Our Blog ›› The Snowbank

The Future Is Yours, Mature Job Seeker

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 16:00:37 GMT

Why Your Experience is a Strength, Not a Setback

Previously we posted about how mature professionals can provide an incredible amount of value to employers , Hiring managers' pre-conceived notions about the aging workforce exclude top-quality people, and their businesses often suffer for it. Today, Millree Williams of 40 Plus of Greater Washington and Willekop Coaching f ocuses on the job-seeker's role in overcoming perceptions to create "win-win" situations and get the jobs they want.

If you’re a seasoned professional navigating today’s job market, you’ve likely encountered the mixed messages: "Experience matters...but you might be too experienced." It’s a frustrating paradox, but here’s the truth: Your age is an asset. And more importantly, your mindset and your institutional knowledge are essential to employers as well —even if they don't immediately understand your value. As a mature job seeker, what you can offer is very powerful.

You're not just a long résumé showing a late 80s graduation date, decades of experience, and an ever-increasing salary history. You've "done it" before, stayed current on the latest trends, and have forward-thinking perspectives grounded in real-world wisdom. Smart employers can see that while fresh-faced youth know buzzwords and "bells and whistles," many don't see the business purpose or the environment, and they adapt and apply them to get critical results.

Strength in Experience—and Vision

You, however, have a history of delivering and enabling your employers' long-term success. You understand their goals and their challenges, and you've consistently found innovative solutions. You've led teams, mentored rising stars, managed crisis situations, and anticipated and resolved issues before they "blew up." And, you've demonstrated the ability to look ahead and be strategic, mixing "tried and true" with "cool and new" in the best ways for your organization.

You understand the fun things the latest stuff can do and —this "and" is critical—you also know how to make them work for a business. You have context. You appreciate it's not just about the following the latest trends—you get that they have a purpose, that they're not just "art for art's sake," that they need to be used to improve performance, reduce cost, and advance business goals. You know how to investigate, evaluate, modify, and implement to achieve an objective.

In other words, you have "experience plus." You bring business acumen, industry knowledge, leadership ability, and professional maturity. These things can’t be faked or fast-tracked, and are crucial to business success. But you haven't stayed "stuck in the past," clinging to old practices. You're curious, attentive, and will embrace change— new methods, new technologies, evolving work cultures. You're a lifelong learner, and you understand how to apply what you've learned.

Articulating the Value You Offer

Assumptions about older professionals are definitely a challenge, but you can overcome them by conveying your skills and experience though a relevant, compelling story. Consider five things most hiring managers say they value the most in job candidates:

Leadership— Ability to inspire, engage, empower, and individuals and teams to collaborate, experiment, and test ideas, not just instruct on what needs to be done and how to do it.

Perspective— Clear understanding of business objectives, and how individual and collective responsibilities contribute to advancing missions and achieving required outcomes.

Creativity— Willingness to explore new ways of getting work done, improving products and services, etc., and ability to "think outside the box" to find solutions to business problems.

Stability— Calmness to deliver under pressure, c onfidence to manage in times of crisis, and steadiness as organizations, workplaces, people, methods, and technologies change.

Commitment— Evidence candidates aren't just "c hasing a job," but are seeking purpose and want to make real, long-term contributions employers and their customers.

Armed with this knowledge, you're in position not just to land a new job, but to land the job you want. But you can't just submit the same old résumé you've always used. More than likely, it won't even pass through initial screening. If you want to get noticed, you should consider:

Modernizing the Format— Presentation leaves an immediate impression. In most cases, this isn't time to go crazy. Give your résumé clean, professional look, and proofread. Odd fonts and outdated elements distract from your story, and errors are one-way tickets to the trash.

Tailoring Your Terms — If you don't use the right words, you won't get past the gatekeeper, especially when AI is involved. Learn what's current in the industry, use phrases directly from job announcements, and network to find what specific employers are keying on.

Removing Graduation Dates— Drop the year(s) you earned your degree(s), especially if you go back 15 or 20 years. Most employers care more about your educational credentials (and how they're applicable to the opportunity) than when you earned them.

Limiting Work History— Your entry-level job isn't going to make or break you. Focus instead on your most recent and relevant experience. You can group or summarize earlier jobs under a heading like "Additional Career Highlights" or "Prior Experience."

Updating Past Job Titles— As long as you're not misrepresenting yourself, you may be able to reframe past titles to use contemporary terms, better reflect your roles, and align more closely with industry norms. This gives a clearer "at a glance" picture of who you are.

Emphasizing Results — Most employers are more interested in what you've delivered than your tenure in a position. Focus on results you've achieved, replacing phrases like "Over 25 years of experience" with relevant outcomes and showing how you applied your skills.

There's one more thing that will put you at the top of the hiring manager's list: Clearly show how what you've accomplished translates to what you'll achieve for the employer when you're hired. That means connecting your past to your future. Finish the story:

"I've led high performing teams that driven innovation and grow in the places I've worked. You can be confident in my ability to do that for your organization as well. I will lead teams at [x] to [business outcomes you know the employer wants to achieve]."

"My work has aligned emerging technologies with customer business goals and user needs. I've made sure innovative tools deliver real performance improvements, and I'll help [x] design cutting edge products that customers see as indispensable."

Final Thought—Don't Downplay. Reframe.

This isn't about ignoring your age and experience, and it's not about trying to compete with Gen Z candidates on their terms. Chances are very good you, as a mature professional, bring more to the table than they can, and you offer more value to employers—often in ways they haven't even thought about. Your challenge is to translate what you know and what you've done to a clear compelling story in a way hiring managers simply can't ignore. Sure, they'll find out you're older at some point but when they do, your age will be an afterthought.

About Our Guest Author

Millree Williams, ACC, CRLC, CTACC is a Certified Career Transitions and Retirement Life Coach. He partners with organizations, leaders, and individuals to help them become who they want to be—to create that next fulfiling chapter. As a trained thinking and accountability partner, he makes it easy for them them to "open up" to see the "big picture," objectively evaluate their situations, discover blind spots, gain clarity, break down barriers, and work through stumbling blocks to accomplish their most important goals. His particular passion is working with mid- to late-career professionals. Millree owns Willekop Coaching , and is also the President of 40 Plus of Greater Washington . You can get in touch with him here .

Embrace the "Gray": Ageism is Limiting Your Company's Potential

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 14:25:46 GMT

The "old folks" are hip to the trends, and they see what the kids can't

The other day I celebrated birthday number [undisclosed, for my own sanity]. I own my own business, so as long as clients like me I'm in a pretty good spot. But as I get older, what's really starting to bother me is watching friends and colleagues around my age get shut out of the job market—some by choice, others not so much. These are tough times for them, and here's the thing: The people I know who've been in their industries for decades are usually spot-on when they say companies are making dumb decisions about direction and hiring. Based on what I see with my own clients, my friends are right more often than not.

Employers are careful, so I can't prove this, but there sure seems to be a lot of ageism going on right now. It's devastating—both financially and psychologically—for people getting passed over. I've watched friends strip years off their resumes, change up their LinkedIn profiles to sound more "current," and basically contort themselves trying to prove they're on to the latest trends. Even when these "edits" get them in the door, though, the truth comes out when salary expectations hit the table. More experience equals higher demands, which screams "older" to hiring managers. To way too many of them, that means they're irrelevant in evolving fields.

What I'm seeing, especially in fast-moving industries, is businesses prioritizing youth for critical leadership and technical roles. I understand the logic—they genuinely think younger means more plugged into current trends, and therefore more valuable. The truth, however, is that this thinking is very often completely backwards. The dedicated professionals I know do whatever it takes to stay up-to-date with what’s happening in their fields, and are excited to think about what’s coming and how they can use it. When you add their understanding of how the "old" transitions to the "new," you’ve got exactly what many companies need the most.

Take marketing, for example. The Gen Z guy knows every TikTok trend and uses AI buzzwords to great effect. What he misses, though, is the importance of the end-to-end customer experience and everything that goes into truly understanding audiences—their interests, influences, pain points, behaviors, and other factors that affect what they see and how they respond to it. I watched a startup hire someone who promised the moon with emerging technologies, but he couldn't deliver results. Meanwhile, his "elders" also understand the power of new methods and tools, but they also know the core concepts. In other words, they know how to use them.

This firm's miscalculation isn't an exception in today's world, it's the rule. Companies are hiring younger people into key roles assuming they have all the knowledge needed to succeed. This happens when recruiters and hiring managers don't understand what’s required well enough to get past the lofty terms and phrases candidates are using. When it falls apart—and I’ve seen it happen a lot—organizations have to pay to recruit replacements, and they don't always learn their lessons. More importantly, it wastes precious time and can also seriously damage market credibility. Both are hard to recover from and, worst case, they can actually kill a business.

Some employers think they'll just train new hires on key concepts, or that other departments will simply tell them what they want done. This is frequently a "fail" too. Sometimes, there's no development plan because nobody in the company has the expertise to create one. In other situations, internal customers don't understand the complexities involved in producing what they're asking for, nor do they see what more could be done with it. In essence, they’re hiring "doers" instead of "thinkers who can also do." The opportunity costs are staggering. Companies don't know what they don't know, and the knowledge gaps push down on the bottom line.

Shutting out experienced professionals isn't always just because of the promise of flashy new capabilities, though. It's also about saving money. For startups and smaller firms, the budget concerns are real. Even when they recognize the need for and value of functional expertise, the candidates that have it seem financially out of reach. But, these are exactly the companies that can least afford to put the wrong people in key positions. If their hires can't both do the technical work required and produce the strategic value that company leaders don't fully grasp, the costs—tangible and intangible—can be extraordinary. I've seen them destroy businesses.

There are dual realities here. On one hand, you have these completely wrong assumptions about older professionals, which hurts both companies and candidates. Neither side gets to benefit from what the other offers (even though executives incorrectly think they're getting amazing returns on their investments). On the other, even organizations that recognize their false assumptions about the workforce have genuine financial challenges. But here's what I've learned from working with firms that get sustainably successful results, even on a budget: There are ways to create win-win situations for both themselves and experienced candidates.

Investing in the Experience —The first approach is to properly define what the role actually requires and hire the ideal candidate at market rate. This means doing some homework—researching industry best practices and matching them against the specific situation to understand what’s really needed and what it's worth. Yes, it's expensive and often requires prioritizing one role over others, which may mean being more frugal in other parts of the organization. However, many companies that invest in experienced talent end up being able pay for it with the returns these employees generate.

Getting Fractional Help —Another approach I’ve seen work effectively is bringing on an experienced consultant part-time. "Fractional" is huge right now, especially for small businesses that can't swing a full-time executive salary but desperately need expertise in essential positions. Going back to my marketing example, a transitional, part-time Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) can provide high-level strategic thinking and integrated knowledge to develop initiatives, establish processes, and do the work needed for immediate success, and train less-experienced employees for long-term leadership roles.

"Hiring Up," Not Looking Down —There's a third option, hiring someone over-qualified for a important position, that isn’t frequently considered. Many older professionals—the ones shut out by ageism—will absolutely take less money to make meaningful contributions again. They can be more productive on day one, and for firms that don't grasp a function's complexities and value proposition, they can bring innovations and identify improvements that less experienced hires won’t see. Concerns about retention and job satisfaction are legitimate, but when handled right, it’s a mutual opportunity that benefits everyone.

Everything beneficial about hiring for key roles starts with abandoning the assumption that "older" means "less relevant" in today's world. It's simply not true, it's unfair, and it's bad for business. What experienced professionals bring quite often produces value than kids with shiny new toys can't provide. Taking the time to learn why a role matters and what it can do for corporate performance is heading in the right direction, and companies need to continue down the path and get the people who have the expertise, even if they've been around a while. And remember, "you get what you pay for" still holds truth, but it isn’t always necessary to break the bank to get someone who can push your company toward fulfilling its true potential.

What Should You Do Now?

Watching this all play out right now, I'm absolutely convinced: The companies figuring this out today are going to have a serious competitive advantage. The ones that don't? If they're lucky enough to stick around, they're going to keep wondering why their "cost-efficient," "cutting edge" young talent isn't delivering the results they expected.

If this post resonated with you, there are a few key steps you should take before hiring for your next critical opening:

Properly define your requirements. Get someone who really knows the function and what's happening around it, and/or find out what successful firms are doing. There's a good chance the wrong person is defining the job, whether they have their own agendas or they just don't know. There's often more to a role than you think, and it doesn't do anyone any good to miscast it, downplay its importance, and hire to a faulty description.

Do an honest labor market analysis. Find out what them market is paying for someone with the qualifications you need. It's better to start there than to seek talent based solely on your budget since, as listed above, there are alternatives to consider. Don't let your financial constraints dictate the skills and expertise you have to acquire.

Assess the surrounding conditions. You know who you're looking for, what you want them to do to produce value for your company, and your budget gap. What approach will work best for your situation? Consider factors such as the function's importance, the impacts it has, its maturity in your organization, and your company's culture.

Choose the best approach for the situation. There's a lot to think about to make the right call, and much of it is specific to your business. The point is, there are good options, and one of them will more than likely work better for you than hiring someone who has less experience, less context, and less knowledge... even if they can "talk the talk."

Ready to learn more?

What's Beneath Your Organization's Challenges?

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 12:56:28 GMT

Finding and Fixing Root Causes is Essential to Lasting Success

Many organizations have recurring performance problems, struggling to meet their goals or sustain the results they've attained. Leaders try hard to explain and address the obstacles, searching for answers and trying different things that may seem to work for a while, but the issues just won't go away. After a while, things seem to be at an impasse. It's frustrating, and the inability to find lasting solutions impacts program effectiveness, product and service quality, delivery timeliness, and other factors that lead to missed targets and sub-optimal outcomes. In some cases, the effects ultimately hit the "bottom line" so hard they're an existential threat.

These situations, fortunately, are not at all hopeless. If you find yourself in such a predicament, turn to Root Cause Analysis (RCA). It's your "microscope" to look in depth at your organization, explore what's beneath the surface, and pinpoint the real reasons you've been unable to overcome your challenges. Employing a methodical approach and continuously asking "why" uncovers the often complex layers of the problem and find out where they start. RCA helps you see patterns, connect causes and effects and, ultimately, learn and address what's kicking off the "chain of events" that prevent you from achieving and sustaining desired performance.

Surface vs. Root Causes: Symptomatic or Systemic?

Distinguishing between surface and root causes is essential for effective problem-solving within organizations. The most readily visible issues are often mistaken for the primary problems. While recognizing them is valuable and allows organizations to make important "quick fixes," any performance improvements subsequently realized are only short-term. That's because they're really just "symptoms," and there are deeper, systemic challenges that produce them. It's a bit like an iceberg (hence the picture)—while the tip can be easily seen, its true size and impacts lie below the water line. Even if the top melts, the dangers lurking beneath don't go away.

Treating symptoms matters, but if organizations fail to address what's causing them in the first place they won't find lasting solutions to their problems. Instead, they'll find themselves in a repeating cycle in which they're constantly in "repair mode" while the same performance issues keep coming back. The longer the cycle continues—perpetually changing structures, processes, and practices without tangible improvements—the more organizations waste resources, negatively impact workplace morale, and frustrate stakeholders. In addition, the constant disruptions can eventually become counter-productive when it comes to results.

Laying the Foundation: The Collective "First Take"

Clearly defining the problem, context, and particulars is the first step in finding lasting solutions organizational challenges. This isn't a "one person job." It needs to be a focused, collaborative effort involving key stakeholders with relevant knowledge from different vantage points. Working together, they can clearly and logically describe the situation, for example the:

Problem— Where are we missing our targets (or where are we at risk)?
Conditions— What's happening externally that may be affecting performance?
Processes— What are the key workflows that lead up to the outcomes?
People— Who (departments, staff members, etc.) is involved?
Technologies — What systems, software, etc. are integral to the processes?

Taking the time to articulate the situation as a team paints a rich, detailed picture of the issue at hand. Moreover, it creates an environment of open communication and cooperation by encouraging participations to share their unique insights and experiences. This is essential as organizations use RCA to get to their problems' true causes and find effective solutions.

Asking "Why": Unveiling Layers of Causes

As we said earlier, RCA continuously raises the simple question: "Why?" Each time it's asked, another layer of causes in revealed until the root is exposed. You're effectively investigating a mystery here, and this requires systematic inquiry —continuous, iterative identification of cause-and-effect relationships—drawing upon the knowledge and ingenuity of key team members. After a while, you may feel like annoying toddlers asking "why, why, why?" But don't stop asking, because every time you press the point and get honest, objective answers, you're finding a breadcrumb that help keep you on the right trail to the origin of the problem.

Here's a simple flow of the RCA thought process (no, it's probably not going to be this easy). Keep in mind, causes can be things happening outside the organiztaion (e.g., economic, political) or inside (e.g., workflows, division or even individual performance issues, technology tools or lack thereof). That's why multiple perspectives matter, and so does being objective and forthright.

This iterative "why" process finds the "becauses" at every level down to the root cause. Seeing the intricate web of factors contributing to the problem allows short-term actions to get back on track—for the moment. And, the collaborative "assess-and-address" dialogue RCA requires helps build a continuous improvement culture that helps fight the fires that seem to all-to-frequently emerge. When you find the root cause—the start of the "chain of events"—the ability to have these team interactions is critical to designing and implementing integrated, transformational change that eliminates the kindling and prevents the sparks that start the fires to begin with.

Finding Solutions: Quick Fixes and Sustainable Change

Every organization wants to resolve performance problems right away—no waiting, improve now! That's completely understandable. They can't afford to leave bottom line results as they are for long. After all, lives are affected, constituents don't get what they need, and customers stop buying! So, they go for quick fixes, perhaps "transitioning out" employees, modifying a policy, or tweaking a process here and there to address immediate issues. It makes sense. They do what's needed to better deliver what people need and want, today. However, if that's all they do, the effects won't last. The real issues still exist, and the problem will come back.

As noted above, constant changes to "solve" the same problem leads to frequent disruptions, and make employees uncomfortable and indifferent or resistant to the next attempts. At some point, you have to deal with what's driving the need for continuous short-term "maintenance." Sooner or later, the "fix it now" mindset has to evolve from simply treating symptoms to orchestrating transformational change that eliminates them altogether. This requires a srategic approach that gets at the root causes you identified through the RCA process. You have the information. Now, act on it to get and maintain the high levels of performance you want.

There are often different ways to address root causes—new policies, completely re-engineered processes, formal standards and accountabilites, more powerful controls, redesigned structures, modernized technologies, staff realigment and transition, etc.—which may be used alone or in combination to attack the problem at its core. Underlying all of these things are organizational cultures and sub-cultures. Either the solution(s) fit them, or they have to change. Often, they are either part of or they exacerbate the root cause. Transformation can't happen if changes don't stick. That's another great reason for a collaborative process. People care for what they "own."

Summary: Collaborative RCA Powers Real Change

Both the short-term benefits and transformative power of RCA are clear. RCA can enable you to not just survive but thrive. And, the collaborative approach it demands leads to continuous improvement by empowering your people to participate in and take ownership of both quick wins and dynamic, long-term change. RCA gives your team the ability to work together to address performance problems today, make them disappear altogether over time, and prevent them from coming back later. It's a huge umbrella to get through the storms that seem to keep cropping up and, as you resolve the root causes, you'll alter the pattern and bring in fair skies.

Get Started: What You Should Do Today

Interested in employing RCA to take your organization's problem-solving to the next level? Here are five steps you can take to address whatever's bothering you:

Gather your team— Bring in leaders and subject matter experts (SMEs) from all corners of your organization, even from areas that don't immediately seem to be part of the problem.

Articulate the situation— Define the outcomes you want and start piecing together what's involved in achieving them, both from an internal and external perspective.

Collect data — Assemble the numbers... data will help identify issues and patterns within and across what contributes to the outcomes, informing the dialogue.

Start aksing "why" —Hold facilitated RCA sessions, starting at the surface and working down until there are no more answers to the question... the root cause(s) of the problem

Iteratively solve — As you progress through the layers, identify things you can do right now to respond to the problem, while keeping your focus on systemic transformation.

If you want to learn more about RCA and how you can use it, contact us today. We'll give you a free consultation, listening to your challenges and providing our insights.

We have a few humble requests for our readers. Please:

Liberally share this post with your colleagues and peers, your bosses and subordinate staff, your friends... anyone you think might be interested (see links up top)

Give us your feedback on this post and any others on The Snowbank, including your thoughts, experiences with the topic at hand, etc.

If you have questions about RCA and how to get started, please contact us by clicking on the button below and we'll set up some time to talk

Video: Expanding Coverage to Increase Your Non-profit's Impact

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 11:39:01 GMT

How to Use Relationship Marketing to Help More People in Need

We have a few humble requests for our readers. Please:

Read our previous posts to learn why Relationship Marketing is essential to grow your non-profit's client base and get more details on how to use it .

Liberally share this post with your colleagues and peers, your Executive Directors, your Marketing professionals, etc. ( see links up top )

Give us your feedback on this post and any others on The Snowbank, including your thoughts, experiences with the topic at hand, etc.

If you have questions or just can’t wait to get going to serve more people, please contact us by clicking on the button below and we'll set up some time to talk

Seven Steps to Draw People in Need to Non-profits Providing Help

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 13:17:13 GMT

How to Use Relationship Marketing to Attract New Clients

In our last post , we explained why Relationship Marketing (RM) is essential to drawing new non-profit clients, including those who are under-served and/or hard to reach. Although it’s very effective, RM isn’t just about donors. It can also be applied to accomplish more mission-oriented goals, ultimately increasing the impact non-profits have on their communities. At its core, RM is about learning about audiences, personalizing outreach, and tailoring the client experience (CX) to key segments to inform, influence, and deliver what people need and want

Our experiences with non-profits shows they’re often missing large swaths of their eligible populations. While they make significant impacts on the lives of those they’re helping, there are so many more who can benefit from but aren’t using them. We’ve routinely seen non-profits serving as little as ten percent of the people who could and should be taking advantage of their services .The “missing” can comprise thousands of uncaptured potential clients, so there is plenty of demand. Opportunities to make even greater impacts are significant.

What’s causes these “gaps?” There are many reasons. For a lot of non-profits, people who could really use the help they’re not coming to get may, for example:

Be unaware of what’s available and the organizations that provide it

Have difficulties accessing them, for a variety of reasons

Feel insecure about approaching and engaging with providers

Are influenced by cultural norms that are resistant to institutional help

These are just some limiting factors, and the details are unique to different groups in a larger community. Overcoming them takes an understanding of group barriers and tailored responses.

Influencing their behaviors is a process that runs from initial contact to the environment and quality of service delivery (and post-delivery engagement). Getting it right is critical, as perceptions are shaped by every interaction. Experiences along the way dictate whether messages reach the target audiences, what they hear, how they react, and what they do after they receive services. With RM, non-profits have a lot of control throughout these journeys and can significantly affect behaviors with effective strategies and tactics.

How to Use RM to Bring People In

2. Segmenting— Defining key groups is foundational to RM, providing the ability to tailor marketing approaches. Unless non-profits only cater to particular demographics, eligible populations aren’t monolithic. Analysis of the information from research will enables marketers to find segments, based on factors such as race, ethnicity, age, sex, income levels, geography, etc. Correctly identified, segments should have common attributes, e.g., awareness, obstacles, information sources, media preferences, and who members trust.

3. Personifying— No, it’s not possible to have a coffee with every prospective client to explain why they should take advantage of a non-profit’s services. However, marketers can develop profiles of typical people in the key segments, putting faces, names, and stories to the data and bringing it to life. Personas help marketers remember they’re dealing with real people, and make it easier to understand when to communicate, what to say, and how to express messages. They also help organizations increase access and improve experiences.

4. Modeling— Non-profits need to guide people on their journeys from prospects to clients to advocates. Building and activating relationships is a process—sometimes an extended one. The task is to keep things going forward. Journey maps help visualize how individuals will typically progress, including their knowledge, emotions, behaviors, and “off ramps.” This enables organizations to build responsive marketing plans and proactively intervene at critical milestones to ensure people stay on the desired path.

5. Operationalizing— At this point, non-profits should be ready to create strategies and tactical plans contact, interest, and convert target audiences into clients. There will be things to do at each stage of their journeys, such as defining messages, determining the right media, and deciding on placements to lead people and overcome their barriers. With limited budgets, prioritizing groups will also be important, as organizations will likely need to make choices about where to focus available resources for the greatest impacts.

6. Implementing— This involves content creation, media development, distribution, etc. It’s also important to keep in mind that ultimately, it’s the entire experience that will determine if and how a person engages with a non-profit, e.g., seeking more information, coming for help, and giving positive testimony to peers. Marketing is key, but non-profits also have to deliver on their promises, from provider attitudes and privacy assurances to ease of use and program efficacy. It’s on organizations to back up marketing’s assertions.

7. Adapting— Lastly, non-profits have to monitor and adjust to the results of their efforts. The amount of data available today is staggering—there are no excuses for continuing approaches that aren’t working! Data analytics allows organizations to identify key points at which people aren’t following calls to action. Using the journey map can help pinpoint why, whether it’s the message, media, presentation, or some other issue. There’s often some trial and error—if something’s ineffective, it’s time to change content or tactics.

RM takes time and effort, but it’s well spent if you’re a non-profit seeking to increase your impact by helping more people in need. If you’re not employing it now, it’s quite likely more effective and efficient than what you’re currently doing. If you’ve read our last two posts and still aren’t quite convinced it works, though, you can read a real-life story about how a non-profit successfully employed RM to bring in people from groups that had been difficult to reach and persuade. Come back next week for our final on this topic next—we’ve got a great example!

What You Can Do Right Now

You don’t have to wait for our example to get the ball rolling toward expanding your client base. We suggest three things if you’re interested in taking an RM approach:

Talk to the “base”— You can start by asking current clients about their experiences. What were their challenges and concerns? What happened that made them overcome them? You can ask for confidential feedback (e.g., feedback cards) when they’re in for help, and even informal discussions can give insights into how to reach more people like them.

Get help to go forward— We might be a little biased here, but this is a lot for non-profits to take on. Many are already overloaded, and RM takes skills marketers aren’t always confident they have. At the least, there are trainings and supporting tools available. If you don’t have the time or resources, qualified consultants can help drive the process.

Find out more— We’re happy to talk to you more about RM, how it can help expand your clientele, and how to go about the process. Snowflake offers a free one-hour consultation just for this reason, and we’ll pass along resources that will give you a better idea of what to do. Don’t worry—there are no expectations or obligations associated with this!

We have a few humble requests for our readers. Please:

Read our last post to learn why Relationship Marketing is essential to grow your non-profit's client base. And, check out our video tutorial on the process.

Liberally share this post with your colleagues and peers, your Executive Directors, your Marketing professionals, etc. ( see links up top )

Give us your feedback on this post and any others on The Snowbank, including your thoughts, experiences with the topic at hand, etc.

If you have questions or just can’t wait to get going to serve more people in need, please contact us by clicking on the button below and we'll set up some time to talk

Increasing Non-profit Impacts by Helping More People

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:20:39 GMT

How Relationship Marketing Gets New Clients in the Door

In previous posts, we’ve talked about the value of Relationship Marketing (RM) In non-profits’ efforts to secure more donors and continuously increase total contributions.

That’s incredibly important for sustainability and advancement, to be sure. However, getting more financial gifts from the community isn’t any non-profit’s mission. All non-profits exist, of course, to provide some sort of social benefit, often in the form of help to people in need. They strive for impact and, for those in the line of human services, success is defined by the extent to which populations served experience positive outcomes. This requires developing effective programs and making them both accessible to and used by the affected populations.

Aside from financial stability, there are three core things non-profits have to accomplish to advance toward mission fulfillment, supporting everyone in the community who needs them:

Generate the right outcomes for existing clients

Provide a great end-to-end client experience

Draw in new clients, serving more people in need

Client-focused RM is primarily about turning “prospects” into clients. However, outcomes and experiences are also critical factors in encouraging client growth. RM improves them as well.

RM’s foundation is audience research, which enables non-profits to identify sub-groups and learn about their unique needs, barriers, preferences, and influencers. With this knowledge, they can more easily reach and inform those who will benefit from their services, and encourage them to engage. By tailoring marketing efforts to specific audiences, non-profits can talk to prospective clients on a personal level. People are more likely to hear what organizations have to say, trust them, turn to them for support and, ultimately, talk positively to their neighbors.

The ultimate goal here is to affect behaviors—to persuade individuals in different groups to come to non-profits for help. Let’s take a closer look at four ways RM helps organizations do this:

Personally engages. When non-profits understand populations of concern, they can customize outreach. They can tailor communications to specific groups based on common characteristics, personalizing messages, media, placement, etc. This allows them to reach people and meet them on their terms, providing information in forms and language that resonate and address their concerns. Moreover, RM optimizes time and cost, allocating resources to where they’re most effective instead of wasting efforts on “casting wide nets.”

Builds relationships. There’s a key word in RM, and it isn’t “marketing.” Fundamentally, RM is about personally relating to people, and building relationships with them. Non-profits need to identify and develop trust with every person they want to serve. This includes knowing and overcoming behavioral obstacles, creating environments and providing services that deliver on promises, and leveraging client experiences. It’s an end-to-end process. RM gives non-profits the tools they need to make it happen.

Improves experiences. Both initial information gathered and feedback loops throughout each individual’s “journey” enable non-profits to improve in several areas. For example, they may learn about access barriers such time off, transportation, etc. and can take action to overcome them. Feedback can help adjust marketing approaches. In addition, it gives non-profits information they need to customize the client experience from intake to service delivery to follow-up, ensuring clients feel valued, secure, and satisfied.

Creates advocates. Over time, RM can have exponential effects. When new clients have positive engagements with non-profits, they can become “community ambassadors,” taking their experiences back to their neighbors. Whether they give word-of-mouth or are deployed more formally, prospective clients identify with them, and their stories influence their decisions. Testimonials can increase their neighbors’ awareness, change perceptions, build confidence, and break down cultural barriers even better than effective marketing.

Human-centered non-profits help people in need. The more people they help, the greater their impact on individuals, families and, in the end, communities. RM is a potent tool for non-profits looking to capture new clients and support even more of the population than they already do, including those segments that are hard to reach and/or demographically, geographically, or otherwise underserved. RM is far more effective than other marketing methods and, in the long run, can take on a life of its own, saving non-profits money while further increasing client bases.

In our next post, we talk more about the key components of RM, outlining the key steps non-profits need to take to successfully harness its power. Read it now !

We have a few humble requests for our readers. Please:

Read our next post to learn how to use Relationship Marketing to grow your non-profit's client base (available February 21st)

Liberally share this post with your colleagues and peers, your Executive Directors, your Marketing professionals, etc. (see links up top)

Give us your feedback on this post and any others on The Snowbank, including your thoughts, experiences with the topic at hand, etc.

If you have questions or just can’t wait to get to the next post, please contact us by clicking on the button below and we'll set up some time to talk

Hope, Anticipation, Joy, Peace

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 16:05:04 GMT

A message for Christmas and the New Year

Do you remember, as a child, how much you longed for a particular gift, waited anxiously for the "big day" and, when you received whqt you wanted, felt really happy? As an adult, you've probably made New Year's resolutions, waiting (maybe patiently, perhaps not) for January 1st when you'd start anew and do things differently? Even amidst the hustle of the season, many of you also find an inner peace being with your loved ones (although admittedly, there may be limits to how much you can take). This is what the "winter holidays" should be about: hope, anticipation, joy, and peace.

For us, these holidays are Christmas and New Year's Day. We, as Catholic Christians, feel hope in the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ, both in the past when He came to the world in the flesh and in the future when He will come again. We wait and watch to make sure we don't miss Him. We feel joy when we celebrate His birth and remember that while He physically ascended into Heaven, He is still with us today, and we know we'll feel it even more at the end of time. Our faith gives us a deep sense of comfort, a peace only He can give. From Advent to Christmas Day, this is us.

We also "close the books" on reflect on the past year, and we look ahead seeking both continuity and change. We scour the pipeline and plot our next moves to help make the new year prosperous and impactful. We trust in the future, knowing that no matter what happens, whether expected or unexpected, positive or negative, God makes all things good in the end. Our planning inolves discerning His will and deciding to do it, even if it takes us in a different direction. Sometimes, we see why we made the choices we did right away. In other instances, this will only become apparent later on.

What Happened in 2023?

On the surface, 2023 wasn't the greatest year for Snowflake. Projects we "counted on" (not that you can ever really do that in this line of work) didn't materialize early in the year for reasons beyond our control, and that was tough to recover from. However, this did allow us to try some different things and, providentially, we ended up with several new clients in a much stronger second half. We welcomed Human Life Action, Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley, Madison Free Clinic, and Denver's Neighborhood Development into the fold. And, we continued with several existing clients .

We were "this close" on proposals in the free and charitable clinic field, in particular, and with some other organizations we connected with. We had the opportunity to exhibit at the City-County Communications Association's ( 3cma's ) Annual Conference in Orlando, making great contacts in local government while generating interest in the concept of "in-house integration." We re-certified as a Certified B Corporation® , a key milestone for our company. In addition, just last week, Snowflake became a Supporting Partner with the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (VAFCC)!

One other thing we were able to do is write. Our articles focused primarily on two areas: (1) Non-profit relationship marketing and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, and (2) The aforementioned value of integrating internal Communications functions with public-facing local government departments, enriching strategic efforts, access to services, and much more while reducing overall costs. You can read these posts on The Snowbank , our blog. We even caught the attention of search engines' artificial intelligence (AI), quoted as consulting experts on a few different topics!

What's Up for 2024?

There are two answers for this. First, we've got plans. We have a strong client pipeline that (we hope) will deliver new business for us early in the year. We intend to continue our series on local government communications. We'll be releasing some new courses on using data to govern and manage non-profits and on improving non-profit board governance, and we've got a few others in development too. And, we'll be seen at major conferences, both speaking and exhibiting (see us at the 3cma annual event again next year in Texas, and at other national and regional affairs we'll announce soon).

All of this in summary is we plan to be out in front helping our clients and our target sectors do what they do, better, and then do more. Whether it's through direct services or education, we've got a lot to offer, and we intend to be more aggressive in delivering more in the service of individuals and communities. We have several groups we want to pursue, including but not limited to: (1) Local governments and (2) Non-profits focused on providing under-served populations with life affirmation, housing, health care, social services, and employment solutions, mainly at the "front lines."

That said, as mentioned earlier, God may have other plans that trump ours. We continue to listen and discern His will for us in prayer, both in terms of direction and in the event what we're expecting doesn't happen. We're ready to shift gears at a moment's notice and, as 2023 showed, even the failure of our best-laid efforts will open different doors that allow us to make an impact where we're supposed to. We were founded in response to God's calling to love our neighbors, using our talents to help organizations transform lives and communities. That's what will continue to do, wherever 2024 takes us.

Hope, Anticipation, Joy, and Peace

Let's remember what these holidays are really about: New beginnings. Jesus came to give us the opportunity to start anew in our relationships with God. We should embrace that and live as we ought, joyfully following His commandments to love God and love one another as He loves us. We'll use this Christmas to renew our commitments to do just that through our company's mission and our individual talents. And we'll use the New Year as a "clean slate," full of hope for and anticipation of what we can accomplish, with peace in our hearts knowing He is with us every step of the way.

To all of you, thank you for supporting us, thank you for doing what you do, and thank you for letting us help. We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Please follow us on LinkedIn and join our mailing list to stay connected.

How In-house Communications Delivers Better Strategic Choices

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 13:18:22 GMT

Local Government Communications Series – Chapter Two

Our Local Government Communications Series intends to promote cross-disciplinary and cross-functional integration, or continuous, comprehensive engagement of local governments’ Communications departments by those in public-facing, mission-focused roles and functions. In the series Introduction , we explained at a high level why such integration is essential to aligning services, conveying messages, and generating desired constituent actions. Chapter One covered how municipal leaders view and use the Communications expertise available to them, showing the contrast between the “ideal” and the typical reality. Here, in Chapter Two, we show how in-house Communications can help drive public-facing departments’ strategies.

Listening is Key to Responsive Government

Communications is more than just pushing messages. As we found earlier, though, many local government leaders think it’s just that—getting critical information out to the public. However, communications includes the “voice of the people,” too. That’s essential to responsive strategy, ensuring both governments and their constituents are optimally served. In context, this generally means providing the most relevant and impactful services, delivering on a timely basis and with acceptable quality, and influencing people’s behaviors. Also, departments have to be able to identify the internal challenges that their ability to do these things, and the individual and relative costs and benefits of addressing them so they can prioritize investments.

Listening and learning is essential in telling local governments what constituents need and want, how much they like or dislike how they’re currently being served, and what keeps them from acting as hoped. There are three key elements to this:

Asking good questions of the right people to get quality answers

Developing strategies responsive to demands and conditions requires, among other things, understanding and incorporating constituents’ needs, wants, capabilities, and barriers. These often differ among sub-sets of the population. Learning requires asking and listening to all groups affected by the pertinent scope of services. That’s typically harder than it seems, since segments have to be identified, reached, persuaded to participate, and asked about issues in ways they can understand. This is the essence of “discovery,” or the definition of the environment to which leaders have to reply.

Interpreting information and providing leaders sound guidance

Engagement communications also support responsive strategy by analyzing constituents’ inputs. Using details gathered in interviews, focus groups, and/or surveys, researchers can identify “themes,” both in the population as a whole and in each of the key sub-sets. These are taken into account in the context of, for example, the goals of the inquiring organization as well as demographic data and trends (e.g., age groups, income brackets, and geographical areas). The combined information can advise leaders on priorities (where to focus first) and strategic solutions (what to do to meet the relevant demands).

Identifying outcomes and affecting strategy modifications

No matter how well-conceived, things don’t always work as planned. To be effective, local government leaders have to adjust when the results of strategic actions aren’t what they expected. This requires the ability to: (1) Recognize problems, and (2) Find out why, which can only be obtained by measuring (e.g., target populations’ use of and satisfaction with services) and receiving explanatory data. Constituents’ inputs, both spontaneous (e.g., direct feedback) and facilitated (e.g., focus groups and surveys) can offer a wealth of information. Their opinions are collected via inbound communications and proactive listening.

In-house Communications Brings it All Together

How so? The skills are clearly key, but those are available outside the government too. What’s harder to find is a deep appreciation of the nuances of a municipality’s inner workings, history, and local culture and sub-cultures. Having this knowledge is a game-changer. It’s much easier to identify the right audiences, reach and engage them, and ask the right questions in appropriate ways. This provides a rich understanding of constituents’ life situations, their experiences with the public sector, and other key details, and it enables more accurate, focused analysis of public feedback. No matter how reputable they are, the depth of locality-specific knowledge we’re talking about here typically can’t be found among external consultants.

Long-term exposure to the local landscape provides the foundation needed to formulate responsive strategies. It’s in-house resources that typically have this knowledge, and when it’s combined with the right skills, it’s powerful. Internal Communications functions typically have the required understanding of their governments, the populations, and the local contexts, and they have the necessary capabilities. This optimally positions them as subject matter experts (SMEs) so they can be internal consultants to government leaders, who become their internal clients. Together, they’re able to get the best information and extract key data points essential for sound strategic decisions, outcome measurement, and course corrections.

In-house Communications functions need to use their expertise

to be internal consultants participating in public-facing local

government departments' strategic deliberations and decisions.

This word “together” is very important. Consultants and clients work best when they leverage each other’s knowledge and experience, and Communications departments do everything themselves. Their value comes from partnerships, and creating successful relationships calls for integration. When they’re working side-by-side, in-house Communications professionals can develop a thorough understanding of internal client services, goals, and challenges, and in turn in turn provide their knowledge of the landscape and their skills to effectively listen and learn. Close partnerships aren’t developed overnight. It takes time and requires the kind of extensive interaction that can only happen if there is consistent, on-going collaboration.

In other words, the significant value Communications departments can provide is only possible if they aren’t an afterthought for, let alone ignored by, local government executives. They have to be deeply involved in what officials and public-facing departments are doing—informed, for sure, and even better actively participating in discussions and deliberations about everyday challenges as well as plans for the future. Ultimately, we’d like to see them be embedded with other departments in addition to providing “universal” services to the government as a whole (that’s an important concept to understand and it can take many forms, and it deserves its own treatment. We’ll talk about this more in a future article in this series.

What Can Communications Directors Do Now?

To be effective internal consultants and fulfill their value propositions, Communications departments need to change organizational mindsets that inhibit integration,. It’s often a challenge to transform the thinking of local government leaders who have grown accustomed to the status quo, and may not even be aware of what’s possible. Communications Directors also need the resources and skills to consistently deliver. While governments should make investments given the value proposition of integration (which, in fact, can help reduce overall costs), this won’t happen prior to “proof of concept.” Supplementing staff with outside consultants can help until reinforcements arrive, but they must be seamlessly incorporated into in-house teams.

All of this may seem overwhelming—we’re essentially asking for a bit of paradigm shift, and that’s not a short-term proposition. However, there are some things you as a Communications Director can and should do right now to lay the groundwork for (at least incremental) integration that supports strategic thinking. Here they are:

Think it Through, Write it Down

It may be intuitive to you, but your colleagues probably don’t recognize how much you can help them understand the environment and make sound strategic decisions. Take the time to explicitly define and document what, as a consultant, you can (and could, with the right resources) offer in this regard (hint: see above), so you can clearly articulate it to your would-be internal clients.

Start Small to Grow Your Footprint

A great place to start is by offering to do constituent surveys to get feedback on experiences with one specific department. Don’t just provide the raw numbers. Play with the data and give your expert insights! Consider it a “pilot” to start demonstrating your value to your client. This will also help introduce executives to the idea of integrated consultant and client relationships.

Offer Up a Model for Integration

The third thing you're going to have to do is define what deeper integration with public-facing departments can look like given your situation. This may not look the same as it will for your peers in other governments, depending on your resources. We’ll talk about “mature” solutions later in this series, but don’t wait. Tell your "pilot" department how it can be, and get involved.

What's Next in This Series?

Check back soon for the next posts covering how integrated Communications can:

Improve government cost-effectiveness and sustainability
Expand constituents’ awareness and understanding of what’s available
Remove barriers to action and influencing population behaviors
Enhance the quality of and “user experiences” with public services

Or, contact us to talk more about strategic integration of in-house Communications.

We have a few humble requests for our readers. Please:

Read the introductory post to this series for an overview of our concept of integrating Communications in local governments

Liberally share this post with your colleagues and peers, your administrators, department directors, etc. (see links up top)

Give us your feedback and keep checking back for our next installment on how a strong Communications function can make government better

If you have questions or just can’t wait to get through this series, contact us by clicking on the button below

What Do Local Government Leaders Think About Communications?

Sun, 22 Oct 2023 11:28:15 GMT

Local Government Communications Series – Chapter One

“I really wish my City Manager could hear this,” one city’s Communications Director told us one morning on the way to the 2023 3CMA Annual Conference floor.

She was referring to our discussion about weaving Communications departments’ expertise into the fabric of local government services, decisions, and delivery. This “integration,” or “comprehensive involvement” through close, on-going collaboration with public-facing functions in strategic, consultative, and tactical roles. It’s working “with” rather than “for” them, in a “one team” relationship that enables executives to “know” key populations, provide what they need, create positive experiences, reach and inform them, and influence behaviors.

In the first post in this series , we summarized the major benefits of integration. We’ll go into more detail about “how” in future posts, but for now it suffices to say it can help:

Assure relevant, timely, quality services are available, accessible, and used

Increase cost-effectiveness, delivering results at lower “total government” costs

In our “side discussions” at the conference, most attendees said they didn’t have a significant degree of integration. They told us that more often than not, Communications is seen by others as tactical function tasked with designing, producing, and distributing messages on behalf of administrators and departments (some said there were departments that didn’t engage them at all, using their own resources to reach the public). In other words, the “outsider’s” impression is that Communications exists to “spread the word,” after the “important” work has been done.

We didn’t have the time to dive into what “so much more” means, but she was right in her thinking. The “minimalist” views held by some administrations and executives leading public-facing functions are misguided. When they “think small” about how to use their governments’ resident Communications expertise, they’re less likely to be actively listening and responding to their diverse constituencies. The relevance, quality, and efficacy of their services will suffer as a result, and these governments may also end up heaping unnecessary costs on taxpayers.

In contrast, leaders who see recognize the full potential of Communications teams partner to research, learn, and strategize, and effectively connect with constituents. They don’t guess or “go it alone,” but capitalize on resident expertise and use it in deliberations, decisions, and actions. They’re able to better understand, prioritize, and design services that meet community and specific population segments’ needs, improve interactive experiences, develop widespread awareness, and elicit desired responses, resulting in significantly greater cost-effectiveness.

Given these results, it’s important to ask why some local governments aren’t integrating their Communications departments. We asked this in our conversations, and heard:

Colleagues are unaware they can use dedicated internal Communications services

They don’t realize Communications’ full scope and depth of expertise

They fail to recognize the value proposition of integration

Some don't respect Communications as a field (and their opinions are firm)

Communications functions aren’t given the resources, so they limit themselves

When one or more of the above conditions are true, integration just isn’t happening. And, as explained above (and recognized by the professionals we spoke to at the conference), this is a significant opportunity lost. The only remedy is to change the mindsets that control leaders’ perceptions and the budgets that fund Communications departments. This is largely a job for Communications organizations themselves, and it starts with being able to make the case and articulate the “ask.” Stay tuned for the next several articles in this series – they’ll help with this!

Author's Note

A question lingers for us: Which situation prevails in local governments? At this point, we can only draw from what we heard during and after the conference, while also recognizing the awards some localities received for exceptional examples of collaboration. Although it seems unlikely given the number of discussions we had, it’s possible our sample, while random, ended up skewing towards people whose teams are under-utilized, and more governments are “up to speed” on integration than it seems. That’s why we want you to tell us your experiences .

We have a few humble requests for our readers. Please:

Read the introductory post to this series for an overview of our concept of integrating Communications in local governments

Liberally share this post with your colleagues and peers, your administrators, department directors, etc. (see links up top)

Give us your feedback and keep checking back for our next installment on how a strong Communications function can make government better

If you have questions or just can’t wait to get through this series, contact us by clicking on the button below

Integrating Communications to Transform Local Government

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 12:56:46 GMT

Local Government Communications Series - Introduction

We just came back from a great week (minus the flights) in Orlando, Florida, where we were a sponsor and exhibitor at the 2023 City-County Communications and Marketing Association (3CMA) 2023 Annual Conference. Snowflake is, of course, a services firm. At this event, we were among myriad of website, data, and other product-oriented vendors with super-fun demos that we sadly lack, so our message was a bit unique. We’re consultants who empower local governments to deliver better and transform lives and communities, not by software, but from a strategic standpoint.

In alignment with our mission and expertise, we went to show our market research, segmentation, personalization, and analytics capabilities , but as the conference went on, our “macro-message” to this group of communications professionals evolved. We said, “You’re essential to your organizations’ ability to consistently provide responsive, high-quality, accessible services, in any conditions.” It was clear from talking to people that this idea resonated with them, and that they’re typically not seen or used that way by their peers. With our capabilities, we can help change this situation!

On the conference's first night, we thought about the very basic things communications organizations do for local governments. For example, they: (1) Convey information, e.g., telling the community about services, issues, happenings, and changes, and providing guidance as situations warrant, and (2) Foster public engagement, e.g., encouraging participation by advertising government meetings and other opportunities for input, marketing services so constituents will take advantage of them, and actively soliciting feedback to help improve the “customer experience.”

This thought certainly drew interest from conference attendees. Hopefully, it captures yours too and, even better, you find it affirming as a communications professional (and if you’re a local government executive, just pay attention—this is important)! Now, we do have to give a quick reality check here, though. We said the vision for communications has to “evolve,” and governments need to invest, respect, and understand how to integrate and leverage the capabilities their communications organizations bring. This will only happen if communications teams can consistently demonstrate their value.

Don’t worry if this sounds intimidating or even impossible. It's not, and that’s why we’re here! In upcoming weekly blog posts, we’ll walk through several things to guide you on your path to realizing the potential of communications in local government, including:

How governments tend to view communications, and why it’s misguided

What communications organizations should be doing to support governments

How an effective communications function helps make local government better:

Informing priorities, strategies, and budgeting
Increasing total cost-effectiveness and sustainability
Expanding awareness by reaching key constituents
Removing “action barriers” and influencing behaviors
Enhancing quality of and access to public services

Why "specialize and integrate" is the best approach to communications

What being a “mission partner” looks like, and why this model is essential

How to build the workforce communications organizations need to deliver

We’ll close our weekly posts with a summary and some suggestions on how to make (and get the outcomes shown in) the “business case” for local governments investing in communications. By the end of the series, we hope many of you will be able to change executive mindsets, further develop your organizations’ capabilities and people and, ultimately, contribute even more to the effectiveness of your government. Of course, Snowflake will work with you in any way you need in your efforts to accomplish this. We’d also love for you to tell us your stories as you make this journey.

We have a few humble requests for our readers. Please:

Liberally share this post with your colleagues and peers, your administrators, department directors, etc. (see links up top)

Give us your feedback and come back next week for our next installment, in which we'll discuss perspectives on communications

If you have questions or just can’t wait to get through this series, contact us by clicking on the button below

Making the Transition to Relationship Marketing

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 13:00:00 GMT

Great experiences deliver lasting, rewarding donor relationships

Our recent three-part blog series introduced the concepts of relationship marketing and the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that enables it. But, while we talked about it some in the first post, we recognize we gave short shrift to the foundational modern marketing philosophy of developing and maintaining productive donor relationships through the experiences people have with non-profits. Since we argued a CRM system is necessary for non-profits to employ relationship marketing, it would probably help to know more about why you should do it in the first place, and the basic process and key elements involved.

Relationship marketing delivers better fundraising outcomes

First, let’s talk a bit more about why you should care about “going modern” and taking a new look at how your non-profit is marketing. There’s one big reason: Relationship marketing can generate a much higher and more consistent return on investment (ROI) than the traditional and “try everything” things many organizations are focusing on now. What does this mean? Well, for every dollar and every hour you put into outreach and engagement efforts, you’ll get far more back from donors than most non-profits are now, and you’ll be more effective at maintaining your base over time. Read: Sustainability, predictability, and growth.

This isn’t just a theory. Many businesses have been focused on building long-term customer relationships by marketing differently, with great success. However, non-profits have been slow to catch on, for a variety of reasons—not least because the wheels turn slowly in the sector when it comes to outside innovations. Changing mindsets is a difficult proposition, and even highly experienced development professionals aren’t ready to adopt modern practices. In addition, relationship marketing requires investment in people and in the aforementioned CRM systems. ROI is proven (almost $9 per dollar spent) but the outlay can be scary, and risks do exist.

There is also the non-profit aversion to putting money into “overhead.” It’s been driven into leaders’ heads, over and over again, that only a miniscule portion of the budget should be allocated to things like management, administration, and marketing. However, returns from appropriately investments in your donors are needed to strengthen programs, serve more people in the relevant population(s), increase benefits, expand scope, etc. And in fact, adding significant income from donations will fix the “imbalance” over time—in the short term, the percent to programs may decrease, but in the long term this ratio will go back up.

What are the basics of relationship marketing?

Relationship marketing is about… you guessed it… developing and maintaining long-term, productive relationships with prospects and donors. What’s needed to do this successfully? Well, it’s a process, starting from the first time someone is introduced to your cause and ending when that person is serving as an “ambassador” for your organization to friends, colleagues, etc. The graphic below shows the main stages involved in relationship development. It’s important to remember not everyone starts at the beginning—some people will already know about you, have donated to you, etc. That just means they’ve gone through the previous stages already while others haven’t, so you’ll be engaging different people at different points.

The Relationship Journey: A Road Map from the “Newbie” to the Active Supporter

There are at least six things that are important to understand as you walk with your prospects and donors through the process above:

1. Relationships are with people, not with their checkbooks and credit cards

Modern marketing means viewing each donor as a person with her own interests, feelings, preferences, influencers, decision drivers, etc. If they’re going to give and then come back with more, you need to make a personal connection. Think about friendships—you take an interest in an individual, get to know her, develop trust, and, eventually do things for her good. You receive something from this, such as satisfaction of helping her, a favor from her, etc., and as a result you want to keep doing things. Notice you don’t become friends with her shirt, but with her. It’s the same with donors. You need to approach them as individuals, not dollar bills.

2. You have to get to know prospects and donors on a very personal level

The amount of donor data available today is breathtaking, yet many nonprofits don’t capture or use it. This is a big missed opportunity. Building rewarding relationships requires knowing your priority segments in depth. Key details that describe them can be obtained by asking (e.g., donor surveys and/or focus groups) and by using data about the types of people who interact with and ultimately donate to you. This information is essential to paint clear pictures, or “personas,” representative of the groups that contribute to you. You need them to retain people and increase their gifts, and target prospects from donor pools proven to be productive.

3. Their experiences with you significantly affect their decision-making

Prospects and donors form opinions, even if you had nothing to do with them. They come from every experience—first exposure, efforts to learn more, the “ask,” an attempt to give money, etc. The quality of their Interactions (or non-interactions) create positive, negative, or indifferent thoughts and feelings, which drive decisions to continue walking with you or take an “off ramp” due to loss of interest, frustration, dissatisfaction, or other issues. One good experience at a single touchpoint doesn’t guarantee conversion or retention. Everyone in your key segments needs to stay consistently interested, engaged, and satisfied along the way.

4. You can design experiences that will convert, keep, and leverage donors

The good news is that you have the power to create the kinds of experiences that make people want to develop long-term, productive relationships with you. You have control over communications, destinations, and responsiveness, and you can make it easy for prospects and donors to do what you want at every touchpoint from the initiation to becoming repeat supporters and advocates. Influence comes from what you say, who says it, when, where, and how messages are conveyed, and what happens next, which has to be customized to your target segments’ attributes (see #2, above). You need to design and implement strategies that cater to your donor pool s.

5. It's not “out with the old, in with the new”—it’s what your targets prefer

Many non-profits still rely on the newsletter and the annual appeal, delivered by “snail” or e-mail. On the other extreme, some go all in on every social media platform, trying to cover all their bases and attract anyone to their causes. This isn’t cost-effective, and it won’t return a high ROI. Basically, if your target segments want it, do it. In principle, this can mean anything—quarterly, “on paper” updates, PDFs on web sites, e-mails, text, blog posts, videos posted on specific channels, etc. When you know and cater to your key segments, you won’t waste valuable time and limited financial resources on things people won’t read or messages that won’t resonate.

6. If something not’s going right, you have to see and fix what’s wrong

Back to that data thing… it’s not just for personas, it’s also for monitoring and adjusting your strategies and tactics to assure your efforts are working. Analytics allow you to track virtually everything about how people interact you, from basic (e.g., dollars resulting from annual appeal letters) to more complex (and useful) information such as donor behaviors (e.g., how they engage with different messages, media, and placements). There are no reasons to be static in modern marketing. You can know who’s clicking on links from different channels, responding to one message vs. another, and much more, and shift your attention to what’s working.

Where does CRM technology fit into all of this?

We started this series talking about the need for non-profits to adopt relationship marketing, and a CRM system is necessary to support it. Let’s bring it full circle. As can be seen from the above discussion, it can take a good deal of effort to build and maintain personal, mutually rewarding relationships with donors, and you also need a lot of information. We previously discussed how good CRM platforms customize outreach, automate time-consuming tasks, collect key data, and provide critical, comprehensive donor analytics (and the time to make use of them)—all of which are needed to make relationship marketing work for non-profits.

As such, CRM technology isn’t just recommended for relationship marketing, it’s essential to it. Without good enabling software, it will likely be too time-consuming to stay on top of what needs to be done (as it is now for many non-profits) and, relatedly, it will be difficult to recognize and take advantage of different delivery options that respond to donor needs and preferences. While non-profits may be able to develop accurate personas through, for example, surveys and focus groups, the collection and maintenance of wide-ranging donor data and the ability to utilize analytics will be challenging. Good CRM systems solve these problems.

Importantly, relationship marketing also requires a shift in mindset from “how we’ve always done it” to “what donors need today.” For development professionals willing to learn, the rationale and logic is relatively easy to grasp, and the ROI has been demonstrated. However, the effort and new knowledge required can seem daunting. Exposure to CRM technology can help alleviate some concerns and make the transition easier to embrace. This is not to recommend going out and buying a CRM system as a first step. Rather, marketers should be encouraged to explore general platform capabilities when introduced to relationship marketing as a practice.

What should we do to start modernizing donor marketing?

Your non-profit should do four things now to get in position to realize the ROI that relationship marketing brings with it: (1) Get your key managers and staff trained in relationship marketing, (2) Research, segment, and personify your current donor base, and (3) Map key segment journeys and develop custom marketing strategies, and (4) Get a good CRM system to make building and maintaining long-term, productive donor relationships more efficient and successful. What you shouldn't do is wait. Start the (r)evolution... there are donors out there just like the ones giving to you now, and they're waiting for you to find, inform, persuade, convert, engage with, and retain them.

Snowflake can help you make the transition for a greater ROI

We offer a full day, “hands-on” seminar, Introduction to Relationship Marketing: Creating Customized Donor Experiences , in which participants with development responsibilities learn to navigate the relationship cycle using “real-life” scenarios.

We provide executive advisory and comprehensive consulting services tailored to non-profits’ fundraising goals and capabilities, from coaching marketing leaders in developing their own strategies to researching donors and creating custom plans.

If you want to learn more about what you'll need from (and can afford to pay for) CRM software and find the right system for your non-profit, read Empowering Marketing with the Right Tools: What you need from CRM technology .

Need to convince yourself and your board to make the investment? We can help you build a great Business Case for CRM Technology that articulates the potential and probability for a high ROI and makes a compelling “ask” for a CRM platform.

Tell us about your non-profit, fundraising goals and current marketing methods, and issues, successes, and failures. Let's see what we can do together!

Navigating the Universe of CRM Platforms

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 13:00:00 GMT

How to choose the product that's right for your non-profit

Having worked through the questions discussed in the previous post in this series, you’ve now identified your functional requirements and the installation and integration services, training, and technical support you need. You’ve also established your budget for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product, its implementation, and its on-going maintenance. The remaining challenge is to find the right platform given what you’re looking for and what you can spend. You have three options: (1) Phone a friend, (2) Conduct market research, and (3) Issue a Request for Proposals (RFP). In theory, they’re all fine, but the first is limiting, and the second requires a lot of effort. Exploring is ideal... why not let others do the work for you by identifying themselves?

An RFP (or its close cousin, a Request for Information) is your best chance to see the breadth and depth of the market. You should cast a wide net. If you restrict the field to just the “popular” vendors, you’ll miss products that may meet your unique needs best.

Exploring the market by soliciting and evaluating proposals

Like any technology acquisition, there are at least two key steps in the CRM RFP process: (1) The RFP itself, and (2) Demonstrations of prospective vendors’ products. Soliciting and evaluating proposals helps eliminate the systems that clearly don’t meet your requirements and/or are too expensive, while the subsequent demonstrations of down-selected platforms allows you to assess their capabilities in action, so you have can see which one of them functions, looks, and feels right for your needs and wants.

1. What should go in the RFP?

Include information on your non-profit and details of what you want, e.g., product capabilities and integrations, and implementation and support services. Keep in mind, when you provide details in the RFP, you’ll help some vendors with products that don’t align and/or that have high costs “self-select out,” meaning actual submissions are more likely to be appropriate for your demands and constraints. Here are five RFP tips:

You’ve took the time to define your functional requirements in detail. Put them in your RFP. Ask vendors to indicate the extent to which their systems accommodate them. A list with check boxes for software capabilities related to each requirement (e.g., “full,” “partial,” or “none”) and space for further explanation can provide sufficient information to down-select products for demonstrations (see below).

Technical information is also important, as you'll want assurance platforms are capable of integrating with the applications you use, your network, etc. As such, you should provide relevant information on your technology environment and key applications that need to connect or be replaced by the CRM system. Also ask about things like security, to help assure sensitive donor data won’t be compromised.

Request vendors provide specifics on what services they’ll provide to implement and support their products. This may include elements like installation, integration, training, maintenance updates, technical support, future upgrades, etc. Requiring proposers to give details—how they’ll do it, for how long, and what they’ll leave behind—is critical. If they won’t, or can’t, tell you in depth, that’s a “red flag.”

Cost is obviously essential. We suggest including your budget, preferably as a range. Then, request a breakdown of the up-front product costs for your planned number of users, any customization, implementation and user training, etc., "scalability" expenses (e.g., extra licenses), and recurring costs for support. This is where the “devil” often is—what will (and won’t) vendors bill you for in the future?

Evidence of vendor past performance and client outcomes using the proposed CRM system for similar purposes as yours is essential. Ask for several examples, including descriptions of what was provided, return on investment (ROI), and references who can attest to their experiences the firms and their products. Also, request an example of an "implementation gone wrong," the reason(s), and the resolution(s).

2. How do you evaluate vendor responses?

Having asked for quite a bit, you’ll receive proposals containing a lot of information to review and interpret. Your RFP will narrow the field, but you’ll still be offered products that won’t meet your requirements, and others will do it all but cost a lot. Some of the more cost-friendly solutions may do most of what you want. It's entirely possible, if not likely, there won't be a "perfect fit," and there will be tradeoffs. Here are five tips:

With so much to consider, one person shouldn't decide for the entire organization, even if it’s small. We suggest a review committee, preferably comprising some regular end users, leaders who rely on related reports (e.g., the Executive Director and Development Director), an information technology (IT) resource, and a couple of staff and/or board members who aren't close to the system.

Analyze all products on the same terms, using consistent evaluation criteria and a scoring rubric. Include categories such as: (a) Product Functionality, (b) Technology Integration, (c) Implementation and Training Services, (d) Post-Implementation Support, (e) Vendor Reliability and Results, and (f) Up-front and Annual Costs. You should consider weighting based on importance, though they may be the same!

Related to the last point, you don’t want to settle for less than you require. Setting minimum thresholds—for each criterion and overall—will enable you to exclude products that, for example, offer appealing costs but don’t accommodate your “must have” requirements. This will make sure you don’t end up with a system that won’t do the basics, is too difficult to integrate, isn’t user-friendly enough, etc.

Discard non-responsive proposals. It may be obvious, but this is worth reinforcing. You'll likely get submissions of marketing material, without direct answers to RFP questions. Vendors that won’t take the time to give you detailed, tailored responses probably won’t take it to support your non-profit, either. So, don’t be “wowed” by professional-looking brochures. Focus on the proposals that demonstrate care.

Down-select vendors offering products that appear to do what you need and the necessary supporting services, and that show ROIs from past implementations. These are the platforms you’ll want to see more of. Aim to see three or four proposers, depending on how many offers you receive and the evaluation results. This way, you can look at the different ways they provide the needed functionality.

3. What should you look for in product demonstrations?

Now’s your chance to get a sense of “look,” “feel,” “function,” etc. You get to see selected products in action, which is essential because users need to be comfortable with what they’re getting, and that’s hard to do just by reading proposals. Here are five tips for setting up, hosting, and evaluation demonstrations so you can be confident in choosing a platform that does what you want, simply, efficiently, and effectively.

Obviously, end users of the system should be present. They’re the ones interfacing with it the most, and they have to be comfortable using it. Main consumers of information should also be involved, since things like ability to generate real-time, on-demand reports, data presentation, and ease of interpretation are essential for monitoring outcomes and making informed strategic and tactical decisions.

As discussed above, you can’t evaluate a proposal without identifying key criteria. Similarly, it’s hard to assess a demonstration unless you articulate what you need to see. Know your functional needs and usability priorities—ease of account setup, secure remote access, page appeal and organization, workflow, integrations with other software, automated reports, etc.—as well as what you can live without.

Unless guided, vendors will show you the best of their products—what they want you to see, not necessarily what’s critical to you. That’s why you should provide them with a “script.” There are the basics, of course, but it’s also helpful to ask for demonstrations of specific scenarios reflecting "real-life" system use, tying them to your priorities so you can evaluate product performance in common-use situations.

Following the script, vendors will demonstrate their CRM software’s most relevant features. However, there is no substitute for actually interacting with each system to get a first-hand experience. Request that your key users have an opportunity to perform selected tasks within each product so they can fully gauge usability and ask direct questions about the user interface, processes, outputs, and other needs.

Explore analytics and reporting capabilities. While the technology behind them has made accessibility, facility, and utility better than ever, using data in CRM software can still be a complex task. Onboard analytics and custom outputs are features to look for. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an interesting development as well, as systems may be able to proactively present key trends, flag issues, and even offer solutions.

The (informed) choice is yours!

Want to learn more? Ready to get started?

The above post explained how to create, evaluate, and select from among a pool of the most relevant CRM software options for your non-profit’s needs. If you’re ready to “take the plunge,” contact Snowflake today . We’ll help you make the right decision to enable relationship marketing and maximize the ROI from your efforts!

If you’re still not convinced a relationship marketing approach will make a major impact and/or an enabling CRM product is an essential addition to your non-profit’s marketing arsenal, look back to the first post in this three-part series, Invest in Donors, Realize the Rewards: Relationship Marketing is for Everyone ! Then contact us .

There’s so much you can achieve by creating great donor experiences, customized to key segments. CRM systems empower your staff to build lasting, rewarding relationships. If you’re not sure what capabilities you need, review this series’ second post, Enabling Relationship Marketing with the Right Tools: What You Need from CRM Technology .

Finally, lest we forget the foundation of all of this, look for our next post with more details about relationship marketing to learn about it in greater detail.

Empowering Marketing with the Right Tools

Tue, 06 Jun 2023 13:00:00 GMT

What you need from CRM technology

In our previous post, we walked through what relationships mean for modern donor marketing and the benefits of “meeting people where they’re at” to inform, engage, convert, and retain. We explained how Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software enables non-profits to identify and learn about key segments, customize marketing strategies, increase efficiency, and more. In this article, we address what you need from a CRM system. That varies based on your size, strategy, staffing, budget, and other critical factors. So, you need to think through short- and long-term plans, needs and capacity now and as you scale up, budget, return on investment (ROI) potential, and integration, implementation, training and support requirements, etc.

CRM systems make sense, but they have to meet your needs

As we discussed earlier, the right CRM platform can enable relationship marketing and help you streamline marketing processes, improve communications and engagement, collect and analyze data to make informed decisions on donor strategies and tactics, and more. The challenge is finding one with the necessary capabilities at a cost they can afford. Answering nine key questions will help your organization lay out your requirements and budget so you know what you’re looking for, and what you can pay.

1. Who are your most important “givers?”

Non-profits can have a range of existing and prospective contributors, from current and prospective individual donors and members to corporate benefactors, as well as foundations and other sources of funding. Each of them provides something different, and they have unique needs. Understanding who your organization’s key funders are today is an essential first step in determining what you need a CRM system to do, since there are options ranging from simple individual donor engagement capabilities to more complex grants management tools, the benefits of which depend on who supports you.

2. What do you need your donors to do?

Obviously, non-profits want from donors is to contribute and, preferably, do it again. Relationship marketing requires you inform donors, build trust, influence decisions, and make it easy for them to give. You'll also want to keep them engaged, communicating your plans and needs so they donate again and, ultimately, getting them to advocate for you. “How” depends on their preferences and decision drivers—groups respond (or don’t) uniquely to the experiences they have with you. Getting an early sense of this and laying out the basics of your plans will influence what you need in a CRM system.

3. How large is your base, and who’s supporting it?

Size matters—particularly, the size of your donor pool. It’s also important to note the organizational roles involved in CRM activities. Requirements for managing a small base are different than for a large number of diverse funders, and also for one person vs. multiple people with fundraising as part of their responsibilities (e.g., the Executive Director, an Operations Director, and/or a board member or marketing committee) versus a dedicated department. All of this can affect CRM platform database (e.g., number of contacts), training, system access, security, and other requirements.

4. What are you prepared to do with a CRM system?

5. What are your long-term donor plans and strategies?

Review Questions 1 and 2 but look ahead to how you see your base changing in the future. Evaluating market potential is the first step—segments, sizes, funding capacity, etc. Also consider how you might engage different types of funders, as methods may depend on the targets, your expected outcomes, and their drivers, preferences, and influencers. At the same time, you have to project the human resources you’ll need, particularly in terms of skills and numbers, to support your evolving base. You want a system that can grow with you, not one that’s overcome by events fairly quickly.

6. Do you see yourself using CRM for more than donors?

CRM systems are key for prospect and donor engagement, but they can also be used to do much more. They can improve volunteer recruitment and communications, for example, and even enable or enhance client tracking and case management. Like they do with donor information, many non-profits are still using basic spreadsheets for things like these, while others use separate, distinct systems for them. Employing one single platform for all of it has many advantages for some non-profits. Examining what you do, what your clientele is like, and how CRM can help beyond donors may be worth the time.

7. What are your ideal “functional capabilities" for a CRM platform?

Having addressed the above, it’s time to identify the features you need in your system. Capabilities will range from organizing, sending, and tracking e-mail communications to customized donor profiles, integrated e-mail, telephone, text, and other outreach tools, automated processes, data capture (e.g., interactions and conversions) and analytics, payments and accounting, and more. They are also variations in number of users, access points, database capacity, user interfaces, and security. Listing and prioritizing needs and wants makes it easier to evaluate and select from among many options.

8. What’s the most you’re willing to spend on the product?

Of course, ability to pay is a significant factor in choosing a CRM system. Know the limits on the up-front cost your non-profit can absorb today. Remember, however, that this is an investment. You may want to look for additional, short-term funding sources to give yourself more options for the greatest ROI. Keep in mind that if you choose correctly and your system is used to their fullest, your relationship marketing efforts will pay off far more than you put in. That said, you do need to consider risk tolerance, recognizing the volatility of the donor market and the fact there are things you can’t control.

9. What’s support will you need for implementation and maintenance?

Beyond its base cost, there are technical and people aspects involved in making a CRM system usable and useful for what you want to accomplish. Platform capabilities, integrations, and user training influence the level of effort required from both the non-profit and the vendor, and the cost to your organization. There are also recurring costs to account for, such as licensing, “help desk” services, changes to applications that feed the CRM system, and product updates and upgrades. It’s critical to determine what you can commit to product setup and on-going training, support, and upkeep.

The importance of this last point can’t be overstated. So many non-profits have tried certain products, only to find they're unable to use their capabilities as they'd hoped. Often, the problem isn’t the system itself, but the organizations "cutting corners" to save money. Using someone other than the vendor (e.g., through pro bono services or even by themselves) to implement the platform and train users, assuming users will "learn on the job," and other shortcuts don’t usually end well. If you decide to make the significant investment involved in CRM system procurement, take it all the way.

Great! Now how do we see what's on the market?

Come back next week for our third post in this series, Navigating the Universe of CRM Platforms: How to Choose the Product that’s Right for You . We’ll give you some tips that will help you explore what’s available and make the best choice for your non-profit.

Thanks to Tasha Van Vlack of Yeeboo Digital and her colleagues for their input into this second article of our series as well!

Investing in Donor Relationships, Realizing the Rewards

Tue, 30 May 2023 17:22:23 GMT

Relationship marketing is for everyone (get the tools to help)!

For non-profits, daily mission-centric and administrative support work is a big challenge! And, there are human resources issues to deal with, financial challenges to resolve, boards to effectively engage, and so on. Then there is the “high maintenance” joy of donor relationships. Maintaining and growing a solid donor base requires management, marketing, and engagement. There are donations to process, letters to write, web sites and social media accounts to maintain, campaigns to run, and events to plan and conduct. It's tough to effectively “do development” with everything else going on. It’s time-consuming, messy, and often inefficient. But, for sustainability and the ability to ultimately accomplish more, it’s absolutely critical.

As if “normal times” weren’t challenging enough, Covid-19 added new complexities. The pandemic forced mission-driven organizations to think creatively of new ways to serve their clients, keep their donors in the fold, and secure and even increase contributions, often in the face of greater need. The “silver lining” for many non-profit organizations has been new, more diverse supporters, and the need for new methods of interaction that can be taken forward to enrich development and reach, convert, and retain prior, existing, and new supporters. Opportunity is knocking at the door, but navigating the world of donors isn’t going to get easier. Fortunately, modern methods and tools—and the knowledge to use them—make it possible!

Interesting! What should we do to "meet the moment?"

The best thing you can do is take a relationship marketing approach, supported by an appropriate Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that enables your strategy. This means forming lasting relationships by creating “donor experiences” customized to key prospect segments: learning who targets are, personifying them, and engaging them where they’re at with what they need to hear. How do you do this? Research, tailored strategies, efficient implementation, outcome measurement, and adjustment. If this sounds like a lot, we have some great news! Your CRM software will enable everything, empowering you to create great donor experiences and making them easy to implement and maintain.

CRM systems do a lot of things to help develop and manage donor relationships while lessening the burden of tactical marketing activities, ultimately increasing return on investment (ROI) from your efforts. For example, CRM software can:

Integrate with your website, landing pages, point-of-sale (POS) tools, and other intake sources, and make capturing, logging, and tracking information easier.

Automate pre- and post-conversion communications, responding to inquiries and donations with personalized prompts and acknowledgements so you don’t have to.

Record every interaction with prospects and contributors, direct workflow to staff and volunteers, and send customized messages on a schedule you determine.

Connect with most non-profits’ accounting software, reducing administrative work and doing “annoying” things like issuing tax code-compliant donation receipts.

Store data and generate analytics with key information for learning about donors and customizing outreach to reach, resonate, and influence behaviors.

Great, but there's always a cost, so do we really need to do this?

Today’s donors expect personalized, customer-centric “experiences,” end-to-end. Don’t give them the information they want, when and where they’ll absorb it, and you won't capture their attention. If it isn’t easy for them to donate, you won’t convert them. And if you don’t produce the outcomes they want—whether those are materials, stories, reports, or tax receipts—you’re not going to retain them. It takes data-driven strategy, continuous engagement, administrative management, and more to do it right.

Meeting these expectations looks like it takes a lot of time, effort, and even expertise many non-profits don't have on-hand. True... but what you're doing now is likely more of a burden, and less effective. A change in mindset is a tremendous opportunity for more.

You may be using “traditional” methods and simple technology—a spreadsheet, a free-but-limited donor software, or outdates automation tools that don’t do much else. If you're more "advanced," you're probably following all the “trends,” as well. That's not cost-effective... you're not optimizing value from your time and money. Results are "spotty," and you're always. This hasn't been good for a while, and it's even less so in a modern, highly competitive world of new alternatives, preferences, influencers.

Relationship marketing with a focus on the donor experience—isn’t just an interesting idea. It's critical, and it works wonders. A good CRM system enables this approach and pays for itself. Still not convinced? Let’s take a closer look at what all of this does.

1. Strengthens and re-builds donor loyalty.

Without a strong, diverse donor base, non-profits can’t stay afloat. You need be both responsive and proactive, engaging supporters and treasuring your relationships so you're able to maintain and grow them over time.

A 2021 study from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (linked through Texas A&M) showed Americans opened their wallets as the pandemic took hold. Donations increased by 10.6%, with the biggest boost from new donors giving more small-dollar gifts. All of this happened while retention of existing donors actually decreased by 4.1%! What this means is new people were giving more, to organizations they'd never supported before.

It is absolutely essential non-profits engage and nurture these new supporters for the long term, conveying personally engaging, compelling stories about they’ve done with their donations (using money responsibly and generating incredible results for people who needed assistance during crisis, help with chronic needs, opportunities to grow, etc.) and telling them about the amazing things they have planned for the future.

At the same time, organizations may be able to recover donors who couldn't give during Covid, reaching out them with individualized communications to let them know they're important to you and the people who rely on you (hopefully, you were doing this before... if not, there's no time like the present). In essence, your efforts need to focus on building and maintaining loyalty - keeping the "new" and recouping the "old."

However, managing these relationships manually or with ancient software is a huge task with many steps and people involved. When simple things like “thank you” notes are already overlooked now, it's hard to imagine providing engaging today’s donors adequately. Enter CRM technology... everything's easier, from acknowledging gifts to sending the right messages to supporters where they are, at the right times.

2. Builds personal, lasting relationships.

Relationship marketing is all about learning. Who are your key segments? What do they want? Where do they go for information? How do they want to give? They also want to feel valued, to be seen not just as checkbooks but as real people helping your cause.

This depends on research. Fortunately, there's a ton of data out there, and it can tell you a ton about your donors. Demographic, economic, behavioral, and psychographic details help you identify and profile key segments, discover how best to approach them, and learn what to say. In simpler terms, data lets you get to know your donors “one-on-one,” tailoring interactions to keep relationships alive and expanding from there.

But how do you acquire and use data? Well, you should survey your current donors, but you should also follow interactions with you and explore what's working and what isn't. Modern CRM systems have the potential to collect huge amounts of current, relevant, and comprehensive data (in real-time and historical trends) in one place and bring it to life through analytics, so you can "paint the picture" and respond strategically.

This is so much harder when you’re pulling from multiple, disconnected sources like e-mail automation tools, social media, payment processors, and web sites. In addition to the likely errors and significant data gaps (i.e., missing details), analyzing what you are able to access requires third-party applications that typically lack the functionality today's CRM products have on board. The effort often exceeds the utility.

An integrated CRM platform consolidates data and presents it in ways you can truly use to understand and engage effectively with donors and prospectives. These capabilities, when used effectively, will generate a significant return on investment (ROI) that can be returned to mission programs and critical support resources. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) will make data easier to use and more valuable, as well.

3. Increases productivity and efficiency.

As noted above, relationship marketing requires organizing information on prospects and donors, assigning tasks, customizing communications, tracking interactions, using data, etc. Personal relationships deserve a significant level of attention, time, and effort!

You've probably experienced this with your current development practices—with manual processes, simplistic tools, and/or outdated software, key donor outreach and engagement tasks tend to “slip through the cracks,” and you might not even realize it until your prospects and donors have taken the "off ramp." Inconsistent or non-existent communications make the donor experience poor, and people don't feel valued.

Don't be put off by this... it's already happening anyway, and modern CRM software can solve this problem! With critical features such as third-party software integration, automation of key tasks, data capture, analytics tools, etc., everything you'll need is essentially in one place, the burdens of implementing and refining customized segment strategies are far more manageable, and the outcomes from engagement much better.

In addition, a modern CRM system makes it’s easier to establish an efficient, effective workflow, enabling task assignment, coordination, routing, and collaboration among staff and volunteers responsible for different aspects of donor marketing. You’ll also have a better way to track resources and ensure critical engagement activities get completed on time, as well as to monitor both the costs and returns of your efforts.

That today's CRM software allows you to focus less on tactics (day-to-day, often menial tasks) and management also means you’ll have more time to work with your data and tweak segment-specific donor experiences. Paying less attention to the tactical details allows you to better use the power of CRM technology's analytics capabilities to ensure on-going engagement is effectively targeted, identify new segments, etc.

4. Enables a "workplaceless" environment.

As intimated above, any type of marketing has a lot of moving parts that often involve different people (e.g., executives, managers, staff, and volunteers). Covid-19 made this quite a challenge, as it necessitated a transition to virtual workplaces.

In some non-profits, a "reverse transition" hasn't followed, except for mission delivery, "front line" managers and personnel. Even in an office, manual workflows, locally stored records, disconnected software, etc. make it hard to plan, coordinate, and manage donor marketing activities. Without visibility into what needs to happen, what's getting done, and what comes next, these things are nearly impossible in a virtual environment.

As relationship-driven approaches replace traditional non-profit donor development methods, data is also more important. Leaders in key parts of the organization require accessible performance information, albeit of different types and at different times, to track the cost-effectiveness and outcomes of marketing strategies. Given donor funding and the decisions that affect it are critical to non-profits, these reports can't wait.

This all means "headquartering" marketing in the ubiquitous "cloud" is non-negotiable, automation is essential, and real-time access to different tools, reports, etc. is critical. What's needed to enable this? Yes, CRM platforms! The good ones offer what's needed to make relationship marketing successful in a remote workplace with many users, from "push" workflow to on-demand insights needed for management and decision-making.

With all that relationship marketing is and all its benefits, modern technology matters. Creating simple, customized, rewarding donor experiences—and ensuring you're consistently delivering them—requires everything good CRM platforms offer, especially when people aren't on-site. It even has side benefits for recruiting and engagement, as non-profits can offer immersive "work-at-home" arrangements more readily.

We're a pretty little non-profit. Are we too small for all of this?

Smaller non-profits often balk at the complexity of relationship marketing and the cost of a good CRM platform to enable it, as well as the challenges of software integration and implementation and their ability to use the tool to realize donor potential.

However, the shift and the investments will almost always be worth it, whether you're small or large. Relationship marketing doesn't depend on how many donors you have now, but how much you want to grow and expand your base. The capabilities of CRM tools make it possible in ways ranging from "creating time," reducing the possibility of "missed tasks," and promoting consistency to identifying and effectively converting and retaining donor segment. You simply can't give donors what they want the "old way."

Modern marketing is all about the experiences and the returns.

If you're a non-profit that relies on donations (and with few exceptions, you are), the most important takeaways to take away from this post are the following:

You can grow your current donor pool, increase contributions, and expand into new segments. You just need to get to know and relate to them personally, which means shifting from traditional approaches to experience-driven, relationship marketing.

Donor experiences that deliver require viewing donors as people with personal preferences, influencers, etc. Data lets you identify key segments , learn all about them, and affect the nature, quality, and productivity of their interactions with you.

To engage in relationship marketing and realize the benefits it can offer, you need to invest in modern CRM platform. There are many on the market that will give you the capabilities you need without overwhelming you, and you can afford them.

With the right support, the right CRM system can be implemented in such a way that you’ll know what they can do and how to use them to their greatest extent, regardless of the complexity of your donor base, marketing activities, etc.

Let's go back to affordability. No matter your size, the ROI (on average, almost $9 per dollar spent) is what's important. There are CRM systems that scale to your unique needs and, used for relationship marketing, they will pay for themselves.

We're on board. What CRM system should we buy for this?

Come back next week and read the second post in this series, Enabling Relationship Marketing with the Right Tools: What You Need from CRM Technology . We’ll give you key questions to answer to identify the features and services that will empower donor marketing based on your size, approach, plans, and budget.

We'd like to say thank you to Tasha Van Vlack of Yeeboo Digital and her co lleagues at for their insights contributing to this article!

Assessing and Redesigning Your Non-profit Organization

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 15:00:01 GMT

How to assess your organization and reposition for success

In our previous post , we discussed the six critical factors affecting performance and efficiency. Now, let's look at understanding how those levers are impacting your non-profit, and purposefully re-tooling them to improve sustainability and outcomes.

Performing an organizational assessment

How should non-profits go about assessing their organizations? In most cases, starting with an up-to-date, responsive strategy is extremely helpful, though it may not be possible to engage in formal strategic planning when there are immediate, unexpected changes in the environment. Even then, however, informal direction from the board is necessary. Typically, however, it’s the executives—not the board—will drive assessments, since they are mostly focused on operational challenges.

There are seven key steps to follow to assess and improve your non-profit's capacity:

1. Define the required outcomes

First, identify the results the nonprofit needs to achieve. These are what the organization needs to be set up to accomplish. Often, they’ll be informed by a strategic plan, which should have measurable objectives, a baseline, and targets in response to the populations’ and organizations’ needs.

2. Communicate the initiative

Organizational assessment and redesign can be unsettling for staff if they are uncertain as to the purpose and approach. In addition, employees and volunteers are likely to have perspectives that will add value to the process. Openly and consistently communicate, from initiation all the way to completion.

3. Gather relevant information

What’s documented—and what’s not—will provide important information. Collect the most current strategic plan, organizational charts, job descriptions, process maps and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and related information. Note what the organization doesn’t have as well.

4. Involve and listen to the people

Your workforce will help uncover how the organization looks and operates in practice. Knowing what’s really going on vs. what’s documented illuminates issues and opportunities. They'll also identify their challenges and needs, have ideas to improve, and are more likely to take ownership of the solutions.

5. Analyze and explain capacity gaps

Using what’s been collected, evaluate the organization’s current ability to achieve the outcomes and examine within and across factors to find the immediate and root causes of capacity gaps. They can be laid out visually to better see issues that contribute to more than one shortfall.

6. Identify “quick wins” and systemic changes

It’s now time to decide how to “fix” what’s behind the capacity gaps. Some improvements—usually for the “surface” problems—can be made right away, while others address more complex, cross-factor and root causes. Solutions to the latter may require more time and effort, but will lead to sustainable improvements.

7. Develop an implementation plan

Changes impact clients, staff, and stakeholders. Learn how people are likely to react. Communicate, and identify and leverage "champions." You'll also want to prioritize and sequence changes based on effects of change, timing of need, benefits vs. costs, and access to financial, human, and other resources, etc.

Who should be involved?

Executives “sponsor” organizational assessments. Ideally, objective external consultants will guide them. Involving management and staff, however—in identifying problems and developing solutions—is essential. In addition, the need to communicate progress, outcomes, and rationale, can’t be over-emphasized. Inclusion and transparency helps build a sense of ownership, alleviates concerns, and helps overcome resistance. At the end of the day, everyone plays a role in making organizational change a success!

Learn More and Take Action

Contact Snowflake for more information and to get started today.

Read our previous post on the key factors involved in organizational performance.

Jan Bresch, Executive Director of Special Love, Inc. , contributed to this article.

Understanding Your Non-profit's Inner Workings

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 14:18:53 GMT

Six key levers influencing organizational performance

As in every sector, things in the non-profit world change often, and for many reasons. The need to stay cost-effective, however, is a constant.

Internally, executives and staff members leave, taking valuable skills and institutional knowledge with them. Replacements bring new experiences and ideas. Roles and responsibilities evolve with employees’ capabilities, constantly re-forming to leverage individuals’ specific expertise and fill key organizational competency gaps. Over time, turnover can affect culture as well, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Meanwhile, external forces such as demographic and economic shifts can impact the types and levels of community needs, and also cause “ups” and “downs” in donations. New technologies emerge, presenting workplace, delivery, public engagement, and management opportunities and challenges. Sometimes, change occurs relatively slowly. In other situations, like the Covid-19 pandemic, it happens very quickly.

Change, whether internal or external, often has significant implications for non-profits. Organizations have to adapt to remain relevant, efficient, and effective. Adjustment requires recognition of the origins and dynamics of what’s changing and, consequently, responsive re-calibration of elements like strategies, services, and delivery methods, and the structure, processes, people, and technologies behind operations.

“Keeping up” requires non-profit leaders evaluate and, as needed, update direction and strengthen capacity. Organizational assessments should be planned, periodic, and regular, but can also be pushed by “events” as well. For example, executive transition, missed performance targets, and budget shortfalls suggest more immediate exploration, as do of unexpected issues like the pandemic and its aftermath.

Organizational Performance Essentials

Nonprofit performance is driven by several factors that in turn are enabled or restricted by an organization’s financial health and flexibility. These include:

Strategy and Governance
Programs and Supports
Structure and Workflows
People Resources
Management Capacity
Organizational Health

A good organizational assessment examines all of these elements how they inter-relate. They are discussed further below with example questions to ask about each.

1. Strategy and Governance

First and foremost, non-profits need clear direction and a strong board. It’s essential both a current strategy and the capacity to govern are in place. Priorities should be responsive to community needs, and sound strategic oversight and decision-making is key to recognizing and adapting to results and future changes.

What is the strategy, and is it built on accurate understanding of and responsive to client challenges and preferences, internal needs, and external conditions?

Is there a strategic plan that’s:
Feasible given access to human and financial resources?
Actionable with specific initiatives, owners, and timelines?
On schedule and delivering expected outcomes?

Does the board have the right people, structure, roles, culture, and protocols to govern, guide, and enable the organization to fulfill its mission?

Is the information needed to make good decisions based on results, dynamics of the surrounding environment, opportunities and risks, etc.?

2. Programs and Supports

Contexts may shift for non-profits both over time and because of emerging or sudden events. Informed by strategy, organizations have to examine and potentially modify the details of their services to adjust to new circumstances. They may also need to adapt in “support” areas such as marketing, public relations, etc.

Does the strategy indicate a need to modify the program mix (e.g., re-prioritizing, scaling up or down) while remaining aligned with the organization’s mission?

Does the organization need to:
Expand coverage in key programs (i.e., serve more people)?
Provide more benefits to clients (e.g., more financial support)?
Increase outreach to the relevant populations and donor prospects?

Are there other delivery methods (e.g., mobile services, virtual interactions) that might make it easier for clients to access programs, increase efficiency, etc.?

What are the financial, brand image, and brand awareness impacts of modifying services, and what do they mean for outreach efforts?

3. Structure and Workflows

Allocation, execution, and management of key functions also matters. Change can drive the need for redesign, as can correction of informal evolution due to individual strengths, skill gaps, culture, etc. Structures and processes have to be purposefully designed to facilitate quality, efficiency, and innovation.

Do key organizational units (e.g., departments or divisions) have clear goals and responsibilities, and do they look the same in practice as on paper?

Is the structure set up to:
Place reasonable accountabilities on the leadership team?
Ensure coverage and avoid duplication of efforts and outputs?
Best leverage skills required to do the organization’s work?

Are processes as streamlined as possible, are they documented and followed, do they meet standards for time, accuracy, etc., and are there any “bottlenecks?”

Are the right technologies (e.g., automation, collaboration) used to support cost-effective client interaction, service delivery, internal operations, etc.?

4. People Resources

The workforce makes things happen in non-profits - the “right people, at the right times, doing the right things.” Responsibilities, skill requirements, staffing levels, etc. can change as the populations’ needs and non-profits’ responses evolve. Optimal staffing is critical, but it can be challenging with limited budgets.

What are the key roles and associated responsibilities and skills needed to deliver services and operate cost-effectively, in alignment with the strategy?

Does the organization have:
People on staff who can effectively fill these roles?
Staffing levels needed to deliver the required outcomes?
Ability to compete for talent (e.g., compensation and benefits)?

What can be done to best balance role requirements, staff capacity, and financial restrictions (e.g., new hires, professional development, contractors, interns)?

If there are people who don’t fit updated roles that reflect the organization’s direction, how should this be addressed with compassion, dignity, and support?

5. Management Capacity

The ability to manage to results, which includes mission, organizational unit, and staff performance, depends on three different components: Metrics, Performance Management, and Managerial Skills. All of these things need to be handled well, all of the time, for nonprofits to be successful and sustainable.

Does the strategic plan include clear, well-defined metrics and targets that have been communicated and delegated, where appropriate, to managers and staff members?

Is the organization using:
Cascading performance accountabilities at all levels?
A structured approach to staff evaluation, feedback, and growth?
Transparent, consistent rules for performance-based rewards?

Are there opportunities to institute shared accountabilities across functions to complement collaboration requirements in the structure and workflows?

Are managers equipped with the skills to effectively manage (vs. supervise) staff and volunteers in various settings (e.g., on-site, distributed, remote)?

6. Organizational Health

Strong non-profits communicate, collaborate, and care for their people. This is especially important given the clients and challenges staff encounter. Over time, turnover can change workplace norms and dynamics, sometimes in undesirable ways. Sound policies and performance expectations preserve a positive culture.

What does leadership do to provide visible opportunities for communication, collaboration, and innovation across the organization (e.g., team meetings, “task forces”)?

Do staff and volunteers:
Show a sense of ownership of the organization’s mission?
Contribute based on their knowledge, not their titles?
Feel like their ideas and challenges are taken seriously?

Are there programs (e.g., remote workplace, flexible work times, wellness, paid and compensatory time) for work-life balance and stress management?

Is there a focus on team-building within and across units and levels (e.g., sharing information, mixed group problem-solving, or social events)?

Factor Relationships

It should be clear from this discussion that while individual factors contribute to non-profit performance, they are also highly inter-connected. For example, strategy has impacts on programs and supports, which in turn have implications for structure, workflows, and staffing needs. Management capacity affects the ability to adhere to processes, Culture affects people, including the ability to attract and retain talent.

Learn More and Take Action

Contact Snowflake for more information on non-profit organizational performance.

Learn how to conduct an organizational assessment .

Jan Bresch, Executive Director of Special Love, Inc. , contributed to this article.

Recruiting for Non-profit Board Members

Tue, 31 May 2022 14:34:23 GMT

Six steps to attracting the right people for your needs

Effective non-profit governance is to a large extent a function of having the right people on the board. Most of us know, however, that assembling a qualified, committed, and available membership isn’t easy to accomplish. Over half of respondents to our 2021 Board Governance Survey (with VAFCC) said recruiting was one of their most significant challenges, citing limited local candidate pools, competition among non-profits in their communities, and the perceived weight of participation requirements as some of the most difficult obstacles to overcome. More than a few boards find themselves reacting to these conditions by accepting simply because they are willing to join—without evaluating the entire package against their needs. How this works out is anyone’s guess and, as might be expected, it doesn’t always go well.

Despite the difficulties, though, it is entirely possible for most clinics to build an effective board by following some fundamental tenets of recruiting. Here are six things boards can do.

1. Define the key attributes of the right members.

To get the people they need, boards have to know who they’re looking for—the characteristics of people who can fill critical gaps and be positive, productive members. It may sound intuitive, but just 40% of our survey respondents reported taking a clear, consistent approach to defining skills and associated experiences. Those that aren’t doing it need to start, but it’s also not enough. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge someone brings if they’re unavailable, unmotivated, unproductive, or a poor “fit.” People have their personal and professional objectives, interests, values, attitudes, and competing priorities. Boards need to define the context-specific details of traits beyond just knowledge and experience that an individual needs to be a strong contributor.

2. Put someone in charge of the board recruiting process.

It’s essential to have a single person or group responsible for board recruiting. Too frequently, boards take a decentralized approach, counting solely on existing members to identify and refer potential candidates. While “word of mouth” is certainly helpful in the recruiting process, depending on an “all hands” construct is often at the expense of developing and implementing strategies to reach broader audiences (see #4, below). It also deprives boards of consistent vetting and nominating processes, which help assure those selected will in fact “fit” with what the board needs. Committees are particularly useful here, as members can share the burden while maintaining the integrity and consistency of outreach efforts as well as procedures to evaluate new prospects.

3. Articulate the “value proposition” of the opportunity.

It’s easy to forget that recruiting is a two-way conversation. It’s not just about candidates presenting their credentials and intangibles, but also organizations to describing how prospects will benefit from working with them. Non-profit boards often lament how difficult it is to recruit people who can meet their expectations for participation, “give or get,” etc. as unpaid volunteers with competing responsibilities. One key is to tell them the value they’ll get can advance their interests, and tell them exactly how. Compelling “offers” are critical to outcompeting other nonprofits in the area. Remember, though, that attracting the right people, requires the mission to be the primary focus above, for example, professional aspirations that may also be accommodated.

4. Create a comprehensive, targeted recruiting strategy.

Even after defining their target compositions, many boards rely heavily on referrals and members’ relationships to fill seats. This can generate some good candidates. It’s also unnecessarily limiting. Informed recruiting strategies, just as non-profits should have for open positions in the workforce, broaden boards’ horizons because they can find more sources and approach groups with tailored messaging. Going where people with the desired experiences “hang out” and effectively conveying both what the non-profit is looking for and the value proposition for prospective candidates creates deeper, richer candidate pools. From local business groups to social media, there are many options to consider. Find where the right people are, and tell them the right stories.

5. Be clear and honest about board member expectations.

Part of being the right person for a board is an individual’s ability and willingness to meet board requirements. Boards are often shy about telling candidates those expectations up front, however. This is understandable. They don’t want to scare otherwise interested, good people away. But delaying the discussion of expectations until later isn’t the right approach for anyone, for three reasons: (1) People who can’t meet requirements don’t have an opportunity to “self-select out,” (2) Boards can only guess whether new members will meet the commitments they’re unaware they’ve agreed to, and (3) It’s just unfair to lay out participation, financial, and other expectations after the fact. There’s no need for boards to hide what they want, and they’ll get better members for it.

6. Thoroughly evaluate interested candidates.

When people say “yes”, it’s tempting to accept them on the spot—after all, members are hard to find. However, it’s better not to fill an open seat than to fill it with the wrong candidate. If they’ve followed a sound recruiting process to this point, boards will know the characteristics of the right people—skills, relationships, intangibles, etc.—and they’ll have candidates who purport to have them. Some things, such as experience, can be easily assessed, but other traits are harder to see at first glance. They are no less important and need to be probed. Interviews by multiple board members, with purposefully developed, well-structured questions, scenarios, etc. are critical. Both personal and professional reference checks should also be done before approving someone.

Board recruiting is challenging for any non-profit, whether large or small, urban or rural. There are no “magic bullets,” but there are ways to increase the chances of attracting and securing the right people for the need. While connections are great, don’t be limited to who your current board members know. Follow the process—from identifying needs to evaluating candidates—and you’ll get the right people.

More Information

Learn more about board recruiting and get members who'll deliver for your non-profit

Listening to the Community

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 08:55:22 GMT

Why and how to go outside the "bubble" in strategic planning

Every organization has a future to plan for, with many moving parts. Non-profits, whether they aspire to help more people, offer more services, increase program quality, or just “stay afloat,” have two options: “wing it,” or develop strategic plans that will guide board decision-making and provide blueprints for tomorrow. The former relies squarely on hope, while the latter prepares organizations to accomplish things in coordinated ways. Strategies integrate program, reach, capacity, and related ambitions with elements like marketing, fundraising, capital assets, technologies, internal efficiencies, workforce, and leadership. Done well, they’re road maps that keep everything together and support board choices that will stabilize operations and advance missions in well-informed, responsive, fiscally responsible, and risk tolerant ways.

Sound strategies require understanding the environment—populations’ needs, stakeholder concerns, external conditions, etc. In our 2021 Board Governance Survey with VAFCC, more than 80% of respondents affirmed their strategic plans account for these things. However, just one quarter said they actually engaged past, current, and potential patients, partners, corporate donors, community leaders, or others who may have relevant perspectives to obtain the necessary information. How, then, did leaders that didn’t solicit input beyond their clinics’ walls arrive at their conclusions? There is often data available that can be used to understand trends but, while important, it can’t tell the whole story. To fill the gaps, it seems safe to assume these board members and executives relied on their own perceptions.

Of course, incorporating leaders’ knowledge is useful, especially when they’re well-positioned to observe and have the ability to interpret internal and external conditions. It’s just that it’s not enough. Boards and executives, for example, can’t fully understand customers’ preferences or levels of satisfaction without actually asking. If they’re not listening to stakeholders, they may miss opportunities to develop meaningful collaborations with other non-profits, establish or strengthen funding relationships with corporations and foundations, or find new sources of volunteers. They may misinterpret how local government and relevant agencies envision their non-profits' roles in their communities and improve how they work together. These aren’t minor points. Understanding these types of things is essential to a well-rounded, effective strategy.

Let’s look at an example. Consider the case of one of our recent human services clients that assists people with emergency needs and keeps seeing the same customers, month after month. It lacks the resources to help them get beyond their current life situations and “off the system.” We undertook extensive background research as the first step the planning process, a significant part of which comprised gathering input from other nonprofits in the area, local officials, customers, and the broader community. One key result was learning, straight from the source, some surprising needs and barriers impeding access to services. Another was finding many organizations willing to participate in a network of end-to-end support meeting a range of urgent needs while also offering integrated pathways to stability and self-sufficiency.

Our client would not have known this important information if it had only included its board and Director. By extension, its strategy wouldn’t have been fully responsive community needs and preferences, and it would have missed out on a great opportunity to do more, for more people. This is just one of many cases that clearly demonstrate not only the value but the necessity of engaging clients, partners, stakeholders, and others outside of organizations developing strategies. Non-profits that get outside of their “board bubbles” are better positioned to create sound, well-informed, and well-rounded strategic plans than those that don’t. In a nutshell, that's the point of investing in strategy development. Why waste time and money on initiatives that aren’t going to lead to deliver a brighter future for your non-profit and community?

How do you engage outside your non-profit in strategic planning? There are five basic steps you’ll want to take. It’s generally a good idea to engage an outside, objective, third-party consultant party to help you along the way, but some of these things you may be able to do on your own to get started.

Study the “market.” Make a list of key groups who have inputs to provide. This will typically include customers, stakeholders, prospective partners, and the broader community.

Decide on an approach. Individual interviews, focus groups, and surveys are great options. Choose from among them to get the best information from each category, as efficiently as possible.

Think through what you want to know. Regardless of the approaches taken, consider what data points are most important to you, and design standardized questions to get this information.

Make the connections. Reach out to partners and stakeholders individually. Publicize focus groups and surveys in multiple ways. Build your audiences to generate sufficient responses.

Step back from the process. Get someone independent of your non-profit to ask the questions and analyze responses. You’ll likely get much more out of engagement with an objective take.

You shouldn’t make strategic decisions in isolation. There are voices beyond your organization’s walls with inputs—perceptions, challenges, ideas, and suggestions, and you will benefit from listening to what they have to say. Your non-profit’s future will thank you for it, and so will the population(s) you serve.

More Information

Learn more about listening in strategic planning and other non-profit topics.

Does Your Board Fundraise?

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 15:44:28 GMT

Why it needs to, and how it can be done

“You need to be fundraising.”

Consultants regularly provide this guidance to nonprofit boards reluctant to get involved in fundraising. Prospective members often walk away when they’re informed “give or get” is a requirement. Executive Directors get frustrated when the imperative is altogether ignored, and they don’t get any help with building the kind of relationships with sponsors and large donors needed to support their organizations. Fundraising is a burden many boards and their individual members really don’t want to embrace. Sometimes, boards don’t understand why it’s important or accept it’s their responsibility. When they do, the “give” expectations are often financial commitments people can’t, don’t want, or don’t think they’re able to make, and the activities involved in the “getting” understandably fall outside of their comfort zones.

To be sure, there are boards that do “get it,” at least to an extent, and do accept responsibility for fundraising. In VAFCC’s 2021 Board Governance Survey, for example, nearly 60% of respondents indicated their boards have fundraising committees. Members contribute money directly at 70% of the organizations (the “give”), and about 60% told us people are leveraging their networks for donations (“the get”). In the same survey, however, more than half of participants viewed board engagement in fundraising as a top challenge and, when presenting to sponsors and major donors, board members regularly participate at just 10% of their nonprofits. This situation isn’t unique to our survey population. Studies suggest that a significant number of boards don’t adequately support their nonprofits’ fundraising needs.

Every board should play a significant role in fundraising, preferably through both direct contributions and solicitation of institutional and individual gifts, for several reasons:

Member giving is a tangible expression of a board’s belief in and commitment to the nonprofit’s mission. It lends a degree of credibility to the organization’s donor development efforts—both for routine individual outreach by staff and when members are trying to leverage their networks for more significant gifts. Nonprofits don’t have to answer: “If they’re not giving, why should I?”

When members are financially invested in a nonprofit, they’re often more willing to do what it takes to ensure the organization is successful and sustainable. It’s not a prerequisite—there are certainly people on boards who will have that attitude anyway—but it can change the mindsets of members who may otherwise not meaningfully participate in governance and support activities.

Corporate sponsors, foundations, and other institutions may not fund nonprofits that can’t show all of their members financially supporting them. For many funders, it’s about credibility. They seek confidence boards are unified and fully engaged in pursuing the organization’s best interests. For reasons like those above, member giving can be a good proxy that helps provide these assurances.

Board members typically have good reputations in their communities. Leveraged on behalf of nonprofits, individuals’ public standing and visibility provides legitimacy in addition to success stories, statistics, etc. Those who have extensive social and business networks can explore them to find what can be key funding sources, as well, directly or indirectly through follow-on connections.

Given the importance of board fundraising, it’s perhaps surprising that a good number don’t really get involved. The hesitance can be traced back to a few different issues. As mentioned above, the “give” can be imposing, and members sometimes feel they are already doing something for their nonprofits by volunteering on boards. At the same time, the alternative—the “get”—can be an intimidating challenge they’d rather not take undertake (making the “sale,” after all, doesn’t come naturally to everyone). It can also take significant time to prepare, appear at events, visit potential sponsors, etc. If not well-coordinated and directed, many members will simply not put in the necessary effort. Fundraising needs to be part of the “fabric” of the board. Here are some ways to make it easier to take on the responsibility.

Set a realistic but meaningful “give or get” requirement - For ownership to legitimacy, all members should be contributing financially. The amount should be an “investment,” but it shouldn’t be imposing. The “or” option helps play to individual strengths.

Establish and empower a Fundraising Committee - This is an “easy win,” but it’s important to give the committee a specific charter centered on prospect identification, coordination and preparation, follow-up, and retention activities.

Get marketing skills on or available to the board - Ideally, boards will have a member experienced in donor or customer engagement to guide their fundraising effort. If not, they should use a staff member or volunteer, or consider outside help.

Give members the direction and tools they need to fundraise - Boards need to make it easy for their members. Providing specific “who, what, when” instructions and a “tool kit” with the resources they need for outreach and to engage their networks is essential.

Don’t leave the Executive Director alone on fundraising pitches - Make sure there’s a board member involved in every outreach effort. As discussed, boards give important credibility to nonprofits—when they show they care, sponsors are more likely to as well.

Keep the board visible to the community - Presence alone can send a clear public message. All members should be at the nonprofit’s key events, and boards should also have representation at events in which the organization participates.

Boards need to give fundraising the importance it deserves—it should be emphasized as an essential function. Care should be taken to ensure that it doesn’t become its sole focus, to the point at which governance and strategic responsibilities are no longer the main priority. However, when fundraising is given the proper attention and boards set expectations, coordinate efforts, and support members and staff in their efforts, and each individual is given and embraces the message they are there to serve the nonprofit in the most effective ways possible—not just to “make up the numbers”—it will pay off. Quality and quantity of member participation will increase, public image will improve and, of course, nonprofits will get more institutional sponsors and major funders. For your future, get your board involved!

More Information

Let's talk more about board fundraising!

Are You Just "Checking the Box" for Non-profit Board Diversity?

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 15:02:49 GMT

Why and how to get diversity of perspectives, not just demographics

Over the last decade, organizations have grown increasingly concerned with “diversity.” Along with high-profile corporate statements of commitment, some states have passed or proposed laws enshrining diversity requirements for boards and executive leadership, and the number of jobs dedicated to diversity in the workforce has grown almost three-fold since 2014.[1] In the midst of this push, though, many non-profits have been relatively inactive in pursuing diversity. One recent study, for example, showed that non-profit Executive Directors, Board Chairs, and board members are overwhelmingly white, with disproportionately low representation from all other racial and ethnic groups. While non-profit leaders say they recognize and aren’t satisfied with the lack of diversity across the non-profit sector, there haven't been too many few signs of improvement to the current situation.[2]

The extent of this situation is demonstrated by our recent survey of free and charitable clinics in Virginia. Nearly half of clinics responding to our joint 2021 Board Assessment with VAFCC indicated their boards’ compositions do not adequately reflect community and client demographics.[3] There are many potential reasons, including but not limited to complacency, failure to understand the population and recruit with purpose, lack of diversity in local candidate pools for sought-after professions or skill sets, and challenges reaching certain groups. Many boards don’t fully appreciate the benefits of diverse representation, and don’t understand what meaningful diversity actually looks like. It can't just be about “checking the box” for self-satisfaction and reputation. Rather, it’s to recognize the population’s needs, barriers, etc. and enable more informed governance decisions.

It’s very easy for boards to act as self-contained “bubbles” focused on what the collective membership thinks is important based on their own individual experiences (especially when they don’t proactively seek out external input, as many of the respondents to the aforementioned survey indicated they don’t).[4] When boards are “out of touch” with current and prospective clients and stakeholders, they risk misunderstanding community priorities, challenges, concerns, etc., and can neither accurately convey them to others outside of their organizations nor respond to them effectively in governance and strategic decision-making. Frequent public surveys are possible, but often infeasible. Instead, integrating the voices of those who are regularly interacting with a non-profit—or aren’t, but should be—requires finding effective ways to give them a seat at the table.

It's important to realize that the idea shouldn't be to seek demographic diversity for its own sake, but to pursue the “representative perspectives” of current and prospective client populations as well as the broader community. Integrating their viewpoints as “equal partners” in deliberations and decision-making by seeking out individuals who can speak to the needs of those most affected by the non-profit's services, outcomes, future direction, etc.—whether they’re from different racial, ethnic, economic, social, and/or other groups—can greatly enhance board effectiveness. In fact, it’s been clearly demonstrated that boards incorporating the people most connected to their nonprofits are able to have much richer discussions and make better choices among governance options than those that don't, and they also gain access to more community resources, including new donor pools.[5]

If you’re one of the many non-profits that feels your board isn’t diverse enough, don’t panic and go try to find someone from every racial and ethnic group out there. You don’t have to diversify just because everyone’s doing it. Diversity is at its best when it embodies your key stakeholders—your clients, your donors, your community. Be purposeful about it. Take the time to understand the people who are, or who should be, engaging with your non-profit in different ways, and involve them. For example:

Establish a seat or two for current or former clients, and perhaps a typical individual donor. Ensure your recruiting process reaches and encourages potential candidates to participate.

Set up an Advisory Board comprising existing and prospective clients, donors, and stakeholders. Hold periodic, regular meetings with Advisors to seek (and listen to) their opinions and guidance.

Regularly engage individual clients, representatives of the donor base, community members, and key stakeholders, and learn from them. Set aside a dedicated time in every board meeting to hear what they have to say.

Assign a board “ambassador” role (e.g., a committee) with responsibility for interacting with a broad cross-section of the local community. Set up a schedule for reporting back to the board.

These are just some ways boards can involve diverse demographics and roles interacting with their non-profits in governance and strategy, allowing for direct representation on the Board of Directors or establishing listening mechanisms that can be continuously leveraged (not just “once in a while”). Whatever approach(es) you choose, make it a top priority—a critical component of discussions and decisions. If you get it right, diversity will make your board better, and your non-profit even more valuable in your community.

[1] Estrada, S. “D&I roles more than doubled since 2015, report says,” HRDive, https://bit.ly/3z1oiQc (Jul. 2020, ret. Dec. 27, 2021).

[2] “Leading with Intent: 2017 National Index of Nonprofit Board Practices,” BoardSource (2017), pp. 9 – 10.

[3] “Summary Report on Board Governance Survey,” Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (2021).

[4] Ibid.

[5] “Ten Things to Know About Board Diversity – Lessons from ‘Building a Diverse Board of Directors: Turning Intention into Results,’” Maryland Nonprofits, https://bit.ly/3JmNk0V (Dec. 2019, ret. Dec. 27, 2021).

Learn More and Take Action

For more information on board diversity and other non-profit topics, contact Snowflake today.

Getting Ready for What's Next

Wed, 07 Apr 2021 17:59:35 GMT

Four steps to a post-Covid non-profit strategy

Although no one knows exactly when it will be fully behind us, the Coronavirus pandemic appears to be in decline. It’s time for non-profits to plan for the future, a luxury they didn’t have when Covid-19 reached our shores. In our previous post, we presented seven things to consider as the country emerges from “Covid conditions,” touching on aspects of client demand, service delivery, workforce and workplace change, donor engagement, communication, and collaboration. Now, our attention turns to integrating these and other, related factors into strategic thinking about how to prepare for what comes next.

The graphic below shows the four key steps that need to be part of non-profits’ post-Covid planning, and is followed by a brief description of each element.

1. Look and Learn

As we’ve stated before, non-profits shouldn’t be thinking about going back to “old ways.” Most organizations have tried new different things as part of their pandemic responses, and this is the time to internally assess what worked, what didn’t, and why. Learn from your adaptations. Were you able to serve more people, in more ways? Did you stay consistent with your mission? Did any of your changes demonstrably sustain or improve program outcomes, client access, workforce cost-effectiveness, donor engagement, and/or internal efficiency (for example, is there evidence that virtual interventions work as well as in-person)? Understanding your successes and the practices that didn’t deliver is critical information for planning your approach to the post-pandemic future.

2. Ask and Explore

Your internal evaluation may suggest program, delivery, and outreach modifications produced the same or better results than pre-Covid practices. However, this may not tell the entire story, as demand will be dynamic, client expectations and preferences may be shifting, and the public may not be fully aware of how you’ve changed and what you’ve accomplished (for example, clients might like mobile services vs. going to a fixed site). How can you know? Simply put, ask! Go straight to the sources and find out what clients need and want, what donors (new and old) want to see and hear about, and what the public knows. Also, talk to your peers—what are they doing? What opportunities are there to maintain pandemic-era collaborations, or start new ones now?

3. Create and Balance

Evaluation and exploration will provide key information to inform strategy, but they don’t create it by themselves. Ideas and decisions that leverage best practices and correctly interpret lessons learned will define your future. Consider these things, and generate ideas that will increase your value to the community through the best mix of pre-pandemic practices, Covid-era solutions, and post-pandemic opportunities (e.g., collaboration with other non-profit, government, and business partners). You’ll need to assess cost-effectiveness and resource feasibility in a complex budget environment, while taking advantage of opportunities to increase income and reduce expenses. There will be tradeoffs, but also ways to be significantly better for the population you serve.

4. Prepare for Change

Post-Covid strategy demands readiness for transition. Program priorities, delivery methods, and outreach plans may necessitate redefining jobs and re- and/or cross-training employees and volunteers to both meet existing needs and increase flexibility for shifting demand. Maintaining virtual services and/or keeping some portion of your workforce remote will require establishing an adequate technology infrastructure. Funding will also be essential—especially as Covid grants expire, and everyone will need to be involved in informing donors and sponsors plans, impacts, and financial needs. The process of setting up frameworks for community collaboration has to start right away. These are just some of the immediate preparations you’ll need to make for the future.

Does this sound suspiciously like “strategic planning?” It should, and the time is now. Anticipating how demand will change in a dynamic environment will be more challenging than usual, but that can be overcome with: (1) Detailing a shorter time horizon in a longer-term context, (2) Considering scenarios, and (3) Constantly reviewing data (e.g., program and delivery use, demographic, and economic trends) to make informed adjustments. More than ever, strategy can’t be a static exercise. There are uncertainties, certainly, but the steps outlined above will ensure you won’t be caught off guard and are ready for what comes next.

More Information

Contact Snowflake to learn more about the planning for the post-Covid environment

Emerging from the Pandemic

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 13:37:51 GMT

Seven post-Covid considerations for non-profits

Most non-profits have been greatly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Organizational responses varied and, in many cases, they were reactive to events on the ground, which happened quickly and often in unexpected ways. As difficult as Covid has been, there finally seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel as vaccines become more widely available. Non-profits will again need to respond to an evolving environment but this time, there is a window to think strategically, even though the future has uncertainties. Looking backwards is a mistake. It’s a different time, full of challenges as well as opportunities to accomplish more.

Here are seven key things organizations should consider moving forward:

1. Client demand won’t be settled for a while.

Needs changed during the pandemic, and many non-profits had to re-prioritize and even add new programs. Post-Covid, demand will be dynamic—lagging with economic recovery and shifting as conditions evolve. Non-profits need to assess their portfolios and respond strategically, staying consistent with their missions while correctly interpreting and adapting to a rapidly evolving world.

2. Pandemic delivery changes are future opportunities.

Covid brought immediate, unforeseen restrictions on delivery. As in-person becomes feasible again, adaptations made shouldn’t necessarily be discarded. Virtual programs, on-line resources, mobile options, and other methods may be more cost-effective, and can increase scope and/or coverage. Non-profits should align with clients preferences, while evaluating results vs. required resources.

3. Staff and volunteers may have new responsibilities.

Furloughs occurred during Covid, roles changed with program re-prioritizations, and many non-profits cross-trained to alleviate shortages in the face of evolving demand. Staff will need to be re-integrated and/or hired, but the work may be different. Assessing requirements, redesigning jobs, and leveraging flexibility from building knowledge across programs and operations will be essential.

4. The remote workplace may be a long-term solution.

For safety reasons, many people moved to remote work during Covid. There were challenges, but also has significant potential, from job satisfaction to reducing the “office footprint.” Non-profits should consider long- term possibilities, weighing staff preferences, productivity, technology and equipment investments, job requirements, and savings opportunities for their organizations.

5. Donor engagement is more important than ever.

The economy forced some “traditional” donors to hold back. Perhaps surprisingly, however, some gave more, and new people also stepped up. As things improve, non-profits need to get past contributors back, sustain higher donation levels, and keep who they’ve added. Outreach will take “all hands,” but the effort invested should lead to a larger base providing more steady income.

6. The need for communications can’t be overstated.

Clients, donors, partners, the general public, and even staff may have known a non-profit pre-Covid, but they may not see how programs, accessibility, and other aspects are changing post-pandemic. Getting the word out about new services, ways to interact, impacts and financial “asks,” etc. will be critical. For some, messaging may even require re-branding to reflect their evolution.

7. Building on collaboration will increase capacity.

One positive aspect of the pandemic is that it spurred conversations among non-profits that haven’t always happened. They shared their challenges and responses, and collaborated to ensure that clients received the help they needed. These interactions should be continued and built upon post-pandemic, so the entire non-profit community is working together to best serve the public.

For most non-profits, the challenge isn’t simply deciding “when” to “re-open,” but also “how.” The seven considerations discussed above are intricately connected—no change occurs in a vacuum, and actions need to be carefully coordinated. As such, this isn’t the time to be reactionary and attempt to respond “on the fly” once things have already happened. Post-Covid modeling and adaptive strategy is essential, and there’s no better time than the present to come up with one. It’s a new world out there, and there is great potential for non-profits to be even better resources for the populations they serve—if they get ahead of the curve.

More Information

Contact us to learn more about the planning for the post-Covid environment

Read our follow-up post, “Getting Ready For What’s Next: Four Steps to a Post-Covid Strategy”

Strategic Responses are Essential for Covid-19

Sat, 06 Jun 2020 14:06:15 GMT

Non-profits need to have a comprehensive, coherent approach

Covid-19 has had an impact on everyone. Non-profits are no exception. From the way they serve clients to the financial implications to effects on the workforce and workplace, things have changed. Failing to adapt means not being able to help people in need when the need it the most, becoming less relevant or, at worst, facing existential risks. Adjusting, however, is usually more than “tweaks” here and there. So many variables are in play, and a dynamic environment requires a coordinated strategic response.

What does that mean? For starters, it’s having a well-thought out plan that considers a range of inter-connected factors. It also means thinking about how to survive and thrive in the short-term, staying within the mission and keeping an eye on the future. If you’re worried about tactics only, you’re missing the “big picture” that only a strategic approach can provide. And even now, it’s not too late—if you haven’t thought things through, there’s still time—Covid-19 and its effects will be here for a while.

Understanding what’s changing is key. The basic economics concept of supply-and-demand is a good place to start, as Covid-19 affects both. For non-profits’ purposes, supply comprises availability, accessibility, resources, and risks. Can you still get what you need? Can you find delivery channels that can get services out to the public? Do you have the human, financial, and capital capacity you need? Are risks acceptable, and can you mitigate them? These things influence what you can provide the “market.”

Demand includes needs, priorities, and capacity. What are the impacts of the Coronavirus on client needs? Their requirements may shift as the pandemic takes its toll—economically, emotionally, and in other ways. Has the importance of your non-profit’s services changed? What they saw as essential under normal circumstances may now just be “nice to have,” as their focus shifts to survival. Can they—and do they want to—use alternative ways to work with you? These things influence what the “market” wants.

Analyzing supply and demand requires more than just guesswork, and today they’re even easier to evaluate. You’ve at least started to experience what is happening, and you can use that to interpret what you have to offer against what your population needs to get through this situation. Making this assessment accurately is essential, because supply and demand changes have big implications for a number of aspects of your non-profit. They essentially dictate the conditions to which you have to respond.

Your approach given your awareness of the impacts on supply and demand should consider several “levers” that you can manipulate to be successful in your mission during Covid-19:

Core services—How you change what you offer to meet immediate needs, within the mission
Material availability—How you get the quantity and quality of “product” to meet the demand
Access channels—What you do to provide safe, simple ways for the public to reach you
Human resources—How you react with workforce size and composition, the workplace, etc.
Finances—Your efforts to maintain funding to remain solvent, retain staff, and meet demand
Capital resources—How you acquire the equipment you need for alternative service delivery
Exposure to risk—What you do to keep your staff and clients safe when providing services

These “levers” are intertwined—you generally can’t “play around” with one without others being affected, and they need to be looked at in a holistic way. For example, finances connect with human and capital resources, as well as material availability. You can either cut costs to save employees, or gain financial flexibility through furloughs so you can pay for the goods you need. Hence the strategic perspective you need to follow, using the “10,000-foot view” and applying logic to find the best solutions.

Strategy also means staying focused on the future. As you determine what to do no in response to Covid-19, you should also be thinking about what’s next. New services and delivery channels, for example, don’t have to disappear as the crisis abates—you may be able to keep some or all of them to improve on what you offer, do more for your clients, and/or help more people. This requires you to anticipate future supply and demand—what it will look like tomorrow—and make plans to emerge stronger.

If you haven’t created a strategy—if you’ve just made changes associated with one “lever” without thinking through others—you can (and should) still do it. It’s clear that the Coronavirus has changed the game. You need to react in a way that ensures you have the supply to meet the demand. If you’re finding yourself in a chaotic situation—“flying by the seat of your pants”—take a moment to step back and look again. You’ll help people more, and in the right ways, and you’ll get through the pandemic with flying colors.

More Information

For further discussion, watch our webinar “Strategic Responses,” part of our six-part series “Practical Considerations for Non-profits During Covid-19.” The presentation and recording are free!

Take it Virtual During - and After - the Pandemic

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 13:01:34 GMT

Remote workforce and delivery opportunities for non-profits and businesses

Many non-profit leaders and small business owners have been asking a critical question during the current COVID-19 crisis: “How do we continue serving our clients when we can’t be physically present?” Some, unfortunately, absolutely have to work with people or provide their products in-person. Others, however, have an opportunity that can mitigate the effects of—and possibly even outlast—this novel Coronavirus.

First, organizations that are able are increasingly turning to telework for their employees, given many states have issued “stay-at-home” orders for non-essential entities and/or staff. This is beneficial under the conditions in which we find ourselves and, in the 21st century, if it’s possible, it’s something many people prefer. Videoconferencing, for example, is easy, and while it might take some adjustments, there’s not much that can’t be done virtually. It’s 2020 after all—we’re pretty much all connected!

Now, some managers are nervous about this, as it is harder to “supervise” the work people are doing at home. To be honest, that’s actually on the managers and the enterprise’s performance management protocols. There needs to be a shift away from “are you working every minute of the day?” to “are you getting your work done on time, and with high quality?” We would argue most professionals don’t need close supervision. It’s simple to have progress check-ins, and the proof is ultimately in the outputs. If they aren’t completing things to expected standards, managers need to manage—something any are loathe to do—and well-structured, regular evaluations should take care of long-running problems.

The other problem is that a good number of organizations can’t serve their clients the way they’re used to, if their people are working remotely. Much like the success of telework depends on changing attitudes about management vs. supervision, remote service necessitates changes in delivery models. If staff (and volunteers) can’t be on-site to help the clientele, survival may depend on organizations’ ability to adapt and take things virtual. It may not be ideal, but with a little creativity, they can maintain a cash flow and also remain relevant in the eyes of the market, while meeting public demands. Again, it’s admittedly infeasible for some non-profits and businesses, but for others on-line services are a lifeline in this crisis.

What might this look like? We see salons, whose services ordinarily necessitate close contact, offering one-on-one and group consultations and educational sessions for their customers so they can learn home de-stressing strategies, or do their makeup and nails on their own. Elder care, hospices, and other in-patient facilities whose clients need visitors are turning to individual, extended family, and volunteer videoconferencing with family members and friends, and online programs to keep patients healthy and engaged. Health care providers—both non- and for-profit—are offering telemedicine support (which also helps in the fight). These are just a few of the possibilities in a world where ingenuity now rules the day.

A remote workforce plus virtual services may be the key for your non-profit’s or business’ survival during COVID-19. It’s not the solution for all, but it may be for more than we think. No, a food pantry can’t hand out virtual food—but they can set preferences and pickup times online, by text, or by phone, and do it without the need for major infrastructure upgrades. Local boutique shops, closed to the public, can put products on their web sites and use e-commerce solutions—relatively easy to do, with great potential.

The best part is these things don’t have to be abandoned once things return to something resembling normalcy. A remote workforce can increase employee satisfaction, and even allow staff to get out into the field more to promote. Online visitations, educational programs, catalogs, etc. can enrich offerings, and expand engagement channels. That’s the silver lining here. Think outside the box!

More Information

Learn more about embracing digital delivery strategies post-pandemic.

Non-profit Q&A Forum: Strategic Engagement

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 12:58:49 GMT

Keeping people engaged throughout strategic plan execution

The following is from our Non-profit Q&A Forum on September 25, 2019

Question: How do I keep people engaged in strategy execution, especially during periods they’re not as involved and there aren’t yet many results to share?

Answer: Recently, we’ve been talking a lot about the importance of engagement throughout the strategic plan life cycle—Board members, staff, stakeholders, community partners, etc.—so this is a timely question! It’s a challenge, no doubt, to continuously keep everyone excited and committed to executing a strategic plan, but you have to find ways to do it. First and foremost, you need to make sure that Board meetings regularly include discussions of strategic plan progress, issues, needs, and outcomes. This is critical from a management standpoint, of course, but also helps make sure the plan stays at the front of Board members’ minds and equips them to talk about it outside of the organization—potential opportunities for more funding! Second, you should be giving regular updates to staff, letting them know what people are doing, what’s been accomplished, what’s coming up, and opportunities to help. This keeps them informed, and can provide avenues for them to get more involved—participation in “something bigger” is often a huge morale boost, and may generate new thoughts to execute actions more efficiently and effectively. Third, frequent communication with stakeholders—especially funders—is important. They need to know things are moving forward, that what they’re contributing (e.g., grant money, donations) are in fact being used for appropriate purposes, and milestones are being met. Grant reporting is effective (you should be tracking actions and outcomes even when it’s not required), and can often be translated into messaging distributed through newsletters or similar vehicles for other stakeholders. Finally, remember that there’s never really “down time” in strategic plan implementation—something is always going on. Look for ways to engage Board members, staff, stakeholders, and community partners, even if just in little ways.

More Information

Learn more about strategic engagement

Adapting Strategy to Conditions

Sun, 02 Jun 2019 11:26:51 GMT

Effectiveness and relevance depend on sound Board decisions

In the previous article, we discussed to “Act” phase of our Anticipate > Plan > Act > Adapt approach, defining the pillars of effective action and outlining the roles, responsibilities, and tools necessary for successful strategy execution. This time, we’ll walk through the key components of the “Adapt” stage. This is where leaders have to pay attention and make informed decisions based on “conditions” that will directly affect implementation progress and outcomes. It’s Adaptation—how Boards, in particular, respond to the issues that inevitably arise—that keep Strategic Plans feasible, on target, and relevant.

Good strategic governance requires more of Boards than just sitting through progress reports from Executive Directors. For Strategic Plans to “work,” there will be times when substantive, sometimes difficult choices need to be made. Decision points may occur when, for example, there are:

Resource Issues— Challenges inevitably arise in execution. People may become unavailable due to operational priorities, staff attrition, or other reasons. Expected funds may not materialize if grants aren’t received, fundraising doesn’t meet expectations, etc. Such issues may mean actions can’t happen on time (with repercussions across the plan) and need to be addressed.

Mistaken Assumptions— Sometimes, assumptions made when developing Strategic Plans end up not happening. Clients, for example, may not take advantage of certain services to the extent anticipated, perhaps because they’re unaware they’re offered or they simply don’t need them. Modifications must be made to ensure the plan is effective, and keep it relevant.

Missed Milestones— Non-profits should have measures and targets, and should be monitoring how they’re doing along the way (see prior articles). Milestone status is a key indicator—if incremental metrics aren’t being met, it’s unlikely “end states” will be achieved unless changes are made to the plan. Boards need take notice when this happens, and decide how to adapt.

External Changes— Things often happen in the surrounding environment. Providers of similar services may emerge, for example, in the local “market space.” Regulatory changes can occur at any level of government, and political winds blow in different directions. Boards need to anticipate or at least recognize changes, evaluate their impacts, and respond appropriately.

The above are just a few examples, and other conditions requiring decisions may arise as well. Early recognition is critical, so Boards must regularly review Strategic Plans and govern implementation. Governance is different than management—the latter provides oversight and coordination of day-to-day execution, while the former considers issues that affect whether or not timely execution and continued relevance is even possible. Boards need to make good decisions in response to both urgent and emerging issues by looking at the plan as a whole, as well as missions, priorities, resources, etc.

What kinds of decisions might Boards have to make? Well, as we mentioned, they have to keep plans on track, on target, and relevant. There are many tools in the toolbox to help them accomplish this, and they may need to be used in combination. Potential responses include, but are not limited to:

Shifting or Acquiring Resources— One potential tool is reallocating human and/or financial resources from one action to another, which needs to be evaluated in the broader context of the plan (e.g., relative schedule impacts on “source” activities). Boards can also consider adding new staff, contractors, etc. to get things done on time without affecting other actions.

Altering Schedules— Boards may choose to extend timelines for certain actions if, for example, Action Owners or assigned resources are repurposed, quit, or otherwise become unavailable. Care must be taken when using this approach, as pushing schedules on one action often affects the deadlines for others. “End state” and milestone targets may also need to be revisited.

Redefining Actions— In some cases—for example when assumptions don’t pan out or milestone targets are missed—the best option may be to reconfigure approaches to achieving objectives. This requires understanding why an issue occurred, and finding a better way to get to get to a similar end. This tool will likely affect schedules and both milestone and “end state” metrics.

Modifying Targets— Sometimes, challenges (and solutions) necessitate tempering expectations in Strategic Plans. Boards may choose, either in lieu of or because of other responses, to adjust desired outcomes to reflect what’s realistic given the circumstances, for example if resources aren’t accessible, schedules have to change, or approaches need to be redesigned.

Changing Metrics, Objectives, and/or Goals— If external conditions change, the desired results may change with them. This means what’s measured, the corresponding objectives, and even the high-level goals may need to be modified or redefined, e.g., if the client base and its needs evolve. Scenario planning is helpful when potential changes are known, so it’s easier to adapt.

It’s on both Program Managers (see prior article on “Action”) and Boards to recognize issues early on. Responses require Boards to have thoughtful strategic discussions with critical evaluations of plan interdependencies, relative importance of outcomes, and response feasibility. Effective adaptation—i.e., good decisioning—is critical to ensuring Strategic Plans get results that ultimately deliver for non-profits and their clients. It’s a key component of our overall, on-going “strategy cycle,” in which decisions circle back into both Planning and Action to accomplish what non-profits need.

This concludes our Strategic Planning series. We’ve defined it, developed a framework, and discussed each element in detail to provide a better sense of the “what,” “why,” and “how” of “being strategic.”

More Information

Learn more about strategic planning and get started now!

Act Now on Your Non-profit's Strategy!

Fri, 19 Apr 2019 09:49:52 GMT

H ow to enable successful execution of your strategic plan

This is the fourth blog post in our series on non-profit Strategic Planning. In our last post, we went into detail on the “Planning” phase of our approach, laying out what non-profits need to do to define their aspirations and build a road map toward making them real. In this article, we’ll discuss the “Act” stage—the “getting it done” aspect of Strategic Planning. It’s Action—what is done, how well it’s done, and its timeliness—that ultimately determines the results non-profits get, so it’s important to get it right. And while execution might sound simple—you just “do it,” right?—the fact is that it’s at this point where many non-profits see their best-laid plans go off the rails.

Why do so many plans die at the “Act” stage? There are several different reasons, and the impacts range from “failure to launch” to “start-and-stop” to “haphazard results.” What’s often lacking is commitment, ownership, knowledge, coordination, monitoring, and/or responsiveness.

Commitment— Namely, the absence of urgency on the Board, which means it isn’t stressing accountability, actively participating, or facilitating timely action for Action Owners. Without a sufficient level of commitment, it’s easy for plans to get overwhelmed by the “routine.”

Ownership— Who’s got the honor of “running the program?” Someone has to look at the big picture, make sure everything is happening as it’s supposed to, and recognize and respond to (or escalate) issues. If no one’s in charge, things can easily fall by the wayside.

Knowledge— Very often, those responsible for individual actions know what’s supposed to be done, but they don’t know specifically what to do. The devil’s in the details, so to speak, and unless you can define the basic steps underlying the action, the outcomes are at risk.

Coordination— Strategies are full of complementary activities and dependencies. If they aren’t well-orchestrated, and if collaboration isn’t encouraged, execution will at best be inefficient, and internal inconsistencies may be more costly and less likely to produce the right results.

Monitoring— Specifically, the lack oversight and corresponding inability to quickly recognize issues threaten to push plans off track. This is a function of effective, empowered ownership. Without continuous, accurate reporting, problems aren’t seen and aren’t solved.

Responsiveness— Issue recognition is essential but useless without responses. When expected resources become unavailable, or assumptions end up inaccurate, it’s decision time. If those decisions are “punted”—resources not provided, schedules not adjusted, etc.—plans will fail.

As with many challenges, there are solutions that will help promote successful execution. For strategic plans, a lot rides on how implementation is “set up.” The foundation is understanding strategic plans are “programs” made up of individual “projects,” and must be managed as such. With this perspective in mind, key elements of effective Action can be more easily identified, and the proper infrastructure established to stay true to a plan and achieve the expected outcomes. The pillars are the Key Implementation Roles, Program and Project Design, and Supporting Execution Tools.

Key Implementation Roles

Governance— Boards facilitate execution and respond to issues, outcomes, and changing conditions. When issues are raised (see below), they are the decision-makers—e.g., whether to provide extra resources, or adjust plans or expectations. Similarly, they should be aware of and respond to milestone outcomes, as well as external dynamics that may affect plans.

Program Management— Strategic plans need Program Managers—Executive Directors (EDs), key staff members, or consultants—who provide oversight, “push” Action Owners, facilitate coordination, track and report progress and outcomes, and resolve or escalate issues and risks. They must be empowered, even when Board members are Action Owners.

Action Owners— Programs are the sum of individual projects. Completing assigned actions on time and with the expected results is the responsibility of the Action Owners, who plan activities, manage teams, collaborate across Actions, report progress, and raise issues. Board members may be Action Owners, and must accept reporting to the Program Manager.

Program and Project Design

Project Planning— Actions should have “project plans” with tasks, dependencies, timelines, and team assignments. These define the detailed steps required to complete Actions, They force Action Owners to think through what their teams need to do, and seek help when they’re unsure. They also encourage coordination, and make early issue recognition easier.

Program Oversight— An overall Program Plan consolidates each project—along with its dependencies, deadlines, and resource assignments—into one “master schedule.” They enable Program Managers to coordinate Actions and schedules on paper and in “real life,” track progress, interpret problems, and report and recommend solutions to their Boards.

Supporting Execution Tools

Program Dashboard— It’s important for Boards to avoid getting “lost in the weeds” of basic strategic plan execution. Dashboards—relatively simple, easy-to-consume representations of project status, issues, risks, and recommendations—are a great way to keep Boards focused on their “governance” roles. An example of a dashboard is available here .

Project Management Software— Since program and project management are so important, Program Managers and Action Owners need the right tools to plan, track progress, etc. Small, simple plans may be able to get by with spreadsheets, but more complex programs will benefit significantly from tools like MS Project (there are even Open Source options).

Collaboration Platforms— Tools such as SharePoint enable coordination and collaboration across teams, which is especially important for larger organizations and complex plans. Even smaller plans will find Dropbox or another document management application useful. Any collaboration tool will also indirectly encourage accountability, if only due to visibility.

Of course, the above won’t guarantee successful execution—as we said above, a sense of urgency at the Board level is critical, and individual accountability is also important. So too is communication, which is essential for active direction and governance, and useful also for establishing transparency and maintaining a level of enthusiasm across the organization. However, without a sound infrastructure—roles, design, and tools—implementation is “at risk” from the beginning, which isn’t a good position for non-profits to be in to achieve their desired results and realize their aspirations.

Learn More

Next time, we’ll discuss the last component of our Planning Framework—“Adaptation.” Of course, while you’re waiting, feel free to contact us at info@snowflakellc.com if you want to talk!

Planning for the Future as a Non-profit

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 11:24:21 GMT

How to articulate goals and chart a course that will achieve them

In our last post in this series on Strategic Planning, we went into detail on the “Anticipate” phase of our approach, talking about what non-profits need to know from the beginning of the process, and how to learn it. This time, we’re going in-depth on the “Plan” stage—the “where to go, and how to get there.” Planning elevates non-profits out of the “day-to-day,” to a more comprehensive view of their services and how they’re related to missions and markets. The focus is on cost-effectiveness, sustainability and, often, growth. When done correctly, planning results in a well-thought out path to the future, and also provides critical context for decision-making so organizational leaders make the best choices going forward.

Good planning typically includes Vision, Mission, and Values, a SWOT analysis, and the standard “goals—objectives—actions” discussion. While necessary, there’s more involved, and a simplistic view can lead to inaction or ineffectiveness. Several other pieces have to be included, such as:

Contextual Elements

Demand— The results of our Anticipate phase—an understanding of “market” needs—need to be actually used in planning. After all, non-profits have to be responsive to what their populations will require, and can’t afford to waste resources on services and/or delivery methods likely to be un- or under-utilized. Plans should be tailored to community concerns.

Focus— It’s important to know where missions overlap with market demands. Many non-profits experience “scope creep,” extending into areas they’re not meant to address. While help may be needed, programs that go beyond missions can take resources from core services, and shift focus from the areas the organizations are best positioned to support.

Conditions— SWOT analysis is ubiquitous in Strategic Planning. How it’s used, though, is inconsistent. Sound planning requires considering to most critical SWOT results at every stage in the discussion to capitalize on non-profits’ greatest assets and opportunities, and effectively deal with deficiencies and risks to the organizations and their aspirations.

Directional Elements

Open Field— Goal development is often seen as a one-time event, which places de facto constraints on discussions. Sound planning is iterative, with a “first cut” that allows participants to be aggressive with aspirations and creative with ideas—“what we’d love to do, and how we’d do it.” The “possible” comes later, and the answers are often surprising.

Targets— Organizations that plan typically are doing so to get results, but they often don’t define exactly what those results should be. What constitutes success—i.e., the expected outcomes from planned actions—needs to be established, as do milestones for incremental progress. Targets are key to measurement and adaptation, so plans can be kept on track.

Integrity— Typically, planning efforts “cascade down” from missions to actions, but results are rarely examined to verify that they are “upwardly aligned”—that is, if done effectively, the actions will deliver on objectives, which will achieve goals, etc. If this upward alignment is off—and it often is—plans won’t be effective no matter how well they are executed.

Priorities— Good planning recognizes things unfold over the time—not everything can be simultaneously addressed. Actions have to be sequenced due to dependencies, and certain milestones must be met to accommodate the immediacy and magnitude of client needs. Prioritizing is essential for the strategic choices non-profits will ultimately have to make.

Refining Elements

Resources— Plans often collapse because non-profits lack the people to effectively execute. The looming question of “who’s going to do it” is often avoided, and it can’t be. Analyzing resource needs and accessibility critical in planning, so organizations see gaps they need to close to accomplish identified goals and objectives, and develop strategies to address them.

Feasibility— In iterative planning, aspirations ultimately need to be reconciled with reality. This is “decision time”—to commit to planned actions, timelines, targets, etc., or adjust them for access to resources. It’s particularly important since all plans have dependencies, and just one inaction can lead to broader failure. All told, what’s on paper has to actually occur.

Alternatives— Non-profits often operate in dynamic environments. Inability to recognize and respond to changing conditions can make best laid plans irrelevant. The “what ifs”—of new legislation, unrealized opportunities, etc.—are important. If there are alternate, high-probability possibilities, scenarios can help understand the impacts and prepare to adapt.

As mentioned in the first article in this series post, the Plan phase of our Strategic Planning framework builds on anticipation of market needs to provide a coherent, logical, and actionable direction that’s true to the Mission and responsive to demand. It also provides a structure that anchors non-profits’ future decisions in strategic principles, so that the right choices are made and the organizations remain relevant, cost-effective, and sustainable, even as things change. That said, planning alone doesn’t produce results—“implementing” is an action verb that implies coordinated efforts to “make plans real.” We’ll discuss that in our next article, in which we will focus on the “Act” phase of our framework.

It would be great if planning were as easy as an “off-site”—a single discussion of goals, objectives, actions, etc. that magically transforms into an actionable, effective Strategic Plan. The fact is, sound planning is not a “one-and-done” proposition, and non-profits that don’t embrace the particulars won’t get full value from their efforts. That does not mean, however, that it’s overly complicated and burdensome—all non-profits have the capacity to be good planners and develop ways forward they can realistically follow. Our conception of planning is more involved than the “typical understanding,” but with the right level of commitment and a knowledgeable guide, it’s both possible and rewarding.

More Information

We’ve reached the end of our space for this post, but fear not, we’ll be back soon with a detailed discussion of the “Act” phase of our Strategic Planning framework. As always, if you really can’t wait, (or if you have questions on the Planning phase), feel free to contact us at info@snowflakellc.com !

Anticipating Demand for Non-profit Services

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 11:22:54 GMT

What you need to know, and how to learn it

I n last month’s post, we talked about the meaning of “Strategic Planning,” proposing five “key phrases” to help define a term that can be challenging for leaders in every sector to work with. We used these phrases—longer-term horizon, big picture perspective, logical construction, outcome orientation, and flexibility to change—to suggest an approach to undertaking Strategic Planning initiatives in non-profit organizations. We noted that within this Anticipate, Plan, Act, and Adapt framework, “planning” is only one component of a more extensive effort, one that is responsive, actionable, and dynamic as things change. When we left off, we promised to get into the details, so let’s start with the Anticipate phase.

For Strategic Planning to be effective, non-profits—like all other organizations—need to know why they’re needed to begin with. The answer may seem relatively straightforward, e.g., “we’re here to make sure the un- and under-insured can get comprehensive health care.” It’s appropriate, however, to dig beneath the surface and find out exactly what that means going forward. That is, organizations have to know the particulars of the “target population(s)” and the surrounding environment. Correctly anticipating needs given factors such as client demographics, community resources, regulatory conditions, etc. is essential to meeting demand for non-profit services.

It’s therefore important to do some investigation into the “market,” so initial research and analysis is an important part in our Strategic Planning framework. Anticipating demand requires understanding and interpreting the combined effects of three main factors:

Concerns— Considering mission-related community issues is essential to effectively respond to—and even affect—demand. Recognizing needs helps define which services to emphasize going forward. At a minimum, common concerns within population segments are important to know, so that accurately focused solutions can be identified.

Conditions— “Market” forces such as demographics, economics, legislation, etc. will impact the dynamics of community demand. For example, non-profits should be aware of:

Trends in population age groups, geographic movement, etc.
Economic factors impacting the number of potential clients
Nature and effects of potential regulatory changes on the population
Other community sources of services provided to the same groups

Characteristics— Finally, non-profits need to know the target population(s) beyond just their immediate concerns. Attributes such as personal preferences and accessibility impacts everything from viability of methods to patients’ ability to get information. Effectiveness of different delivery approaches, marketing, etc. depend on segment traits.

These factors need to be analyzed collectively to accurately understand needs—looking at only one is insufficient. To use a rudimentary example, while geographic trends may suggest the use of virtual services, they won’t work if the client base doesn’t have the means to access them.

As mentioned in the previous post, the Anticipate phase of our Strategic Planning framework ensures non-profits stay “on the curve”—even ahead of it—so they can effectively adjust what they’re doing now to deliver the services the community needs, in appropriate ways. Anticipation doesn’t necessarily provide the answers to how to respond to population demand, but it’s a crucial input to the Plan phase, the next element of our approach. After all, non-profits that comprehensively understand what they are responding to are much better prepared to come up with the right answers—solutions tailored to community concerns, “market” conditions, and client characteristics.

All well and good, but how do organizations go about getting the information they need to accurately anticipate what the next several years will look like? There are several ways to obtain what’s needed to create a realistic image of the future, even if there are uncertainties. These include, for example:

Data Analysis— There is often good data publicly available from municipalities, counties, etc. that provide insights into current demographics and trends over time, which may be used to understand the makeup of the area and identify likely changes that may affect services.

Community Assessments— While costly and complex, needs assessments can highlight key existing and emerging issues. Localities and other local organizations may conduct these on a regular basis, so non-profits don’t necessarily have to drive these types of efforts.

Front-line Observations— Client data collected by non-profits is a good source for demographics, needs, and attributes. Also, simply listening to staff members and volunteers can be quite useful in understanding the current population, and even how it is changing.

Client Surveys— Asking clients about themselves can be a great way to augment data that non-profits collect. Surveys provide more detail about needs, preferences, accessibility, and other characteristics that can help build profiles and increase understanding of the population.

Expert Opinions— Local subject matter expert (SME) perspectives augment or, if necessary, are good proxies for, needs assessments. SMEs in the mission area, local government, etc. see what’s going on in the community, and have a good idea of potential future challenges.

Legislative Monitoring— Staying current with local and higher-level policies and initiatives is key. Boards should have a way to monitor local politics, and non-profits may have related associations they can use to keep up-to-date on potential broader changes and impacts.

Taken together, the information gathered from these sources lay out what non-profits have to plan for—a pre-requisite to planning how to effectively serve relevant groups. When uncertainties come into play, modeling scenarios to see impacts on, for example, demographics may also be necessary.

Before we go for now, it’s worth noting that while the Anticipate phase may seem inordinately complicated and, by extension, expensive, it isn’t necessary to be perfect. Sure, it would be nice to jump head-first into data, but a workable picture of the “market” doesn’t require it. Non-profits just need to know enough, with sufficient confidence, to position themselves for responsive Planning. The methods above don’t have to be overly time-consuming or cost-prohibitive. In most cases, in fact, the sources of information are immediately accessible—they just have to ask the right questions of the right people. A good consultant can help with this, and pull it all together for further discussion.

Learn More

Once again, we’re out of room for this post. Next time we’ll cover the Planning phase of our Strategic Planning framework in detail. If really can’t wait, though (or if you have questions on the Anticipate phase), feel free to contact us at info@snowflakellc.com , and we’ll talk you through it.

Looking Again at Strategic Planning

Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:13:54 GMT

A proposed definition and its implications for non-profits

All non-profits need a sound Strategic Plan to guide them into the future. The reasons are clear—primarily, a “30,000 foot view” of future demands and how the organization can position itself to cost-effectively meet them by, balancing priorities and resources, making tradeoffs, building internal capacity, diversifying funding, etc. Strategic Planning helps align services with changing population dynamics, increase efficiency, improve quality, expand programs, and much more, while remaining sustainable over the long term. It’s a requirement for “sticking around” and staying relevant, being there for people and addressing their most pressing issues.

But what does “Strategic Planning” mean, exactly? We often throw these words around with great confidence, but there is little consensus in the discipline—let alone the non-profit world—about how they’re defined. As a result, we see general confusion about (and frustration with) process and outcomes, inconsistent practices across organizations, and incomplete “products.” From what we’ve seen, sadly, many non-profit—and quite frankly, a lot of consultants—don’t really have a good understanding of Strategic Planning “in concept” If the definition isn’t right, neither is the approach, and efforts to engage in the activity won’t produce the necessary results—to survive and thrive.

It makes sense, then, to spend some time talking about exactly what we’re doing when we undertake Strategic Planning, so we can apply a process that delivers what it promises. Fortunately, we have lots of cross-sector knowledge and client experiences—we’ve seen what works, and what doesn’t. From that, we propose five “key phrases” to build a useful understanding of Strategic Planning:

Longer-term horizon— Forecasting the future, focusing on on-going challenges not “radar blips,” defining planned, sustainable solutions rather than “knee-jerk,” “quick hit” responses.

Big picture perspective— Detaching from “daily operations,” looking at the whole, integrated organization and surrounding environment, aligning with the vision, mission, and values.

Logical construction— Starting with defined end-period outcomes and a known departure point, developing a structure path forward while considering “what-ifs” and risks.

Outcome orientation— Realistically evaluating resource access over time to ensure feasibility, defining “projects,” executing as a coordinated program with end and milestone targets.

Flexibility to change— Identifying possible scenarios and planning contingencies, continuously engaging at a leadership level to recognize, interpret, and respond to results and changes.

Taken together, these key phrases capture the essence of Strategic Planning. With this in mind, we can articulate a consistent process that will be effective for all non-profits, one that encourages thinking at the appropriate levels and, ultimately, delivers the right outcomes even as things change. Our five phrases inform the elements of this process:

Anticipation— Accurately projecting future needs and conditions. This step ensures the non-profit isn’t using an outdated picture of demand and providing static services, but is appropriately shifting to emphasize and support services the community needs going forward.

Planning— Defining focus, “success,” and what needs to be done. This centers the non-profit on its mission and “market” overlap, lifts it out of a “day-to-day” thought process, enables options to be considered and decisions made in context toward specific goals and objectives.

Action— Implementing solutions, on time and within budget. This makes the plan a reality, moving forward with resolve and purpose in a coordinated fashion to secure stability and continued relevance, and realize opportunities to deliver better and do more.

Adaptation— Monitoring and responding to results and external changes. This keeps the non-profit’s plan alive, providing a mechanism for early recognition of performance issues and emerging challenges, and correcting or diverting from the course if needed to ensure success.

Note that in this framework, “planning” is one of several components. This is partially why correctly defining Strategic Planning is so difficult to begin with—the term itself is confusing because it focuses attention on a single part of a larger endeavor. To understand Strategic Planning in a meaningful way, and to engage in a successful Strategic Planning initiative, requires seeing the plan as only part of a more extensive effort, designed for action that achieves long-term goals even when things happen that affect the non-profit’s strategies, measures, targets, and/or objectives. Understanding this is critical—after all, a piece of paper is just that, and it can’t by itself accomplish anything.

Of course, each of the four elements in the above Anticipate, Plan, Act, and Adapt framework have a lot underneath them—details non-profits must know to ensure they get the necessary results from their Strategic Planning initiatives. Fear not, however… we’ve thought these things through, laying out in detail what the four “pillars” entail and employing (and constantly refining) the process with a wide range of non-profit organizations. We’re out of room for this newsletter, but new four posts will cover them in depth. Read up, and feel free to contact Snowflake at info@snowflakellc.com for more information.

Getting the Right People on Your Board

Sat, 18 Aug 2018 14:00:25 GMT

An alternative to "expediency" as a strategy for recruitment and selection

As a consultant, I’m often privy to Board conversations and, unsurprisingly, I hear quite a bit. There are typical Board interactions, of course—discussing organizational business, coping with immediate and emerging issues, etc.—but there’s a lot more, too. Frequently, for example, there’s talk about Board composition and capacity. I hear a good deal about Boards that: (1) Are in flux, with people leaving and needing to be replaced, (2) Want to expand their sizes, both for operational and fundraising purposes, and (3) Have difficulties getting their members to participate at appropriate levels. There are other things as well, but I mention these in particular because there’s a common thread. Faced with these challenges, recruitment is a natural response.

I stopped at “recruitment” because Boards don’t always seek to find the “right people,” however—they just look for willing participants. At Board meetings, candidates are proposed in ways such as “Peg’s interested in joining… I know her from the Rotary Club, she loves what we’re doing, and she’s great!” There’s an enthusiastic response—someone has the desire, and a member vouches for that person. Perfect, right? After all, there are a ton of non-profits out there competing for Board members, and they can be hard to come by. Notice, though, that the above exchange is missing some things—namely why, exactly, is Peg “great?” What skills and experiences does Peg bring? What can she add that we don’t have? Will she complement group capabilities?

Without careful consideration of what’s needed and whether prospective members can fill the gaps, Boards don’t function as they should. It shouldn’t be about getting a “warm body.” Rather, recruiting, vetting, and selecting has to be requirements-based. This means Boards need to define their target structures and compositions. Specifically, they have to define the necessary roles and responsibilities, the “ideal” sizes of committees and teams, and the backgrounds, interests, and related attributes that the “right individuals” should possess. These factors help target recruitment—when you know who you’re looking for, you can figure out where to find them. They’re also key to evaluating and deciding if candidates will actually strengthen Board capacity.

Yes, this takes time and effort, but it pays significant dividends in the end. It’s tempting, obviously, to adopt “expediency” as the dominant strategy, but (no offense to her, by the way) Peg just might not be the best person—you may get lucky, but it’s equally likely she won’t improve the Board and, at worst, she may even help perpetuate existing Board challenges. Your non-profit deserves a professional, capable, fully functional Board that can provide the guidance, oversight, funding, and other things it needs to be at its best. Sometimes, this means passing on the Pegs of the world, exercising due diligence and little bit of patience to put the “right talent” in the “right places.” It’s a different way of thinking, but it will pay significant dividends for your organization in the end.

Learn More

For more information or to schedule a complementary initial consultation, contact us today

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Tue, 31 Jul 2018 18:28:02 GMT

Some thoughts on non-profit workforce turnover, and what to do about it

Are staff walking out your door?

Whether it’s happening experiencing it already or you’reworried about it in the future, attrition is never fun to contemplate. It’s certainly unsettling and can be highlydisruptive, potentially affecting performance, reputation, and morale, and itcan even have financial impacts. So whatcan you do to cope with staff loss?

1. Understand not all attrition is a problem.

Some departures aren’t bad—in fact, they may help yourorganization, improving outcomes, changing your work environment for thebetter, and even saving you money. While it can certainly be hard to willinglylet people go, or even encourage them to leave, it’s sometimes worth seeingthem off. Focus retention efforts on thepeople you want to keep. Read more

2. Find out why good people are leaving.

When you have undesirable attrition, you need to take thetime to find out why. Data and exitanalyses are two great ways to learn more about your why people are leaving. Together,the two methods can form a powerful way pinpoint the reasons people are movingon, enabling you to develop cohort-specific, targeted retention approaches. Read more

3. Expect some turnover you just can’t stop.

Explaining attrition may not translate into the ability tostop it completely. Some people aregoing to leave no matter what. Youshould focus on the things over which they have control, and the people youwant to keep. Take care, however, not toundersell what you can offer. Challengesthat may seem insurmountable may haveeffective solutions. Read more

4. Institute targeted programs to retain key people.

When you notice common issues affecting staff andvolunteers they want to keep, you need to critically evaluate conditions andlook for answers. Some problems may haveeasily identifiable corresponding actions, while for others solutions may be lessdirect. It’s important to interpret trueworkforce motivators, and focus on the right types of people. Read more

5. Keep and share institutional knowledge.

When key people do leave, you may hear things like, “She’sthe only one who knows how to do it!” Such departures can leave organizationsin a bind, so it’s important retain and pass along this “institutionalknowledge.” You should document processes and, ideally, use a knowledgemanagement system. On-boarding is alsocrucial in this regard. Read more

6. Be patient but proactive with replacements.

One of most challenging things about attrition is replacingthe people who leave. Good selection is critical, and it’s important to avoidthe urge to “settle” just to get someone on board. Moreover, new hires may lack organizationalknowledge. Keep expectations realistic and minimize “prep time” with proactive on-boarding that goes beyond thebasics. Read more

7. Keep track of how you’re doing.

Measuring effectiveness of retention programs andreplacement strategies is critical. If the same attrition trends continue,something isn’t working. Similarly, ifnew hires aren’t meeting expectations, you’re probably not selecting orpreparing them well enough. If you’re not tracking data, though, you won’trecognize problems, and you can’t adjust. Read more

Everyone faces the possibility of turnover. Some is actually beneficial, and you canlimit “bad attrition.” When theinevitable happens and key people move on, it’s possible to cope. In the end, organizations that keep theirbest people while taking the worst-case scenarios in stride will have the most success over time.

Learn More

For more information, please visit www.snowflakellc.com/nonprofits , or contact info@snowflakellc.com . Piedmont Strategic Management, LLC contributed to this article.

Getting the Most from Your Unpaid Workforce

Mon, 25 Jun 2018 11:32:08 GMT

Five myths about non-profit volunteers

Volunteers are the lifeblood of many non-profits. They come with challenges, however. For example, you have to find reliable people who fit your needs, integrate them into the organization, manage them effectively, and keep the good ones around. Easier said than done, perhaps—sometimes, volunteers may seem like more trouble than they’re worth. You need them, though it can be difficult to get the right people engaged and keep them in the fold. Do not be troubled, though. A volunteer workforce can be surprisingly effective, if you turn five big myths about volunteers on their heads.

The Myths

1. “Getting the right people is sheer luck.”

Target the right populations in the right places, and pique their interest in both your non-profit and the jobs. Recruiting will be less of a hassle, and you may be shocked by the quality—if not quantity—of the volunteer applicants you can generate. Read more

2. “Beggars shouldn’t be choosers.”

It’s usually better to go without for a period of time than to accept someone who doesn’t represent you well, and do the job to your standards. Be patient, and be selective for volunteers who can meet the requirements and fit your culture. Read more

3. “Realize half of your volunteers won’t show up.”

Accept individuals with the characteristics that make them likely to get fully engaged and perform effectively. Then, deliver the experience you’re promising, and you’ll build a volunteer base you can count on, and keep them coming back. Read more

4. “Volunteers will motivate themselves.”

It’s easy for people to burn out, so you have to feed the fire. In short, if you effectively engage your volunteers, you’ll keep them interested and motivated, and benefit from new ideas, better performance, and consistent participation. Read more

5. “You can’t hold volunteers accountable.”

You can push volunteers to produce and hold them accountable, using tools from transparency-driven “peer pressure” to formal reviews that encourage high performance. At the end of the day, though, you can’t be afraid to cut ties. Read more

Whether you have a Board made up of volunteers or you use them for administrative and operational work, you can get a lot out of those who are willing to help you on their dimes. You just need to get past the “volunteer mystique” that has many non-profits thinking “all are welcome.” It’s a lot like managing paid talent—not everyone fits the need, and “bad people” can be worse than no help at all. If you don’t buy into the myths, you can build and maintain a capable, committed, energetic, and highly productive volunteer workforce, give them a rewarding experience, and keep the best people coming back.

Learn More

Read the full article here and contact Snowflake for more information

Why Our B Corporation® Status Matters

Tue, 12 Jun 2018 10:45:29 GMT

Snowflake is part of a global movement using business as a force for good

Snowflake LLC “helps organizations improve individuals’ and communities’ quality of life.” We take your goals as are own, working as “one team” to make a significant, lasting social impact. We’re not here to profit from you—we exist to help you be at your sustainable best, so you’ll always be there for the people who need you. From our “top-tier consultancy” heritage, we bring unique perspectives, diverse experiences, and a high degree of professionalism uncommon among small businesses. We’ve demonstrated our ability to apply what we know through “community lenses,” leveraging our combined knowledge to make a greater difference in society.

You should take notice. There are few consultants who can say, “we are you,” offer the type and level of expertise we do, and ensure the cost is affordable. With Snowflake, you’ll work with “one of your own,” with a common purpose and a shared commitment to making a difference. Together, we can accomplish greater things, for the greater good.

We’re making a lot of claims here. How do you know we’re legitimate? That’s where our Certified B Corporation® status comes in. The B Corp movement comprises 2,500 companies worldwide, ranging from major corporations like King Arthur Flour, Patagonia, and Cabot Creamery to small firms like Snowflake. B Corps measure “business success” in a different way. While we still need to make a reasonable profit, our social impact is a key part of our bottom lines, and that’s reflected in our missions, goals, operations, people, and relationships with our communities. In other words, we’re using our businesses as a force for social good—to be the change the world needs.

When we decided to become a Certified B Corporation® in 2017, we officially adopted a corporate identity predicated on promoting social welfare. The B Corp certification process is demanding, requiring that companies consistently and transparently demonstrate exactly how they serve their social purpose. For us, pursuit of social objectives is reflected in our focus on serving non-profits and other socially-oriented organizations, while seeking only reasonable profits from our work. It’s represented by the fact that we set aside ten percent of our year for pro bono support, helping local non-profits who need high quality professional advice and support to be greater, but simply can’t afford it. It’s institutionalized in the free training we offer the non-profit community. It’s enshrined in contributing up to 7.5% of our annual income to charitable causes. And, to the extent possible, we source labor from disadvantaged populations, and supplies from local providers. All of our efforts are publicly displayed, so we’re accountable for what we’ve committed to do.

When you see our Certified B Corporation® logo, you can be confident we’ll be a true partner, one that shares your objectives and collaborates with you to achieve them. Since 2014, more than 25 clients have benefited from the combination of our social values and our perspectives, experiences, and professionalism. Let’s see what we can accomplish together, too.

More Information

Learn more or get a complementary initial consultation

Changing with the Times

Tue, 29 May 2018 14:10:25 GMT

How to think about non-profit strategy in a dynamic environment

Someone very old and wise once said “The only thing that is constant is change.” Many non-profits can relate, whether it’s regulatory change, shifts in stakeholder guidance, or uncertainties around funding. Even when the goalposts are constantly moving, however, you still need to think strategically. Every change has significant implications, on services, credentials, resources, operations, and more, and it’s the rare organization that can just jump in and out of different delivery models in response to dynamic conditions.

Planning in unstable conditions can be complex, but keep in mind that things almost never remain the same over time. Demographics shift, needs change, funding varies, and what you knew yesterday probably won’t be true tomorrow. The keys to a successful non-profit, however, are consistent no matter what, and if you do these things well, you’ll realize your potential to impact individuals and communities:

Know the “market
Identify aligned services
Prioritize needs
Get the right people
Operate cost-effectively

It starts with who you are serving, what they need, and what you are best positioned for. Your market may already be shifting from migration, aging, economics, and other factors. Even larger changes may be afoot. Sound planning requires both awareness and flexibility. That’s why we advocate for in-depth market research and rigorous supply and demand modeling. In times of uncertainty, you’ll have to look at different scenarios, from the status quo to high likelihood changes in the outside environment.

If you make and accurately interpret supply and demand for each scenario, you can understand community needs, and identify and prioritize the services you should offer. This will look different from one organization to the next. It depends on local market characteristics—chiefly, the target population and what it requires, and who else can address certain things so you don’t have to. How you adjust the scale of what you currently offer, and/or add to or delete from your mix of services, will be unique among your peers.

Then, there’s the resources you need for each scenario, and your confidence in your ability to obtain them. Both “client-facing” and “mission support” aspects are important, since change often affects not only the required technical specialties, but also the infrastructure to support a “new look.” This is the “limiting factor”—you can’t plan to do everything if acquiring the necessary human, financial, and/or capital resources is unrealistic. Creativity is a virtue and priorities are crucial. This is complex, and merits discussion on its own.

When change is coming, and you need to transition from one approach to another, you need to get out in front of it. As noted, you can’t change operations with a snap of your fingers, so early recognition and quick reaction is critical. Leadership must be actively engaged in monitoring and assessing the environment, and Boards may need to make risk-based decisions on when to shift gears. Strategies must be frequently reviewed in environmental context, not just in terms of progress and results.

Things happen. Sometimes they’re already affecting you and, other times, they may be just over the horizon. You may see them coming, or they may be hidden or even unanticipated. Don’t let change deter you from planning—in fact, thinking strategy is even more critical in times of uncertainty. You need to know what’s happening or anticipate what might be coming, so you can plan to meet community demands. If you want to stay relevant and cost-effective, you need to be prepared for what’s next!

Learn More

We offer complementary initial consultations to help you strategic planning for non-profits responding to or anticipating change. Click here to learn more and request a time to talk.

Metric Matters

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 13:43:48 GMT

Why measuring outcomes is important, but no one bothers

You really sound convincing, but why are you so certain?

Every claim, no matter how resolutely believed and confidently made, is subject to this question. From “She definitely loves me” to “This program really works” to “every person in the world loves bananas” we often have strong feelings that something is true, but we can’t always bear the burden of proof. In many instances, we think so, but we aren’t exactly sure. We aren’t always right, either. I hate bananas, especially with peanut butter, and I am a person in the world.

Hard evidence isn’t always critical to the individual asserting a belief, but it often matters to others who have to make decisions based on statements of presumed fact. The “Other Guy” looks for clues she really is in love with someone else before abandoning his pursuit. The speculator needs a degree of confidence what she’s putting her money behind is going to give her a sufficient return on investment. The donor wants to see his contribution making an impact on the community before parting with more cash.

Notwithstanding rabbits’ feet, most people need solid information to make good decisions. Is it selling? Is it delivering? Is it going to be effective? Is it worth the resources—human, financial, capital—behind it? Executives in all sectors of the economy need to see results, and they need to give assurances to convince others to get behind an idea, buy a product, or invest in a program. Prove it. Demonstrate it works, or make me feel comfortable it’s going to. Let’s just shamelessly steal Missouri’s timeless words… “Show me.”

In other words, metrics matter. Data—qualitative and quantitative—is evidence. Facts about performance make decisions easier for everyone. If he repeatedly sees them passionately kissing behind the bleachers, our “Other Guy” can be pretty sure she’s off the market. Too often, though, organizations can’t make their cases with convincing information. They don’t measure outcomes, so they can’t tell if something is working, they certainly can’t show anyone else. The proof is in the pudding, but they haven’t bothered to make it yet.

It seems pretty intuitive, actually, that blind faith is a bad way to make important decisions, and that (unless you’re incredibly charismatic) persuading others requires you to back up your points. So I often ask myself, “Self, why do so many businesses, government agencies, and non-profits miss the metrics bus?” And I smack myself on the head, because the four-part answer is simple: (1) They don’t think about it, (2) It can be pretty hard; and (3) Collecting data can be difficult; and (4) They can’t interpret what they collect.

Let’s explore these points a bit. First, overwhelmed by their day-to-day business, metrics—and why they’re needed—don’t come to find. For those who are really, really busy, demonstrating results is an afterthought, if it’s a thought at all. Sometimes, we get so into our daily routines, we don’t stop to consider if what we’re doing is producing the desired outcomes. If this sounds like you, take a breath! You’ll be more effective—and you may even be able to make your life easier—if you float up to 30,000 feet, look down, and measure!

Second, defining what to measure isn’t always easy. How does our “Other Guy” measure the effects of his efforts to chip away at the girl’s affection for his nemesis? Not easy. He can say, “I followed them 50 times in a year,” but he can’t say “Her love decreased 50 units.” See, it’s the outcomes that count, not necessarily the actions. How do you really measure whether your programs are improving someone’s quality of life? And, are your actions are making the difference, or is it someone else who’s helping the same population?

But when things seem too hard, do you just throw up your hands and say “I can’t?” Nope, we get creative, we think harder, we use proxies. There’s always something you can use! But once you’ve got it, don’t pat yourself on the back just yet. Issue three: Collecting the data might be a bit of a challenge. It can be hard to obtain, and it can be expensive. Unless you’re a large company with an equally large budget, you may not think you can capture complex information. Heck, you may just not have the time. That’s not good.

Back to the drawing board? Not for a lot of people… when the chips are down, they fold like a cheap suit. Not necessary… no one said it would be easy, but you’ve got to do it. There’s a lot of data out there, and believe it or not, it’s worth investing a buck or two for the potential performance and, of course, financial benefits. And if you just can’t get feedback on that “special metric,” there’s another one just waiting for you—maybe something more qualitative? Tough it out. A little elbow grease, it can be done. It’s worth it.

Now, let’s just say you’ve got the metric right, and you get the data. Then what? Darn it, there’s that pesky little question: “Why?” Your competitor’s sugary drink is outselling yours… do people just like it more, or do they have better branding? Interpretation—if you don’t do it right, you’ll make the wrong decisions. That requires skills, and perhaps even… gasp… more data! “I wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway” is a huge reason people don’t bother with metrics. Look, “there’s an app for that,” or (shamelessly)… a consultant!

Let’s summarize. I’ve called out virtually everyone who doesn’t use metrics (if you don’t, you’ve probably found yourself in this discussion). And I’ve given an inkling—subconscious suggestions, perhaps—that every reason is just an excuse. If you’re not measuring, you’re likely wasting time of ineffective programs, paying significant opportunity costs, taking the wrong actions to address problems that may not even exist, skipping out on funding, and so on. The bottom line is you’re not helping—and you may be doing harm.

Don’t you just love blog posts that tell you what’s wrong, but don’t really get into how to fix it? Ugh. Well, you didn’t waste as much time as the “Other Guy,” who never had a chance but, since he had no data, didn’t see that. Anyway, fear not. You have to identify the problem to solve it, right? That’s why blogs are “living things:” As authors, we can follow up in future posts. That’s what keeps people coming back. So please, visit again, so I can regale you with ideas for how to intelligently define, collect, and use metrics for good!

Learn More

Contact us to find out more about performance metrics

Changing Your Non-profit's Lifestyle

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 12:37:49 GMT

Embracing Strategic Living to Realize Your Organization's Full Potential

Originally published Nov 29, 2017

When we hold discussions on non-profit strategic planning, we often ask which of our attendees actually have a plan. Typically, at least half of the crowd raise their hands. For the follow-up question—who’s successfully implementing those plans—virtually all of the hands go down. Over and over, non-profits say they’re simply unable to execute what they put down on paper. This isn’t surprising—typically, business executives spend about five percent of their time on strategy. Non-profit leaders are even less attentive shaping their organizations’ futures. By necessity, they’re focusing on short-term issues, and long-term strategy is a “luxury” they can’t afford.

This isn’t to say that non-profit leaders don’t “dream big.” They often have good ideas that form the basis for strategic plans. Without results-driven action, though, these plans are useless, and even damage credibility and morale. Too frequently, however, non-profits don’t “live the dream.” Strategy execution is overcome by day-to-day concerns and resource limitations. Consequently, the plan is an “end” rather a “means,” a stopping point as opposed to the beginning of a dynamic, on-going process that drives the organization to the intended long-term outcomes. This isn’t a recipe for success.

To be sustainable and continuously meet community demands to the fullest extent possible, non-profits have to put executing well-constructed strategies on equal footing with core service delivery. Mission-advancing outcomes can’t be secondary to their daily lives. For their own good and that of the communities they serve, non-profits need to go beyond “planning”—they need to “live strategically.” This requires a new mindset, one in which strategy drives key activities in pursuit of a market- and mission-oriented, sustainable future. It’s continuous planning that leads to effective action, ensuring realization of a future responsive to anticipated community needs.

In other words, non-profits need to see the cycle of strategic planning, action, and adjustment as a “lifestyle,” an integral part of organizational management and daily activities. Elements of strategy can’t be “nice-to-haves,” only pursued if there is time to spare. Simply engaging in strategic planning isn’t enough. “Strategic living” has to be the “new normal” to ensure sustained relevance, results, and stability. It’s a big shift in perspective for most non-profits. Making a successful transition to this new way of life requires the development and incorporation of nine key organizational “virtues” directly into non-profit DNA.

Curiosity
Responsiveness
Creativity
Patience
Practicality
Coordination
Communication
Attentiveness
Flexibility

Fully integrating these attributes into governance and routine allows non-profits to build beyond the present day, improving delivery, aligning and enhancing services, and ensuring that they are they’ll always be there for their communities. While it may seem impossible to “get ahead of the curve” given competing and often urgent daily priorities, living strategy is entirely possible if non-profits fully commit to doing so, developing and executing realistic strategies, adapting to performance and conditions, and realizing expected results as regular rules of business, using the right resources in clearly defined roles.

Adopting the strategic lifestyle isn’t something to which non-profits should just aspire, if only they could find the time. If they want to realize their full potential, it’s critical. The time has to be found, the effort has to be made, and the attention has to be given. It’s a big change but, simply put, non-profits that want to be lasting, high-level contributors to their communities can’t avoid this transformational shift in approach. They have to move beyond the often-fruitless cycle of simply planning and then planning some more, but never taking coherent, rewarding action. They have to start living the strategic life.

Who's Going to Execute Your Strategic Plan?

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 12:26:41 GMT

Ensuring your non-profit has the people you need to take strategic action

Originally published Aug 20, 2017

As we’ve discussed in previous posts, Strategic Planning is critical to non-profits, and one of key factors in actionability and, ultimately, successful execution is resources. You can have the most exciting, forward-thinking plan ever created, but if you don’t have what it takes to follow through, it won’t lead you where you want to go. At a minimum, this includes human resources, and it also often includes financial resources. In the end, if your non-profit doesn’t have the people needed to effectively execute strategies, those strategies might as well not exist, because they simply will never get implemented. It follows, of course, that if you can’t somehow acquire an adequate number of people with the right skills to put you Strategic Plan into action—often due to financial limitations—the requisite human resources simply won’t be there to do what needs to be done.

If you prefer a clearer statement, it’s people that are one of strategy’s most significant limiting factors, and sufficient funding is often necessary to ensure that who you need is who you have. That’s why resources need to be explicitly considered in the Strategic Planning process but, for whatever reasons, the topic is frequently avoided until it’s too late. It’s a complex and potentially time-consuming discussion to have, which may be why it is given short shrift. However, sacrificing an essential element of actionable planning for the sake of simplicity is poor practice. If they’re going to gloss over resource requirements and acc essibility, non-profits might as well not even bother putting in the effort behind planning to begin with—more than likely, it will be time and money wasted and, potentially, opportunities lost, enthusiasm blunted, and credibility damaged.

Unless strategies are adequately resourced, Strategic Plans are essentially useless. Resourcing isn’t easy. Big ideas shouldn’t be stifled because of presumed limitations that may or may not be real. Some actions may be dependent on others, timing is important, public perceptions matter, and there are other factors to consider. As such, the discussion of resources is necessarily intricate and quite involved.

So how should non-profits think about resources in Strategic Planning? Here are six things to consider:

1. You can and should “dream big.”

Non-profits should take an initial cut at their Strategic Plans unconstrained by resources, thinking about “ideals,” defining incremental metrics, and prioritizing. If they don’t, they may miss great opportunities to secure the future and take. This may seem counter-intuitive given the discussion above, but keep in mind that sound Strategic Plans cannot be crafted overnight. If you invest the time in the process, you’ll have the opportunity to evaluate the feasibility and actionability of your strategies later.

2. You need to identify requirements.

Once non-profits have created initial drafts, they need to take the time to determine the level of effort (LOE) and skills necessary to execute. This is a critical step in ensuring that Strategic Plans are actionable. If you understand the number of people and the associated expertise you need, you’re halfway to a realistic plan. This doesn’t need to be a large group activity—in fact, a resource analysis may be conducted between working sessions by a knowledgeable, representative sub-committee.

3. You should know both who’s available, and when.

Once requirements are identified, non-profits should look at the people they can access, including Board members, executives, staff, volunteers, etc. They need to be realistic about individual capabilities and other commitments, and allocate people who can truly do the work necessary to execute strategies. It’s also important to note how long execution may take given the amount of time people can dedicate, and when they are able to dedicate sufficient time.

4. You have to understand resource gaps.

Comparing resources to requirements allows non-profits to identify resource deficiencies, in terms of both numbers of people and associated skill sets. This isn’t always as easy as it sounds, because gaps may be alleviated by spreading activities over time, when the right people are available. You’ll have to think about sequencing of activities and, if possible, spread activities over time to best leverage your resources. This may require decisions on timing and duration of strategy execution.

5. There may be opportunities to get more people.

After identifying gaps, non-profits should talk through strategies to fill them—for example, new hires, more Board members, and/or external consultants may be options. They need to cost the requirements, and explore ways to get the funds needed to meet them. Viability—the extent to which funding options are realistic in terms of investment and likelihood of success—are key here as you evaluate whether it makes sense to pursue the resources that strategies require.

6. You’ll likely need to adjust your initial plan.

If non-profits decide it isn’t feasible to acquire the resources necessary to execute strategies, those strategies will have to be dropped from your “first cut.” As mentioned earlier, strategies are often linked—the ability to execute one often depends on others. When you exclude something because resources aren’t accessible, you need to see how that affects the rest of the plan, and you may need to adjust aspects like goals, objectives, and metrics accordingly.

As we’ve said, creating a sound, actionable Strategic Plan isn’t going to happen through a “one-and-done” facilitated “off-site.” It’s a time-consuming process to brainstorm, resource, and reconcile Strategic Plans, and many organizations would prefer to skip the latter two steps to “keep it simple.” It’s a mistake to go after the “pie in the sky” without ensuring that you have the people you need to execute, however—remember that clear, simple line, “people are one of strategy’s most significant limiting factors.” If you aim high, prioritize, and then scale back based on who you have and who you can reasonably get, you’ll create a forward-thinking plan you can act upon, and one that will deliver results. If you just develop a strategy without thinking through how it will get executed, you’re just going through the motions. No matter how exciting your Strategic Plan is—if it can’t be done, it’s not real.

Learn More

Contact us for more information

Unlocking Your Market's Innermost Secrets

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 12:19:28 GMT

If you aren't listening to the market, you're not making the best decisions

Originally published Aug 19, 2017

These days, it’s all about the numbers. We’re inundated with statistics, whether it’s polling data on social issues, President Trump’s approval ratings, stock market trends, or our favorite baseball player’s batting average. Soon enough, someone will probably try to quantify the value of friendships or the actual degree, on a scale of one to ten, to which one person loves another. Our obsession is based partly on an innate need to know where things stand and, in many cases, it allows us to make decisions based on what the data tells us. There’s a competitive aspect to it too—we want to “prove” that what we’re offering, who we’re supporting, or even we ourselves are better than the “others.”

It’s surprising, then, how many businesses aren’t using data effectively to understand performance, model different actions, make informed choices, and measure the results. Many organizations aren’t even collecting data, let alone analyzing it in any meaningful way. It’s not because information isn’t available—it is, more now than ever before. Instead, the problem is that many business executives—especially small business owners—don’t know how to use data (if they’re even aware they should be using it). Naturally, since they don’t “get it,” they aren’t trying. This is a shame, because they’re missing out on a powerful set of tools that can drastically improve their outcomes.

Which businesses can benefit from using data? Well, pretty much every one of them. For example:

Brick-and-mortar retailers can use information about what draws customers into stores, their buying habits, the effectiveness of different incentives, and many other things that can inform marketing strategies, store layouts, product offerings, optimal hours, etc.—all of which can help minimize costs and maximize profits.

Similarly, on-line vendors can measure advertisement click-throughs, site visits, interactions, and conversion rates associated under different conditions, which also can be used to direct marketing approaches, product mix and placement, user experience, etc., with the end result of increased revenue generation.

Restaurants can collect data on customer volume by day and time, what people are ordering, their level of satisfaction with the food and the dining experience, etc., which can help in refining menus, setting opening and closing times, and scheduling staff. Data-driven decisions optimize operational cost-effectiveness.

These are just a few examples. There are many more instances and ways in which data can help.

The point is, if you’re a business owner or executive and you’re not collecting relevant information, analyzing it, and using it to make decisions, you’re effectively “in the dark.” You’re making marketing decisions without knowing where to focus, what to say, and where to say it—so there’s a good chance you’re wasting money. You’re offering products and services without understanding what’s selling (and what’s not), when, and why—so you’re probably missing out on opportunities to improve sales and limit inventory, staffing, and operating costs. You’re choosing among different options without the benefit of evaluating ROI and choosing the optimal approach for your business.

If it seems hard, rest assured it’s not that bad. The data is everywhere, there for the taking. Information about customer behaviors can be easily obtained by setting up and utilizing simple tracking mechanisms, and you can find out about satisfaction, perceptions, needs, and preferences through surveys or focus groups. On-line metrics are ridiculously available, for example through Google Analytics, hosting providers, and other services that collect and provide multiple ways of “slicing and dicing” the numbers. Your market is trying to tell you its secrets, and it’s easy to listen—in this day and age especially, there are simply no excuses for not hearing what it has to say!

Learn More

Contact us for more information

What Makes a Sound, Actionable Strategic Plan?

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 12:14:52 GMT

Ten critical elements to creating good strategies non-profits can execute

Originally published Jul 20, 2017

In our most recent post, we gave six reasons non-profits really need to have a Strategic Plan, and actually use it. If you read it carefully, you might have noticed we added terms like “sound” and “good” to qualify the kind of Strategic Plans organizations need to have. By this we’re suggesting that not just any old plan will do. Plans ust meet several critical conditions necessary to achieve the benefits of engaging in the process.

To be sure, we want all non-profits to develop and deploy Strategic Plans. It should go without saying that they have to be effective in order to advance the mission, but we have to stress this because they often aren’t. This obviously begs the question, “What constitutes a good Strategic Plan?” Well, put (very) simply, it has to efficiently deliver the right results. Plans that do this usually have at least ten key characteristics:

1. The planning process is comprehensive

Good planning is more than just leaders and executives convening facilitated off-site. It doesn’t stop at strategies and timelines, and it concludes well beyond the attractively formatted document. The process must be “end-to-end,”, from establishing the mission and vision to on-going results. Remember, a Strategic Plan that doesn’t get the right outcomes in just a “paper tiger.”

2. Boards and executives are fully committed

If a non-profit’s leaders aren’t invested in the entire process, a Strategic Plan won’t deliver. First and foremost, they have to be completely aware of they’re getting into. Then, they have to embrace it, willing to be enthusiastic participants from initiation through implementation. They also need to invest adequate financial resources to support the planning effort.

3. Planning is "market-focused"

A sound Strategic Plan focuses on the area where the organization’s mission, vision, and “client” demands overlap. After all, while the point of a plan is to move the non-profit toward what it wants to be, there’s no point in putting time into actions that individuals or communities don’t want or need. Market research is critical, and analysis needs to be done in the mission-vision context.

4. Participation and creativity are welcomed

“Inclusiveness” is a bit of a two-edged sword, since involving too many people can bog down the effort. However, diverse participation is essential, because it enables the non-profit to identify and evaluate a range of opportunities. We’ve all heard the phrase “no idea is stupid,” as well… not true, necessarily, but the more there are to consider, the richer the plan is likely to be.

5. The entire plan is properly aligned

As stated above, actions need to lead to the results the non-profit wants to achieve. This means strategies must fully satisfy the objectives, the objectives must together accomplish their associated goals, and the goals must collectively advance the mission. Too often, non-profits focus on the “downward cascade" but don't reconcile the plan from bottom-to-top, and things don't always add up.

6. The resources are there to execute

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to a sound plan is resourcing. A Strategic Plan has to be feasible, which means that the non-profit either has to have or be able to get the people, finances, and/or capital assets it needs to execute. This often means even more strategies—this time, to fill resource gaps. If resourcing options aren’t viable, some strategies may need to be discarded.

7. The unexpected is expected

No one wants to get stuck in a plan that gets “overcome by events.” If the plan is static and inflexible, it won’t deliver. Sound planning considers the environment, anticipates and evaluates potential change, and develops contingencies for the most likely scenarios. Strategies are often inter-connected, potential modifications also need to consider the impacts on the entire plan.

8. People know what to do, and how to do it

A good Strategic Plan treats strategies as projects, complete with tasks, activities, a schedule, and resources. While those assigned responsibility for executing strategies understand what they’re supposed to accomplish, they often lack knowledge of the detailed steps. Project planning lays it all out for them, making it easier to coordinate across “teams” and take appropriate actions.

9. The process results in a program, not just a plan

Because strategies are often integrated, plans need to reflect links and dependencies. Translating a Strategic Plan into a program, with an “owner” and a master schedule, assures correct sequencing and allocation of strategies over time, and enables both accountability for and coordination of activities. Proper project management and collaboration tools are essential.

10. Leadership is constantly monitoring and adjusting

A sound Strategic Plan isn’t static. Non-profit leaders need to be constantly evaluating progress, changes in conditions (e.g., external environment, associated resources), and outcomes, and adapting accordingly so the plan remains relevant and on track. The impacts of modifications on the rest of the plan have to be considered, as well, and appropriate adjustments made.

There is a lot more to effective, actionable Strategic Planning than an “off-site” to define goals, objectives, and strategies. “Textbook” approaches often fail to cover the elements that make plans “come to life” and achieve the right outcomes. If they’re serious about developing and executing a Strategic Plan that benefits their organizations, non-profits need to make sure that the processes they follow have at least the ten characteristics described above.

Learn More and Get Help

We haven’t said anything about external support to this point, but we do believe non-profits should consider using a qualified outside consultant that understands what’s required and will work collaboratively with the organization throughout the process. They should be looking for a “guide,” as opposed to a “facilitator,” for support—but more on this in a future post. An external “partner” is an investment, but it usually proves worthwhile when the returns come in.

Contact us for more information or to get started!

Strategic Plans are Critical to Non-profits' Success

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 12:08:43 GMT

Six reasons non-profits really, really need strategic plans (and to act on them)

A shocking number of non-profits do not have a Strategic Plan. Of those that do, only a fraction seem to actually use it for anything, except perhaps to add a little bulk to their filing cabinets. There are many reasons for this. For example, putting one together requires an investment that some non-profit Boards and executives don’t see the point of making. Also, executing a Strategic Plan requires time and resources, both of which are often in short supply.

None of this changes the fact that a sound, actionable Strategic Plan is essential to a non-profit’s success, and every non-profit should make the effort to develop and implement one. Here are six reasons why:

Sets a course that advances the mission— A good Strategic Plan is a road map to a successful future. It lays out exactly how the non-profit will fully accomplish its mission, and leads to coordinated action that promotes sustainability, improves delivery, and expands program coverage and scope. In short, a sound Strategic Plan will guarantee the non-profit will be around for the long haul, get better at doing what is does, and then do more. It will transform the organization’s thinking, move past “day-to-day inertia,” and enable leadership and staff to both consistently deliver and purposefully increase the non-profit’s impact over time.

Directs action and creates efficiencies— Since time and resources often seem in short supply, it’s easy for non-profits to get lost in daily activities. Another reason for this, though, is that leadership and staff don’t know exactly what else they can and should be doing. An actionable Strategic Plan tells them both “what” and “why,” focusing attention on greater goals while still enabling the non-profit to deliver core services well. What’s more, a sound Strategic Plan can even “create its own time” for people to attend to both imperatives by organizing and coordinating actions, and visibly tying them to the non-profit’s goals.

Builds excitement and encourages participation— A sound Strategic Plan creates new energy because it clearly demonstrates the possibilities, provides a clear path to making them real, and informs people on how they can be involved. This can literally change everything. Internally, commitment increases and creativity flourishes, creating focused momentum that drives the non-profit forward. It's also easier to build external interest in the organization, which often leads to increased revenue, greater volunteer participation, and other benefits. When there is a clear vision and plan of attack, people want to get involved.

Enhances the non-profit’s credibility— Funding is obviously critical for every non-profit, whether it’s through grants, donations, or a combination of both. In addition to building excitement, a sound Strategic Plan shows potential funders that the organization knows exactly how it’s going to do what it says. The measures in a good Strategic Plan also allow the non-profit to demonstrate incremental results that prove it’s capable of turning its vision into reality. It’s a lot simpler to convince people to give the non-profit money when they know their money is being used well, and is helping to successfully advance the organization’s mission.

Ensures key opportunities are recognized and seized— Many non-profits miss opportunities to improve delivery, increase coverage, and expand scope because they are so focused on day-to-day efforts. A sound Strategic Planning process identifies and evaluates these opportunities for their effects and feasibility, and the resulting Strategic Plan will facilitate action that captures the most rewarding among them. Absent a good Plan, the non-profit’s leaders won’t see the entire playing field, and when they do happen to stumble upon opportunities they can’t make fully informed decisions that best advance the organization’s interests.

Promotes organizational cost-effectiveness Finally, a good Strategic Plan is indispensable for non-profit sustainability, because it provides a means for leaders to define, review, and coordinate how the organization pursues its objectives in an integrated manner. A sound Strategic Planning process allows the non-profit to create the right mix of delivery and operational excellence and affordability, which isn’t possible if it’s mired in the day-to-day and can’t see the “big picture.” Cost-effectiveness ensures the non-profit will be around for the long haul to deliver its core services to its key clients, and often provides opportunities to do more.

In short, good Strategic Plans lead to successful, well-funded non-profits with impacts that go far beyond what can be achieved without them. Organizations that don’t have Strategic Plans are missing out on communicating a pursuing a clear vision that engages the workforce and the community, foregoing confidence in sustainability, revenue, efficiencies, and opportunities that they could use to deliver more effectively and, ultimately, do more for the public.

Learn More and Take Action

it’s imperative that non-profits really need to have, and execute, Strategic Plans. They are critical to the organizations’ long-term health, enable them to be great, and allow them to be even greater. Contact us for more information and to get started on yours!

Do You View Your Buyers as Objects?

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 11:54:11 GMT

Building relationships with real people is the key to successful marketing

Originally published Jul 10, 2017

If you’re a small business or a non-profit, you’re likely facing three main challenges that affect both your short-term existence and long-term sustainability. Specifically, you need to figure out how to:

Generate consistent revenue
Deliver on your promises
Control operating costs

They’re all linked, and we’ll address all three in due course, but today’s thoughts are mostly about the first challenge, generating consistent revenue. Let’s be honest… if you can’t do it, you’ll go “belly up” eventually.

There are two parts to generating consistent revenue: (1) First-time and (2) Returning “buyers” (for our purposes, this term is broad, including small business customers and individual non-profit donors). Ideally, you’ll get buyers in the door, and then they’ll keep coming back because they like what they see. Both are crucial—you have to capture them to begin with, and you have to get them to return. It would be nice if this just happened automatically, to be sure, but unless you’re really, really lucky, you have to work at it. The question, obviously, is how.

Perhaps the biggest mistake small businesses and non-profits make is to think about buyers as transactional—simply put, organizations are focused on the purchase, and they don’t care who makes it. This perspective leads to marketing approaches that treat buyers as objects rather than humans with different attributes, preferences, behaviors, and decision drivers. As such, outreach is typically quite messy, characterized by casting a wide net with a single message, and emphasizing what is (or was) “trendy” with respect to outreach (e.g., the latest and greatest in social media).

These approaches may, in fact, return some results, but they usually cost more than they need to, and they leave a lot of money on the table. They are not cost-effective, and the outcomes they generate are sub-optimal. Fortunately, there’s another way to do it, and small businesses and non-profits can do so much better. The key is addressing buyers as individuals, and building long-term relationships by engaging them on their terms and showing them the outcomes they want to see. This means we need to get to know them, humanizing instead of objectifying.

Think about the best relationships in your life. Most likely, your were introduced, you learned about each other as individuals, you interacted, and you became friends. You built trust, and it turned into “best friendship,” and now they’re always calling, visiting, and hanging out with you. Well, the same principles apply to marketing. It’s about introducing, informing, and converting, followed by delivering and cultivating repeat purchases or contributions. Put another way, it’s about developing relationships—you could say, becoming best friends with your best prospects.

Certainly, this all sounds really good, but cultivating relationships take time, effort, and resources. First of all, you have to learn about your market, and identify the things that make your prospects tick. Then:

Target media and messaging, so your story reaches and resonates with the right people
Demonstrate that you’re the best at what you do, and show them what you’ll provide for their money
Ask for prospects to purchase or contribute, and make it easy for them to buy
Deliver on your promises, and show them you’ve done so (and will do it again and again)

This involves market research and prospect profiling to learn about your buyers. It requires targeted messaging that interests them and cultivates relationships. You may want to offer incentives that will attract them, and you’ll need commerce platforms that conform to their preferences, and are efficient and easy to use. Finally, you’re going to have to the capacity to deliver—if you can’t, your buyers aren’t coming back. Yes, all this costs money—developing fruitful relationships takes an investment. If you do things right, however, it’s worth every penny.

Learn More

Objectifying buyers and blasting the market may work, if you’re lucky. Personifying and building lasting relationships by knowing them and creating one-on-one dialogues, on their terms, will give you far greater returns! Contact us for more information .

Searching for Hiring Answers? Ask the Right Questions!

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 11:47:18 GMT

There's more than one way to skin a cat, and it's worth considering all of them

Originally published Feb 27, 2017

loudounsmallbusiness.com

“I need a CIO who also has a background in finance, significant experience in the hospitality industry, and expertise in inventory management. Preferably someone who’s worked in a Fortune 500 Company, and knows basic, applied household cleaning robotics. With 20+ years in the field. And oh, I have a tight budget, maybe $100k or so... if that!”

We all need help running our businesses. I could use an accountant and a business developer, and maybe a marketing specialist, for example. Maybe you need a CFO, or a CIO… someone strategic, who can also do the dirty work. Unfortunately, we often can’t afford what we’re asking for… we have what we have, and inevitably the market for what we want demands twice our budget. And that’s assuming we can even find someone out there who meets our requirements.

Small firms sometimes get lucky, taking on a person who can do everything they want for a reasonable cost. These people are the “all-stars,” the ones who can build and maintain the web site, run the technology infrastructure, go out on sales calls, and clean the toilets in their spare time. We envy companies that are somehow able to hire (and keep) these IT-Sales-Plumbing Specialists, because we’d love to have one or two ourselves. Sadly, while we seek, we don’t usually find.

Why do we put ourselves in these positions? We long for candidates who are either too expensive for us or simply don’t exist in "real life," and waste valuable time (and sanity) searching in vain. Few of us seriously take the time to think about things like labor market dynamics before jotting down the laundry list of skills and qualifications we want from someone. If we did, we wouldn’t put so much effort and money into recruiting for people we can't get, and we'd refocus ourselves on who we can afford and use.

Before we start to recruit, there are some basic questions we should be thinking about:

Do we really know what we need someone to do and know, and the credentials they should have? In other words, w hat is critical ("we-can't-live-without") work, and the minimum qualifications that we can accept from a candidate for him to be an asset to our organization?

Do we need someone to do everything right away? Is it possible to prioritize the work, focusing on immediate needs that require only a subset of the full suite of skills we’d love to have, or do we need a person who can truly "do it all" starting on the day she’s hired?

How does a person acquire the skills and levels of expertise we’re seeking? Is experience the best way candidates can learn what they need to know to be useful to us, or can some capabilities be learned through classroom, virtual, or on-the-job training (OJT)?

Are the necessary abilities typically represented in a single individual? Seriously, is there really any such thing as a skilled IT-Sales-Plumbing Specialist in the labor market (maybe there is, you never know), or should we be looking for multiple, appropriately specialized people?

Do we have the budget to get people with the skills, experience, etc. we'd like to have? What will it cost to hire an "ideal" candidate, and is paying such a person what they're worth the best use of our (limited) financial resources (i.e., is there a sufficient return on investment)?

If the labor market rate is too expensive, what’s driving up the price? Which of our knowledge, skills, and experience requirements are most responsible for "raising the price" of potential candidates (it's the IT, right... tech experts don't come cheap these days, do they)?

By answering these basic questions, we can open up a world of creative opportunities to get the people we need, at a cost we can afford. There are so many potential options available when we’ve really thought through what we’re looking for, when we need it, how it’s most likely to be “packaged” in the labor market, and the costs and key cost contributors. In effect, we can shape our "job descriptions" so that we have a better chance at getting the right resources without “breaking the bank.” For example, we can explore:

Splitting our requirements into multiple, easier-to-fill roles
Hiring "down" for immediate needs, and developing skills through training
Carving out expensive requirements and contracting them out
Moving some responsibilities "in house" to staff we already have
Designing part-time roles for highly specialized, expensive skills
Sharing resources with peers who may need similar things
Using interns or volunteers, if possible, to meet part of the needs

With apologies in advance to the feline, when it comes to small business (or really, any organizational) recruiting, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. We shouldn’t feel like we have to find the perfect match for the things we need done—there are often equally effective, cheaper ways to get the right people. It takes a little bit of advance planning and analysis, but for every problem, there’s a cost-effective solution. It’s up to us to find it, and it starts with asking ourselves the right questions.

Learn More and Take Action

Contact us for more information on recruiting. We can help you want through these questions and find the best solutions for you to get the help you need!

"Hello [Customer]... Nice to Meet You"

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 11:40:38 GMT

Unleashing the power of market personalization to convert and retain prospects

Originally published Jan 27, 2017 (edited)

"Don’t you know who I am?" Ah yes... the cry of the indignant celebrity when the host refuses to seat his party at the trendy, overcrowded restaurant. And inevitably, he knows lots of really, really important people, and he’s going to tell them all about how he was treated. No one will ever eat there again when he’s through, he screams at the top of his lungs. According to him, his words carry so much weight, the place might as well shut the doors right now!

It’s kind of a funny scene to picture, the apoplectic, self-important politician, news personality, or actor berating the poor, lowly restaurant employee, eyes bulging out of his head and veins pulsing as though he’s about to burst. We can laugh at the thought, primarily because the likelihood of encountering such a situation as local small business owners is rather small (to be fair, though, if it happened to us, though, we probably wouldn’t find it so amusing... okay, maybe a little).

There’s a serious question for us in this little scenario, however. Just who is walking through our doors? What do we know about our customers? When they get inside, are they getting what they want? We'd like them to come back, of course, and people do talk to each other as well, even if their networks don’t comprise the most influential people in the world. Their connections are potential customers, and what they say (or don’t say) matters. So, it’s critical that when our customers come in, we’re delivering.

We can use things like post-sale customer satisfaction surveys, but they don’t always tell us that much, and they’re largely reactive – they help us address problems after the fact. If we’re concerned about delivering the first time and every time thereafter, we need to be detailed and, to the extent possible, proactive. We need to understand exactly who’s likely to come to us, what they want, and what will keep them coming back, and design an experience that ensures their demands are satisfied.

We can't, of course, cater to every single whim of a diverse audience. What we can do is find out who our typical customers are, what they’re interested in, how they make decisions, their preferences, and so much more. This allows us to develop profiles (“personas”) describing the attributes of the main customer segments we serve, creating detailed pictures of people representing key groups—both current and future. We can also map their journeys, or how they progress from contact to conversion to return.

This is a wealth of information, and we can use it to better communicate who we are and what we do, reach the right audiences, customize the products and services we offer, and tailor the customer experience once they’re interacting with us. In other words, we can draw more people to us and give them what they want when they get there. It gets us away from the “one-offs” and reactive "fixes" based on complaints and helps build a satisfied clientele that keeps coming back, tells friends, and leaves positive reviews.

All of this is super, but how? We're clearly not having coffee with everyone who is or might one day be a customer to learn their stories, needs, wants, likes, dislikes, etc. It takes a little bit of market research—an investment, to be sure, but one that pays off handsomely. Starting with current customer analytics, surveys outside of their interactions with us, and/or focus groups allows us to approach more people like them. Expanding these efforts to larger portions of the public can help us find untapped new segments.

If you want to grow your current customer base and expand to new markets, be smart about it. You should know who you’re catering to, where to talk to them and what it takes to bring them to your business, how to them to pull out the credit card or click “buy,” and how to deliver so they’re satisfied, they return, and they "pass it on." It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have—retail, restaurants, entertainment, hospitality, or "other!" Everyone can understand and create a great experience for their customers.

Learn More and Take Action

Contact u s for more informatio n. We can help you get started on the path to meeting your customers and giving them exactly what they need so your business will thrive.

Mapping Your Journey to Small Business Success

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 09:48:34 GMT

How to embrace your business vision, invest in it, and take control of your future

 Originally published Aug 17, 2016

You’ve got a grand vision. Your small business has started off well. Maybe you’ve reaped the benefits of a government program like 8(a), or maybe you’ve done it all on your own. Everyone’s back story is different, but at this point it doesn’t matter, things are good, and you’re looking ahead. You want to succeed, and you’ve got impressive goals. It’s time to start planning. How are you going to get where you want to go?

Part of this question is “where’s the money going to come from?” That’s obviously critical. How are you going to maintain your current sales? What new products and/or services are you going to offer? What new markets are you going to pursue? How are you going to get your name out there? Most importantly, how are you going to translate “I’m interested” into “I’m going to buy what you’re selling?”

Equally crucial, though, is how you are going to deliver once the business arrives. If you don’t deliver, growth will be short-lived, and you won’t achieve your vision—even worse, you could become just another number in “failed small business” statistics. Reputation is key to small business growth (especially if you’re getting detached from set-aside programs), but it’s also absolutely essential to sustainability.

Successful businesses invest in their futures. They take hold of their visions, and they think ahead—“What will we need to look like in order to accelerate and accommodate growth?” Accelerate and accommodate is the essence of the challenge. What’s going to grow the business, and what’s going to ensure that customers are getting what they expect when they buy?

Understanding the strategic “journey” is a great first step for small businesses with growth designs. The “easy part” is setting your sales targets, and breaking them down into milestones. It’s a little harder to figure out the composition—what’s going to drive the numbers? It gets even more difficult to understand what it all means operationally. What’s the best delivery structure at each milestone? What skills will you need to get from Point A to Point D, and Points B and C in between? What kind of infrastructure will be required? What cultural attributes will encourage growth and sustain the results? There are a lot of questions to be answered about what growth means, beyond the bare sales and profit metrics.

Once you lay out the essentials, you can start addressing “how.” These are the gory details. What roles will you need? As a small business, you can often get away with “multi-taskers,” but with growth comes cost-effectiveness through specialization… who’s going to do what in the future? How are you going to recruit the right candidates to fill those roles? What becomes of the people who have loyally accompanied you on your journey this far? And then there are the challenges you didn’t get into business to solve—human resources administration, technology infrastructure, facilities, etc. There are many complexities, and too many businesses don’t deal with them until it’s too late.

Why not just “wing it,” cross that bridge when you come to it? That’s less costly up front, and you may not be sure you can afford the time and money it takes to plan ahead. But… and it’s a big but… you won’t accelerate growth to the extent that you can, and you’ll certainly have a ton of headaches trying to accommodate it if it happens—headaches that often also cost money. The decision whether to make the investment required to think ahead toward the future beyond the numbers, and the confidence to start transitioning before the results come in, may make or break your business. To be successful, you need to send the right letters, and make sure someone’s home to answer the return mail.

You’ve invested a lot of time and energy into your small business. You’ve taken risks to get this far. Now it’s time to ask yourself, “How committed am I to taking this to the next level?” If you’re confident in yourself, your "big idea," and your company, it’s time to make the leap. Take the next steps toward sustainable growth. Don’t contribute to the failure rate… invest in your future and make it happen.

Learn More and Act Now

We can help you get where you want to go. Contact us today to find out how.

Musings on the "Selfie Generation"

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 09:42:28 GMT

The dreaded Millennials are here to stay, and we have to manage them

Originally published May 11, 2016

Everybody’s got something to say about the "new generations" (Millennials, for sure, and now "Gen Z"). To get into their heads is to break the code of effectively managing talent over the next decade, as they flood the workforce and disrupt the worlds of the Gen Xers and the Baby Boomers who haven’t yet walked out the door. People in those generations need to learn to co-exist with them, which is always hard when there are age gaps. This younger crowd also has to be managed, though, and it is said that their… umm… “peculiarities” make this a particularly difficult challenge.

Why do people say this? What makes the "new wave" so scary? We're just learning Gen Z, but we do know some things about their predecessors. For example, in a recent discussion at the presenter said they were “good at not knowing.” In another conversation, a friend (a Millennial herself) confirmed they “crave affirmation.” Reflecting on those points and the multitude of things other people have said, the thought occurs that a good portion of this group wants to be validated at all costs, including when they are wrong (even if they don't know that), and they will go to great lengths to achieve this.

Making generalizations about generations isn't always wise, but there's enough evidence to say that, like any group of people, these folks have opinions. They are not necessarily based on worldly experience. The difference between many members of the Millennial generation (now well-established in the workforce) and others when they were growing up is that a fair representation appears be quite adamant about their positions, reluctant to consider that they might be incorrect, and willing to take extraordinary measures to bring others around to their points of view. They don’t just want to be heard. They demand to be affirmed.

Passionate people are generally a benefit to the workforce. Passionately wrong people, however, are not. We’ve all seen them, and while they aren't confined to the Millennial generation, they seem to be more prevalent within it. Convinced they are right, they don’t listen, and then they go off and do things their way. When pressed, they "double down" or "shut down," and can become toxic, dead weight, and a drag on morale. When the stars align (that is, when they agree with you) their work can be wonderful. When they don’t, it isn’t, and they won't be quiet about what they perceive as their managers’ stupidity.

Are Millennials as a whole a train wreck for us old folk? Not necessarily. Again, group stereotypes hide the many real, consequential differences among their members. The generational age range is wide, and those at the top end likely aren’t the same as those at the bottom. And there are many variables, such as geography, upbringing, experiences, etc. Take, for example, the fact that some older Millennials are now leaving military service and coming into the civilian workforce. Attitudes and perspectives prevalent in that group are probably going to be different than other generational peer subsets.

What does this mean for managing Millennials? Stressing that not everyone's the same, we can still find commonalities that greatly impact the talent pool. Maybe, though, it's best to think beyond generational labels and deal with the individuals. This means stepping away from the "fear" and turning back to tried-and-true talent management principles: Hire right and hold people accountable. Be selective not only for the skills you need, but also for the “intangibles” (e.g., worldviews and motivations of job candidates). Lose “separation anxiety,” and take action when performance isn't up to par. In other words, manage.

“But… but… social media! Technology! Millennials are special and need special motivators!” Well, the truth is that you can’t motivate someone who’s primary motivation is having their positions affirmed, especially when those positions are off base. Like anyone of any age, you motivate Millennials by finding the ones who connect with and commit to your mission, whether that mission gets advanced their way or yours. Don’t be a prisoner to generational assumptions. The right people are still out there in the labor market, and you can find them. You just need to know what attributes matter, and you can’t compromise.

Learn More and Share Your Experiences

Contact us about this topic . We'd love to tell you more and find out what you're seeing too!

Some Thoughts on Non-profit Fundraising

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 09:37:30 GMT

To get a return on investment, you have to invest, and it doesn't have to be scary

 Originally published Mar 25, 2016

Non-profits obviously depend on having sufficient funds to deliver their essential services, and this money is often generated substantially from donations or memberships. In our experience, leaders aren't always familiar with the term Return of Investment (ROI), and many who are find it confusing or even irrelevant to the sector. But they need to embrace it, today. Sustainable funding requires adequate investment.

There is an understandable reluctance for many non-profit organizations to "take the leap" and put money into initiatives that are themselves designed to make money. There are at least three particular concerns: (1) They think donors don't like it, (2) They don’t think they have the money to put in, and (3) There is risk, with an associated (and completely understandable) fear of the unknown.

The first concern requires a paradigm shift... a "learning experience" that not every penny needs to be put into operations for a non-profit to be effective. Unfortunately, sites like Charity Navigator still report on this, reinforcing the expectation that donation dollars shouldn't go into "overhead." That's hard to break through, and it's on all of us to educate the public. People need to understand that marketing and development are actually mission-critical functions and, if fully supported, can generate the kind of funding that allows non-profits to do more, for more people. In other words, it makes program impacts greater. To change the donor mindset, however, requires non-profits change theirs, embracing this reality and confidently communicating it. There's no reason to hide from the facts when they have positive effects.

At a glance, the second concern also looks hard to overcome—if the funds aren’t available there's nothing to invest, right? When day-to-day operations are projected to consume the entire budget, it seems almost silly to set money aside for a “side initiative.” However, if the initiative is designed to generate revenue (e.g., a focused outreach to the donor or member market), investing isn't necessarily an irresponsible choice. If you have money intended for the entire year’s operations, say, at the beginning of the year, it would be imprudent to "burn it" so it's not there when it's needed. Here is where understanding ROI is critical. You can get that money back. Timing is key, and planning and managing development initiatives correctly is obviously essential, but the principle of ROI often gives choices where they aren’t readily apparent.

The third factor is closely related to the second. Uncertainty and risk are significant barriers to investing under any circumstances, whether personal or organizational. For revenue-generating initiatives, the returns are rarely guaranteed, and this reality can be rather unsettling. While there will always be risk, however, it may be entirely possible to take steps that instill enough confidence that at least a portion of the expected ROI will be realized. This can be accomplished in several ways, starting with an initial assessment of the risks themselves. Identifying the potential obstacles to achieving financial objectives, evaluating likelihood and impact, and assessing potential mitigation strategies helps organizations make informed decisions on whether to invest, depending on how much tolerance a non-profit's leaders have.

Market research is also important—a realistic understanding of donor or member potential offers an initial degree of security, and you can also segment the market based on demographics, interests, and other factors to prioritize and customize outreach strategies. Evaluating the organization’s “assets,” in the form of the stories it can tell, the types of engagement it can offer, etc., is also essential, because it allows non-profits to refine targets and tailor communications to different audiences. Carefully choosing media and timing for contacting and engaging prospects further increases the chances of successful conversion and retention, which in turn reduces risk. Finally, effective, active program management—including coordination, continuous measurement and monitoring, and well-timed adjustment—is critical too.

Ultimately, achieving an acceptable ROI comes down to an accurate understanding of the market, comprehensive planning, and effective execution. It is possible to make reasonable predictions, develop well-focused market strategies, and manage revenue programs to results. If your organization doesn’t have the capacity to do these things, you can get external help, and you should follow the logic of consultants’ approaches as much, if not more than, the examples they give you of past successes (after all, they will never give you stories of failures). Any approach that doesn't assess costs, benefits, and risks, segment and prioritize the market, profile prospects, and consider a range of both traditional and modern outreach strategies will not adequately control risk, and should not be accepted.

The bottom line is that the very concept of ROI itself offers potential alternatives that any organization relying on outside funds should consider. Yes, it requires financial investment, in staffing, outreach, technology, etc. And investment, especially when drawing from an allocated operating budget, carries risk. It’s entirely possible to minimize risk, however, to increase confidence in realizing a return.

It’s clearly essential to know how much risk your non-profit can tolerate, especially when you’re playing with key funds. But that doesn’t mean you don’t take risks at all—it means you understand and plan to overcome, or at least mitigate, them. After all, in order to get a return—a return that’s critical to ensuring sustainability, let alone expanding scope or coverage to better meet community needs—you have to invest!

Explore Your Potential Donor ROI

Contact us to learn more and get started developing a plan to invest smartly in donor outreach.

Dying the Green Squirrel Purple

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 09:30:46 GMT

The art of "hiring down" to get people who can execute your strategy

Originally published Mar 20, 2016 - it's a company favorite!

I have a close friend who, although highly qualified and universally liked during the interview process, didn’t get the job she wanted because the employer was looking for a “purple squirrel.” While it may seem odd to be seeking out a festively colored rodent to do important work, there’s actually a real, Wikipedia-certified definition for this. The purple squirrel is the person with exactly the right experience, the ideal knowledge, skills, and abilities to fit an open ready to do everything perfectly from the get-go, with no ramp-up, no guidance, and no training. A unique and special version of a common yard mammal, if you will.

This company had the money and reputation to attract a large candidate pool, and to hunt until that one specific squirrel was caught (and not run over). Most of us don’t have the luxury of playing hide-and-seek with animals of a particular hue, however. When we hire for skilled positions, the “ideals” are often needles in a gigantic haystack that cost a fortune to find, and “buying” them—that is, if we’re not outbid by those with more resources—can break the bank. That doesn’t leave much room for hiring, training, or rewarding others. And, since the purple squirrel gets all of the nuts, the rest of the nest may just get a little bitter.

Sure, it sometimes makes sense to open the wallet, but it’s not always feasible nor even the best approach. If we find we must forego the violet vermin, what can we do? We can (a) Reallocate some things to other jobs so we need more lavender, say, than purple, (b) Outsource some functions so that what’s left requires the more readily available groundhog of standard color, or (c) Hire a green squirrel and develop her over time, sort of "dying her purple" if you like. All of these alternatives have situational positives and negatives. And many organizations will simply default to attempting to hire “smart people” who will “pick it up.”

Let's look in a little more depth here at Option "C,“ or "hiring down.” It can be very effective. It expands the candidate pool, yields cheaper resources, and allows us to “grow” individuals in alignment with our culture and way of doing business. These are good things, but there are also risks. What if an individual never develops into what we need? What if our business needs can’t wait for our forest ferret to become full-blown rodent royalty? Our strategies depend on our people. Even with the best intentions, we can seriously limit short-term capacity and diminish long-term returns if we settle on someone “less.”

The key to coloring the green (or really, any shade of) squirrel purple is that we can’t just "settle" and hope for the best. We can’t just start the hiring process hoping to get the perfect person on the cheap and taking the “best of the rest” when it’s clear that’s not possible. Hiring down needs to be a conscious decision. There needs to be a clear purpose, the conditions have to be right, and there has to be a feasible plan. Otherwise, we’re effectively betting our futures on finding a "diamond in the rough" without knowing what to look for, and without the ability to polish it up. Therefore, it’s critical to think through the:

Essentials— Minimum qualifications you will accept. For many jobs, an individual will at least need to have a foundation in the relevant field, or at least have intangible skills that indicate the ability to succeed. You need to know what those are, and not accept less when hiring.

Method— Specific ways the selected individual will obtain the necessary knowledge. This may be rigorous on-boarding, formal training, one-on-one experiential learning, etc. It is important to have a clear, effective plan, and to know how long it will take for the individual to complete it.

Urgency— Time at which you need someone to deliver the full slate of outcomes expected from the role. The calculus is different if your organization demands results immediately than it is if the need is evolutionary. You need to have a sense of timing, even to the point of setting performance milestones.

Colleagues— Other employees who already possess the required skills. There is a difference if the role is a contributor augmenting a team, as opposed to leading it or being asked to serve as the subject matter expert. Context is key factor in evaluating the feasibility of a developmental strategy.

Resources— Cost to provide the developmental support vs. cost to hire. Developmental employees’ salaries are lower than those who come in fully qualified, but the necessary training may end up making them more expensive. The dollars clearly matter. You need to do the math.

Infrastructure— Extent to which the requisite programs and management mechanisms are in place. You need substance, and you need to be able to measure results. "Winging it" can be costly and sends the wrong message to new employees. It also increases the risk the person doesn't pan out.

Culture— "Soft" factors that affect employee and workplace dynamics. Developmental staff are more likely to grow in the organization’s image, while experienced hires bring their own approaches and may want to “shake things up.” You need to know your organization’s culture, and how you want to shape it.

Risk— Impacts if the person doesn’t develop as anticipated. There are risks inherent in under-hiring—you’re getting a person that, at present, can’t do the whole job at the level expected. It’s critical to know the potential business impacts, the costs of mitigation, and your tolerance for possible failure.

Commitment— Degree to which management is willing to "follow through." Hiring down requires a steadfast effort to provide the necessary training and ensure that content is absorbed. Development needs to be a priority, and you need to assure it doesn’t get overcome by events.

It’s not just one factor that always tips the scales, but hiring can’t just be about saying "I have to settle for who I can find, and they’ll have to learn." If you don’t think it through and you don’t have a plan you may be better off not hiring at all. Picking someone whose primary skill is "seeming competent" is like trying to stuff a square squirrel in a round den. Unless you're lucky, it won’t help you execute your strategy and get the results you need. It’s also not fair to the person you’re hiring or the other people in your organization that will work with him. So "go green," but make sure you've got the right color paint on hand.

Color Your Squirrel

Contact us , get started picking your palette, and hire the best fit for your situation.

Are Your Employees Engaged?

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 09:23:46 GMT

This question is a little ridiculous. Here's what you should really care about.

Originally published Mar 03, 2016

“Employees who are engaged increase productivity by [insert percent].” “Highly engaged organizations report [insert percent] lower turnover.” “Engaged employees drive higher profits and help reduce costs.” So, you want your employees to be more engaged, right? Statistics don’t lie, and there’s a reason “engagement” is the new buzzword. After all, if everyone’s talking about it, they must be on to something.

Eventually, we’ll figure out that employee engagement is the new change management. It has a murky definition, one that morphs in accordance with the interests of those promoting it. The statistics, as a result, are borderline useless, and the more they are repeated, the emptier they become. Just like the “70% of change initiatives fail” figure floated without questioning since the 1990s, the “truth” that employee engagement is a “magic bullet” has achieved broad acceptance while escaping critical examination.

On the surface, it’s hard to argue that an employee who’s engaged will perform better than one who is not. The devil, as usual, is in the details—specifically, what does “engagement” mean? How far does someone have to be into her job to be considered engaged? Is it enough for her to show up for work and perform her tasks accurately and completely, or does she have to have some metaphysical connection to her role and to the organization? It seems that every person who uses the term has his own definition.

It gets worse when stock employee engagement surveys are used. These presume that engagement is a one-size-fits-all concept, meaning the same thing at one place as it does every other. For all the similarities we find across organizations, though, sectors, industries, and entities have their own peculiarities. Do the individuals who are manufacturing widgets need to be intimately familiar with the mission, for example, as the people running operations in a non-profit, or is following quality control procedures enough?

It also makes sense that "engagement's" meaning to one employee probably differs from someone else's definition. What causes a Millennial to meet some mercurial standard of engagement may not be the same as what keeps the gray-haired, old-school, long-tenured professional enthused, involved, connected, motivated, or whatever the term actually means. This is another reason that employee engagement is a shallow concept— a great sound bite, but not enough under the covers to provide much direction.

Instead of obsessing over the mystical idea of engagement and striving for some state of affairs that may or not make sense for your organization and workforce, focus squarely on what you want, who is most likely to provide it, and how to ensure that they do. In other words, step away from stock measures of employee engagement, and stop trying to be everything to everyone. It’s better to define what you want your employees to do and how you want them to act, and ensure they get what they need to do it. This means:

Getting what you need— Defining requirements (the “what”), designing appropriate jobs (the “how”), determining the characteristics likely to lead to success (the “who”), and finding them (the “where”).

Giving them what they need— Understanding what encourages desired behaviors—e.g., equipment, incentives, facilities, work environment, opportunities, relationships—and ensuring it’s all in place.

Following through— Delivering on promises and weeding out the low performers. If you define what you need and provide the enablers, performance is your indicator, not “free coffee, please” surveys.

Of course, this is all well and good for bringing in the “right” new hires, but what of your existing employees? What if they don’t have what you’ve identified as the necessary attributes? Actually, the same principles apply. You can only adapt behaviors when you know specifically what you need and how to encourage them. That necessitates knowing what you want people to deliver and how, providing the tools, truly, accurately assessing performance, and making the hard personnel decisions when they’re required.

Attempting to fix problems by retroactively attempting to meet some universal-yet-under-defined standard of employee engagement is a losing proposition. More than likely, you’ll be sent in directions you don’t need to go, and you’ll be spending money you don’t have to. You can design a qualified, motivated workforce based on your standards and objectives. If you do it right, you’ll get the most out of your employees—no matter how engaged someone else’s survey says they are.

Let's Discuss

What does "employee engagement" mean to you? We'd love to know, so please contact us today .

"Let's Meet About It"

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 12:23:01 GMT

Non-profit strategy is more than an off-site, and your consultant should tell you this

Originally published Jan 18, 2016

Since I've been writing about strategic plans lately, I'm also thinking about them a lot. It's become clear to me over the past few weeks that there's a bigger issue in play than the mechanics of the strategic planning process and the content of the plans, with respect to the frequent problem of non-profits having difficulties executing what they put on paper. All of the things mentioned in recent articles most definitely apply, but we really have to start at the beginning to get at the heart of the problem. The challenge: Non-profits don't know what they're getting into to begin with, and their consultants are doing a great job of under-selling the extent of the effort that's required.

A sound, actionable strategic plan simply can't be developed in a day-long off-site. There is too much to cover, too much information to be absorbed in one sitting, and parts of the process that don't lend themselves to a group meeting. A group of ten, 15, 20 people cannot be expected, even with the best of facilitators, to discuss community needs and trends, dialogue about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, develop a complete vision and mission, goals, objectives, actions, resource plans, gap fill strategies, risk analyses, and contingency plans, etc. in eight hours on some weekend day. The participants aren't even necessarily the right people to do certain parts of this.

Many people in the room, however, expect that a facilitated session will result in a strategic plan. All that needs to happen is the information gets "brushed up," put in a document, and there you have it. When the day ends with a strong set of objectives, there are concerned looks around the table... where are the actions? Can we discuss how we're going to get the resources? Even though the facilitator walked through an agenda at the beginning of the day, and probably even gave an overview of the entire process, it evidently didn't resonate. Board members are leaving the session having been told "we'll have something for the next Board meeting" and feeling... incomplete.

Where is the disconnect? In my opinion, it's a combination of lack of knowledge, limited budget, and under-qualified or at least unimaginative consultants, though I have to tread carefully on this last one. First, many non-profit Board members and executives haven't been through a good strategic planning process, so they don't know what it takes. Second, the organizations don't have much money to spend, especially on something that doesn't have a visible, immediate return. Finally, and this is based on observations, a fair number of consultants making the rounds don't get it, either... they're doing what they've always done (and their clients have accepted), and they're not pushing the envelope.

As an experienced consultant wanting to serve non-profits, I find these things highly problematic. I know what needs to be done, but proposing it drives my price right on out of the competitive range (i.e., causes "sticker shock"), even when my hourly rate is more than reasonable. Also, I'm asking more from time and effort from Boards than they're accustomed to giving and often willing to give. Capping it off is that there are other consultants proposing cheaper, more "comfortable" approaches. It has to be tempting to take one of those offers, even knowing that they're using the some old "action-resistant" approaches, and they have track records of "sessions completed," not "results achieved."

What do you think?

I don't have a solution. I'm interested in the thoughts of both my consultant and non-profit readers. Am I right about this? If so, what can be done to change this dynamic? If not, what am I missing? Let me know .

What's the Most Important Skill in Modern Marketing?

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 08:56:13 GMT

Critical thinking is the competency that dwarfs all others

Originally published Oct 21, 2015

The more I talk about the future of marketing in organizations of all types, the more I've thought about exactly what skills and abilities people should be bringing to the table in order to engage and deliver for customers. The list is long—things like dynamic profiling, data analytics, brand management, lead generation, storytelling, user experience customization, social media and monitoring, influencer marketing, mobile engagement, cross-channel campaigns, marketing automation… whew! And that's just a sample!

The people that bring these types of skills in one package, if they exist at all, are prohibitively expensive for many organizations, so they have to look to Plan B to get the resources they need. Part of the solution is focusing and prioritizing, and this requires coherent strategies. Next up is job design—roles, responsibilities, and required competencies—that reflects a cost-effective application of the workforce, which will differ based on organizations' sizes, budgets, cultures, infrastructures, labor pools, member needs, and other factors that necessitate differentiation in staffing structures. Then the challenge is finding, reaching, attracting, and securing qualified candidates in a competitive landscape. All of the "prep work" can be done to perfection, but candidate acquisition may still be quite difficult, if only because others are likely to be looking for people with similar backgrounds.

We have to be honest with ourselves and admit that landing the "perfect candidate", even for a role that's been tightly designed in consideration of every factor, is something organizations cannot rely on. At the same time, as we've discussed at length on the road and in previous publications, it's very clear that settling for less than a role requires is a dangerous proposition. Sometimes that's necessary, though, and if it's well-planned (e.g., managers have thought through what can be trained, and have a program to provide the necessary education over time), it can work. If you're going to take that approach, the least you need to know is the "essentials on hire", the skills and abilities an individual needs coming in the door. True, this will vary by organizations and jobs, but is there something more fundamental to successfully developing new hires so they ultimately meet full role requirements?

This is the question I've been mulling over lately. If we summarize all of the competencies we are asking for, what we really want are people who can integrate multiple disciplines—people who are able to blend professional, analytical, and technical knowledge to create, implement, evaluate, and adjust solutions that cost-effectively engage dynamic markets. A solid understanding of the "technical" elements is obviously critical, but the ability to bring them together to address the challenge is truly indispensable. I'd argue, therefore, that the one skill that is absolutely essential is "critical thinking". Without disparaging so many people who have spent long, successful years with their organizations up until now, this is ostensibly a new thought about what is really a universal requirement. Why? It's possible "yesterday's work" didn't require most people regularly demonstrate this ability. Or, perhaps no one recognized the benefits.

People who can think critically can look navigate a series of variables and get from point "A" to point "B" without having the route mapped out for them. This is crucial in an era in which "big data" is accessible, options for engaging the market are so extensive, competition is more intense, time is of the essence, and resources are limited. Also, critical thinkers don't need to have all of the information. They're able to figure out what they need, what they know, and where they need help, and they're usually pretty good at finding answers. This isn't just a treatise on the inherent worth of critical thinkers, though. It really matters. It means that if you have to, it may be plausible to hire less experienced people whose skills aren't quite as wide-ranging or well-developed as the job calls for, as long as they have that one essential ability. In the end, they may end up being the best employees you've ever had.

How do you find these miniature stars-in-the-making? Arguably, critical thinking is an ability that can't really be taught. You either have it (even if you don't use it) or you don't. So, when you're evaluating candidates, you have to do three things:

Ask for the "hard knowledge" you'd like to have in a new employee
Know the minimum qualifications you're willing to settle for
Test candidates who only meet the minimum to see if they're able to reason conditions to solutions

This gener ally means using live scenarios, case studies, or similar methods to watch how people reason through issues—how they respond when they don't know an answer, what questions they ask, etc. It's worth making the interview process a little bit harder to find the diamond in the rough, especially if you're not getting candidates who are exact matches for what you need.

As you might be able to tell, I'm a big proponent of critical thinkers. It pleases me that the contemporary environment and organizations' needs lend itself so well to this under-appreciated ability, often overlooked at the expense of the woman with a few more years monitoring Twitter or the guy who claims he led successful campaigns. It's not a cure-all, but it can go a long way to helping you get effective employees .

What do you think?

Do you agree, are you not convinced? Do you have experiences with staff who have less technical knowledge but can critically think? Do you want to know more? Drop me a line and let's talk .