I had a truly energizing session with 500+ members and board members of the Northwest Development Officers Association.
These are my ‘PEEPS‘! As I told them, I have been in development and fundraising for 40 years. I LOVE sharing ideas and nuggets and challenging development professionals.
Half the room raised their hands with under two years development experience! The other half had 20+ years give or take.
Even with this incredibly diverse audience, I think almost everyone ‘got‘ the whole
IMPACT DRIVES INCOME thing. (Just sayin’ … what’s not to get?)
What I wish I would have said, as I shared the Controlling Insight, the challenge to BE FOR IMPACT and the 9 Guiding Principles, was the following:
“The #1 goal (job) of the Green people (development, advancement, etc.) is to write a net, net, net check to the Blue people (the organization/cause).”
What is a ‘net, net, net check’ you say? It’s a real estate term. It means after ALL expenses, including the personnel, entire operating budget, etc. (thus the triple net) … it’s the check that development writes to save lives, transform lives, change lives.
I know a lot of organizations where the ROI is ridiculously small when it comes to cost of fundraising. In my crazy ideal world, that number would be 5¢ on the dollar … not 50¢ or 75¢ or 95¢.
