🫶 Friends = Impact

Hello fundraisers. While Elon is catching rockets, we’re out here impacting our communities.

Today’s Topics:

• Friendraising: It’s not all about the money, y’all.

• Fendi & Golf: Hot purses, cold golf balls.

• Board Games: Dividends reimagined.

Growth
Friendraising. The heck is that?

I sat down with John Brauer, the CEO and President of New Horizons, a nonprofit organization that helps people with developmental disabilities, and not only was he a wealth of information, but he is just the most passionate and energetic man there is.

Thinking Long Term

New Horizon has been around for 70 years ( thought Abe Lincoln would say 3-score and 10 year), and I’m sure anyone would be amazed at what New Horizon’s has accomplished.

One thing that New Horizon’s does is actively Friendraise. Not only do they gear events at fundraising, but they also have events just for making contact with the community. One of these events is a bowling night.

Bowling night is for everyone. The individuals with disabilities are invited out as well as new… friends. It’s a great chance to see the impact the organization while also having off-the-cuff conversations with new friends. That’s how you grow. Add more friends!

Take Away

“More money!” is often pushed as the answer to all nonprofit problems. Another out-of-the-box idea is getting more involved in the community. Show your impact. Not only is it a great way to thank those who have helped, it’s also a great way to friendraise. More friends = more help.

Events
Golf and Purses, Purses and Golf

You’ve made friends! Great! But now you’ve got a new problem. Friends have different interests. That’s where we get golf and purses.

Diversify Events

I’ve been to a lot of golf events. I’ve also been to a lot of purse events. One thing I’ve noticed… completely different crowds.

If a nonprofit is going to hold multiple events throughout a year, you might want to think about varying the event type.

Golf events attract mostly men. Purse events attract mostly women. It’s as simple as that. Could be anything though. Anything that appeals to a different crowd.

Why attract different audiences?

1. Keeps you from exhausting one group.

2. Expands your audience.

3. Unique marketing material.

4. Advertise your main gala (if you have one). Use these events as touch points for future interactions and asks.

New Horizons did just that. Not only did they have their yearly golf event, but now they’re got the Power of the Purse

Board Games
Measuring Success: For-profit vs Nonprofit Boards

There is a difference between how the two measure success, but it’s not as big as you’d think.

For-profit Boards: How do they measure?

For-profit boards have an obligation: Money!

• Increase revenue

• Lower bottom line

• Increased access to funding

• Community presence

• Networking obligations

Basically it’s about making money. The KPI’s (key performance indicators) are measurable. Did we make more money? Do we have access to better locations with more foot traffic? Is it measurable? Is there data? Are there dollars?

Nonprofit Boards: Constituents Reimagined

Nonprofit boards function a little bit differently. The difference: KPI’s.

While nonprofits, of course, track financial metrics, their real measure is how they benefit a constituent.

A constituent of a For-profit board might be a a Barbershop. Did the barbershop cut more hair? How much more money did they make? That might be a metric they’d measure.

In a nonprofit, the constituent might be the special needs adult that wants a job, a girlfriend, and to be a member of society. KPI’s: Did you find them the job they wanted? Are they living on their own? Are they engaging with the community? Did they finish high school? Did you help them get a girlfriend?

Conclusion

When it comes to measuring success, you still need metrics. How do you measure? that’s where the difference lies. Nonprofits impact the lives of those they help. That can be a difficult thing to quantify in numbers. It is more shown through story.

Funny
Are we fwends?