It is no secret that associations, member-based organizations and nonprofit boards are facing fundraising challenges. Direct and indirect competition in the publicly financed marketplace is considerable.
What is being lost in the modern scramble for fiscal sustenance is improving the experience and recognition that guests and sponsors deserve for their patronage going forward.
There are four pillars to envisioning, funding and achieving any organization’s agenda:
- Loyal, paying members.
- Devout, content-reading constituents.
- Eager butts in seats.
- Cascading revenue or donations.
My firm is an expert in turnaround management and strategic communications value. In my 20 years of experience, there are five recurring failures as to the reason some associations, nonprofits and even political organizations lose fiscal steam in a highly resource-divided economy:
- Failure to recognize members, sponsors and donors well enough.
- Failure to provide approved inducement that warms hearts, minds and souls of diverse constituents well enough.
- Failure to prove that your “financial house” is in solid, ethical order.
If you’ve ever seen the TV reality show “Undercover Boss,” you’ll know that the premise involves corporate CEOs working anonymously on the front lines to find out how their companies really work. Almost every week, they discover a key truth: Unhappy employees almost certainly guarantee unhappy customers. If you’ve ever encountered a little travel snafu, you know what I mean.
Scheduled to fly out of Chicago one recent evening, I ran into numerous difficulties including a nearly missed flight, conflicting and just plain wrong information, and rude personnel. I couldn’t find an employee who was either informed or interested. These challenges weren’t the real problem in my book. The issue was almost certainly a severe case of unhappy employees. What was the reason?
Statistics say that almost 50% of us don’t trust our leaders. Think about it. The world’s most admired companies are at the top of the heap for a reason. (read more…)
SmartBrief is partnering with Big Think to create a weekly video spotlight in SmartBrief on Leadership called “VIP Corner: Video Insights Powered by Big Think.” This week, we’re featuring author Mark Hyman.
The human body is commonly understood as one unit with many functioning parts, and the body’s resilience and ability to overcome trauma and illness is renowned. But medicine, author Mark Hyman says, has remained in the mode of: Isolate the problem, attack it (probably with drugs), cure it and move on — until the next crisis.
This is especially a problem when moving beyond the deadliest diseases of yesteryear to confront what he calls “chronic lifestyle-driven diseases.” Isolating and tackling the problem won’t work when it involves someone’s entire lifestyle. Instead, while we think of the body as a collection of systems, we must build medicine to be systems-driven. “There’s no such thing as breast cancer. … There’s no such thing as heart disease. (read more…)
SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 170,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Tuesday in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: How much do you think the upcoming election cycle will influence your business in the coming years?
- Tremendously: 36.93%
- Significantly: 32.79%
- Moderately: 20.98%
- Not at all: 9.3%
A lot on the line. Clearly, big shifts for business are expected after the election. Whether it’s taxes, health care, the economy or other issue-based changes, the vast majority of you are expecting a shake-up during the next few years. Given that, how are you planning for that uncertainty? Clearly, there will be one of two outcomes. Are you creating a contingency plan for either direction? One other citizenship public service announcement: If the election will affect your business this dramatically, I certainly hope you’re planning on voting to have your perspective registered. (read more…)
The best managers understand that effective leaders are also solid team players. The workplace is filled with capable teammates — even some who take initiative, overdeliver and inspire colleagues. Unfortunately, there’s also the occasional employee who has no idea how to collaborate or communicate effectively. Such poor performers aren’t entirely useless, though. They offer some of the most poignant lessons on teamwork and leadership.
Here are seven things failing team members do — and what you can learn from them.
- Complain about everyone and everything. The worst co-workers are often the most negative ones. Employees who complain regularly about others — or about circumstances in general — do little to help the team and much to hurt it. The most effective team members stay positive and find good ways to provide feedback.
- Gossip regularly (about work or personal issues). Nothing breeds distrust and paranoia like gossiping in the workplace.
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