by Brian Sooy
If you think your volunteer’s experience can be more positive, a great way to start is by saying thank you. It’s all part of cultivating and stewarding the most important external supporters you have.
KEY INSIGHTS
Optimism is a better motivator than pessimism. Internally and externally, stakeholders will respond to positive messages with a positive response. A positive experience leads to deeper motivation and more engagement. Being positive affects everyone’s perceptions. Volunteer experiences and donor expectations are directly impacted by the positive and welcoming tone of all design and communications.
TWEET IT
We will choose our words well, for they will motivate people to follow, donate, advocate, and believe in our cause. #bePositive #causemanifesto
Part Two: Chapter Eleven
Power comes from within. A powerful cause is one that you believe will be transformational, as it works to fulfill its purpose and achieve its mission. You have to believe it will create change in people’s lives and circumstances. You have to believe others will find meaning in the cause, and reach out to those individuals.
Power is not timid, it is not tentative – yet neither is it arrogant. The most effective, powerful leaders are servant leaders – those who demonstrate their belief in their cause through their actions and with their voice.
Power comes from strength: a courageous and engaged board; a confident and competent leader; a clearly articulated purpose; and a mission embodied by the character, culture, and voice of the organization.
Powerful causes embody leadership, not only internally, but also in the nonprofit community. I can think of several nonprofit entities that are looked upon by the grantmaking and philanthropic community as leaders in the nonprofit community. These groups show, through their actions, a willingness to collaborate, and are an example within their spheres of influence.
Not every organization will be as powerful as these. Not every individual will personally identify with your purpose and mission.
You can never stop believing and acting in the belief that your cause has the power to change the world. If you don’t believe, then who will?
WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT THAT WAY
Design and communication are integral to projecting a powerful image; I would consider them essential.
Many nonprofits think the “B” word is the way to make their organization appear powerful. Boards of directors consider a new web site as a tool for “strengthening their brand.” Perhaps the marketing or development committee suggests a “re-brand” by commissioning a new visual identity, as if a face lift will be sufficient to create a new perception.
Was any research commissioned to learn what perceptions the audience has of the organization? In reality, it would be the stakeholders that apply their perceptions to your organization. This may simply be an attempt to control the aspects of what you consider a brand: the logo and the marketing communications that the logo is applied to.
Branding, in its original context, refers to the searing of a mark on the hide of a horse in order to identify it as belonging to a specific owner. Ranchers brand cattle in order to make it easier to sort them out if they get mixed in with another herd. Understandably, this process is painful for the horse or cow. The rancher controls the branding process, searing every animal with the same mark, in the same way. As it “heals up and hairs over,” its appearance changes; the mark itself may become invisible to the viewer, as if nothing was ever done at all.
WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING
“Sacred cows make great steak dinners.”
This quote is a popular concept about how to shift thinking and consider problems, circumstances, and challenges in a new way. In other words, challenging the status quo.
Sacred cows are those processes and practices that never change. They represent the status quo, the same way of doing things that seems to have worked before. It even has a name: Founder’s Syndrome. For an entity within the tax-exempt, philanthropic, or higher education sector, it’s evident when founders or boards of directors don’t adapt their management, governance, or oversight methods as their organization grows or changes.
Without a strategic plan to guide a communication plan, and without leadership that understands the role of mission-driven design, it’s common to see the same principles and practices from the private sector applied to the nonprofit sector – whether they work or not.
If you think your organization is currently experiencing symptoms of Founder’s Syndrome, a quick Internet search will tell you everything you need to know about it and may help to confirm your diagnosis.
Without a strategic plan to guide a communication plan, and without leadership that understands the role of mission-driven design, it’s common to see the same principles and practices from the private sector applied to the nonprofit sector – whether they work or not. Sometimes this approach strengthens the organization and it becomes more powerful, but in other instances this approach weakens it.
Fortunately, Founder’s Syndrome is curable – it just takes courage.
THE CAUSE IS MORE POWERFUL THAN A BRAND
Your organization is not a horse – or a brand. In the mind of the potential volunteer, advocate, or donor, it’s not the visual identity that distinguishes your nonprofit from the next. Your brand is not what makes your organization powerful.
Your cause is not a brand. Your organization is not a brand; it has an identity – a purpose, character, and culture that you help to create – and it becomes powerful by speaking with one voice on behalf of the cause.
The reality is that, with regard to the perception of your organization, you are not in control. What everybody else perceives about your organization is what’s important. It’s not what you think about your cause, it’s what they think.
Many of the sacred cows engaged in by nonprofits involve design and communications. Committees are set up for branding, marketing, development, and outreach without addressing the real need. Some valid considerations include: Is the organization focused? Does it have a strategic plan? Do the culture, character, and values that guide the organization’s mission align with the values of their audience?
Many nonprofits begin and end their talk about branding with the visual aspects of identity. When nonprofit institutions or organizations are struggling, it’s easy to consider that a face lift will solve the problems, and give the appearance that the issues have been addressed.
Visual identity is just one part of the engagement continuum, and the board must be aware of how all aspects of nonprofit communications affect this continuum, in order to fund and empower the executive director and staff to advance the cause.
We live in a world of perceptions. Everything we see, hear, and experience creates a perception in our minds of the cause or organization with which we are interacting. To the stakeholder, perception is reality; what they think about the cause or organization is more real to them than what you’ve told them.
IT’S NOT ABOUT BRAND, IT’S ABOUT IDENTITY AND PERCEPTIONS
A colleague, an attorney with a county prosecutor’s office, explained how he used his choice of tie to create a perception in the courtroom. On days he was introducing himself to a jury, he chose a pale blue tie for its calming affect. For days he would be cross-examining a witness, he would choose a red tie, a color of power and authority. Each color was chosen to create a specific perception.
Look around the boardroom, and you’ll experience how your colleagues project an image of themselves based simply on what they are wearing. As you interact around the board table, you’ll hear how they talk; you may also interact with them in a business or social setting. You’ll see how they act, and gain insight into their character through their behavior (their personal culture). All of these senses and interactions combine to create your impression of each individual and, collectively, the whole of the board. The external and internal create a complete identity (in your mind) of that individual. Their appearance
, their words, and their actions show you their character and sense of culture.
This analogy applies to the nonprofit that the board governs (whether a cause-specific organization or philanthropy). Each touch point of donor, advocate, and volunteer experience is a critical point of interaction that attracts, informs, inspires, engages, and stewards the relationship between the individual and their values and the organization and its values.
We identify with causes and organizations we like. We can’t help but to form a perception based on the way something, or somebody, appears to our eyes. Even if, to all outward appearances, that perception is one of power and strength, only time will tell if it is backed up by words and actions.
BEYOND ATTRACTION
Some organizations focus purely on the attraction phase of the Engagement Continuum, which creates an unstable and unsustainable culture. In this culture, staff and the board are constantly reacting to priorities of the moment, and the tyranny of the urgent. Planning is an afterthought; getting by from week to week is the most important consideration. Little attention is paid to stewarding supporter relationships or executing a strategic plan developed jointly by the board and executive management.
This is evident when tactical marketing and events are substituted for sustainable and strategic communications outreach. Event-driven outreach creates a culture in which staff is reacting to event deadlines, instead of steadily executing outreach initiatives that were identified by the strategic planning process.
Attraction is only the first step on the engagement continuum, with the ultimate goal being stewardship and advancement – the individual assuming the role of an ambassador for the cause.
When the goal of attraction is to create a body of ambassadors, attraction’s role will be properly understood and implemented. The steps of the engagement continuum that are in between cannot be overlooked.
Attraction is effective at introducing people to an organization but never at informing and inspiring people about a cause. If your goal is to only make an introduction, there will be a continual need to attract. Until a strategy is in place to inform and inspire individuals along the engagement continuum, there will be little motivation for supporters who want to be engaged to maintain interest in the organization. Nurturing affinity for the cause will create engagement with the organization. Your supporters will be ambassadors and advocates, enthusiastically supporting the cause.
AS MUCH AS IT’S NOT ABOUT THE STORY, IT’S ABOUT THE FOUNDATION OF THE STORY
Powerful stories have three elements: pathos (emotion), logos (rationality), and ethos (credibility). Emotion and rationality, woven into the narrative, builds credibility.
Pathos literally means “from the heart,” and deals with emotion. It builds an emotional connection with the audience, through story. Emotions are motivators. (This is how a story inspires.)
Logos is a logical argument, based on statistics, facts, and evidence. The facts speak to our mind. (This is how a story informs.)
Ethos is the combination of pathos and logos that builds credibility (or the character) of the speaker.
Engagement creates community, as individuals become part of the narrative (the story) that nonprofits tell. Good stories draw the reader in and make them feel like they are part of the action. A good nonprofit story will create a connection between the listener and the storyteller; if the story involves a way that the listener can participate, then engagement occurs.
Think of a story such as Lord of the Rings. While it is a story of good vs. evil and the journey to overcome that evil, there is also a love story woven throughout the narrative that transcends the conflict and its resolution.
Can you create a love story from the perspective of mission-driven design? It might be worth trying. Inspire your audience by appealing to them from your heart to their heart. Tell them why yours is a meaningful cause with facts and information that speak to their mind. To build your credibility, use your unique identity and voice consistently and authentically, to project a powerful image of the impact your organization is making.
What is there to love about your cause, and how can you tell that story in a powerful way to inspire your followers?
KEY INSIGHTS
To earn trust, tell a powerful story that speaks to the mind but appeals to the heart. As the stories are told in a manner that is consistent with your character and culture, they will connect the mission with the audience. To be powerful is to be a leader, and to influence your followers and your peers.
TWEET IT
We will believe our cause is meaningful, and act in the belief that it has the power to change the world. #bePowerful #causemanifesto
Part Two: Chapter Twelve
Perhaps you’re thinking: “How is courage relevant to mission-driven design and raising your voice above the noise?”
Are you a leader? Leaders need to be courageous. Most likely, you’re operating within your comfort zone, fulfilling a specific role within your organization and within your community. Perhaps you’re hesitant to try, or even suggest, a new way of connecting with your audience; reluctant to challenge your board to increase funding for design and communications; or afraid to admit that you just don’t know where to begin.
You do want to change the world, don’t you? Make a difference? Have impact?
Then you need to share that with the world. Boldly. Courageously. Confidently.
You need to have an oversized belief in your purpose. You need to believe that what you are on a mission to do is the most important thing in the world.
Those who have small dreams only look to the path ahead and think about what tomorrow brings. Those who dream big dreams see beyond the horizon and plan for a future reality. Colin Powell has said, “Leaders inspire people to reach beyond themselves.”
Courage may require that you step into the unknown. It may require difficult conversations. It will require that you find a way to overcome whatever fear is preventing you from taking the next step.
Do you understand that your work is not about you or your organization? It’s about the success of your stakeholders – their stories and their impact on education, entrepreneurship, economic development, health and wellness, sustainability, philanthropy, the arts, and other meaningful causes?
Are you confident that your work has a significant impact on the initiatives and programs on which you’ve collaborated? Are you grateful for the opportunities to be a resource to the remarkable and increasingly interconnected organizations with which you collaborate?
It takes courage to admit: “It’s not about us; it’s about the cause and those we serve.”
“Ah” you say, “our funders and audience will think spending money on design and communications is wasteful and doesn’t contribute to the delivery of programs and services.” That’s nonsense. If they do think that, then it’s time to re-educate them. How can you expect to have impact if you’re unable to raise new funds and create more awareness in order to attract and engage more donors? Be courageous!
It takes courage to ask a grantmaking organization to fund design and communications that will enable a nonprofit to reach a wider audience. It takes courage to educate donors on how and why communications is a vital, yet overlooked, aspect of cause communications and program delivery.
It takes courage for a board of directors to rise to the challenge of funding design and communications. It takes courage for the board to rise to the challenge of funding the organization in a sustainable manner.
It’s not a matter of how to communicate courage, but a matter of communicating with courage.
What will it take for you to be courageous?
KEY INSIGHTS
Those who dream big dreams see beyond the horizon and plan for a future reality. It takes courage to admit: “It’s not about us; it’s about the cause and those we serve.”
TWEET IT
Dream big dreams. Have the courage to adapt and change in order to make those dreams a reality. #
beCourageous #causemanifesto
Resources
From the Preface
Nonprofit Answer Guide, a project of Center for Nonprofit Management (nonprofitanswerguide.org)
From Part One: Chapter Four
The organization to which I refer is the Samuel Szabo Foundation (samuelszabofoundation.org)
From Part One: Chapter Five
Giving USA research (givingusareports.org)
Hootsuite.com
Twitonomy.com
Joomla! (joomla.org)
From Part One: Chapter Six
The Communication Toolkit, from Cause Communications http://www.causecommunications.org/download-signup.php? id=toolkit
The web address for the NTEE Classification System was shortened; the full address is http://nccs.urban.org/classification/NTEE.cfm
Leap of Reason, by Mario Morino (leapofreason.org)
From Part One: Chapter Seven
IDEO’s free Human-Centered Design Toolkit (ideo.com/work/human-centered-design-toolkit/)
From Part Two: Chapter Four
The web address for Dan Pallotta’s TED talk was shortened; the full address is ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_th ink_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html
Charity Navigator: charitynavigator.org