I bet you made some new year’s resolutions, didn’t you?

That’s great!

I have an additional resolution to offer you:

Take a stand.

Just take a stand for what you believe in.

Just like that.

Draw a line in the sand and say to yourself, “I want to make a difference.”

And then say “I AM going to make a difference.”  (Isn’t that powerful!)

Because when you make a declaration that you are going to do this, something happens inside.

By “naming it” and “claiming it,” you start making it happen.

Think for a moment.

What really matters to you, anyway?

What urgently concerns you?

I hope it’s the cause you work for so hard.

Because if you are that concerned, then what are you going to do about it?

Remember Gandhi famously said:

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Can you become that change that you so urgently want to see? Can you actually embody that change?

If you want to make it happen, you need these three things along with you.

You need:

1.  Courage

My, oh my, but it’s easy to sit back and expect others to take the lead.

Isn’t it?

But what happens when no one steps up to the plate?

Or when your cause’s supporters lose sight of their goal, or they dissolve into petty bickering or competition?

Well, my friends – nonprofit staffers and board members alike – the world NEEDS more people to step up to the plate.

It takes gumption as we say in the south.

How do you muster up your courage?

You get over yourself.

You hold fast to your vision of what you are trying to accomplish.

You keep your goal firmly in sight and hold on to it tight.

Because if you are totally “possessed” by your goal, then you’ll forget your self consciousness.

I remember when I first started public speaking. I was absolutely scared to death.

Standing up there and looking at all those faces staring at me, expecting me to say something interesting –  it was enough to send panic thru every molecule in my body!

But then I remembered what I was speaking about, and how passionately I felt the need to communicate.

And somehow, I lifted up out of my fear and became in some way “possessed” by my energy, passion and my ideas. And they just spilled out of me then.

Bottom Line: If you hold fast to what you believe to be deeply true, you’ll find more courage than you ever thought you had.

2.  Enthusiasm

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “nothing great was achieved without enthusiasm.”

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." -Emerson

And I so believe this.

Because if you are enthusiastic, you have happy outgoing energy.

This energy is attractive.

It pulls people to you. It pulls supporters, dollars, connections.

All of a sudden people want to hang with you. Your cause’s bandwagon is growing. And growing.

If you are a group of people who are fired-up, enthusiastic, energetic – then you can do anything.

This is the energy that can change worlds.

Pump yourself up.

That’s why I always say that board meetings need to be terrific gatherings.

They need to be like cheerleading sessions. When you pull your team together, you’ve got to fire them up with energy and enthusiasm.

And you’ve got to do the same for yourself.

Get yourself in touch with what really matters to you, and what stand you are going to take.

You’ll be motivated enough to take on the world!

Bottom Line: Everything starts with energy. Make yours expansive and happy – and you’ll attract all sorts of help!

3.  Clarity.

If you want to change the world, and rally supporters to help you, then you need a very clear goal.

You need to know what you are trying to achieve.

You've got to be totally clear and focused about what you are trying to do.

• You need to know when you want it done.
• You need to know how much money you need to raise.
• You need to know what outcomes and results you are aiming to create.
• You need to know what it will take to get there.

You’ll never be successful if you don’t have a clear goal.

If you are raising money for your cause, then you’ve got to say: “ we need xx money in order to do yyy work.”

For example,

• We need to raise $100k in order to bring meals to 2000 elderly members of our community.
• We need $500k to build an orphanage in Africa.
• We need $50k to present a concert or a performance.

I don’t know why nonprofits are so reluctant to state how much money they need.

So many of my clients just say “we need as much money as we can raise.”

That’s fine, but it doesn’t grab donors. It’s not specific enough.

You need a clear goal.

Donors – especially these days – want to know how much help you need in order to accomplish your goals.

They aren’t messing around.

And they don’t like fuzziness.

If your message is muddled, you are not going to raise the money you need.

Bottom line: You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t know where you are going. Have a clear goal!

I hope these ideas help you fire up your board, your staff, and your supporters.

Remember how urgent this is. There’s no time to waste.

There’s too much at stake.

Don’t mess around. Go for it!

Did this resonate? Let me know with a comment!

My daughters Ellie and Cassie!

It’s Thanksgiving here in the US.  It’s a time when we celebrate family, friends, and all the blessings of our world.

I rarely talk about myself and my own life here in my blog, but today I’m telling a bit of my personal story.

Here’s my list of the blessings that I am so, so thankful for!

1. My Children:

For my lovely, smart wonderful daughters, Cassie and Ellie!  They are my #1 blessing!

Ellie’s in law school and Cassie works for our congressman, David Price.

2. My Family:

Always a big time with the Perry family!

For my southern, wild, rambunctious, and very large family! When the Perrys get together it’s always so very much fun.

3. My Mission:

For the chance to make a difference in the world.

You may know that I care deeply about making the world a better place.

I’m so, so blessed to be able to spend my life energies working to help other people.

Terrific clients: Brucie Moore and Robert Reed of the Corpus Christi Symphony

4. My Wonderful Clients:

For all the terrific organizations I’ve been honored to serve as a consultant and retreat leader.

It’s an unbelievable pleasure to work with fantastic people to help them do an even better job.

5. The Fundraising Insiders:

For the incredible honor to serve the 72 Charter Members of my new Fundraising Insiders coaching group.

We’re gonna rock, roll and raise tons of money together! Not too late to join us – I’m personally reviewing some of their year-end letters this weekend!

6. YOU!

I am totally grateful to you, my reader, for your interest in my ideas and thoughts about improving fundraising and boards.

Thanks to you for taking the time and energy to work on your skills, expand your mind and keep pushing to become even better and better!

Gardening is a high calling!

It is my honor and deep pleasure to serve you and your cause.

7. My garden:

I’d really rather be gardening any time of the year!

Right now I’m planning a tulip and pansy garden for the spring. There’s no such thing as too many pansies!

8. The beach:

It’s a peaceful, joyful place for my family and me down at our family cottage at Nags Head.

I love just hanging out with the wind, the waves, the birds, and the clouds.

9. All our donors.

I’m grateful to the many donors – large and small – who give of their own personal resources to help others.

Nags Head, NC on the Outer Banks is close to paradise!

There are so many folks with big hearts who share their own wealth for the good of the world.

Lets’ all be thankful for our donor’s hearts – and their willingness to take actions that will make the world a better place.

Aren’t we in the most wonderful profession of all?

I think so!

Sandy Rees CFRE has some cool secrets for getting fully funded!

Yes, it really happened at the Knoxville Food Bank.

This is Sandy Rees’ story of what happened when this organization embarked on a “think big with no excuses” mindset.

This is the kind of approach that can change worlds.

And it’s an approach that Sandy brings with her whenever she speaks or coaches.

BTW, Sandy is launching her new book today: “Get Fully Funded: How to Raise the Money of Your Dreams.”

And I have to say it is an amazing book! Join her launch party today. Please pick up a copy of this terrific resource. You know I am very picky about who I recommend – and Sandy gets the gold star.

Here’s the story (imagine yourself and your own board in this same scenario!):

One momentous day, someone asked a question:

One day, the folks at the Food Bank stood back and looked at the big picture.

And they acknowledged something they never really talked about:

“We are only meeting one third of the need in our area. It’s not good enough.”

Then someone spoke up:

“If we totally wanted to meet the need in our area, how much would it cost?”

Nobody had ever thought this way before. It was a new way of thinking, of looking at their community’s situation – and their organization’s opportunity.

They said,

“Hey, we will never get where we want to go unless we change something. What is it going to take?”

And wouldn’t you know, the staff got fired up and embraced this idea. They decided to commit themselves to ending hunger.  Yes, they did.

Sandy added, “it started with a spark. One spark. And the flame spread.”

Sandy said, "It started with just one spark."

The staff got together with the board and figured out the steps to take.

“We figured that we needed three times the food to meet the need. So we started thinking really big!  We changed our fundraising strategies and tripled our budget in three years. And went from 500k to 1.5 million.”

Moral of this story:  a “no excuses” approach.

Too many nonprofits go for what they think they can get. They shoot for a conservative number.

They take the easy way instead of thinking big, considering what they really need and going for that.

I asked Sandy what it took to get everybody in a different mindset.

She said that they just spoke the truth. They had a board retreat to get everybody recommitted and remotivated.  And focused on a new bigger, grander goal.

The new Fundraising strategies worked.

• They stopped doing little events.
• They worked harder on major gifts.
• They added a monthly giving club.
• They got their board more involved.
• They grew their donor base thru direct mail and speaking engagements.

These are strategies YOU can implement today.

Sandy issues a challenge in her new book:

“Why can’t you raise every single dollar you need?

“Why can’t you raise the $ of your dreams?

Knoxville Second Harvest Food Bank raised the money of their dreams!

You actually can.

You just need a NO EXCUSE policy.

Don’t blame your board, your donors, the economy, your budget.

Just take responsibility for what’s happening. And be willing to do the work it takes to make it happen.

Don’t wish for the fundraising fairy to magically rescue you.

Don’t say, “we can’t afford that.” Because fundraising brings in a return on investment. It’s not a black hole.

It’s a multiplier – returning back many times the money invested.

Take responsibility for your fundraising. If its not working you have to figure out what it is and what you need to do.

Bottom Line:

As long as you think you can’t raise the $$, then you can’t.  And if you do think you can raise it, then you will!

Mindset is everything. Like everything else you accomplish in life, it starts in your head.

Here’s my question to you – can you be your organization’s spark plug?

Leave me a comment and tell me if you can!

I had the pleasure of talking to the very smart and wonderful Michael Chatman yesterday on his popular live radio “Giving Show.”

Mention fundraising to board members and you get this look back!

We were talking about my favorite subject – how to get board members fired up and active in fundraising.

You can listen here to the 25 minute tape of the show.

I was amazed how many people tuned in.

Michael said it was because this topic is such a pain point with most nonprofit staff members.

People tweeting questions all wanted to know how to get their board members to help raise money.

Like most of my fundraising colleagues, when they ask board members to help, their trustees would get nervous and back off.

Here are my recommendations for getting your board members fired up, in action and ready to help.

And I absolutely promise you, this works!

My Fired-Up Fundraising System is based on some very important principles that can change everything.

I believe in activating people’s passion and energy first.

And you have to lighten up. Make it fun for them.

You need to fan the flames of emotion.

It’s emotion that propels action.

(How much emotion is there in a business meeting run by Roberts Rules?)

I’m all about the psychological and motivational side of dealing with volunteers.

Try motivating board members rather than lecturing to them.

It really doesn’t work to treat them like fourth graders.

Try treating them more like a sales team that needs pumping up all the time.

This exact set of strategies really does work. I refer to them in all my speeches, presentations, workshops, books and articles:

1.   Reawaken their passion for the cause.

Board members have got to get back in touch with why they care –why they wanted to serve on the board in the first place.

Fire-up your board members and you'll unleash incredible energy!

They won’t lift a finger for you unless they are fired up about the cause itself.

You need to help them re-awaken that pull in the heart that caused them to get involved in the first place.

Ask them why they care enough to serve on the board.

That’s my absolute favorite way to get them riled up.

Or, better yet, ask them what legacy they want to leave from serving on the board.

If you can get them talking, then you can make it happen.

You’ve got to let go and let them do the talking.

2. Give them practice with their elevator speech.

They need help learning how to talk about the cause. And I mean real world practice, not role plays in front of the group.

They need help creating their own, personal elevator speech.

Don’t create a “master” elevator pitch and have everybody learn it. Because they’ll forget it.

Instead let each board member craft their own speech based on why they personally care.

Here’s how to set up this exercise.

Make it fun and make it informal.

Give board members practice with their elevator speech.

Ask them to go around the room mingling with other board members and share why they care.

Or work as a group to come up with some great facts to share about your organization.

That would be a fun discussion for your board.

3. Help them understand what you are really raising money for.

Where does the money go? How many people do you help?

How much does all that cost? How much does each program cost and why?

You can have a deep discussion around "what are we raising money for?"

What could you do if you had an extra $100k?

What DO we need? WHY do we need it?

Who’s impacted by it?

How, I mean really, HOW, exactly do we change and save lives with this money we are raising?

Be careful: DON’T make this a presentation.

That will cause their eyes to glaze over and you’ll be left with the monkey on your back.

Instead make it a question and answer DISCUSSION.

Make it informal so that all board members can get into the thinking process.

Frankly, when I take board members through these three steps, I hardly need to do another thing.

When they are

1. In touch with their own passion and energy,

2. Equipped to talk about it,

3. Know how much you need and why you need it,

. . . then you hardly have to anything else, because they are ready to roll.

Sometimes you can’t even stop them. I’m continually amazed at the energy, creativity and strategies that board members come up with when we do these exercises.

This is what Fired-Up Fundraising is all about.

If you want to awaken your board’s energy and put them to work, I can help you with a board retreat that will be transformational – and that they will really enjoy.

One that is practical.

With material they can put right to use.

These exercises are just that – they are practical and experiential. And board members love this stuff!

Try these techniques and make it happen for YOUR board!

I am just back from an intense 4 days at the AFP International Fundraising Conference.

And I listened to some of fundraising’s most brilliant – and provocative -  leaders.  Here’s what’s on the mind of some of our smartest thinkers.

Do consider these ideas NOW. They may go against your typical practices.

But I promise, absolutely, that you will raise more money if you implement them.

1. Go All Out for Monthly Donors On Your Home Page.

Monthly donors are worth gold to you. On average, they will stay for 10 YEARS. Put the ask right on your home page.

The ideal monthly appeal ties a monthly ask to something specific. “$31 a month will do xxxx.”  Harvey McKinnon

2. Focus on Fewer – Not More Donors.

You don’t make more money by having more donors. The more donors you accumulate – the less profitable your fundraising program. (Penelope Burk)

3. Encourage Restricted Giving.

Restricted asks raise more money. Period.  We are holding our philanthropy back, because we are asking for unrestricted rather than restricted. (Penelope Burk)

4.  Get Rid of the Words.

Put your whole message in the first 150 words. The rest of your copy just backs it up.  (Tom Ahern)

5.  Get Rid of “Unmet Needs,” “Programs,” “Services.”

Write like you are an outsider to your organization. Get rid of the boring, obtuse jargon. Jargon is a flame retardant! (Tom Ahern)

6.  Make Your Case Like a Series of Ads.

Add photos while you get rid of words. Create your case or your fundraising materials with the fewest words and the best photos. (Tom Ahern)

7.  Hire More Fundraisers.

Saying, “We can’t hire any more staff.” is stupid. Each additional fundraising staffer upticks gross fundraising revenue. Period. (Penelope Burk)

8.  Give Your Fundraising Staff Raises.

Money is the #1 reason fundraising staff leaves. Investing in retention of staff will make you money. Retention boosts profit.

Extend young staff from 18 months to 30 months saves you money. (Burk)

9. Get Rid of the Raise Money Now Mindset.

31% of fundraisers who are planning to leave their jobs will leave because of  an unrealistic “old school” culture of fundraising: ie, “you HAVE to bring in the $ NOW.”

How much more money could you raise if you took a long term, strategic approach? (Burk)

10. You Must Give Your Staff Management Training.

Success in business is 95% in the management of other people. But we cut staff training first whenever there is a shortfall. Training is essential. There’s not enough management training in nonprofits.(Burk)

11. Get Rid of Lousy Board Members Now.

Allowing a lousy, nonperforming board member to serve out their term is, two words: “Chicken S***”  (Simone Joyaux)

12. Be Blatant.

Try this: “With your help, all these amazing things happened. And without your help, they won’t.”  You‘re selling the impact of the donor’s gift. (Tom Ahern)

13. Stop Talking About The Money You Need.

You choose:

A case is about the opportunity you‘re putting in front of the donor.

OR

A case is about your organization‘s need for cash. (Ahern)

14. Become a Shrink.

When dealing with volunteers, you are a psychologist not a fundraiser!  (Laura Fredricks)

15. Don’t Believe Your Prospect, When. . .

If he says, “I’m just a plain ole country boy,” it really means he is a wealthy prospect! (Eli Jordfald)

16. Close Down Some Programs.

Leaders will close or giveaway a program or activity that is no longer profitable and has little impact.

So were these ideas provocative? Would they challenge your status quo?

Remember fundraising is changing. Donors are changing.

Doing what you’ve always done the same old way will get you yesterday’s results.

Go for it! Change is good.

Use this article to rattle some cages!

And please forward it to a friend – and I’d really appreciate your comments.