Stephen H Baum Leadership

Successful fund-raising in this awful time requires re-thinking some basics.

Yesterday, I emceed a workshop of 35 Executive Directors and Board chairs of not for profits as part of the pro bono activities of Harvard Community Partners of CT. The topic was Mission Statement: Tying Mission to Performance. Pairs (an E.D. and a Board member) from one organization put away their written statements and articulated from mind and heart their mission statement to a “murder board” of two other pairs from different organizations in a structured, facilitated process.

In other years, this workshop has been highly valued for its compact learning on a topic that was important but not urgent.

This year, there was a 1-ton gorilla in the room that was distracting the participants: the precipitous loss of wealth since early October, the outlook for a worsening economy and the need to continue fund-raising during this perfect storm.

As one of the participants observed in the wrap-up, this used to be viewed as part of the often-spoofed “vision thing.” Now it is the heart of fund-raising. If you cannot recite the five or six bullets of your mission statement, if you cannot articulate in powerful and memorable words the crucial social value you create as a not for profit and dire consequences for the afflicted whom you serve, forget fund-raising.

If, however, you have replaced the politically negotiated generality-ridden platitudes with tangible descriptions of the difference you make and (passionately) why your organization is more worthy than others, you will win a larger share of the philanthropy. You will be able to do it on the fly as well as in scheduled meetings.

More than a few of these leaders revamped their mission statements in this way and committed to return to their organizations to put their colleagues through a similar process.

That’s my view. What’s yours?