Resolutions to Ramp Up Your Non Profit Fundraising Plan

Over the years I have worked a great deal with non profit organizations facilitating training programs, facilitating team building sessions, and developing their leadership teams. It is exciting to see some of the advancements and successes my non profit clients have experienced in their teams. 

 One of the challenges for many non profit organizations is finding the time and resources to build effective strategic plans, and annual fundraising strategies and plans. Hubspot posted a great article about resolutions for 2013 for your fundraising plan, which was written with non profit organizations in mind, however I think that many of their tips are great advice for any business or entrepreneur building their 2013 plan.

 

Their suggestions include that non profit organizations commit to:

a) one email per month
b) to incorporate Facebook into the next fundraising initiative
c) to blog
d) optimize website navigation

You can read more about Hubspot's suggestions here:

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33984/5-resolutions-to-amplify-your-nonprofits-2013-fundraising-strategy?source=Blog_Email_%5b5%20Resolutions%20to%20Amp

As you move forward in 2013, here are three tips to help you build your fundraising and strategic plan:

1. Consider contracting a facilitator to help your organization in the planning process. Hiring an external facilitator can advance the work of the team and provide additional support and guidance leading teams through challenging discussions.  
2. Engage your team in building the plan. Welcome new ideas and innovative ways of conducting fundraising programs.
3. Explore partnerships and collaborations with corporations, buiding corporate relationships is an essential aspect of any non profit organization's success.
4. Learn the "rules" of sponsorship and social media etiquette.
5. Build the plan. Document the Plan. Work the Plan. Review the Plan

Wishing you a great 2013. 

5 Keys for Setting Intentions for 2013

Happy New Year!

 

Today I introduce my friend Pragito Dove to share her perspectives and blog on setting intentions for the new year.

 

By Pragito Dove

The first thing about setting intentions is that you have to really, really want them to happen. You might be amongst the fortunate  whose dreams come true quickly. For most people, however, there are ups and downs along the path. The more you really want your dream, the more likely it is to happen.

KEY# 1: GET CLEAR ON WHAT YOU WANT AND HOW MUCH YOU WANT IT

Many of us still do not know what we are seeking. Sit silently and get a  clear idea of what you want to happen in 2013. It’s important to have an emotional connection to what you want because your emotions root you into a deeper level of participation in life.

We are vibrational frequencies of energy.

Everything we are creating is exactly as we intend it to be. If you think negative thoughts, you attract negative outcomes. Positive thoughts attract positive outcomes.

Your subconscious mind (approximately 90% of you) recognizes and acts only upon thoughts which have been well-mixed with emotion or feeling.

The main reason people don’t get the results they want is because plain, unemotional words do not influence the subconscious mind. So ask for things that have an emotional connection for you. Your chances of success will be much higher.

KEY #2: LIVE ON PURPOSE

Be willing to allow what you want to be of service to the planet. When we live on purpose, really intending for the highest good of everyone concerned, the universe supports us in unimaginable ways.

You are really super creative and can be a container for holding powerful work that is going to have a transformational impact on the world and is going to be of service to the world.

If you are thinking about your own egoic needs, wanting something so that you can feel better about yourself, you keep yourself small. When you shift from “I want, I need” mentality, to how can I give more? how can I serve more? how can I hold more in a greater way? you expand into a higher vibrational frequency.  The universe is begging to support you – you just need to open up and tap in to that place where you can be of service.

When we vibrate with the cosmos, the cosmos clears the path and leads the way for us.

KEY #3: BE WILLING TO HEAL YOUR WOUNDS

Most of us never received the tools or the information that we need to create the lives we dream of living. You may have beliefs, deeply rooted in the subconscious and covered over with layers of fear and pain, that you will never amount to anything, that you will never be successful, that your dreams will never come true.

Your beliefs become your thoughts, become your actions, become your habits, become your character, become your destiny.

As long as you live the same patterning of thoughts and beliefs (karma), you have the same reactivity to situations in your life. And …… you create what you’re afraid of.

In your meditation practice, you can ask: what is the core belief causing me to doubt myself? What is the feeling in the body?(They are connected!) What is the fear?

Offer kindness and presence to these places that are in pain and afraid.

Awareness allows us to rest in something bigger and not have to keep repeating the same patterning. Your core beliefs dissolve,and the truth -  that you are a joyful, creative, magnificent being – arises.

You become the creator of your life, instead of being the victim of past circumstances.

KEY #4: BE PATIENT

The challenges and hardships we face in life – more often than not- cause us to lose faith in ourselves, in our abilities, and in our dreams.

There is a seed of peace, joy, love, and wisdom in each of us.

Don’t get mad at the seed because it doesn’t grow fast enough! Nurture and nourish this seed in your meditation practice, even if it’s for just a few minutes a day, and you will be richly rewarded. Hang in there, stay present, don’t give up. Shining the light of awareness on core beliefs is powerful beyond measure.

KEY #5: TRUST WHERE YOU ARE

Be aware of the mind wanting to rush ahead into the future and judge and compare you with others. The more you live in the present moment, with gratitude for what you have NOW, the more likely the intentions you express  will unfold in a positive way.

Join Pragito on New Year’s Day for a FREE Teleseminar To Kick Start 2013
“Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life”

What’s your BUP (Backup Plan)?

We all need a BUP. A back up plan.

 Life and business don’t always go the way we thought (and hoped) it would. Sometimes your BUP becomes your brilliant plan; you just didn’t know it when you created it. 

Think about a time you thought you were on course then something popped up and required you to change direction, without a backup plan you are essentially having to create a new plan. One of the teams that I worked with as a facilitator was a committee of about 12 different non-profit groups all providing services to families in some way or another. Their big project was a community expo which would involve numerous speakers, events for youth and families, a trade show and more.  The event that spanned over two full days and one evening involved a lot of planning, and I was the facilitator of that process. One of the main reasons that this event was such a huge success was that:

a)      The agencies formed a strong alliance and commitment to each other and this project, and therefore became champions for it. There was a clear vision of what the event would look like, and everyone’s role was defined.

b)      There was a backup plan. In fact there were even back up people. The agencies had a primary stakeholder at each of the meetings and sharing information back to their own organization, but, they also assigned a back up person so that the agency was always represented at the planning meetings and were never out of the loop. Keeping them in the loop heighted the passion for the event, commitment to tasks and a stronger sense of accountability. There was also back up plans for the event (e.g. in the event of equipment failure, or a speaker didn’t show up), and a backup plan if the funds needed to host the event were not achieved by the time of the event. One of the planning challenges was arranging bus transportation to and from the rural outlying and remote communities. We created a backup plan should there be a problem with people missing the bus.  Every detail had a “just in case” provision.

c)       Then, we did a review and learn after the event. The planning committee celebrate their wildly successful event and then answered these four questions:

a.       What went well?

b.      What was a challenge?

c.       What did we learn?

d.      What will we do differently next time?

The fourth question essentially became a back up guideline for future events.

As you proceed with planning for your team, making a change in policy or a program, initiating a new product or service, consider your BUP.  You may not need one but if you do and don’t have one you may experience BUP regret.

Solving The Change Mystery...

Solving the Mystery of Leading People Through Change is the subtitle of an incredible book called Who Killed Change? by Ken Blanchard and John Britt. This book is easy to sink your teeth into and is written in the form of a story, actually a murder mystery, which makes the read enjoyable and different from most books about organizational change.


The book is full of rich insights that will help any leader, business consultant, HR representative or business owner. Agent McNally is the consultant investigating the "death of change", and in the book, change is a character. His usual suspects are:

- Culture

- Commitment

- Sponsorship

- Change Leadership Team

- Communication

- Urgency

- Vision

- Plan

- Budget

- Trainer

- Incentive

- Accountability

- Performance Management.....


Do any of these sound familiar in your team or business? When I reflect on the teams I have work on, or was a facilitator for, these suspects are always present in some form in change processes. It could be a culture that does not embrace change, or that change is so frequent but never fully implemented. It may be the lack of commitment towards the change process, or one person's over commitment that causes them to burn out. Communication is always a challenge and while there may be a lot of talking about change going on, the communication is often unhelpful forms of dialogue such as assumptions, rumors and speculation.


Vision, unclear or lack of vision is often at the root of a challenged change process, frequently there is not the budget to support the change, or those in charge of the dollars will not approve the expenditures... the list goes on. Blanchard, through Agent McNally's character not only identifies these "suspects" but helps the reader understand what often goes wrong, and how to fix it.



To create a different outcome to the mystery of change or the death of change, Blanchard suggests there is hope:

- determine where the current culture is out of alignment with the change that is being implemented

- to increase commitment, you can provide forums for employees to ask questions and address concerns in a facilitated/healthy forum instead of through gossip and rumors

- get people involved, and engaged, provide opportunity for the believers to be champions for the change

- ensure you get commitment and buy in for the change, and model the behaviors you want others to demonstrate

- foster accountability through modeling and showing that the organization is serious about and committed to the change

- communicate, communicate, communicate! Deliver clear and credible messages, and clarify rumors before they get circulated in the rumor mill

- have a vision, and get behind the vision...then build the plan

To find out more about Who Killed Change... or how the story ended visit: