You see, this incredible story is one of many uncovered by their Chatty Cat Phonathon callers during their recent “check-in” calls. I wanted to know how they took their phonathon remote, continuing to provide student employment during this crisis while also doing important work for the university.
​​​​
Here are my questions and Jamie’s answers:

"Within the Western Carolina University Division of Advancement, we’re using our best callers to conduct ‘check-in’ calls with our alumni during this quarantine time.  They are sharing the student experience and listening to the alumni experience during these short, scripted calls."​

"The callers are finding that the alumni are pleasantly surprised by the call, and many are eager to chat and share ideas, stories, and experiences. The callers flag records of alumni who are doing unique and/or front line COVID work and those are shared with me for story leads.  

I work with our Marketing and Communications colleagues on bringing the strongest of these story leads to them on a weekly basis.  Completed alumni story profiles are used on our alumni website (alumni.wcu.edu), our social media channels, and our alumni e-newsletter.  

Most of the stories that our Chatty Cat callers hear are about our alumni who are teachers, nurses, public administrators, hospital administrators, researchers, and manufacturers (particularly in areas for parts for ventilators and PPE, personal protective equipment), and we’ve had some who are specialized in unique areas like funeral home owners and leaders in cruise line sanitation.  

The Chatty Cats have also spoken to several alumni who serve on our Board of Trustees, and those Trustees have provided very complimentary notes on their chats with these students.  Overall these calls strengthen our Catamount community and allow for relationship building around a common struggle for us all.  For those alumni who have said ‘how can we help’ the student callers reference one of our student emergency funds and guide the alumni to give.wcu.edu/relief for gifts."

What software are we currently using for the call center/remote calling?

• "Guided Fundraising by Blackbaud, which is what our “Chatty Cats” (student callers) traditional use in the on-campus call center.  Our Director of Annual Giving, Jonathan Brooks, has also trained some of the other development staff on Guided Fundraising for other cultivation and stewardship purposes."

Any additional training for the remote callers besides our regular training?  

• ""We set up a Microsoft Teams site for our remote callers to use as base-camp, and the remote calling is limited to our most well-trained callers. Mr. Brooks had two ‘on-boarding’ sessions before calling began. These were conducted via Zoom. The training sessions covered a refresher on the platform interface and any updates and modifications that had been made since they were last on the phone, which had been a few weeks by then because of spring break, extended spring break, and North Carolina stay home orders. The training sessions also covered new scripts and conversation guides for these simple ‘check-in’ calls, new coding, and overall expectations regarding their remote work. We extended the remote work offer to callers who were meeting all performance metrics and did not have any policy/procedure violations on their record."

How is the supervision going? Have we had to add additional supervision tools/tactics? How often do we “meet” with them as a group, individuals, etc.? ​

• ""Supervising is going well, and other than leveraging Zoom, there has been no new technology adopted to manage the callers. They formally meet as a team once per week, and our Director of Annual Giving holds formal one-on-one sessions as needed. He is on call for ad-hoc meetings at the students request 24/7.  The callers have made 3,800 calls so far, and 1,010 Chatty Cat email follow up messages have been read by alumni as well.  503 alumni have shared updates and stories with our callers."
  

​​Will the callers do any solicitation calls when you switch over to relief fundraising? 

• "Our student worker contracts end the 2nd week of May, so we will utilize them for #GivingTuesdayNow student emergency fund work, but then we’ll run out of time."

"Yes, our development officers have each used this same ‘check-in’ call model to call through their portfolios, and most have followed these up with emails for next steps.  Our front-line fundraisers have noted the great ability to learn more about their donors and prospects with these simple calls, and have been encouraged by the donor’s willingness to really connect over the phone.  Most have been happy to have someone to talk to.  ​

​Our Director of Donor Relations is mailing handwritten notes to hundreds of donors who give unrestricted gifts as an extra touch-point during this time as well.  Our Alumni Engagement Office has partnered with Development Staff to create Alumni Zoom Socials, which we launched with our Triangle Alumni Club (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area) last week.  We have 16 additional Zoom social hours scheduled for the next 3 weeks to connect with our alumni."

As a higher education professional for over 17 years, Jamie Raynor gained early experience in academic affairs for several years before turning her focus and her profession to development and advancement initiatives. In her temporary role, she currently serves as the interim vice chancellor for WCU's Division of Advancement for Advancement Services, Alumni Engagement, and Development staff, also serving on the Chancellor's Executive Council. Her permanent role as Assistant Vice Chancellor includes the supervision of major, planned, and annual giving professionals in the development office. She also manages a portfolio of corporations, foundations, and individuals to secure major and planned gifts. 

Have you been utilizing the unique talents of your phonathon callers during this crisis? Why or why not? Did this case study make you feel any differently about trying it out? If social distancing measures persist into the Fall semester, how do you plan to handle your phonathon? Let me know down in the comments.

And if you liked this content, please subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising. You'll get my FUNdraising Friday emails, which are jam-packed with interesting, useful, and funny content to keep you sharp and motivated!

Cheers, 

PS - If you liked this article, you might like: 

• Is Phonathon Really Dead?
• Planning for the Unexpected
• The Only 3 Interview Question You Need to Hire Phonathon Callers Who Stay
• 10 Traits ALL Former Phonathon Callers Share
• What makes for great rapport building? Plus, a list of rapport building questions

PPS - Want to use your time isolating at home to become an All-Star fundraiser? Join me for my new course, All-Star Annual Giving. Registration just opened! All-Star Annual Giving is a fully online 12-week course with 9 modules covering all areas of annual giving strategy and execution. If you want to roll into the semester with a fully fledged plan to raise more money than you've ever raised before in your annual giving programs, you need to be in this course.

The situation with COVID-19 changes day-by-day and hour-by-hour. Hopefully by now, nonprofits have taken steps to allow all but absolutely essential personnel to work from home. Fundraising, while essential, is a function that can be done from a home office. The big question is:

How can we keep our donors connected to our organizations in this unstable environment?

When it became clear that I would not be allowed to travel anymore for work, I fell back on a maxim I heard somewhere early in my fundraising career. It rhymes so that’s convenient and an aid to memory.

Near
Dear
Clear

In any circumstances where rapid change is taking place, we must take great pains to keep our donors near, dear, and clear. What does that mean as a guide to practical action and how can we all undertake those functions while protecting ourselves and our donors from coronavirus?

Let’s take each part of the maxim in turn:

Make sure your organization is crystal clear on its priorities. The first of which should be the health, safety, and welfare of those they serve and those who work for the institution. Repeat this often to your constituents.

However, do not shy away from honestly telling donors how this crisis is affecting your organizational needs and its finances. Your major donors and board members especially deserve the candid talk about what is needed, what might be needed, and why.

Did you find the framework of near, dear and clear helpful in thinking about how you are keeping donors connected these days? What other strategies have you tried in the last couple of weeks that keep donors near, dear, and clear? Tell me below in the comments!

Again, I hope this was helpful to you. If it was, please leave me a comment below.

Also, if you found this very helpful, I hope you’ll subscribe. By doing so, you’ll get my FUNdraising Friday emails every Friday with pick-me-ups, helpful articles, and cool freebies. Humor and a commitment to continual learning will no-doubt help us all through this crisis.

Take care and be well,

Jessica ​

PS - If you are feeling stressed and anxious and burnt out due to coronavirus, you're not alone. Because so many are facing unprecedented challenges and pressure right now, I'm hosting a free webinar on the topic of Self Care for Non-Profit Professionals. It will take place April 1st. Register today as there are only 100 spots!

What if I told you that there was a source of annual fund dollars out there that could cost you 18 cents to raise a dollar and raise those funds very quickly in a short period of time?
 
And what if I told you that you probably were not currently utilizing this particular source of revenue for your institution? You would be interested, right?
 
Let me tell you what the secret source of revenue is . . . Facebook ads.
 
Yep, Facebook ads. Believe it or not, I recently did a test in which I ran Facebook ads for year-end fundraising and the cost to raise a dollar was as low as 18 cents.
 
In all honesty, this test grew out of the fact that I work for a very small shop and I’m the only fundraiser. I needed to come up with a calendar year-end giving campaign for our social media. Last year I spent a lot of time crafting unique messages to be used for each day in December. This year I was just running out of time and had no real creativity left in me.
 
So instead, I decided to craft three very targeted year-end promotional messages and boost them significantly with Facebook ads. I had a little bit of extra money in my budget that I re-purposed in order to do this. Not a ton. I'm talking less than $1,200 to experiment with.
 
So I divided my ad dollars up between three boosted ads. The first two were to promote general giving. One was targeted to those outside of our normal constituency on Facebook (people who don’t currently like our page). The second I boosted specifically to people within our community (who currently like our page).  
 
The third leg of this campaign was a specific boost to encourage our constituents to become “sustainers” (recurring monthly donors). All three of these campaigns were successful.
 
First, our campaign outside of our normal constituency reached over 44,000 people who may or may not have ever heard of the school before but had our affinity with the religious community that we serve. We also garnered 14 new page likes.
 
In the general year-end giving part of the campaign, over 500 people clicked on our giving website. We got 24 gifts out of this campaign, totaling almost $5,000. The results came out to only $0.18 to raise a dollar! This was revelatory to think that we could not only do public relations and communications work, developing our constituencies on social media, but at the same time raise some serious money
 
The monthly sustainer campaign was also quite successful. We did not spend very much on that campaign, only about $100 but we got 4 new sustainer donors. These new donors represent $65 monthly (or $780 more per year). That doesn’t even fully represent the lifetime value of those monthly donors. If you just take the first year of value from those monthly donors then it was 34 cents to raise a dollar for this micro-campaign. I would argue it is well worth it when you consider that most of these donors will roll on from year to year as ongoing monthly donors
 
I was surprised that something like Facebook ads could actually work for fundraising. I think my bias against it is because we want these digital mediums to be a free way to reach people. We know they have power to reach people but don’t want to pay for it.
 
And yet, we know that mail and phone are worth the investment. Why are we not willing to invest real money in the digital mediums yet?
 
Facebook (at least) is here to stay. It’s a reliable way of reaching people and we should start thinking about Facebook (and other forms of social media) with the same mindset we use when we think about phone to mail.

Namely, that you have to spend money to make money.
 
We need to start being smart about spending part of our fundraising budget on social media. Run some tests. Look at them with an eye to return on investment. Track the same kind of statistics that we track for phone and mail fundraising, including cost to raise a dollar.
 
If you haven't been utilizing Facebook ads in order to grow your constituency on Facebook and raise real money, I would encourage you to undertake a test. Maybe run your fiscal year-end campaign or use it around a day of giving or some other point of urgency.

​You can gain new donors, new Facebook fans, and real money. You can do all those things to the tune of 20 cents to raise a dollar. I would argue it is worth the investment. Can you lobby for a little extra money in your budget ($500 or $1,000 or $2,000) to experiment with this medium? If it works, put it into your plan for next fiscal year.

Do you already do Facebook ads? If not, is this something you could try? Let me know how it goes.

As always, comments and questions are welcome and encouraged!

Cheers,

Jessica

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• 5 Steps to Promote Your Video
• All About Giving Days
• The 30 Minute Fundraiser
• Crisis Communication
• Getting Communications and Development Staff to Function as a Team

​
PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my  guide to Call Center Games for Free!​​

Building and maintaining a culture of philanthropy is hard work. It is deep work that takes years to build and moments to destroy. But having a healthy culture of philanthropy makes work more fun and makes fundraising easier. It’s worth having a periodic check-up to assess how your institution is doing.

Answer these questions for your institution:

Board Support

• Does your board of directors (or board of trustees) support the organization as current year donors at 100% participation?
• Board support is a sign of stakeholder investment. It also shows that your closest advocates are current with their support. The level of the support doesn't matter so much as the consistency and recency of that support. PS - It's easier to ask for others to give if you are a current donor.

Staff Support

• Does your fundraising staff support the organization as current year donors at 100% participation?
• Does at least 50% of your organization’s overall staff (and faculty) support the organization as current year donors?
• Again, staff support is a measurement of stakeholder investment. Does your staff (especially your fundraising staff, believe in the mission enough to back it with their personal funds? The level doesn't mean as much as the participation.

Alumni support (or Grateful Patient support)

• This category assesses whether those served by your organization’s mission give back to the organization later. This is a sign of institutional effectiveness.
• What is your alumni (or similar) participation rate? You’ll know whether this is good for your organization or not. The level at which this metric is outstanding varies widely from institution to institution.

Fun Factor

• Does your organization frequently have concrete signs that fundraising is seen as an enjoyable community endeavor? (For example, an annual gala, a stewardship picnic, a “Dancing with the Deans” competition, etc.)
• List what you currently do to put the “fun” in fundraising.
• Write down three new ideas to improve your fun factor.

Communications

• How often do your constituents hear from the organization without a fundraising pitch?
• Do these communications include stories of impact?
• Are you communicating in different media? Email, print, video, etc?

Stewardship and Donor Relations

• Do you have meaningful giving societies?
• Do you have a person designated to assist donors with any “customer service” type issues? 
• How is your data management and data integrity? Nothing kills a philanthropic feeling like your name being wrong on an invitation.
• Stewardship is not just the purview of the staff member with "donor relations" in his or her title. It is an office-wide perspective of service and connection. From your front desk associates to student workers/interns to your accountants on staff to gift officers and especially advancement services and gift processing staff, improving donor relations should be everyone's primary objective.

Other questions to think about:

• Does your organization show the impact of giving clearly and broadly?
• For major donors, do you create unique reports and experiences that connect for them their gift to the impact in the world?
• Do you see expressions of gratitude at all levels of the organization? Where could your organization do better?
• Are the needs of the institution are clearly expressed for donors of all levels using different media?
• Does the institution set expectations for giving through specific asks, giving society thresholds and endowment minimums?
• Are fundraising goals embraced by both fundraising staff and program staff/faculty?

How did you feel about the assessment? Where are you doing well? Where should you improve? 

As always, comments and questions are welcome and encouraged!

Cheers,

Jessica

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• Goals versus projections
• What should a strategic plan contain?
• Planning for the Unexpected
• Conducting a Benchmarking Study
• My Exhaustive Event Planning Checklist

PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my  guide to Call Center Games for Free!​​

Connecting with a donor or potential donor is so vital before you ask for a gift. It's like removing many of the roadblocks between you and that "YES!" response you want.

People want to give to people they like. It's not much of a secret. Ultimately, as a fundraiser you are a conduit for the relationship between that donor and the institution (not with you personally) but they must enjoy speaking with you to want to continue a relationship with the institution.

This is an important skill for any fundraiser to develop, from phonathon callers on up to executive directors, deans and development officers.

I have been to MANY call centers where they use the same tired rapport-building questions year after year after year. We cannot let this happen. No one wants to spend their precious time telling a new person why they haven't been back to campus lately just like they did last year.

Bad rapport-building has the opposite effect on the donor than that which we wish to cultivate.

The first rule of building rapport is it must be DIALOG not MONOLOGUE. You must ask questions that will solicit meaningful conversation and back and forth. You (no matter if you are a student caller or the Vice President of Advancement) must not deliver a litany of great-stuff-happening-at-our-institution without stopping for breath.

So, following this rule, we must construct meaningful rapport building questions.

The second rule about rapport building is that these questions get stale. Every year (at least) new rapport builders should be generated and put into rotation.

Here is some guiding criteria for generating these questions. Rapport building questions should:

• Extract meaningful information (like employment and campus affinities).
• Make the prospect like the caller/staffer as quickly as possible.
• Be delivered in a genuine way.
• Not be able to be answered with “Yes” or “No”.
• Not merely deliver talking points about the college or university.
• Provide opportunities for smooth transitions to the first ask.
• Collect new demographic information about prospects and verify current info (but not in a “canned” or perfunctory way).

What are some examples of strong rapport-building questions?

• Were you close to any faculty members while you earned your degree?
• Are working in the same field in which you earned your degree?
• Did you know that the <> recently <>? Isn't that great?
• I thought you might like to know that we've had a lot of success in <>. What do think about that?
• I see that you attended our recent <>. Do you have any feedback for <> about that event that I could pass along?
• You know, I am not sure about the answer to that question. But I can get back to you if I could get your cell phone number or email. I'll research that and contact you.
• Why did you make your first gift to <>? What keeps you giving?
• What are you most passionate about here at <>?
• I see you are <> as I was/am. That's wonderful to know. Do you know <>?

Does your rapport building need a refresh? Do you have some favorite rapport-building questions that I forgot to mention on my list? Comments and questions are, as always, welcomed and encouraged!

Cheers,
​
Jessica Cloud

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these:

• 5 Ideas to Improve Mock Calling
• Annual Fund versus Annual Giving: What's the difference?
• The 30 Minute Fundraiser

PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my guide to Call Center Games for Free!​​

​One of the most important alliances at a nonprofit organization is between the fundraising staff and the marketing/communications staff. Making sure that the message about the funds needed and how those funds connect to mission is a crucial element of success.

Despite the importance of cooperation, it can be frustrating for fundraisers to work with public relations officers who don't have much experience with advancement work. The communication folks may find messaging about fundraising to be crass or pushy. Consequently, they might not want to give development the appropriate amount of space in the marketing channels.

Here a few tips I've used to improve the working relationship between development and marketing/communication colleagues:

EDUCATION

Educate them on what it takes to do your job! Let them know what your goals are and let them know how many messages and how many different channels you need to be participating in order to reach those goals. Show them statistics and analytics. Help make your goals into their goals.

HELP THEM HELP YOU

Make it as easy for them as possible to assist you. That means drafting a lot of your own messaging whenever possible, selecting your own images and putting all of that together into a comprehensive plan. Whether the plan is for social media or email or even your direct mail, if they assist you in managing any processes, be very clear about dates, times, and details.  Having your plan together will help get them on board.

SET THE TONE FOR TEAMWORK

Like any important colleagues, acknowledge what it is that bring that they bring to the table that is unique. Make them understand that you're on the same team. As fundraisers, we strive to be donor-centric and therefore we are advocates for our constituents. Assure them you don't want to over-message to your constituents either. You're both playing on the same team and the goal of that team is to bring in the resources necessary for the organization to complete its important mission.

BE FIRM ABOUT THE CALL TO ACTION

Being a team player doesn't mean being a pushover. You understand the best way to motivate your prospects to give. Don't let your calls to action get buried in more general promotional materials. Insist upon clarity in this portion of your communication and you will see success. Similarly, be firm about deadlines. More general marketing materials aren't as time-bound as annual giving. It's called annual for a reason. You only have one year to get it done.

FOCUS ON STORYTELLING

Play to the strengths of your communications colleagues by asking for their assistance with storytelling. Framing a moving and emotional narrative will only make your fundraising materials stronger. This is a skill that should come very naturally to your communications allies. Tap their creativity in this area and not only will your messages improve but your colleagues will feel like an integral part of the team.

I've worked at institutions where the dynamic between these two departments was less-that-optimal and it hampered fundraising productivity. I've also worked at institutions where there was a team atmosphere and mutual understand of goals. Everything is much easier when you focus on relationships first and foster learning and communication surrounding goals.

How does the development team work with the communication staff at your institution? Do the two groups function as partners or as a client-service relationship? Comments and questions are, as always, welcomed and encouraged!

Cheers, 

Jessica Cloud  

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• People Give Because They Are Asked
• Prioritize Your Relationship with Advancement Services Staff
• Crisis Communication 

PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my  guide to Call Center Games for Free!

Video is more and more a huge part of the storytelling process for fundraisers. It's a great way to communicate the impact of philanthropy in the world. But, most fundraisers aren't video professionals. Once you have your video done, what are the best practices to get your constituents to watch it? I asked my friend and colleague, Ndlela Nkobi, that question. Here are his 5 best tips for getting your message seen! Enjoy! -- Jessica Cloud, CFRE

Congratulations on finishing your organization’s video! After weeks (sometimes months) of planning, shooting, and editing, you have finally uploaded your film to YouTube. Now what?  How do you make sure that your video gets the views it deserves and has its intended impact? Though there are no guaranteed ways of making your video go viral, here are some steps to make sure the people who need to see the video actually see it, watch it and take action.
 
1. Reinforce Your Call to Action

Videos are generally created to get people to take some action (sign a petition, donating, joining a mailing list . . .) and your call to action in your video is where you ask your audience to take that action.   Make sure you reinforce that call to action whenever you get a chance (your website, YouTube, your platforms).  The ultimate success of your video will be based on how many people take you up on your call to action.

2. Have a Great Thumbnail

Pick an engaging still image to give your audience a quick snapshot of your video. That thumbnail is also the image that is generally automatically used when the video is shared on social media and on platforms like WordPress.  Consider creating a custom thumbnail that could also includes words that would further draw the viewer in.

3. Pay Attention to your YouTube Descriptions, Titles, Tags

The title, description and tags you use on YouTube will not only help people find your video when they search for related content but they should also draw people in to watch the video. Not everyone is going to see the video on your website so give your viewer all the information they need to take the next step in your video description.

4. Place Video on Your Website

Placing your video on your website gives you much more control over how the video is presented to viewers with things like the call to action, video placement and supporting text/images/graphics. 

5. Promote the Video on Your Platforms

Once the video is ready on YouTube and on your website, share it widely on your various platforms (Facebook, Twitter, mailing lists, . . . )  Your platforms will be one of the main ways that the people in your community find out about your video.   Don’t be afraid to repost content (especially on social media) to make sure as many people see your post as possible. 

Bonus action: Check Your Analytics

Here is another area where you get to define what success looks like for your video (or campaign). Whether you are looking at Google Analytics or YouTube analytics (ideally you are doing both) this is where you get to see how successful you were with things like page views, videos views and how long people are looking at your video. It is also important to look at engagement (likes, shares, comments  . . .)  Analytics and engagement are matrices you use to help you plan for the next videos you are working on producing. 

About the author: Ndlela Nkobi is a filmmaker and online video content creator based in New York City and Johannesburg. He works with small businesses, nonprofits, consultants and artists to connect with their clients through the use of video. You can see his work at ndlela.tv. 

Ndlela Nkobi has worked for Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (Columbia University) and Third Sector New England (Boston, MA).  He has worked with Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (Columbia University), New York City Department of Education, Nonprofit Consultants Network (Boston, MA) and Starr King School for the Ministry (Berkeley, CA).

Hi readers, I hope you enjoyed this guest post. Do you have additional tips for how to get the most reach on promotional videos? Comments and questions are, as always, welcomed and encouraged!

Cheers, 

Jessica Cloud  

PS - If you liked this post, you might also like these: 

• Create Memorable Web Addresses
• All about Giving Days (Interview with Jake Strang)
• Canva for Graphic Design

PPS - If you found this article helpful, please comment and let me know. Also subscribe to Real Deal Fundraising so you don't miss a post! You'll get my  guide to Call Center Games for Free!

​his week's Thursday feature is an interview with Katie Garcia, the founder and president of Athene Strategies, a strategic and crisis communications consulting firm. I asked Katie a series of questions about an important topic for any fundraiser, how to communicate with your constituents during an organizational crisis. 

​1) When a non-profit organization finds that it is in the midst of a crisis, what is the first steps that the staff should take?
 
The first step that an organization needs to make when in a crisis is to recognize that a crisis is occurring. When people think of crises, often times they think of the effects of poorly handled crises – they think of organization disasters. But a crisis is not necessarily a disaster. A crisis is a time when an organization is unable to operate normally. When handled poorly, a crisis can lead to a loss of trust and confidence in those who matter most and cause reputational harm. But when handled in a timely and effective way, a crisis can actually become an opportunity to gain competitive advantage, to build trust and confidence, and move the organization forward in achieving its goals. So the first step is to recognize when an organization is or will soon not operating normally.
 
The second step is to clearly identify what the crisis is. Crises are organizational problems, not simply communication problems. Communication in and of itself is not enough to end a crisis. (Communication can exacerbate a crisis or organizational problem though). If you do not identify where the actual problem lies, you will not be able to respond in a way that will effectively end the crisis. Therefore, you need to clearly identify what the organizational problem is before you respond to the crisis.
 
The third step is to decide how to respond to the crisis by asking and answering the following question: What would reasonable people appropriately expect a responsible organization to do when faced with this?  This question is important. It is not asking what it is that an organization wants to say. That is self-indulgent. And while it might make an organization feel good, it will not move those who matter most to continue to support with the organization. Rather, the right question focuses on what the people who matter most – an organization’s stakeholders – would reasonably expect a responsible organization to do. And if an organization asks and answers this question, and then responds based on that answer in a timely way, an organization can end the crisis, increase trust and confidence in the organization, and get back to operating normally.
 
2) Is there any difference in how you handle a controversy versus a crisis with respect to communication?
 
A controversy may or may not become a crisis. A controversy is a matter of public dispute, debate or disagreement. If a controversy gets to the point where the organization can no longer operate normally, then the response would be the same as for a crisis—to ask and answer the question: What would reasonable people appropriate expect a responsible organization to do when faced with this? And depending on what the crisis is, the response will differ based on the answer to that question. But the process is the same as with every crisis.
 
However, a controversy may not become a crisis. For example, in a university setting, a dispute over hiring a professor because of their identity or a change in a tuition model are not crises. In that case, a controversy could be an opportunity to showcase the mission, values, and work of the organization in a way that reaches a larger audience than the organization would otherwise be able to reach. But to do that effectively, an organization would need to think strategically about 1) what it wants to achieve; 2) who the organization needs to reach to achieve that goal; and 3) what the organization wants that audience to think, feel, know or do in order to help achieve that goal.  
 
3) What's your advice for fundraising during a crisis? 
 
Fundraising during a crisis needs approached in a strategic way. Whether or not and how to fundraise during a crisis will depend on what the crisis is and how the organization is responding to it.
 
Sometimes, it may not be appropriate to fundraise during the crisis itself. For example, if the crisis revolves around an accusation that leadership have unethically or illegally handled their organization’s finances, fundraising before the crisis is resolved may not be appropriate and can actually exacerbate the crisis.
 
Other times fundraising could be part of or support the crisis response. For example, if there is a natural disaster that affects those an organization serves or where the organization operates from, it could be that the organization fundraises specifically to address that need.
 
When figuring out if and how to fundraise during a crisis, it will go back to the question of: What would reasonable people appropriately expect a responsible organization to do when faced with this? Fundraising during a crisis should be done in ways that are consistent with or in support of the crisis response and are appropriate given the circumstances of the crisis.
 
4) What are the best signs that the crisis is over? 
 
The key indication that a crisis is over is that the organization goes back to operating normally. If the crisis is handled well, that moment could happen right after the initial response. If an organization responds effectively right at the beginning, then the crisis may end before it really begins.  The best handled crises are the ones that no one, outside the response team, knows about or noticed.
 
But if the crisis is not handled well or in a timely enough way, or if the response involves some sort of shift within the organization – whether it be in personnel, leadership, or processes – it will likely take more time to get back to operating normally. And normal operations after the crisis may be different than what it was before the crisis.
 
5) What are your 3 favorite tips for handling the communication during a crisis?
 
1.) Take a deep breath and a step back. It is difficult when an organization you have devoted yourself to is in crisis. As human beings, it is in our nature to respond emotionally first when faced with a crisis. Whether it be with anger, confusion, sadness, panic, disbelief, denial – whatever you may be feeling, take a deep breath. And then another one. Find a way to stay calm. You will not be able to think clearly or respond effectively if you become consumed in your own feelings about what is happening. And then take a step back. Look objectively at the situation. See the whole board. Only then will you be prepared to respond to the crisis.
 
2.) Remember that leadership is not about you, it’s about who you serve. Leaders are charged with making decisions for the good of the organization. Sometimes that means doing or saying things that you may not be comfortable with or may not want to say or do. During a crisis, it is only too easy to get stuck in focusing or making decisions based on what you want to do, rather than what you need to do to fulfill the reasonable expectations of those who matter most to the organization. Remember when responding to a crisis that it is not about you or what you want – it is about your stakeholders. Leaders need to overcome the fear and inertia that leads to inaction in order to respond in timely and effective ways.
 
3.) Learn from past experience. We need to learn from past experience, both your own experience and the experience of others. In terms of crises, we can open any newspaper or watch any news program to witness what other organizations in crisis have done – decisions that either led to a crisis or decisions in how the organization responded to a crisis. Learn from these examples. They can guide you and organization as you answer that question of what reasonable people would appropriately expect a responsible organization to do when faced with this. What works for one organization may not work for another, but you can learn from other organizations. And in your own life, learn from your own experiences of facing crises. Learn from past crises in your life and the organization. What worked? What didn’t work? What could you or the organization have done differently? Let those past examples also guide you as you encounter crises or potential crises in your organization so that you can respond in timely and effective ways. 

More about Katie Garcia: Katie Garcia is the founder and president of Athene Strategies, a strategic and crisis communications consulting firm. For more than 10 years, Ms. Garcia has worked in the field of strategic and crisis communication and leadership development. During this time, she has advised leaders and organizations across multiple sectors including non-profits, international and national NGOs, religious institutions, educational institutions, political action campaigns, inter-governmental organizations, and small businesses. Ms. Garcia has trained and advised leaders and emerging leaders across sectors to improve their ability to communicate effectively in their positions of leadership. Prior to founding her firm, she served as Interim Communication Consultant for the Starr King School for the Ministry and Communications Consultant for Religions for Peace. She has also worked in organizations such as Freedom to Marry, Disaster Chaplaincy Services, and Logos Consulting Group.

Hi! It's Jessica. I draw on the concepts that Katie presents in this article in my webinar presentation titled Fundraising in a Crisis. This webinar will launch Wednesday 3/18/20 for free as a resource for nonprofits to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. You can register here: www.realdealfundraising.com/crisiswebinar.

I've named this column "Thoughts for Thursday" and mostly it gives me a weekly space to bring up whatever topics I want to discuss. But, this week, I asked myself, "What's really on my mind?" I have a few things that have been buzzing around my brain lately. 

But, I'd also like to hear from you.

What are you struggling with? What solutions are you lacking right now? What trends are you baffled by? What ideas are you really digging right now? Please comment and let me know. 

Here are some of the bees in my bonnet: 
​

• Phonathons are a recruitment ground for fundraising professionals
  

Assuming the push to dismantle college phonathons continues and gain traction, where will young people get introduced to the profession of fundraising? Where will the new fundraising professionals learn to ask? Formal programs to study fundraising as an academic discipline are still nascent. Are we willing to drop telefunds and lose this important space of introduction and early training into our industry?

• Communications, too much or too little

I've always been a fundraiser. I've picked up some public relations experience along the way but it has never been my area of focus. I'm struggling with what to do when donors tells you that your institution should improve communicate, when I truly feel like your organization is communicating well, with a solid plan of regular and meaningful stories and data. Other donors might say the communication is too much. And the organization has limitations in terms of staff and capacity. It's a puzzling place to be. All I can conclude is that we must keep doing what we are doing and continue to innovate and experiment too.

• The Importance of Strong Alumni Relations
  

Also, I've been thinking A LOT about alumni relations. I've been lucky to have worked for most of my career in "big shops" in higher education where there was always a dedicated alumni relations staff. I have never until now fully appreciated the work they did and how much their work helped me do my job. I just wrote a strategic plan for the Graduate Association for the seminary I work for and my hope is that we will be able to repair broken relationships, reignite passionate supporters in service to the school and re-engage those that have grown distant. I'm excited that our volunteer leadership is committed to re-building this organization which will mobilize graduates  to help the school recruit students and raise much-needed funds.

Again, what's really on your mind? Watched any good TED Talks about philanthropy and fundraising lately? Read any inspirational articles? What's the question you wish you had an answer to right now?