The future looks good...it's the present that concerns me.

One nonprofit executive director explains sleepless nights this way: "The future looks good. The present, however, looks impossible."

Year after year this is the concern of nonprofit leaders, even in strong economies. You can change the forecast by changing development priorities. If you do, you'll be the person someone in the future looks back and sees that changed the course of history for the organization.

It's not one thing, like planned giving, that is the answer. It's a blend of several things that mark change.

1. Vision - What is your intention? If you had more than enough resources, what could happen? Pause at some point today and just think about where your nonprofit - and you - are headed. What's the potential?

2. Impact - What difference is your nonprofit making? What would not get done if your group was not around to do it? What is it you do that matters? Remember web-thinking: Your work impacts more than board members, staff, donors, volunteers, and recipients of services. The impact is also felt by family members of all concerned and children (the next generation), and colleagues, and your vendors, and many more that you may not be aware of. They benefit.

3. Relationships - Who are your stakeholders? It may not be your biggest donors at all. Look at consistent givers and disregard amount of gift - what do you know about these people? Why do they give? Approach annual givers as stakeholders and you'll begin to notice a difference in that perspective. They are more than year-to-year givers - they understand what you're doing.

Vision, impact, relationships = sustainability.

Self-evaluation by a nonprofit executive

My week ends on a good note having received the following feedback from an executive director and nonprofit champion:

“I am slogging through another personnel issue and rather than just lash out and say "Just go away, then," I am trying to weigh options. As a leader I feel it is important to be firm in my convictions - however, I also feel it is important to question them occasionally too. Am I being bullheaded or just a strong leader? Should I consider everyone's opinion, at the risk of "paralysis by analysis," which we just went through? Are there some excellent team members who just won't fit my vision?
So I came up with a list of mentors whose opinions I respect, and the first local call went straight to voicemail. The second one was in a meeting. I decided to call you and was reviewing past emails for your phone number, when I became fascinated by the answers you had given me to this question a year before I faced it. I found myself forwarding old emails to myself again to refresh myself.”

What leader has not faced such questions? It's tough questioning that identifies the true leaders. Job title is irrelevant. Leaders are the ones not afraid to look at the answers. The cost of pioneering any initiative whether it's an innovative approach to a festering community problem or trying to make a difference in the world as an individual when you’re not exactly sure how to do it, is confusing somedays. But not on days with emails like this one.

It’s not the speed at which you run the race but that you get out there and run.

Start with current donors

If growth means keeping what works and making it better, then nonprofits intent on growing should concentrate on current donors - the people who have already shown their support. As more people give thoughtful attention to the charities they support, give them more reasons to choose you. What do you know about your consistent givers? Is your marketing message clear about what your nonprofit does and where it is headed? How fast it gets there is really not the issue - that it gets there is entirely the point.

Increase the attention you give to your loyal donors and connect with those whose values align with those of your organization. They may be interested in a deeper level of support - a longer-term type of support.

Initiate action with consistent givers. Find out what they think. If you can build a bridge between their heart and a better world through your work, then you'll find all the resources you can handle!

What to do with $100 donors

Take a look at your donor gift levels. Do you have clusters of gifts around the $100 mark, the $250 mark, or the $500 mark? Where these cluster occur, notice how many of the names you know personally. What do you know about them? Do you know why they give to you? This is where your focus should be now - on the relationships you already have.

Choose a cluster and identify the people who have given 3 years or more consecutively. Why have they given to you for these years? Obviously, there is something that is attracting them to you and if you can find out what that is, then you're closer to your next gift. Do they know the founder? Do they know someone on the board who speaks highly of the work? Is it a staffer? Maybe they know someone who benefitted from your services. Finding that out may mean a visit - maybe several visits. Maybe it's a coffee or maybe you meet them at an event. You may find out right away and it may take several visits. Is there a board member who will help?

This is how you attract givers to maintain and increase their giving. By getting to know them, and learning what matters to them, you'll be better equipped to communicate the work of yiour nonprofit in terms they value.

If you have a lot of names in those clusters, you can get creative with how you contact them since you can only drink so much coffee in a day. Read the article, "Launching your 44 cent cultivation plan" listed on my Free Resources page of my website: www.jeancraiglong.com for hints about low-cost ways to make memorable connections with donors.

If you start this week, and set aside 2 hours on Friday to call people who have written checks in the past, thank them, update them on activities, you're taking a development step in the right direction. Can you ask some board members to take some names? Gratitude is an attractor and this is the time to connect as much as you can with those people who already know and care about your work.

Consider a new perspective in your nonprofit work

Most conversations with nonprofit leaders lately have centered on this economy and its effect on incoming cash gifts. Between gift revenues slowing down and bleak (depressing) media reports about the sad state of world economic world affairs, nonprofit people are feeling vulnerable and lonely and not much like visiting prospects and donors for fear of hearing more of the same.

What if you remember that not all people are affected the same by the economy? What if you turn off the tv and think of the determination & commitment of the individuals that created the 50 and 100 year old institutions we have today? They gave during depressions and other recessions- arent' there people like that around now? Of course there are! Some of them are on your donor list, too.

So, what if you assume that your donors still want to hear from you and learn what's going on with your nonprofit? What if you are honest and say that you're offering a cup of coffee instead of lunch to protect their investment of previous gifts?

What if you visit with no particular agenda (like a solicitation) and simply because you want to stay in touch? What if you phone all donors who do make gifts and personally thank them in addition to the usual acknowledgement letter? Wouldn't that make a positive impression?

What if you focus on the positive impact that your organization is making.. giving people a sense of the important role your nonprofit continues to play in local life -as they are probably making more thoughtful choices about which nonprofits to support this year and why.

People who have cared before don't suddenly stop caring. So instead of thinking that no one will give and that they don't want to see you, assume that they want to hear from you now and that they will do their best to support you. Assume that and yours will be one of those 50 year old institutions future nonprofit leaders admire.

Who says people aren't giving?

The worst thing you can do right now is assume that people won’t give.

According to The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, 333 gifts of $1 million or more came from individuals in the 2nd half of 2008. While that is a decline compared to the same size gift in the 2nd half of 2007, it indicates that people are still giving.
This shows that the stock market declines and the credit crisis have slowed large gifts but have not stopped them.

Are you spending too much time listening to what the media reports about the economy? That would bring anybody down. Shift your focus.

Sitting at a birthday dinner celebration Saturday night, the woman beside me talked about a charitable gift she had just made. She made the gift in memory of two dear friends to a nonprofit fund that they both would love. She thought about both of her friends, and their lives, and her love for them before making the gift. Her heart led her to make a gift that would serve people now in the memory of ones who had also served.

That's what's behind every gift! That's what endures. Heart. It still is...it always will be.

Focus on that.

Are you ready to give donors choices?

Donors Need Choices -Are you ready to offer them?

One of the most important things you can do now is to stay in high communication with donors, especially donors who've made gifts consecutively - no matter what size the gift. Focus on the loyalty factor.....look at your donor list in terms of years of consecutive gifts. Have you been in touch with them in 2009?

Loyal donors still believe in your cause and may not be comfortable right now making the same cash gifts as usual. Are you making it easy for them to support you now in other ways? Now is not the time to lay low or hesitate.

These are days when donors need more gift options. Consider loyal donors as your prime stakeholders. What gift options can you offer them?

What about a provision in the will? That doesn't cost the donor anything now. What about being named a beneficiary of someone's retirement plan? That doesn't cost the donor anything now either and when someone tells you that they've made one of these gifts, they've opened a grand window of opportunity for you to continue cultivation for many years. Someone who has included a provision in their will for your nonprofit will always want to see you. They consider themselves long-term investors and they are interested in activities and updates that we may take as mundane. Maybe they will be interested in a cash gift at some soon point. It's worked that way for me.
As long as your mission is relevant and your message of commitment to that mission is clear, loyal donors don’t go away – they may bide their time.

The first planned giving program I established at the art museum resulted in will provisions by volunteers, many of them docents. While not necessarily the biggest donors, these volunteers were first place in proactivity about a role in the museum's future. As they discussed among themselves the possibilities of what could happen in the future if everyone pulled together, their enthusiasm increased and my job of securing planned gifts was fun. I considered this group my self-cultivators!

Are you talking to loyal donors about alternatives to cash gifts? Do you know what to say? Do you know how these basic gift plans work?

If not, you might be interested in one of these complimentary teleclasses. Click here for details and to register. http://www.jeancraiglong.com/teleclasscalendar.htm