We’re really proud of the team at the UI. They now provide accelerator and support programs to Social Entrepreneurs in over 30 countries!!! Since the institute’s inception, we’ve provided pro-bono mentorship and coaching to these entrepreneurs.
We think of Unreasonable Institute as a platform that finds, attracts and supports the most promising Social Entrepreneurs on the planet – they are GREAT at this.
For our part, we benefit from proximity and relationship with entrepreneurs all over the world – working on some of the most complex problems ranging from clean water, to climate change, to housing, to health (access). In terms of impact, we view this as a huge leverage point. We get to be with these entrepreneurs as they BEGIN their journey (toward scale).
The Future Cities Accelerator:
Kerry and I are preparing to leading a two-day Boot Camp around Storytelling and Sales at the Future Cities Accelerator. This is a new Unreasonable Institute concept developed in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation to find, support, and scale ten game-changing ventures supporting poor and vulnerable populations in the US. As we prepare to spend time with these entrepreneurs, here are some key refrains we will share:
We become what we think about.
In addition to the global power of this insight, we caution social entrepreneurs from getting too caught up in messaging ‘earned-income revenue’ or ‘biz model’. These are HUGELY important, but entrepreneurs can get distracted as they make their way through awards circles, fellowships, and conferences. They seem to be sucked into a world that debates the how at expense of story about the why and the what.
Eyes on the prize. And the prize is the impact.
There are no rules.
(Assuming ethical and legal baseline, but beyond that, there are no rules.) Everything we share in terms of our frameworks are simply constructs that we’ve made up (and tested A LOT). Don’t ever think there is some magic fundraising (or entrepreneurship) secret that you don’t know. There isn’t.
We are taught to present, not to engage.
Simply ask yourself before every pitch, or sale, “What would ENGAGEMENT look like in this situation?” Use more visuals. Be simple. Ask questions. (Despite the fact that every entrepreneur is going to have you make a pitch deck – outside of silicon valley, boulder and wall street – nobody uses a pitch deck.)
Think Big. Build Simple. Act Now.
We don’t believe that ‘Changing the World’ has to be cliché. ‘Changing the World’ is the epitome of THINK BIG! And it’s only cliché if you can’t follow-up with how you’re going to do it – SIMPLY and IMMEDIATELY.
Entrepreneurs will complete the boot camp next week after which our team will provide coaching and support for nine months. I hope to be able to share some great stories about innovation and promise for impacting our most vulnerable populations.
Fundraising on a Napkin summarizes 30 years of fundraising achievement into simple, bold and actionable ideas that any organization can use – Non Profit, For Profit, Social Entrepreneur or NGO.
Whether you’re looking for strategic clarity, ‘sustainable funding,’ a jumpstart in major giving or just no-fluff advice that works – Fundraising on a Napkin delivers on all fronts. Over 3.5 hours, we will share stories ‘from the field’ and the successful and innovative ideas that have transformed thousands of organizations and raised over $2B, including:
How to get strategic clarity
How to simplify your message and communicate the vision
How to find and engage with great leaders, prospects and champions
How to build a high performing leadership team
How to build an effective culture around funding the vision
How to ask
This high energy, motivating session will give you a road map you can follow to re-design (or design) your organization for impact and income success.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Example-based coaching throughout the day
Lots of interaction so you don’t get bored – this is not one of ‘those’ workshops
Proven frameworks and, to the extent that we’re able with time, one-on-one strategy to help you apply the frameworks
No power point (see no. 2) but lots of visuals
Simplicity. Complexity is not actionable, so we give you the tools that will have the greatest R.O.I. to your organization in the near term (next 100 days) and longer term (next 1000 days.)
Value that goes beyond funding! We’re all entrepreneurs, so while we always want to create value in the form of funding results, there is a huge personal development theme to everything we do.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This workshop is for Executive Directors, Board Leaders and Development Professionals – Any and all responsible for shaping and implementing funding strategy.
Don’t miss the opportunity to experience theFor Impact Funding Boot Camp in Dublin, IE!
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM (IST) Info & Registration
Dublin Zoo
Phoenix Park, Haughton House
Dublin 8 Ireland (Super Early Bird Pricing ends this Friday)
Contact Kerry Suddes (kerry@forimpact.org) about group pricing and discounts.
Note: We’ll also be in NYC this September:
Tuesday, September 28, 2016 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM – Wednesday, September 29, 2016 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM (EST)
810 Seventh Avenue
52nd & 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019 Info & Registration
Teleseminars are a way for us to offer valuable training to our For Impact Community – in a short, ‘call in from anywhere’ format. Join us this Tuesday and Wednesday for two of our most popular topics:
Description:
The story you use to maximize funding…
The story that brings rockstar talent to your doorstep and fully engages your team…
The story that you tell yourself every day to stay focused and fulfilled.
Story adds passion, purpose and urgency to your message, plan and every day actions.
Is your story about needing more money? Or changing lives?
Do you have a good story that helps get to the ask?
Do we have a story that engages the board? Engaging them as passionate champions and advocates?
This 45 minute teleseminar will:
Share examples of stories used at organizations to help them with these questions.
Address common challenges to funding, action and engagement.
Give you several actionable tools use can use to DISCOVER your story and make it AWESOME.
Teleseminar: How to Ask – The Language of the Ask, the Close and Follow-Up Wednesday, July 27, 2016 1:00-1:45ET Free for first 50 registrants
Description:
“Would it be possible for you to consider taking the LEAD on this initiative?” [pointing to $1M]
“Where do you see yourself?”
This seminar covers over 20 PHRASES and QUESTIONS we use to JUST ASK. It’s intended to provide very practical nuts-and-bolts examples to help you visualize HOW to ask:
New prospects
Board members
Long time supporters to step up
Stories and closes will include:
How to close like Steve Jobs
How to ask when you have no idea about capacity
How to ask AFTER the visit — dealing with ‘what I should’ve said was….’
Three ways to ask your very best prospect to take the lead and how to follow-up when you can’t afford a ‘no’
Questions to help you qualify on a discovery visit
How to make sure gifts close by a date / time
How to address the most common objections when they come up
How to predispose the prospect to a really really big ask
Don’t miss the opportunity to experience a For Impact workshop in a city near you!
Join us in Dublin, Ireland and NYC for the For Impact Funding Boot Camp; and in Colorado Springs, Denver and Los Angeles for Fundraising on a Napkin.
For Impact Funding Boot Camp Dates & Locations:
Tuesday, September 6, 2016 from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM (IST)
Dublin Zoo
Phoenix Park
Haughton House
Dublin 8
Ireland Info & Registration(Super Early Bird Pricing still available)
Tuesday, September 28, 2016 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM – Wednesday, September 29, 2016 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM (EST)
810 Seventh Avenue
52nd & 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019 Info & Registration(Early Bird Pricing still available)
Fundraising on a Napkin Dates & Locations:
Thursday, September 8, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM (MT)
Tim Gill Center for Public Media
315 E. Costilla Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903 Info & Registration | Overview
Thursday, September 15, 2016 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (MT) Colorado Collaborative for Nonprofits 789 N Sherman St, Ste. 100 Denver, CO80203 Info & Registration | Overview
Tuesday, October 11, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM (PT)
St. Anne’s
155 N. Occidental Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026 Info & Registration | Overview Save as a For Impact Community Member: You can save $100 (full price $145) using discount
code: ficommunity
More dates and cities to be announced soon! Contact Kerry Suddes kerry@forimpact.org | 614-554-7525 with questions.
Leadership Consensus Building: How to get everyone moving in the same direction, telling the same story and working from the same plan.
This seminar offers a strategy and practical examples to address the biggest challenges facing organizations:
How to get the board ‘on board’
How to build a clear message, strategy and plan
How to accelerate your funding
Leadership Consensus Building (LCB) is a framework we’ve developed over 30 years to solve these problems – It’s been a key element in successfully raising over $2Billion.
Click here to download the LCB Framework Visual.
The seminar will do the following:
Share the LCB Framework concepts and showcase multiple uses. This is something you should be able to use again and again throughout your career.
Give real ‘use-case-examples’ so that you can get your team on board with using the LCB Framework to simplify your strategic planning, messaging, board engagement or next funding campaign.
This seminar is geared toward leaders – those responsible for shaping and deploying organizational strategy.
We’re excited to announce the 2016-2017 tour of our For Impact Workshop: Fundraising on a Napkin.
Workshop Overview
This workshop is a transformational experience for Executive Directors, Board Leaders, Development Teams, or anyone responsible for shaping and implementing organizational and funding strategy. We’ve simplified our biggest and boldest ideas, insights and motivations, and deliver them to you live and in person, including:
How to get strategic clarity
How to communicate your vision and message
How to find and engage with great leaders, prospects and champions
How to build a high performing leadership team
How to build an effective culture around funding the vision
How to ask
Partner Organizations
We field daily requests from people who want their network to hear the For Impact Point of View. This is your chance to make that happen! We’re looking for great Partners – Organizations who can help us spread the word in a community, fill the room, and host us in fantastic locations around the country. Email us now to discuss bringing the For Impact Workshop to your city as a Partner Organization.
Have For Impact Stop in Your City
If you would like to have For Impact come to you, simply vote for your city using this pre-registration form. Your pre-registration is not binding, it’s simply a way for us to crowd source our destinations. As a thank you, you’ll receive a coupon code for $100 off the registration fee ($145) for any For Impact Workshop.
After you’ve completed your form, share this post and encourage your network to vote for your city. We’ll announce our tour stops at the end of June.
Almost everyone who is looking for a senior development person or MGO (Major Gift Officer) is thinking:
“It takes a lot of money to get an ‘experienced’ Major Gift Officer …”
OR
“I can’t pay the $80,000/$100,000 (or more) that we understand it takes to get this person.”
Bottom line: You are NOT constrained by SALARY in your search for TALENT!
Think about this creative/contrarian idea of finding TALENT at both ends of the “Talent Spectrum.” My favorite place to be looking for talent on this spectrum is on the far left or the far right. (And I’m not talking about political leanings!)
STAGE:
22-30
30-50
50-60
60-90+
‘BEST &
BRIGHTEST’
‘PRIME-EARNING YEARS’
‘SUCCESS TO SIGNIFICANCE’
‘ELDERS-SAGES’
PROFILE:
Young
Passionate
Committed
Cause-Driven
Success-Driven
High Cost of Living
Family Priorities
Make A Difference
Seek Re-Potting
Great Coaches
Experience
Wisdom
Great Mentors
Untapped Resource
INVESTMENT:
CHEAP!
EXPENSIVE!!
REASONABLE.
FREE!!
Some thoughts on the ‘Spectrum:’
BEST & BRIGHTEST – Look on the ‘left’ end of the spectrum for incredibly passionate, excited, enthusiastic ‘BEST & BRIGHTEST!’ I would rather have two great, young, committed ‘Best & Brightest’ as Development Officers/ Major Gift Officers/Sales Staff … than an older, know everything, ‘experienced’ Development Officer. It costs the same, but I get double (triple) the coverage, usually with a much better attitude!
I look for ‘superstars.’ I love working with, coaching, mentoring the Best & Brightest. Look for young people who are unchallenged in their current job, bored, or just plain unhappy doing what they’re doing. Offer them an opportunity to MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Seek ‘Best & Brightest’ if you’ve got a job that just requires a lot of energy, commitment, hard work, travel, etc. Don’t worry about lack of experience – think of it as no ‘baggage!’ Promise them an amazing experience, great contacts and ‘work’ days filled with challenges/meaning.
*Read Daniel Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, on why people work. The new generation wants to be involved in something with a PURPOSE, not just a PAYCHECK! Many young people can view their work at a great For Impact organization as an upgraded internship or even as a kind of volunteer/youth service commitment!
SUCCESS TO SIGNIFICANCE – This group at the ‘right’ is a terrific RESOURCE. Their families are raised and they are ready to get out of ‘rat race’, want new challenges and would love to use their experience and talent to help change the world! We love these ‘young in spirit,’ talented Eagles and Ducks coming from the for-profit world who are aligning a change in career with purpose. This group can bring a wealth of business experience, sales and financial expertise, and just plain productivity to their position/responsibilities. If it’s the ‘right fit,’ someone at this point in life can have a HUGE impact on your organization. They are looking to get ‘re-potted’ and ‘re-energized’ around something more than work, more than a job. Yes, they still need to earn income, but many have other sources, and just want to be treated fairly. Recruit them on the MESSAGE – not the MONEY!!!
ELDERS-SAGES – There is an abundance of TALENT sitting under this category – just waiting to be asked! ELDERS-SAGES are a HUGE untapped resource for the For Impact world! Maybe not full-time, but these people bring so much wisdom, talent and life experience to the table, that they can have an amazing impact in only a few days a week or month. Look here to find wonderful, wise and (often) witty Board Members, mentors and even ‘unpaid staff.’ Elders-Sages can offer incredible TALENT for a very affordable investment, with a huge ROI. If asked, many of these ‘untapped resources will work for satisfaction/ fulfillment (vs. money!). (I’ve know some absolutely unbelievable ‘$1.00/year’ staff that put ‘paid staff’ to shame!)
Here, you’ll find people who love your cause, vision and message … a have a lot to contribute … and ‘HUNGER for these OPPORTUNITIES!!!’
Just ASK them if they are interested! Aska great Board Member who fits this profile to join you as a full-time/part-time STAFF PERSON! If ‘60 is the new 50’ then 70 and 80 are the new 60! ‘Boomers’ (millions of us) aren’t ready to retire, play golf, sit around the house, etc. We/they want to make a difference. And, it’s not about ‘money!’ They will help and even INVEST!
See Marc Freedman’s book, The Big Shift for great stuff on ’boomers’ and ‘second careers’ at For Impact organizations.
“Only one in five Americans over 55 is currently on the job …. Older Americans are wealthier, healthier and living longer …. And there is ample evidence that they ‘HUNGER’ for OPPORTUNITIES … to contribute their experience and time in meaningful ways.” America’s healthy aging population is the country’s only INCREASING NATURAL RESOURCE.”
-Marc Friedman (Prime Time)
PRIME EARNING YEARS – People ‘in the middle,’ God bless them, need a job! Their focus is often on ‘the job,’ a paycheck, supporting their family. A focus on ‘heart,’ particularly the element of ‘taking a smaller salary for work you love,’ is much tougher when you’re responsible for a family.
Look at this ‘TALENT SPECTRUM’ as a way of creatively adding great staff and volunteer leaders. I’m not suggesting you overlook all of the wonderful, talented, committed people who are in their “prime-earning years.” But don’t get caught up in thinking this is the BEST OR ONLY place to look because you need someone with X years of development experience!
Bottom line: Best & Brightest, Elders-Sages, Success to Significance. All of these are wonderful places to SEARCH FOR TALENT.
HIRE FOR ATTITUDE. TRAIN FOR SKILL (at the For Impact Boot Camp.) No more expensive hiring mistakes!
Join us for Boot Camp in Dublin, Ireland on June 1, 2016.
The For Impact Boot Camp is focused on frameworks and skill building – You will leave with the knowledge you need to simplify your message and funding rationale, and take your organization to the next level.
This high-energy, day long session covers topics like:
How to execute against a sales process (for major gifts, campaign gifts, transformational gifts, etc.)
How to build and maximize relationships
How to build and lead an effective team
How to ask, close, and follow-up
The Boot Camp is perfect for organizational alums, new hires, or anyone looking to hone individual skills – both personal and professional!
You (or your new hire, board member, development director) need to find a way to get to Boot Camp. And here’s why:
It will change everything for you and your organization. The reason Boot Camp has such a huge impact on organizations is because we’re not just trying to make you a better charity or increase your annual fund by 10% – we’re teaching you how to be something completely different, to think bigger, and get bigger funding results.
It’s not a normal training. Boot Camp is chock-full of practical stuff. You’re building tools, developing strategy, and doing/thinking the entire time! Don’t expect two days of lecture and power points (you will be very disappointed). [Yes, you will have to do one practice visit and many ‘rehearsals’ at Boot Camp. A little trust on this one? It’s way better to learn here than with your best prospect.]
Results. You don’t want training; we know that. What you want is money, to get out of the rat race, to learn ‘the secret’. Boot Camp is designed to be both a stepping stone for transformation and a way to generate money for your organization in the next 100 days.
It works. We are out there every week and we will share lots of stories from the field to reinforce our points. Boot Camp drills (and drills) on fundamentals for your organization and for each individual who attends. Tom started Boot Camp as an alternative to ‘consulting’ and to create a tool with incredible value. He wanted to scale our impact by giving everyone an accelerated way to get different results, based on 30 years in-the-field.
It doesn’t cost any money. If you say it’s not in the budget, then you’re right. But if you want to think like an entrepreneur, then this is the place for you. Reallocate money and then use the ROI to provide budget relief wherever needed. UNDERWRITE this as a SOLUTION. Some suggestions from recent attendees:
Use money from a ‘marketing budget’.
Have someone ‘underwrite the training’ – as a guaranteed investment.
Put the training on a credit card and pay it off in 30 days with new gifts. (I love this one.)
Boot Camp is the best resource we can recommend. This solution helps everyone who attends.
We’ve extended our Early Bird pricing for April camp until this Thursday, April 2.
