Get Your Team on the Same Page (and use technology to do it)
"What else could I be doing from home that I'm overlooking?" A real question from a client of ours who serves as the Director of Development for a community-based nonprofit. And a good question. If you worked through our initial navigating-the-crisis-checklist, and you want to keep some momentum alive, think practically. Does everyone on your team know who your prospects and top donors are? If they don't, now is as good of a time as any to get the troops well-informed.
Schedule a standing Zoom call to occur every few weeks where you talk through your top supporters -- and the prospects you have on that coveted list of potentials -- with all of your colleagues. Share how they've supported you and where they've been inclined in the past. Tell them to alert you of social media or website engagement with any of these people. Most importantly of all, let them help you do your job! Our colleagues at the helm of programs and education are pumping out quality content at a quick pace and in most cases, it's available to the masses. Drop it in to an email or text to your donor and when it's helpful, let your colleague be the one who shares the video or picture. We don't want to assume that everyone who supports us sees everything we do on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and so on. We also don't want to assume that every time they hear from our nonprofit they hear specifically from us.
Multiple touch-points with different people at the same organization only strengthen relationships. It shows people "we are coordinated" and "we have depth." While you can always manage the steps taken with your prospects and donors, you do not need to be the person who delivers everything to them at all times. Get on the same page as your colleagues with what they are doing and how you can use it, and what you are doing and how they can be mindful of it.
I can see someone's imaginary hand at an imaginary workshop saying to me "I've tried this but they say it's not their job!" You're right -- it's your job to lead the development & philanthropy efforts. Part of that is educating the people on your own team about your role and theirs. You are the conduit between community relationships and the organization; you marry people's interests and ideas with the nonprofit's needs. As you continue to do your work, you constantly learn more about what your organization offers and what your colleagues need to make you even stronger. They are grateful for the support of their specific work and excited by people's interest in it. You see, working together on relationships does so much more than any one of us can do on our own.