All the way to zero.

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It has been a rewarding and busy quarter for me. Already this year I've had quite a number of intense, immersive meetings with our nonprofit clients.

Growth has been the central theme of every meeting. There's optimism in the air again, and groups are looking out of the bunker window-slit to try to decide what to do next.

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Our engagements include a review of current growth forecasts (along with, eventually, a heavy bit of re-engineering of those forecasts). When I pull up an organization's spreadsheet, I ​almost always see that some number -- 4%, 8%, 12% -- has been added to last year's results as "baseline growth." When I ask where that number came from, I invariably hear that it came from the C-suite. The more frustrated staff will roll their eyes; the ones plucky enough to play along will say, "Our normal expectation is growth." I've had this experience a number of times this year. 

​This will sound a bit harsh for a Friday, so bear with me: The normal state of things is not growth. It is decline. My skin will not get better as I age; my 401K will not automatically double every five years; my Betamax video recorder will not be cutting edge technology indefinitely. 

Even worse, it is very possible to take things all the way to zero. It happens quite often, actually. Remember Bear Stearns? Palm? Hostess? Blockbuster? Small errors can create massive problems. Small issues can mushroom into monumental failures. My house could end up being worth less than my mortgage. 

We've all lived through a massive, five-year economic example that demolition is quicker and more definitive than construction. And yet I fear we may have missed the lesson. 

The natural state of your program is decay. This is especially true in fundraising, where  participant and donor retention might be 30% or less. In other words, we need to replenish 70% or more of our constituents just to stay even. Making no changes to your fundraising program -- or worse, pulling funds and staff from it -- will speed the deterioration. 

This is a great time for fundraising because as the economy picks up the results of the entire sector will pick up. But please don't let that convince you that you can put things on autopilot. "Organic growth" is seldom organic and almost never comes from just riding a wave. Growth comes from hustle, ongoing investment, and constant innovation. When I hear nonprofits say they are going to "take a conservative growth strategy" I get a nervous twinge, because it is usually code for "we're going to wait and hope." 

Waiting and hoping is not conservative -- it is incredibly risky, because it will almost certainly accelerate your decline. And it is a patently irresponsible strategy.​ It's time to get out of the bunker. Investment is your most sensible approach. 

If you're game, I'm going to bravely take on this topic – and a few others – in thirty minutes or less at next week's Run-Walk-Ride Fundraising Conference. I hope to see you there. 

​

Livestrong shows us how it's done.

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Everyone knows that Livestrong​ hasn't had the easiest go of it lately. And so I was interested to see what I'd find at last night's Livestrong Assembly reception and dinner in Chicago. (I was actually quite touched to be invited – we've worked with Livestrong in the past, but it's been a few years.)

They nailed it. Doug Ulman, Livestrong's CEO, was open, honest, realistic about the six months they've had, and optimistic about the future. Everyone I met looked humble and a bit tired, but I didn't sense one bit of defensiveness or defeatism. And the crowd was fired up.

​Sadly, we've seen lots of examples of nonprofit brand problems recently. Livestrong's response to theirs is a case study for how to respond gracefully and confidently. Well done.

A monumental leadership lesson.

When George Washington ​disappointed his many supporters by resigning as our first President rather than retaining the office for his lifetime, he not only put America on a course for sustainable democracy -- he provided an exemplar of servant leadership that up until that point in history could not have been imagined. Upon hearing the news that Washington had voluntarily stepped down, King George III of England -- yes, the very same England which Washington had defeated in America's Revolution -- said that the act "placed [Washington] in a light the most distinguished of any man living" and called him "the greatest character of the age." Driven by a vision of a new republic, Washington realized that the greatest act of leadership would be to relinquish it. 

I am struck by that same thought as I read the text of Pope Benedict XVI's speech earlier this morning in Rome. ​At a time when it is all too easy to count our worries, it is hard for me to imagine the responsibility and challenge that must come with trying to lead a 2,000-year-old organization with 1.2 billion members. I would submit to you that whether you are Catholic or not, or even vaguely religious or not, there is something in Benedict's act worth reflecting on. It is, at its core, a supreme act of humility, courage, and leadership.

And if you are Catholic, or used to be, or somewhat consider yourself to be, you might find that three minutes reading his speech and another three minutes reflecting on it offer some unexpected inspiration. 

​For more on Washington, see Founding Father by Brookhiser or The Founding Father by Johnson. For coverage of the papacy, I highly recommend the blog Whispers in the Loggia by Rocco Palmo.

Back and better than ever...

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Well, without meaning to I've let over three weeks slip by without a single post. I figured it was high time I posted an update lest you all think I was trapped under something heavy (When Harry Met Sally reference, yes you're welcome).

2013 is off to a great start for me, and I hope for you. Lots of more detailed posts to come but here are a few tidbits of what has me thinking and wondering:

  • First meeting of the Invisible Children board last week. What this group has done and continues to do is nothing short of amazing to me; more to come in the next weeks and months. I couldn't be more honored to be a board member.
  • Spending time applying non-linear regression models to fundraising data -- oh dear, this is really more interesting than it sounds. Hopefully I'll have some way to illustrate that in coming weeks! Stay with me people...
  • Speaking of fundraising data, I'm presenting at the annual Run-Walk-Ride Conference again this year. It's become an annual ritual I very much look forward to. If you're going to be down in Atlanta March 13-14, drop me a line so we can connect.
  • Speaking of fundraising data again, Chuck Longfield of Target Analytics/Blackbaud presented some helpfully alarming statistics about donor retention last week at the Nonprofit DMA conference that are worth your review. I say "helpfully alarming" because there have been people in the industry (like myself, ahem) trying to highlight the need for better engagement for years. Seems like no one wants to listen to the idea that engagement is hard work. Twitter is great for communicating but it ain't gonna magically create more donors for ya! Trust me on this. I'm hoping Chuck's presentation will rattle some cages. More here.
  • Switching the subject before I fall off my high horse, we've recently launched the 2013 Muckfest MS, a series of 18 obstacle races. Think Wipeout. With mud. And beer. You need it. Give it a look here.
  • Ulrich Schnauss, who has the best name in music, released his new album A Long Way To Fall today. I love everything he does and would recommend it without question.
  • Speaking of music, am I the only one who thinks the new version of iTunes is atrocious?

See, I'm back. :-) More soon.

Play to the Gods.

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Love this, from the conclusion of Pete Townsend's new book, Who I Am. Thanks to friend Tony Vengrove for pointing it out on his blog, Tony V's Idea Garage.

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CODA
I dedicate this book to the artist in all of us.
This is as much a note to myself as one to you.  Play to the gods!  In showbusiness the ‘gods’ are the seats right at the back of the theatre, the tough ones, where people got in cheaply and can’t see of hear properly, and chat between themselves and eat lots of popcorn.
For the artist ‘the gods’ is the universe, the big, abstract picture, the unknown, the open sky and sea.  Focusing on the infinite universe might seem rather grandiose, or utterly aimless.  In fact it’s as small or as large as we want it to be.  Some of us believe there is nothing out there.  Some of us believe we are surrounded by attentive angels.  Whatever.
Play to the gods, or — if you prefer — to a small basket full of stuffed toys, or sing into the mouth of a hot-water bottle, or turn the knobs on a chest of drawers and pretend to be 20,000 leagues under the sea.
It’s all the same thing.  If in doubt, just play.

~ Pete Townsend

This just in: Fundraising is hard.

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In the category of "Tell Us Something We Don't Know," last week Compass Point published UnderDeveloped: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising, which concludes, among other things, that nonprofits struggle with high turnover, difficulty finding qualified staff, and a lack of a holistic orientation towards fundraising. I had no idea!

I intended to write a summary and commentary on the piece, but the week got away from me – and better still, Katya Andresen of Network for Good has already done both for me here. 

Oh, I don't know – I don't mean to be so snarky about the study. It's a good read, and worth a few minutes of your time. That said, I'm not sure I'd consider it groundbreaking. If you've been in the nonprofit space for more than two weeks you knew all of this already. 

Fundraising is hard work, and despite what some people will say it isn't sales or marketing or communications. It is its own discipline. It requires practice and patience and determination. And more than ever, it requires leadership.

Yes, fundraising is hard work, but it is work worth doing – and work that, more than ever, desperately needs to be done. Call me old fashioned, but if we want better fundraising leadership the place to start is within ourselves. I'm not saying we don't need structural and cultural change; that would help. However, to overcome the obstacles we have to decide we're going to stop complaining about them and start figuring out ways to climb over them. 

There is exactly enough time.

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For me, a large key to enjoying life is initiative: Setting my alarm clock so I get up when I want to instead of waking up late; sitting down with a cup of coffee in the morning to relax and reflect instead of absently looking at my phone in bed; responding to work email after I complete my big projects instead of letting my inbox run my day; choosing to have dinner with the kids instead of staying at work until "it is all done"; making a list of what I want to get done in a day and doing those things first. 

There is exactly enough time.

For a long time one of my little traditions has been to make sure I exercise on New Year's Day. It is a small way of mentally setting the initiative for the year, of saying "I'm healthy and active." This small ritual doesn't guarantee anything, but I can look at workout logs for past years and see that, with striking consistency, the mediocre years tend not to have an entry on January 1. 

We have all heard the wisdom that you can't control many things, but you can totally control how you react to them. Similarly, you can't choose everything – or even many of the things – that you have to do, but you can choose to make sure you create time for the things most important to you.

A long while back a couple of good friends gave me a painting that said, in essence, "You can be happy once you realize that there is exactly enough time for the important things in life." Seems like a good affirmation for 2013. Happy New Year!

The irony of improvement.

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You're exactly where you need to be.

When you feel poor, the answer is to give something away.

When you feel tired, the answer is to exercise.

When you feel uninspired, the answer is to create.

When you feel overwhelmed by your to-do list, the answer is to take a break.

When you feel lonely, the answer is to offer friendship. 

When you feel unloved, the answer is to love others regardless.

When you feel lost, the answer is to stop searching and accept where you are.

When you feel that the world is stacked against you, the answer is to radiate gratitude. 

The limitlessness of Reason.

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The holidays are a time of creative renewal for me – the free time, mental relaxation, and annual introspection always result in fresh ideas, perspective, and initiative. Writing and recording music is the equivalent of an emotional work out: It keeps my soul in shape. And so I look forward to the holiday break and the annual influx of imagination it brings.

That said, for me the problem with music (and writing and work and life) has never been a lack of ideas. Rather, that problem is bringing those ideas to completion. Just finish it. That's hard for this tinkering perfectionist to do.

Over the last few days I've been reminded of the admonitions of Stravinsky, who famously wrote about the creative process:

My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the chains that shackle the spirit.
Powerful limits.

Powerful limits.

This week I've been recording with Propellerheads Reason, a program that I've had on my hard drive for years but never really taken seriously. When compared to an installation of Logic Pro fully outfitted with plugins from Waves, Native Instruments, and Spectrasonics, Reason has always seemed to me to be, well, limited. And the rack-based system is cute but not very practical. 

But over the last couple of days I've decided to take the advice of Stravinsky and use Reason as a way of forcing some constraints. I have to say, I've loved it. The very things I never liked about Reason – a closed system, limited expansion options, a restricted soundset – have tapped directly into my composition nerve. Plus, the program has dramatically evolved over the last several releases; the mixer and the rack extensions are fantastic. And, Reason doesn't seem to crash. Ever. I can't say the same about Logic, ahem...

It is almost unseemly to suggest that using a program with dozens of built-in effects and instruments, hundreds of tracks, 64-bit processing, and incredibly complex routing options constitutes "imposing limits," particularly when I recorded an entire CD years ago on a system with only eight audio tracks. Still, in the modern world of computer processing that far exceeds most practical uses, I've found Reason to be a nice ecosystem. I hope to post some completed files in the next few weeks.

More than that, I hope that in the new year I remember that the obstacles in front of me are only fuel for creative solutions.