Habits and change

Strategic planning, when done well, drives an organization forward and keeps it on the right path. But more often than not, the original map becomes dotted with several detours and is soon abandoned. There may be more academic reasons for this, but my conclusion is that they fail because they are seen as distinct from the “real work” of the organization. This becomes even more challenging in a fundraising organization, where staff who are not directly involved most often think of fundraising as something “someone else” does.

Many strategic goals involve change, and we all know change is hard. It is exciting and energizing to brainstorm about the future, and even to come up with mantras and values for our organizations. It is much more mundane, awkward and overwhelming to figure out how to put these into practice each and every day.

Workplaces across the globe are guilty of this when they proudly (and with good intention) say things like “Our staff is our greatest resource” and “We empower our people”. In truth, most staff and managers, would answer there is a great disconnect between how things are done and how the organization says they are done.

If you want to engage staff in your mission, you need to spend as much or more time asking yourself the tough questions as you did developing your strategic plan and vision. If your strategic goal is to encourage and foster a philanthropic culture within your organization, a combination of systems, processes and people need to work together to do this. Taking a look at these categories, you will probably have no problem identifying what should be done. That’s the easy part.

This is where most organizations stop! If you want to achieve change, and fulfil the goals of your plan, you need more than commitment, agreement and buy-in to concepts. What you need is to adopt new habits and behaviours, stick to them and know the consequences of not following them.

Like making a lifestyle change, versus going on a crash diet, this is where the real work begins. The most effective way to do this is to discuss these questions:

1) What are the things we will not compromise?
2) What habits are we prepared to change?
3) What steps can each of us take, today, to get us closer to our goal?

4) What happens if we don’t deliver? What are we prepared to do about it?

If you look at your values and goals, and create rules to live by, you will succeed in giving your staff and volunteers a clear picture of what you are about. You will make it easier for your staff and volunteers to make decisions and act with empowerment, as it becomes woven into daily life. And the outside world will know what you stand for, and you will attract and keep the right donors.

Here are some statements you could use as a starting point for an organization that wishes to be donor-centric:

Commitment – We put our donors first, our organization second, and ourselves last. Our donors are why we exist as an organization.

Accountability – We are responsible for carrying out our mandate openly and respectfully in keeping with the interests of our donors. We do what we say we will do, and each put our best foot forward. We hold each other accountable and we speak up constructively when we feel something is not done in our donors’ interests, or to the standard that is expected of us.

Collaboration – We are all responsible to advance our organization, and we work together “with” rather than “for” the organization. We are all here to support philanthropy and to carry out the work our donors are contributing toward.

Improvement – We do not settle for doing things reasonably well. We improve things even when they are not broken. We spend time each year doing things that will improve our future, even if they do not have an immediate visible benefit.

Take these statements, or come up with those that fit your organization, and talk about how they apply in each department. For example, if you say you put your donors first, but donors taking the time to call are greeted by an answering machine, you are not in sync. If your accounting system cannot support receipting in the way they have asked, or you have other structural obstacles that have become acceptable, your organization is coming first.

If you can determine the rules you are prepared to live by, and make it a habit to use them to guide your daily work, your organization will be living your mission and values, instead of just talking about them.

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