Episode #308
Do you get frustrated when this happens?
A board member, or a staff member comes up to you and tells you their great idea on how to raise more money. Their intentions are good, but their “great” idea is way off the mark. This can put you in an awkward position of having to explain why their idea won’t work.
In this week’s video, Kivi Leroux Miller shares three strategic questions you can ask so that you never find yourself in that awkward position again.
If you like this video, then check out another video I filmed with Kivi. It’s on how to create a story-based editorial calendar. If you do any communications at your nonprofit, you’ll definitely want to watch that video. It’ll save you time and make your job easier. You can see it by clicking here.
Do you have any tips or stories around how to handle those “great ideas” that really aren’t so great? If so, please share them in a comment box below the video. Thanks.
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Do you have any tips or stories around how to handle those “great ideas” that really aren’t so great? If so, please share them. Thanks. 🙂
Some times it is interesting to discover that when a new “great idea” is being offered by staff or board, at times that suggestion is the result of the board or staff member feeling that what is already happening isn’t (in their eyes) sufficient, adequate, or has problems that make it difficult for them to throw their support behind. It’s a fruitful time of discovery to explore if the new idea is stemming from frustration with existing practices or the result of other inspiration.
While I think this is an important topic and agree that protecting an organization from the wacky whim is critical, I think the flip side is actually a bigger issue. I see staff that isn’t open to new opportunities presented by board members. They have assumed the mantle of expert when none of us has a corner on a great idea. The assumption is too often that a board member’s idea is not so great. Organizations are losing opportunities, not to mention creative board members, because they don’t treat their trustees with the listening respect they give outsiders. A case in point, a board member was willing to donate 50 percent of a new project that he saw as key to advancement for an organization I know. It wasn’t in the fundraising-communications director’s plan so she dismissed it. Three years later, they are desperate to accomplish his idea – he was ahead of them. But he is now happily serving another organization. I think that listening with respect comes first and then a conversation about what would have to come off of the to do list to begin something new and unplanned for should follow.
At one nonprofit I worked with the board and staff came up with an annual policy of what they would do for fundraising. It then became easy to say, “We have a written policy of what types of fundraising we will work on this year. I will put a note documenting your idea in my file for next year when we begin planning again.”
Nine out of 10 times they have forgotten.
There are great ideas and not so great ideas AND do we have the staff and time to prioritize working on it – what will be left off the plate if we pursue this, or will we find some temporary help, or is the Board member willing and able to make or help make this idea happen! Sometimes the reluctance to look at new ideas is just the fatigue of a small staff with plates already overflowing.