Leadership Engagement: The Key to Capacity Building

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Leadership Engagement: The Key to Capacity Building

David A. Mersky

January 18, 2012


Of:

Advising nonprofits in:

• Strategy

• Planning

• Organizational Development

www.synthesispartnership.com

(617) 969-1881

[email protected]

INTEGRATED PLANNING


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Affordable collaborative data

management in the cloud.


Of:

Today’s Speaker

David A. MerskyFounder and Managing Director,

Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

Hosting:

Sam Frank, Synthesis PartnershipAssisting with chat questions: April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars

Leadership Engagement:

The Key to Capacity

Building

David A. Mersky

Founder and Managing Director

Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

January 18, 2012©2011 Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

©2011 Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

The State of Philanthropy in

America Today


The number of 501(c)(3) organizations 2001–2010

2010 charitable giving

Total = $290.89 billion

Types of recipients of contributions, 2010


Total giving, 1970–2010

Data are rounded.

Total giving as a percentage of Gross Domestic

Product, 1970–2010

Total charitable giving and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index

(Adjusted for inflation)

Giving by type of recipient as a percentage of total giving

Data began in 1978 for foundations and in 1987 for environment/animals and international affairs.

Types of recipients of contributions, 2010


Q:How do you get your

piece of the pie?


A: • A Strong Leadership Team

• A Comprehensive Plan

• A Compelling Case©2010 Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

PROPER

PLANNING

PREVENTS

POSSIBLE

POOR

PERFORMANCE


PROPER

PLANNING

PROMOTES

POSSIBLE

POSITIVE

PERFORMANCE



GAINS:

The Platonic Ideal

Board member tasks and

responsibilities


GIVE

• Their gift makes a

difference

• Their gift empowers

them to serve as an

advocate and

ambassador

• Their gift enhances

their credibility to ask

others to give


ACKNOWLEDGE

• Acknowledge

contributions in

personally written

letters and calls

• Tell donors how

valuable their gift is

• Recognize donors at

events personally


IDENTIFY

• Review existing

prospects and donors

• Identify others from

communal,

professional or

personal contacts


ENGAGE

or if you prefer NURTURE

• Educate and encourage

prospects to support the

organization

• Host a meeting at home

for major gift prospects

• Conduct one-on-one

encounters to engage

prospects©2011 Mersky, Jaffe & Associates

SOLICIT

• People give to people

• Approach people with

whom they are comfortable

• By asking others to give,

leaders fulfill their

responsibility to provide

financial resources

• Build a community of

donors and funders



A strong board has…

• Dedication to the organization’s purpose

• Regularly scheduled discussions about goals and objectives

• No fear of failure

• Unshakable confidence in the organization’s objectives

• Patience—it takes time to reach goals

• Priorities and timelines


A strong board has…

• Personal energy

• Persistence

• Commitment to change

• Willingness to try new things

• An understanding of the role of and respect

for professional staff


Only a board can…

• Define and disseminate the mission

• Set institutional goals

• Manage the assets

• Authorize and oversee budgets

• Provide financial resources to fulfill the mission and meet the

institutional goals

• Engage the ―CEO‖

• Replace themselves


Guiding Principles

• A successful organization begets successful

board recruitment and retention

• Strong staff attracts strong board members

• If your board is unwilling to pay the going

rate for quality staff, you will get what you

pay for


Guiding Principles

• Success results from the shared commitment of board

and staff

• A board member who is properly prepared is

productive

• When recruiting your board, as in soliciting funds,

you are hurt more by those who were not asked and

would have said ―yes‖ than by those who say ―no‖

The Annual Fund Plan:

BOARD DEVELOPMENT

• Assess the current board

• Committee on Governance and Leadership Development

– Create job descriptions

– Identification, recruitment, appointment and

confirmation of members

– Board member agreement?

• Orientation Meeting/Materials

• Evaluate


Obstacles to Board Effectiveness

• Absence of a written rationale for the

existence and role of the board

• Lack of a studied design for the composition

criteria, on site/in-house orientation and

function of board members, and

• Failure of control and evaluation of the board

and its members by the board itself



The Board Building CycleIdentify

Cultivate

Orient

InvolveEducate

Assess

Rotate Recruit

Celebrate



Identify• A board is like a puzzle

• Profile your existing board

• Establish criteria for new board members

• Create a file for each prospect

• Assign a prospect manager


Cultivate• Personally invite

prospective board members to special events

• Follow up with one-on-one encounters

• Focus on prospect’s interests—not organizational needs

• Develop relationship


Recruit• Face to face meeting with

board chair, ―CEO‖ and prospect manager

• Make expectations clear

• Written job description

• Board member agreement or commitment letter


Orient• Provide all new board

members with• history

• by-laws

• budget review

• strategic plan

• org chart

• mentor

• Create harmony between new and old board members


Involve

• Conduct valuable,

informative meetings

• Delegate meaningful tasks

to new board members

• Pair them with veterans


Educate

• Help people advance within the organization

• Train board members to succeed

• Help individuals overcome their anxieties about asking


Assess

• Review every board and

committee meeting

• Individual board members

should do a self-evaluation

• Board members should assess

the board and the organization

regularly


Rotate• Set terms for service on the

board

• Groom current board for

executive positions

• Continually search for new

leadership

• Create opportunities for

―past‖ leadership to serve


Celebrate• Complete the board building

cycle with the achievement of

organizational goals and

fulfillment of the mission

• Begin the cycle anew by

identifying prospective new

leadership

The Board Building CycleIdentify

Cultivate

Orient

InvolveEducate

Assess

Rotate Recruit

Celebrate


Fund Raising Roles

STAFF

• Provides information about the

organization

• Develops proposals and letters

• Provides first draft and coordinates

mailing of solicitation letters

• Provides follow up to all solicitation

calls

• Sends reminders and organizes report

meetings

• Provides information about programs

and tax advantages in a solicitation call

• Schedules solicitation rehearsals

Board• Learns the mission and goals of the

organization

• Provides information about prospects

• Provides final edit of and signs

solicitation letters

• Solicits gifts on behalf of the

organization

• Uses linkages to set appointments

• Asks for the gift in a solicitation

meeting

• Practices solicitation calls with team

members



Board members are…

…busy people

who care

deeply about

your mission



…champions of

your vision



…amateurs—

full of passion and love for your core values


Mersky, Jaffe

& AssociatesFinancial and Human Resource

Development Solutions for Nonprofits

800.361.8689 413.556.1074 fax

www.merskyjaffe.com

OFFICES IN BOSTON AND NEW YORK


http://www.merskyjaffe.com/


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