a change in awareness and understanding. A mistake by a fundraiser would be to say, “You are not doing your job right. You should be doing it this way, the way I want it.” No, they should do it because it flows from the strategic plan and from their understanding the need to appeal to donors.
When your fundraising plans have been built on careful research and the organization’s stated vision, mission, values, goals, and strategies, it is difficult for someone in another department to say to the fundraiser, “I won’t do what you say you need.” If other staff members understand the reasons and necessity for changes, they will see these changes as new opportunities with clear benefits. The feeling will be, “Yes, let’s do this together!”
Eight Steps to Succeed in Change Management for Fundraising Success
Articulate a vision that motivates and a mission to achieve results (more funding).
Incorporate the vision and mission in planning and day-to-day activities (what you need).
Communicate why this change is important for everyone involved (more programs).
Focus on the results you want, not the change you need (so others will agree).
Involve and listen to everyone and enable them to participate in the decisions (be nice).
Get individual, team, and department objectives and responsibilities for fundraising (results).
Monitor as you go along, so you learn to make improvements (in motivating others).
Most important of all, you should lead with the vision and manage for the results (for all).
Leading and managing change when you are not the boss requires both inspiring skills and supporting skills. I often share the story of Raven and Eagle, which I first heard when I was in Alaska from the indigenous Tlingit peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. According to the Tlingit, the Raven and Eagle tales are passed on from generation to generation. My short version is that both are leaders of their people, but Eagle is the more soaring and inspirational leader we know from many myths and stories, while Raven is a more playful leader who gets people to do things before they know it.
Leaders today can learn from both Eagle and Raven to be inspiring leaders (Eagle) and engaging leaders (Raven). Both types of leaders get people to do things. I see myself as Eagle when I am an executive in an organization or head of a task force. I need to be focused, driven, somewhat demanding, and the leader in front and soaring, inspiring others to get things done. I view myself as Raven when I am a consultant or mentor. I am open, encouraging, and somewhat mischievous, supporting others to get things done.
As noted above, effective change management requires maintaining positive relationships, minimizing confrontation, and demonstrating the benefits that will result from the change.
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