Danny Maier

It’s kind of an uncomfortable question: Have you ever failed? Has your campaign missed the mark? Did you ever have to scramble for a Plan B – or Plan C? I’ve been there. And while it hurts like heck in the moment, you learn as much, or more, from failures than success. What have I learned?

This January, the Donor By Design Team is offering a series of resolutions: Strategies and commitments to enhance your ability to connect with donors and generate support for your important work. 

Fifty years ago, Charles Schultz gave us kids something special, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” And some five decades later, three or more generations continue to watch Charlie Brown’s droopy tree finally stand upright.

This is a question I often get in my travels and days spent with clients. Of course, the ideal answer to this question is, “you develop a good development officer.” Some of the very best that I have worked with through my years have been homegrown. But that’s not always possible. So what is the key? Fit.

The “Great Recession” hit everyone – especially those with too much debt. Debt is not necessarily evil, but when it’s a touch too much, it can be devastating.

It was soooooo frustrating: the camp auction. All I wanted was a gift certificate to my favorite bakery. As we bid higher, a friend outbid us. Again and again. Man I wanted the ginger cookies from this bakery or a loaf of challah bread. But here was a friend of mine bidding them out of sight! Forget it. Let him have it.

“The smartest people know what they don’t know.”

I had that drilled into me some three decades ago by a mentor. He practiced this every day, listening carefully to others’ views, thoughts and opinions. He surrounded himself with people who “are smarter than me…at least in one area.”

How much time do you spend on employee issues? Hiring, orienting, training, mentoring…cumulatively, I bet it is a lot. Sitting in a CEO’s office recently, he recounted all his challenges with development staff: “We recruit, orient, train and then BOOM! They’re gone!”

“I hate asking for money!” That’s the refrain we often hear from volunteers and staff alike, especially at the beginning of a campaign. I even heard it from Dr. Ed Miller of John Hopkins Medical School… someone who raised $2.2 billion during his tenure.

Recently, I attended a board meeting for a great nonprofit organization. Afterward, the CEO confessed that he was “really troubled that we can’t create a culture of philanthropy here. It is just so frustrating.”

I picked this book off the shelf only because the title resonated with me. The first few chapters are pure agony. It’s the fictional account of a staff meeting, which hits too close to home as the conversation drifts: “Where are we going to have the company picnic this year? At Lions Park again? Should we serve hamburgers or subs?” While company culture is important, I’m sure you’ve attended meetings that many people in the room – including you – had no interest in.