Thursday July 24- Cooks in the kitchen

Hi !

Eat my shorts: What’s cookin this week

In this week’s enews…

• Too many cooks in the kitchen

• Let fundraisers cook!

• Learn from the good: Share the strategy

• Great post: How to write better appeals

• Strategy Insider: Are you content with your content?

• What’s for dinner?

The solution to the Triple E (enews easter egg) from last week: The lyrics to Pat Benatar’s song Invincible. Why’d I choose that? Because Invincible was the first music video I ever saw on MTV 40 years ago this summer… back when MTV played music videos.

❓️ Fun trivia question: What song was the first video ever shown on MTV? ❓️ 

Although today’s topic could apply to any fundraising campaign, I’m discussing it in the context of your year-end campaign. Considering the amount of money raised in December, most of you have a LOT riding on that campaign.

Which is why I wanna talk about something which I hear every year from fundraisers around the world: Everybody and their sister needs to review the year-end letter.

Too many cooks in the kitchen is a major pain point. Time to try and fix it.

Let’s dive in.

Don’t mess with the bull young man. You’ll get the horns: Cookin up some goodness 

I love to cook new recipes. Working on putting together something new. Tasting it and seeing if it’s a keeper or not.

When I cook I tend to do it alone. Sometimes one of my kids will join. But it’s easiest when fewer people are taking up space in the kitchen.

Too many cooks in the kitchen can have a negative impact on the final product. (I learned something new: The origin of that phrase.)

A few years ago a colleague asked me to review the year-end letter she had written. When I opened the Word doc I noticed quite a lot of comments along the right side. I counted it up and SEVEN different people had left comments, edits and suggestions for changes.

Even worse: Their comments CONTRADICTED each other! The phrasing and branding changes they suggested were at odds. One person suggested X while someone else thought that the organization should really be saying Y.

The comments made it clear that the staff at this organization had different ideas of what the organization’s mission was and what they should be asking for at year-end.

Your fundraising copy has to hit the mark. The second your letter gets marked up in red ink by 27 people, forget it.

My suggestion:

1. The fundraiser writes the campaign letter.

2. ONE person (chosen in advance) is responsible to review and edit.

3. Fundraiser makes edits. Final copy is sent to CEO for final edits and approval.

4. If the letter is being signed by the Board Chair, then they should give final approval.

(Note: The person responsible for reviewing could be the same person or a rotation of people for each campaign. To be decided internally.)

This limits the time spent going back and forth and hopefully ensures that the letter gets out in time.

I AM a fan of outside eyes checking every campaign before it goes public. Very important! Prevents group think and allows for people to find mistakes, make necessary changes and create the best fundraising letter possible.

But outside eyes doesn’t mean ten pairs of eyes. Too many.

Could you describe the ruckus sir?: Let fundraisers cook!

As a former CEO and fundraiser, I am well aware of inner office politics. And I know how people want to have a hand in something so they can… prove their worth? Have their say? Make it known they exist?

According to my reader survey…

• 7.1% of you are CEOs

• 9.5% of you are the CEO + fundraiser. (That was my gig when I was CEO. Very demanding!)

• 26.2% of you are fundraisers

• 47.6% of you are fundraisers + wear other hats.

The vast majority of you are involved in the copy of the year-end campaign. Which is why I’m sharing the below:

LET FUNDRAISERS COOK!!!

They were hired because they’re an expert in fundraising. They know what they’re doing. They know best practices and have experience in running fundraising campaigns.

And when they don’t know something they use this enews to help them 😎 

Lemme return to the above story about the seven people who commented on the year-end letter.

I didn’t check it. Instead I told my friend to go to her boss and say:

“It is not practical nor will the campaign succeed when so many people are making changes to the letter. I’d appreciate if you could appoint one person from the team to check my work and share edits and changes. Then I’ll get it to you and you can review with the CEO for final edits and approval.”

In this case, the fundraiser had a boss. That boss could have been the person in charge of checking or could have given final stamp of approval with the CEO.

I’ve been in this sector for 25 years. I know what happens when the year-end fundraising ask becomes a baseball team’s worth effort.

It stalls. Numerous rewrites are needed. It frustrates the fundraiser. It delays mailing the letter which annoys the CEO and Board.

The first draft isn’t always pretty. It may need lots of fixes and changes. But let one staff person make that determination.

Fundraisers: I can’t call your CEO for you. (Unless you’d like me to!) But you were hired as the topic expert. You’ve got to (gently) push back and explain that the process will go smoother when fewer people have their hands in this.

CEO’s: When it comes to other fundraising and marketing activities, I am a fan of team collabs. But in this case, let the staff experts do their thing. Get the letter out the door. Raise the money so you can service the people who need it most.

FURTHER LEARNING: Fundraising copywriting expert Mary Cahalane wrote a great post related to today’s topic. Dive into: People at your organization are going to challenge parts of your fundraising appeal. Here’s how to respond. 

My God, are we gonna be like our parents?: Learn from the good- Share the strategy

In this section I will share with you something good being done by a nonprofit that you can learn from.

I recently finished crafting an A-Z strategy for a growing nonprofit. Submitted and approved by the CEO and Board.

In my experience, when a nonprofit has a new plan or strategy, the vast majority don’t share it with their audiences. They keep it as an internal document.

Do the opposite! A new strategy is something to share with donors, volunteers, supporters, foundation funders and corporate partners. You don’t have to share the full document but get a summary in front of those who care about your organization.

Last week The Kidney Foundation emailed me with this good subject line: “We’re changing the course of kidney disease- here’s how.”

The email mentions their new strategy which “outlines how we’ll improve lives today, break down systemic barriers to transform access to care and advance research that will shape the future of kidney health.”

The CTA was to view a summary of the new strategy, which they put on their website. They have a good graphic along with a brief explanation. Enough for people to get an idea of what they’re planning to do and how.

Consider this when your organization has a new strategy. Don’t keep it internal. Let people read it and get excited by your vision for a better future.

Screws fall out all the time. The world’s an imperfect place: A little of this and that

In this section I’m going to share with you great content I’ve picked out that you can learn from.

1. 10 tips to write better appeals. MUST READ! (Clairification)

2. Things that don’t feel like fundraising… but are (The Better Fundraising Company)

3. How are you thanking your donors? (Nonprofit Pro)

4. Reduce the mental effort in filling out your forms. Folks: Your online donation form is one of the most important pages on your website. Learn how to get more people filling out the form and donating! (Norman Nielsen Group)

5. 6 ways to solicit in-kind donations (Momentum)

When you grow up, your heart dies: Strategy Insider- Deep Dive: Are you content with your content?

In this section I’m going to share with you how I build strategies for nonprofits. Each week I’ll share another piece and over the coming months you’ll see how everything fits together.

The content your organization publishes is critical to fundraising and marketing success.

That’s why my deep dive includes an analysis of all the content being shared. That includes content on the website, email, blog, social media, printed and texted.

Everything.

I’m looking to see…

• Is the organization sharing a variety of content?

• Do they publish data, demonstrate impact and how do they share those?

• Do they publish an annual impact report?

• What stories are they sharing and are those stories hitting the mark?

• Do they have a content strategy and content calendar to plan and review what’s working and what isn’t?

Most important: Is the content providing value for the audience? Fundraising and marketing should be a two-way street. Your content has to provide value for readers, educate them, help them understand the issue you advocate for.

So far I’ve shared with you my deep dive into fundraising, marketing, platforms, interviews, competition, the Board, grants, organizational processes, gratitude and content. Next week I’ll be discussing staff.

You see us as you want to see us: Quick recipe

Since I referred to cooking above, here’s a recipe for 10 minute Szechuan chicken:

• Cut chicken breasts into 1 ½ inch cubes

• Lightly coat with 3 tbsp cornstarch

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok

• Stir fry chicken along with 3 minced garlic cloves till lightly browned

• Add 5 tbsp soy sauce, 1 ½ tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, ¼ cup water

• Cover and cook three minutes till chicken is cooked thru

• Add 6 diced scallions, 1/8 tsp cayenne

• Cook uncovered two minutes longer

While we’re at it, here’s how NOT to prepare a chicken. Old SNL sketch. (If you have an aversion to seeing blood, lots of blood, don’t click. But if you ever watched Julia Child, you’ll enjoy.)

I’ll be back next Thursday. Have a great weekend!

P.S. I listened to a mix of songs by Glass Tiger while preparing the enews. Who’s Glass Tiger? Great Canadian band who were huge when I was in high school. I had all their tapes and knew the lyrics to all their songs. Good times.