AP Perspectives—The View From Via Del Mirlillo: Focus, Focus, Focus

We all focus on various things, some more obvious than others. As fundraising professionals we, of course, focus on:

• Keeping our donors happy and giving
• Having our donors increase their giving
• Acquiring new donors
• Increasing overall giving
• Meeting goals we or others set

Based on my own experience of 40+ years in the nonprofit sector as a development officer, foundation executive, teacher, and consultant, the above focuses are certainly part of my beliefs. But over time I’ve realized I have some less obvious areas of focus. What are these?

Honesty: There are times when being honest is difficult but necessary. Always it is essential. A feasibility study interview I did for an organization uncovered a major donor’s (5 figures annually) opinion that she would stop giving unless the executive director was replaced. Since all interviews were done in confidence, I had to address this issue generically but had to raise it to the board. I believe they knew who the donor was and they separately decided to replace the executive director.

Humor: To me, a sense of humor is essential. Fundraising is a serious business and there are times when things seem dark. Sometimes you or your staff are overwhelmed with deadlines. Or a major expected gift did not happen. Other times your organization must confront an angry client, board member, or negative publicity. Of course, making light of those situations is a bad idea. But often getting people to laugh can help cut some of the seriousness. Elsewhere I told the story of the “comfy chair”, but I’ll repeat it here.

I was meeting with a potential client’s board to go over my contract draft. One board member was a somewhat crusty lawyer, who called me out on a section of the contract. I had a statement that the organization would provide me with an office, in part due to me needing to spend 2 or 3 days there at a time (it was a 6 hour drive away). He said, “This just says ‘We’ll provide you with an office.’ I want it more specific. It should say ‘We’ll provide you with a desk and a phone.” I said, “No, that’s not enough. You did not mention a chair. I want it to say ‘You’ll provide me with a desk, a phone, and a comfy chair.’ And I will decide if the chair is comfy or not; if it isn’t, you will provide me with other chairs until I feel one is comfy."

The board, including the lawyer, broke out in laughter, and the contract, with those changes, was signed.

Micro-memory: I really don’t know what else to call this focus, but here’s the explanation. When meeting with a donor, prospect, interviewee, or other person, during the conversation I try to remember some of the little details about him or her personally that are brought up in the conversation. My goal is to associate these with that person in future conversations, correspondence, etc. Here’s an example: A new donor mentions she has two kids in college, one at x university and one at y college. At our next meeting or call early on I might ask how her kids are doing, if they’re enjoying the places, etc., and maybe ask what areas of study or fields they are in. Doing this shows that person is important to you beyond the immediate purposes of the contact.

Sometimes the small details in a person’s office can also become part of your micro-memory. One interviewee had a large United Way flag in his office, and we had a good discussion about his long involvement with the local United Way. Since he was still involved, I would ask how the United Way was doing when I made my next contact.

These are not gimmicks but are ways to show people you have a genuine interest in them and they’re not just another checkmark on your meeting list.

Don’t Assume: You might have good background information on someone, but it’s most likely incomplete at best, and possibly inaccurate at worst. I once had a feasibility study interview with a board member of an organization. As we proceeded with my questions and his responses, he started to smile. Finally, he said, “I don’t think anyone told you I founded the organization.” Oops—I honestly had to say, “No, they didn’t.” In another case I was about to meet with the board of a church-related group, almost all dressed in suits and ties or dresses. One person said another board member was on his way for the meeting. He also said, “Don’t be put off by him. He’s very young and will be wearing jeans and a plaid flannel shirt. You might also notice he has a sterling silver belt buckle on, probably worth $400–$500 dollars. He’s worth more than all of us put together.” One more example: I was meeting with a lawyer in a high-powered law firm. He said, “You probably assume that as a senior partner here, I am making lots of money. Well, I am. But I’ve got three kids in private colleges and universities and after their tuition, room and board, books, travel costs, etc., there’s not a lot left for charity.”

Know A Little About A Lot: There are basically two ways to develop knowledge, and there are advocates for one or the other. I prefer knowing a little about a lot—doing so enables me to carry on conversations with a variety of people from different backgrounds, professions, and experiences. I was sitting in an airport waiting for my flight and a man across from me and I started talking. “Where are you headed?” I asked. He said, “I’m going to Princeton to visit my son. He’s working there on nuclear fusion.” “Oh, I said, “The Tokamak, right?” He looked very surprised. “Yes—right. What do you do? And how did you know that?” “I’m a fundraising and nonprofit consultant, but I try to read very widely, including science areas.”

Another time I was about to start an interview with a senior member of a national think tank. I looked up to one side of him because he had a small biplane model hanging from the ceiling. I said, “It looks like a J-N-4D Jenny—is it?” “Yes—that’s exactly right. How did you know that?” I said (truthfully) my father owned and flew one when he was very young. This immediately made for a much more relaxed discussion and interview.

Be Brave: Some of the people in our profession are not very brave. They often defer to others, such as senior staff, board members, those served, or donors. I sometimes take my chances to push people a little beyond their comfort zones and challenge them to go further and do more. One large national client had set up a committee to help raise endowment funds. I knew that most of the committee members were very committed to the organization and also were very wealthy. After four meetings and lots of discussion, there still was no action plan or any individual commitments to support the potential endowment fund. At our fifth meeting, which was headed in the same direction as the other four, I decided to be brave. I said, “I’ll give $1,000 if every member of this committee commits to making a gift to the fund.”

There was a brief silence. The chair cleared his throat and said, “OK—I’ll give $100,000.” Another member said, “I’m in for $75,000.” Other members made their pledges and soon almost $300,000 was on the table. After the meeting the development director came over and said, “How did that happen? I recorded the meeting so everyone back at the office will believe it.”

Another time I was meeting with the CEO of a national health organization. We were discussing a possible corporate gift from a major corporation which had already given a small sponsorship gift for a health promotion campaign by the organization. The CEO said, “What should we ask for if we approach this company? Maybe $25,000, or is that too much?” “Well,” I said, "they’re a billion-dollar company, so why not ask for $1 million?” “Really? Do you think they’ll even consider it?” “Sure—what have you got to lose?” The ask was made and a while later as I was going up an escalator to a meeting, a board member was going down on the other side. I said, “Hi.” And he said, “Wait—I’ll come back up and meet you at the top.”

We met and he was very excited—the organization had just heard back that the company would give an unrestricted gift of $1 million. At the ceremony where the check was presented, the HEW secretary complimented both the company and the organization for cooperating to promote better health in the U.S.

Be Early: This is a simple focus, and yes, things can prevent this from happening when you’re due to meetings and events. There’s traffic, calls, other meetings, etc. that can delay you. But I always tried to be early wherever my next appointment was. Being early can give you a chance to meet informally with others, show your respect for the persons you’re meeting with, and, even if you’re waiting in an outside office, give you a chance to notice possibly important things for informal discussion.

I once worked with someone who was almost always racing into his next meeting, often apologizing to the person or group. A few times a board member called him out on this in front of the group. On the other hand, I sometimes would arrive at a meeting early, and was maybe the first one there. Once I arrived at the meeting room and a young woman was still setting up the table. “Hi,” I said. “I’m early for the meeting.” It turned out she was also part of the meeting and, when introductions were made, said to the group, as she looked at me, “This is Mr. Early!”

Problem? Solution(s): This is one of my favorite areas. Supposing your area has a major problem or issue. You need to present this to senior staff, a committee, or the board. It may be difficult to present the problem, but my approach is to try to present the problem clearly and then outline one or more (preferable) solutions for discussion. Doing so gives the others some realistic options to consider rather than just focusing everything back on you—i.e. “So, what are you going to do about it?” Presenting some possible solutions also shows them you have thought about more than identifying the problem and engages them in working to together on some they agree to try.

In conclusion, I’m sure you can identify your own areas of focus and can come up with other areas of focus that will work for you. But it’s something you should consciously do.