I just got back from vacation.

I like vacation.

It gives me an opportunity to do all of the things that I really want to do but just can not seem to find the time to do.

This year, I took some time and explored the wonderful world of ITunes.

And what a wonderful world it is.

When I was a development director, it used to bother me, a lot, actually, that, I would have to carve out time from a busy day in order to keep up with the latest trends in development practice.

When ever I read a book or article, my mind was elsewhere, asking

“What needs to be done in the office?”

So much for self improvement.

Then I discovered the guilt healing balm of  ITunes.

The ITunes store carries a plethora, a veritable cornucopia, of free, that’s right, free podcasts from development directors, consulting firms and other development luminaries that detail and discuss the latest and emerging trends in development practice.  All you have to do is download this wisdom to your media player of choice and pop in a set of earphones.

It makes the drive to the office an educational experience.

A word of caution:  there is a lot out there and trying to find something that is applicable may be like trying to get a drink from a fire hose.  I would recommend that you begin with the interviews and articles sponsored by the Foundation Center.  They are exceptional and cover a wide range of topics.

Enjoy exploring.

There is a really good article in July issue of the Harvard Business Review (for $16.00, all of the articles better be good – they usually are). 

Using Analytics to Achieve High Performance

A concise summary – data driven decisions ensure an organization’s competitive advantage.

I ask myself, frequently, why dioceses, in general, eschew plans of action that their organizational data would seem to dictate in favor of what they have historically have done?

Take development practice, for example.

I mail our annual appeal brochure, letter and envelope to 450,000 people every year (everyone in our database) even though only 35,000 annually support the appeal and 100,000 have never supported the appeal.  We do it because the Bishop thinks we should ask everyone for a gift.

Data shows that if people have not made a gift to the annual fund since Pius XII was the pontiff, they will not.  Continually soliciting people who have no intention of giving just drives them further away from the organization.

We send a brochure, letter and remittance slip to all of our current donors.

Data shows that when we segment our database and speak differently to our different constituents, the response rate of each group is increased.  Talking the same way to a five dollar donor and a five million dollar donor, even on the surface, is counter productive.

We ask every past donor for a 10% increase in support.

Data shows that those who give the most can give more.  A lot more.  Arbitrary percentage increase requests rarely constitute a solid moves management strategy.

Development officers who work in faith based organizations often find themselves trying to explain that which is “logical” to those who career is built upon that which is “unseen”.  It may, at times, be a difficult process, but it is well worth the effort.

Every 15th of June, when I was a development director, I would break out my graph paper and pencil and compose my budget for the upcoming year.  

Every 20th of June, when I was a development director, I would walk, paper in hand, into the chief financial officer’s suite and leave the updated financials on his or her desk with a great flourish.

I loved June. 

I love walking anywhere with great flourish.

Have you prepared your annual fund budget for next year.  Did you present it with great flourish?

Take a gander at an email I received from Kim Waltz, our vice president of postal affairs:

I wanted to share some information on the pending 2011 rate increase for the United States Postal Service. First, I will explain what we already know, that is the USPS has filed an exigent rate filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission. What that means is that by the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed by Congress, the USPS can only file for a rate increase within the structured rise of the CPI for any given year unless they name the filing an exigent case and supply documentation as to why they are looking for rates above that CPI percentage. With the filing we know the rates will be higher than the CPI which has been averaging from 3-4%, in fact what we are currently hearing is somewhere between 7 and 8%. 

In that same Postal Law there is a requirement for any class or product of mail to cover its own costs. The Postmaster General, Jack Potter, has addressed this issue in several public forums naming some particular classes who do not cover their costs included in this group was non-profit mail. This declaration would lead us to believe that the non-profit mail class might expect an even larger increase in the rate case not only for 2011 but in addition, until such time as the class meets the Postal Accountability prerequisite.

Finally the impending rate case will be implemented in January 2011 not in May as with the past several cases. We do expect the release of the proposal from the Regulatory Commission sometime in July 2010. I would urge our customers to evaluate their mail programs to determine if they have any flexibility to move mailings from January to end of December to capture the savings.

Or put another way, the direct mail costs associated with the implementation of your pending annual fund program will increase. 

By a bunch.

Hope you have a bit more flourish in your step for one more walk….   

I returned last week from the 2010 annual meeting of the National Catholic Leadership Roundtable on Church Management.

Like every thing  that Kerry Robinson seems to touch, it was excellent. The theme, generally speaking, was an exploration of how the church can restore donor confidence after the American, and, more recent, European sexual abuse crisis. On the train ride home, I opened my copy of the Financial Times to the following article:

The Perils of a Tarnished Brand: Companies can easily see a good reputation turn sour if they loose sight of their core values.

The article followed the financial gyrations of Starbucks, Goldman Sachs and British Petroleum: admittedly all different companies, yet, all sharing an essential breach of faith with their core customer that impacted their market share and profitability. Expansion became the mantra of Starbucks and in growing, they forgot the desires of their customer (does anyone shop in a Starbucks retail store?). Goldman Sachs forgot that when you are on the verge of insolvency, it is probably not a good time to award large financial incentives to the people that placed you on the precipice of bankruptcy. British Petroleum – well – I really do not have to explain the complexities of that brand shift.

I always say that data indicates that the abuse crisis did not seriously hurt Catholic fundraising initiatives, but, it certainly did not enhance our ability to secure philanthropic market share. The points I heard made at the Roundtable and the recent crisis in Europe has prompted me to reconsider that position.

Our brand is eroding.

I was at a cocktail party last week (o.k. it was a barbeque but they had really good wine) and someone asked me:

What company would you draw a parallel to with the Catholic Church in America?

 I thought about that one – hard.

The American card industry, Ford and General Motors, specifically, two years ago.

Their brand was ruptured, their market share dwindling. By embracing their core values, both Ford and General Motors have been reborn and have, I believed, launched the renaissance of the American car industry.

Embracing and promoting core values.

All diocesan employees find themselves as the brand Sherpa for their church. Yet, it is often the development director, because of their significant contact with outside constituencies, who has the occasion, motivation, and resources to ensure that the core values of organization are at the heart of all that is communicated.

If you are interested in seeing how a brand is reinvigorated in 60 seconds, look at these two spots:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi0SbrrGaiw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ycPjlc3eM

I hate when I do not get invited to the party.

I dress well, am generally well behaved, can make gracious and often engaging small talk, and really love scallops that are wrapped in bacon.

In the July edition of Fortune magazine, Carol Loomis chronicles a clandestine get together that was orchestrated by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.  The attendee list would have sent any development officer into cardiac arrest and included Oprah Winfrey, Ted Turner, George Soros and other people, all of who, happen to be billionaires.

Or, more appropriately, multibillionaires.

The meeting agenda?

They (Gates and Buffett) are driving to get the super rich, starting with the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, to pledge at least 50% of their net worth to charity during their lifetime.

If this thing flies, and it just might, the not for profit sector could anticipate an influx of 600 billion dollars in the next several years.

I do not respond to articles, I react.  My reaction to this article, at least initially, was disbelief.  I recall, with a certain degree of urgency, the clarion call for development officers to prepare for the intergenerational transfer of wealth that was imminent and that would reshape the not for profit landscape.

I am still waiting.

Yet, my initial cynicism evaporated when I recalled a meeting I conducted when I was building out a capital campaign.  One of the committee members leaned into me, after the meeting, and informed me that there were several billionaires living but a lapsed donor’s throw from my modest home in upstate New York.

I did my research and, in fact, living a life of quiet opulence,  in my neighborhood, were two multibillionaires.

O.K.

These people actually exist.

And if they are poised to give half of their money away in the next several years, how do Diocesan development directors get their attention?

Several years ago, The Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University conducted a longitudinal study on the charitable giving habits of the very well heeled.

You may review the findings of that study here: 

http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/News/2008/pr-HNWPhilanthropy.aspx

Good luck and save me a scallop.