Do the Word

My dear friend Greg Stier authors what I think is the perfect  Transformational Giving Christmas post–check it out here.

Merry Christmas to you and your sphere of influence, and to all a good night!

If you regularly read this blog, you know that I steadfastly maintain that the best fundraising books and magazines and blogs are those that ostensibly have nothing to do with fundraising.

In that vein, here’s my latest fundraising-book-that-has-nothing-to-do-with-fundraising-and-is-thus-an-excellent-fundraising-resource book recommendation:

I was just reading last night in the book Unanticipated Gains: Origins of Network Inequality in Everyday Life by Mario Luis Small the following three insights that have real bearing on how nonprofits interact with potential champions:

1. “…[R]epeated exchanges between people reduced their mutual uncertainty, while…repeated interaction between two parties heightened their mutual affection.”

2. “[T]he more frequently two people interact, the closer they become and the more they trust each other.”

At this point, it’s all fist bumping and high-fiving among the “friendraiser” crowd. After all, it turns out that just showing up and not getting kicked out greatly increases the odds of someone giving to your organization!

But Small’s third insight is the eye-poke:

3. “…[N]ot all activities produced new ties in equal measure. Sociologist Scott Feld has defended the significance of ‘focus’, which he defined as ‘any social, psychological, or physical entity around which joint activities of individuals are organized.'”

Sum it up and say:

• The “support raising” approach, wherein a missionary descends into a church like a UFO, gives a presentation, calls for shares, and then disappears, leaving nary a crop circle, violates basic sociology.
• So does friendraising, which makes friendship the focus of the development relationship. Turns out this really is less effective for motivating action and involvement.
• Sociologically, the preferred alternative involves the development officer/champion coach/missionary repeatedly interacting with potential champions in actual acts of service that correspond to how the nonprofit/champion coach/missionary serves in the field. Such an approach is far more likely to generate significant relationships and commitments to join together in service and ministry through the nonprofit organization.

Darn it if that’s not biblical, too. Funny how that works.

…is demonstrated, comprehensive generosity in relation to the cause.

“Good with people”, “sales experience”, and “willing to work for a percentage of money raised” (yikes!) are typically the characteristics that rank most highly among nonprofits seeking development staff, but I actually would view each of these three as detriments, not advantages.

• Someone who is “good with people” may end up being liked by your champions, but when s/he finally leaves your organization (often at your behest), your champions, upon learning of the departure, will say things like, “Ah, that’s too bad. Really nice person.” If you hire a really nice person to do your development work, they will be, um, really nice to your champions.
• Someone who has “sales experience” likely has the wrong set of experience for the next generation of development. Coaching is the important skill, that is, helping the champion grow in relation to the cause in their sphere of influence. Selling your nonprofit these days is like selling real estate: just not a lot moving out there…
• Someone who is willing to work for a percentage of money raised has just been incentivized to all kinds of bad behavior. See “sales experience”, above.

Instead, when looking for a development person, start by asking your most mature champion–the one who is already owning the cause in his or her sphere of influence, already giving their time, money, education, passion, attention, and lifestyle to the cause–to take the position. Ask them to replicate themselves. Tell them they’re not there just to raise money but rather to replicate themselves. Hire teachers. Trainers. Coaches. Anyone who loves your cause and knows how to get others active in it comprehensively.

And that last word is key: If they’re not already giving generously financially in relation to the cause as a percentage of their income, don’t expect them to be able to motivate others to do the same. Jeff Brooks notes this great post from Seth Godin on this very subject. Read it and rewrite your position posting for the development officer you’re seeking to hire.