artful fund raiser

All the Bosses. The Difficult Truth of Non-profit Turnover.

Posted on September 14, 2015 by jeremymhatch

I grew up in the military. This has meant a lasting (for a degenerate liberal) respect for our Armed Forces and no forgiveness in my heart for leaders who send our soldiers abroad for folly. I cut the grass and shoveled the show for years for a neighbor whose husband was serving in Iraq and have given up my seat on airplanes to Marines homebound from Over There.

I also learned, and can sincerely appreciate, the virtue of Chain of Command. With any decision there will be multiple points of view and various options, but in military culture the Boss makes the Call and everyone does their Job. It is a wonderfully efficient system for moving things along when everyone has clearly defined roles and well understood goals:

What is our Goal? The Leader defines it and rallies support.

How will we accomplish that Goal? There are different ways to get there. The Leader sets a plan.

Was the Task completed? The Leader defines Success.

Next. What could be more satisfying for everyone concerned?

You might think otherwise but many of the best managed Arts Organizations function in this way, more or less as Benign Dictatorships, where there is an absolute decision maker who makes the final call on virtually everything. In the performing arts, this outcome comes naturally from the artistic process itself. When producing a play, opera or ballet, there are lots of creative and accomplished professionals on the team, all with ideas, pride and skill. The Director has the final, unarguable say on any decision. Why? Because someone has to decide. Should the chair be Red or Blue? Should the scene be cut? Should this fellow or that be cast as the Lead?

Someone has to decide. The Director makes the Call and the Company moves forward without (many) questions or (much) complaint. I might have preferred the green house to the grey house but someone decided and that’s that. Show me a play produced and directed by Committee and I will go find something else to do with my Saturday evening.

This philosophy extends to ably managed arts organizations on the administrative side as well. Decisions are made, expectations are clear, and the board and staff understand their roles in under the Benign Dictatorship of a strong leader. Assuming the leader is reasonable, patient, listens to input and generally not (too) tyrannical this system is difficult to beat.

The Benign Dictatorship is a great environment in which to raise money because the funding priorities are well understood and the volunteers are clear in their roles. After all, they were recruited specifically to fill a role and address a need, correct? If not, why are they on the Board?

In my work I am asked constantly why Development staff and non-profit professionals tend to move around constantly from organization to organization. Until the issue is addressed and solved we cannot quite call Fundraising a true Profession. True Professionals make commitments to relationships and results. They make a Promise.

So I’ve given this a lot of thought of late. Why the constant turnover? It is not the hours or the difficult expectations. No. It is All the Bosses. My friend Stef at Radiancy Coaching says this better than I ever could that non-profit employment is too often like a form of schizophrenia, with competing priorities, “helpful” volunteers, demanding board members, and leaders who manage by consensus, aversion to risk and fear of change.

The average Development Director at a larger non-profit, for example, has at least two bosses and sometimes more (CEO, COO, Development Chair, etc.) and lives in mortal fear of offending any board members whose ideas or concerns aren’t immediately acted upon.

And two bosses is just the Beginning. Add Consultants, the spouse of the CEO, the Key Donor whose gift we cannot live without, the Foundation President whose support is wavering, etc. etc. etc. Think I am making it up that the wife of the CEO can’t ruin your day and doesn’t have demands and expectations? Ask a fundraiser whose been out there a few years. The stories will not inspire.

This is no way to live. And then we lose many good people so often in our business and wonder why. And it is simply about leadership. The well run non-profit, with a strong Leader and capable Deputies, fosters stability, focus, long-term thinking, and, ultimately, loyalty.

It is the thing most missing in our work.

Posted in Board Development, Fundraising, Leadership | Tagged board development, non-profit leadership | 1 Comment

The Dumbest of all the Non-Profit Dumbness.

Posted on August 20, 2015 by jeremymhatch

I am a frugal person. Spending money gives me heartburn, except on artisanal pork products, concert tickets, international travel and bicycles. I have t-shirts from the 90s. I drove the same Toyota Matrix for 10 years, past the point when even Toyota abandoned the model and small children would giggle when I would drive up in my sweet hatchback. I once went a year without a dryer. What I am saying is that I am Cheap.

As a self employed professional this has served me well. My Grandmother told me long ago to always hold a little back, to pay myself first. Whenever I meet with folks interested in a consulting career my first piece of advice is, “Watch your Money. Save your Money. Don’t spend your Money if you don’t have to spend it” as there are thin times in any business. So spending frugally is key for all of us and, of course, a non-profit institution.

All that being said, there are limits to frugality. Non-profit organizations limit their impact, lose staff members, make themselves incompetent due to a lack of investment typical for our corporate colleagues. Take an easy and obvious example: staff development.

I cannot name one non-profit that consistently prioritizes staff development in a meaningful and ongoing way. What is more important than your people? Nothing. Nothing is more important and yet team building, ongoing education and professional development are the first thing chopped out of any budget (if they were in to begin with). What happens? People leave, or are thrown under the bus, and relationships are lost, vital skillsets walk out the door, and programs collapse.

But nothing, nothing comes close to dummy non-profit frugality than the lack of investment in technology. The average non-profit office has ancient computers, slow and virus ridden. The community laptop is from 2007. The digital camera needs film. The server smells actively of a campfire. The intern brought her own computer from home. You think I am joking. Drop by and see the computers in the office.

Where to begin with how silly and self-defeating this is. The fundraising team who works with volunteers to sell sponsorship but cannot be given a simple notebook computer to share as a resource? The high producing college professor teaching at a very expensive private college who has had the same computer for five years now? The old, tired Windows machines running on last gasps, that freeze and crash daily? Or the pitifully slow internet connection that takes a half hour to send an email?

All shameful examples of non-profit hubris, of believing in scarcity and self sacrifice as the norm, that there is some nobility in cruddy surroundings, old computers, uncomfortable chairs, and rusty printers. There isn’t.

What’s the one thing that’s cheap these days that can make most anyone in a fundraising, marketing, or program role in a non-profit more productive? New and decent technology. I recently bought a 27” external monitor, big and beautiful, for like $200. Why doesn’t your designer and social media person have one of these?

20” flat screen monitors go for $99 each. So why not given everyone in the organization two? Do you know how much more productive your people can be with two monitors? Or at least one functioning monitor?

Notebook computers are practically free these days. Why not give your managers one to take home, when they are doing work in the evenings anyhow?

Digital cameras capable of print ready imagery are amazingly cheap. Why not give one to each to department to capture programs, performances and interactions with donors?

Bloomerang is powerful, reliable and inexpensive. Why are so many of you keeping donor data on spreadsheets? Don’t even get me started on all the crappy non-profit websites with poor mobile functionality and a junk online giving page.

What is the price of efficiency and productivity? What is lost in employee hours, in frustration and inefficiency and lost opportunity? It is madness. Who is being served by this?

Reboot that thing. Hope for the best.

Posted in Fundraising, Leadership, Philanthropy | Leave a comment

What the 317 Needs & The Guys we Need to Do It.

Posted on July 24, 2015 by jeremymhatch

I was in Louisville recently for the mighty Forecastle Festival and it was a terrific three days of fun. I attend one of these festivals every year and, as always, spent money like a foreign tourist, stayed at the amazing (and soon to be in Indy) 21c Hotel, ate the local cuisine and sampled the local culture. And I wasn’t the only one. The festival was crawling with Indiana folk. Half the crowd high fived me the day I wore a Butler t-shirt.

My beloved Indianapolis, like so many American cities, is in full bloom. Chef centered restaurants with the good kale, fat tire bike sharing, a wonderful orchestra, bearded hipsters in vests offering $14 cocktails and all the other trappings of Big Time City Living.

What are we lacking? What do we need now? A music festival. A proper multi-day festival. The time is now. NOW. NOW. NOW.

Where would it be? Let’s start with where it should not be. Not in a neighborhood like Fountain Square or Broad Ripple. Not big enough. And not at the Speedway. The Indy 500 crew has lots of money to spend, and a large venue that could support 50,000+ daily attendees but they are arrogant and out of touch, consistently refusing to take anyone’s advice about anything at all. They’ve reduced the best racing in the world to a niche of a niche. And they made an absolute mess of the recent Rolling Stones concert. They won’t be collaborative with local promoters and they won’t bring in outsiders to assist with booking and sponsorship. They will want to sell tall boys of Miller and Coors Lite (Both Kinds!) and charge too much for parking.

Where would it be, in that case? Downtown. White River State Park. Downtown Louisville is lovely. It is. But the concert venue is under an interstate. Louisville is not half of downtown Indianapolis, with our vibrant downtown and myriad attractions for visitors, nearby hotel rooms, walking trails and volunteer network. We are the best city in the world for hosting major downtown events. WRSP is a terrific music venue already, and at the recent Final Four Concerts showed it can host multiple stages and very large crowds. Louisville is great but we can be twice as good with the right promoter, sponsorship support and marketing push.

Indianapolis can attract thousands of cultural tourists from the midwest and beyond who will hang out and walk around, spending money and taking in the local culture, drinking the local beer, eating the local charcuterie.

Why now? The music business has changed and is changing. No one buys music anymore, not even me beyond record shopping in towns when I travel and downloading alt-country to my telephone. Some years back I bought a CD (YES, THAT GUY) for a girl. And it was all quite charming as she didn’t have a compact disc player to play it. I don’t recall buying a CD at all over the past year. I bought a shiny new car recently and only last week found the CD player. So the bands today have to tour, are always on the road as the only way to make money.

We see the results of this in the 317 with great concerts at five or six good venues each week. Audiences are increasingly open to new sounds and experiences. And so now American cities are jumping on the European Festival bandwagon, packing several days of music and fun as an economic driver outpacing many sporting events and conferences. Almost every Midwestern city has a substantial music festival as a centerpiece of civic events.

The trick of booking big acts is having the financial heft to take the risk of failure. The other trick is to secure enough sponsorship that core costs are covered before the first note (and in case of some bad weather). The good folks at Warm Fest tried to do this but without the organization, marketing support and booking power of a national promoter and they failed spectacularly. Jazz Fest had some potential years ago but now is a modest effort (nothing wrong with that).

Why Indy? A wealthy developer wants the city to build him a soccer stadium in the name of keeping millennials in the city. Sure. But nothing compares to the youthful energy of a big time music festival. The kids love it. They love it. Over 25? Want to feel old? My friend, attend yourself a music festival.

Who is our Guy? We’ve got the guy in town to get us started. Craig Dodge Lile and the good folks at MOKB have the organization, network and know how to get this done. They are creative and inspired promoters and book all kinds of great bands, making the numbers work in all sorts of Indy venues. MOKB, let’s make Indy a Festival town in 2016. Imagine Indiana’s rising Houndmouth headlining stage two on Saturday. Imagine a Locals Only stage for emerging bands to reach a regional and national audience. Bluegrass. Country. Hip Hop. The Last IV tearing through another ferocious live set. Imagine the Vonnegut Library hosting a tent of creative happening. The local food and beverage partnerships. A charitable angle with the Friends of the White River or Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. Imagine our Rev. Peyton rocking 50,000 on a Saturday night before the Black Keys take the stage.

Who needs soccer in comparison to that?

Posted in Cultural Entrepreneurship, Indiana | 4 Comments

Subway’s Jared and the Dark Side of Celebrity Philanthropy

Posted on July 8, 2015 by jeremymhatch

I’ve always admired Subway’s Jared. I went to college at Indiana University, and so did Jared. The IU newspaper covered his quite remarkable story of losing 250 lbs by eating Subway twice a day and nothing else, an inspired feat and a change for the better for the young man. When that story was published I thought to myself, “That cat is going to be famous for this” and, wow, that came to pass.

Like many Americans I have struggled with my weight my whole adult life, going up and (and once again now, slowly) down in occasional victories over the years against my stubborn metabolism and by celebrating or renouncing my lifelong love for cheeseburgers. It ain’t easy.

I am hoping for the best for Jared and that his recent troubles are nothing more than keeping the wrong fellow on the payroll. And this is the issue. Brother Jared appears to have hired a despicable character to work closely with him. Specifically this villain ran Jared’s personal philanthropic effort, The Jared Foundation, dedicated to the noble goal of eliminating childhood obesity.

I didn’t look up the deviant who ran The Jared Foundation on Linked-In to learn of his credentials. I already know the answer. If you have a proper philanthropic foundation, with revenue streams, grant making capacity, and policies and procedures you need a college educated non-profit professional to run the show, to advise you and run your organization properly. You do not need your homey from back in the day.

Take a look at the “Foundation” for yourself and ask some questions along with me? Author’s note – as of you 7/8/15 the foundation website is down. So trust me on this:

What exactly is the purpose? Some vague school based programs that don’t seem relevant or replicable. There is almost nothing specific about methodology, outcomes, partners, or results.

How does one seek a grant ? Your organization cannot, at least via the website, or in a fair and transparent way.

What is the point exactly? Unclear, though Jared encourages you to give $245 via his online portal for unknown purposes. That’s right. This millionaire wants your $ as well. It’s not enough that we had to put up with him on every NFL commercial game break for many years, mugging it up with his lunch meat.

So what can we make of Jared’s private foundation, that he hired an unqualified pal and future convict to run? This, my friends, is about tax avoidance and celebrity. Most every actor, athlete and washed out reality show contestant has a personal philanthropic “foundation” and many of these are nothing but tax shelters, with no clear philanthropic mandate, formal awards process nor, in many cases, much in the way giving at all.

So what does this mean for us in philanthropy? Listen, this is America and people can do what they want with their money. Fine. But we cannot have tax policy that allows a sandwich pitch man to protect assets from the IRS in the name of childhood obesity. If you are serious about getting kids active you know what you do? You give your money to the Boys and Girls Club or Girls, Inc. or Youth Soccer USA. There are hundreds of quality organizations working on this issue these days. We probably don’t need any new ones.

What you don’t do is hire your buddy to run your foundation, who isn’t qualified for the task (and in this case was up to some terrible deeds). That’s keeping your pal on your payroll. It is a disservice to all of us working in philanthropy, that celebrities can pull this stunt again and again.

Look at it this way. Our schools are funded by our taxes. Our schools are responsible to help gets get kids active and learn healthy habits. And every dollar in Jared’s Foundation is a dollar not paying his obligation as a Citizen. Taxes fund the American Experiment.

I hope you didn’t do the Big Crime Jared. That you put your money into a private foundation to avoid paying your fair tax share is enough for me. You’ve lost a fan and supporter.

Get a Job. You are going to need one now.

Posted in Philanthropy | Tagged Celebrity, Jared, Philanthropy, Private Foundations, Subway | 1 Comment

Our best (fundraising) thing. The Wonderful, Marvelous, Misunderstood Annual Fund.

Posted on June 25, 2015 by jeremymhatch

It is June 30, the fiscal year end for many a non-profit and most of my clients. It is a sentimental time, thinking back on the past 12 months and the accomplishments: the impossible goals, the planning, the case development and the volunteer orientations. And the wave upon wave of direct mail. I bet I touched 100 solicitation letters over the past twelve months.

How did we do this year? Goals surpassed, almost across the board. A symphony saved and at least a thousand new donors for clients across the South in the same year that the confederate flag went into a cardboard box. Another record fundraising year and a shiny new theatre opening in sunny Omaha. Growing philanthropic interest in the suburbs for my dear friends at the Palladium. Good progress everywhere.

It has been a great year for fundraising. Our work is never easy but this has been a joyful year in philanthropy.

A friend of mine said, “Oh, you with those annual funds” and I don’t take that as an insult. Annual funds are the little sister of many a fundraising program. At my own alma mater annual fundraising is treated frustratingly as an afterthought. But I love the annual fund, the constant action of it, the progress you can see week in and week out. I love the urgency that annual fundraising creates.

Major gifts are lovely, of course. I’ve had more than my career fair share of $1million meetings and nothing beats that feeling of landing a Mega Gift. But the day-to-day measure of any good gift officer who works for me or for you should be steady cultivation and solicitation of upgraded annual fund leadership gifts. Turn a $1,000 donor into a $5,000 donor over lunch salads and receive the Hatch Fist Bump. Bravo.

Show me an annual fund and I will show you the true revenue potential for your non-profit. For arts organizations (and most non-profits) the annual fund will shortly become the revenue centerpiece of your organization and the only place where you can predict steady double figure growth year upon year.

I talk to people in education, human services and health care about this reality often and they look at me like I am raving mad. I get it. When so much of your revenue is government dependent (it is one of the big secrets in non-profits, how much revenue comes from federal grants, Medicare, Medicaid and so forth) annual fundraising can look like a waste of time. But do you think that federal sugar is going to be there forever? Have you heard about our spending deficit?

Show me a strong annual fund result from this fiscal year and I surmise that your non-profit is:

On track generally for organizational goals and having a real impact in the community. If donors are buying in consistently things are working. Annual fund growth is an uncanny indicator of institutional health and vitality. If your annual fund isn’t growing forget about that endowment campaign or building project. It ain’t feasible.
Blessed with good volunteers, engaged appropriately in the day to day success of your organization. This is a big job and volunteers can help very meaningfully in myriad ways. If they aren’t, or if all they do involves frowning over monthly fundraising reports at board meetings, you’ve got a problem.
Staff Happy. Everyone works hard in our business. But happy staffs are highly productive, efficient, collaborative and fun to be around. They knock out the fundraising. I work in a lot of offices and they all have a culture. Happy staff culture is alive and buzzing. It is not subdued.

Annual fundraising is the best fundraising we do, connecting donors directly to the cause on a regular basis, providing stewardship, and growing the pool of support year by year. It is what you need to focus upon next fiscal year. Sponsorship is increasingly difficult. Endowment campaigns might be a relic of the 90s, except for the largest universities. But the annual fund is your steady revenue stream year in and year out.

If you made your June 30 fundraising goals take a moment and celebrate with your team. If you did not, evaluate and examine the effort. Maybe talk to a consultant. Can you afford another marginal year of fundraising?

And wind it up all over again. July 1 is upon us.

Posted in Annual Fund, Fundraising | Tagged Annual Fund, Fundraising | 4 Comments

Questions Too Squishy to Discuss

Posted on June 8, 2015 by jeremymhatch

A fellow recently gave $400,000,000 to start some high-minded new initiative at Harvard. That’s an awful lot of cheese, handed over to the wealthiest and most selective university in the world. And our man gets to claim all of it on his taxes, against paying his share as an American citizen for infrastructure, disease prevention, early education for inner city kids, military spending, and the rest of it required to sustain a modern society. Let’s assume that guy would be paying 20%, though doubtful for a very wealthy person, and call this $80,000,000 that the IRS won’t collect. And we won’t talk about it, those of us in philanthropy. We won’t ask the question, “What is the measure of societal good? How much is too much for Harvard, already the wealthiest educational institution in the Universe?” Why not? Because it is a Squishy Question, a reasonable but uncomfortable one, a question that would require a difficult dialogue about the true societal value of our work and efforts. Is giving to a homeless coalition the same as a private university? Could it be that philanthropy is simply furthering America’s growing wealth inequality that is rapidly damaging our democracy? Would our sector be improved by examining these challenging issues? Most certainly. We need this conversation, just as we need to balance billionaire’s subsidized football stadiums vs. school spending and public safety in our cities. But It ain’t happening anytime soon. Our work in Philanthropy is full of these Squishy Questions that no one wants to discuss. Just a few examples:

Why don’t board members take their non-profit work as seriously as they do their business? Fundraising is difficult, and board members are so very rarely equipped to do the task well. So, instead of raising mutual expectations of our leaders, investing in our boards as a vital human resource and assessing performance based on reasonable metrics of success, we throw staff members to the curb. We accept non-productive and often disruptive volunteers as the norm and wring our hands at the result. How bad is this getting? We can all tell stories around the campfire about board members with questionable ideas and bad intentions. I witnessed a performing arts organization eviscerate its major gifts program by allowing a mentally imbalanced board member, enraged about being asked to move his seats, to lead a cabal against a staffer. A $2million or more set back for the institution and no accountability.

What is an acceptable level of overhead and administrative costs? In the last few years this debate has moved so quickly in favor of Impact and Results vs. Costs that it is considered simple-minded to even ask a question about the budget. A nationally known non-profit resource group on Twitter called anyone who might ask about administrative costs “A Moron.” Are you sure about this? I’m not. We need to be able to talk in depth about our expenses, our business model, our returns on investment. Let’s have a look at your gala budget. Is that the best use of institutional resources? Are you sure?

Why won’t fundraising staff stay longer than 18 months? In our sector we see good people move on and out in wave after wave and we never look in the mirror to examine the reasons for this turnover. If I only date crazy girls, who is the crazy one? Increasingly non-profits are spending vast sums on executive search firms to find their next fundraising professional. $50,000 later for a national search by a headhunter and are the results any better? What is the cost of letting a quality leader walk out the door after a bad quarter, unrealistic expectations or a misunderstanding about some concert seats? If a development director is only going to stay 18 months is that position worth retaining? Could we contract the function out or consider some other approach? Why not?

When will philanthropy move beyond 2% of our economy? The wealthy aren’t giving more these days as they get wealthier. Rich folks tend to give less as a percentage of their wealth than the rest of us, especially to human service organizations, as they get further away from seeing poverty and human hardship. The American Middle Class gives more to human services because we are closer to it. I’ve been broke and it sucks. Despite more organizations and ever increasing need, giving remains flat as a percentage of our economy. I worry that philanthropy will remain an economic outlier, suggesting boom times in the market. Did you know that $1million gifts and yacht sales track more or less the same when the stock market is up?

Is philanthropy still a good thing in American society? This is the real question. Is this system working? Friend, I do not know. You and I can give $500 each to a gun related non-profit organization. Organization A might work earnestly to require gun owners to be licensed, trained, and insured in much the same way as automobile drivers have been for decades. Our Organization B, also a non-profit, could be fully committed against any such efforts as an affront to American Exceptionalism. Both gifts are made in the name of the societal good and we as the donors will be made to feel special, having invested in impactful, important, sustainable work. Can this dissonance be a good thing? I will be in honest in saying that I am starting to wonder.

If our sector is to grow we must talk, to each other, with funders, as board members and leaders. It won’t be easy. It must be necessary.

Posted in Board Development, Fundraising, Leadership, Philanthropy | Tagged Fundraising, Harvard, Philanthropy | 3 Comments

An Intermission Kiss Cam? Sponsorship Sales Lessons from the Minor Leagues

Posted on May 25, 2015 by jeremymhatch

I am often asked for assistance in finding just the right sort of sponsorship sales manager for performing arts and non-profit organizations. More than any other fundraising position, this is the most like straight sales, the most outwardly focused.

It is not an easy gig. Organizations don’t plan ahead, pushing the season announcement to very late in the year, and are reluctant to take on creative new activation. Your local Symphony probably won’t allow a Kiss Cam sponsor.

There are also, to be sure, shockingly bad recognition programs in place for far too many non-profits (and especially those who claim creativity) to the point where it is a bit embarrassing for all concerned when discussing the specifics of a deal:

“We can put your one inch logo in black and white down there under the mean spirited warning to the Arts Morons about No Flash Photography during the Performance. This Primary Presenting Sponsorship costs $25,000. Should we write this up as a three year or five year commitment?”

And yet many non-profits have inspired sponsorship programs that successfully integrate corporate recognition in creative ways. This all starts with an inspired hire. If you can, hire this guy who has tripled sponsorship sales for the minor league Indianapolis Indians by managing upward, by creating new inventory, and by being a consultative salesperson:

http://www.ibj.com/articles/53299-indians-sales-execs-new-ideas-tripled-sponsorship-revenue

The Indians hit it out of the park in this hire. You probably cannot afford him (though you probably could have right out of his internship) but what can be learned?

Seek out the minor leagues and the youngsters. Who are the smaller players in your market? Who can you hire away? Look, I would rather have someone working their way up in professional life than someone on the way down. Millennials are generally smart, creative, positive minded and are too often underemployed. They’ve come into a still recovering job market and many of them are still in the service industry or hustling in three different jobs. Sounds like someone who could sell sponsorship to me. What I see instead are failed or worn out non-profiteers or former realtors who want to try something new. That’s not your hire.

Be creative in adding inventory and programs. Take a hard look at your current offerings. Why can’t there be meaningful introductory sponsorship at $1,000. If you say its because there isn’t the staff resources to fulfill signage, I am going to shake my finger. If your sponsorship sales person comes in with a creative and new idea, do your best not to start with “No”. Managers have no real appreciation of how punishing a No can be to their revenue producing staff. Sales is hard enough. Do they need to hear No from you as well?

Empower your sales effort to be creative and consultative. Some of the very best sales people I know come from media sales and many of them have a consultative approach to selling something as straight-forward as media advertising. Rather than coming in with a laundry list of what $5,000 and $10,000 buys you, better to listen first. Learn about the prospect organization, its specific needs, and then after suggest where you might creatively help. Your proposal is much more likely to get read if it reflects a customized concept based on a conversation. But many non-profits don’t do this. All they can say instead is, “Let our Board Guy call their Guy he knows who works in HR and BLAH BLAH BLAH.:

Listen, Sponsorship is a sales position for your organization. Your sponsorship manager is going to hear No a lot, is going to have to fight through layers of decision makers, will need to be tireless and enthusiastic, and probably should be an extrovert who loves the thrill of the chase and the singular joy of Winning.

If you do hire a youngster, you will need to invest in her, train her up, inspire her loyalty, reward (financially and otherwise) her efforts. Most non-profits won’t want to invest in someone in this way. But you should. Let your competition hire the Career Burn Out. You go hire the media sales person and create urgency, creativity and fun in your program.

Add seriously think about that sponsored Intermission Kiss Cam. I love the Kiss Cam at sporting events. It is sweet, genuine and fun. Why can’t we have one at intermission at an outdoor Summer Pops show?

Posted in Cultural Entrepreneurship, Performing Arts, Philanthropy, Sponsorship | Tagged arts sponsorship, minor league baseball, recognition, sponsorship | 1 Comment

#Inspiration in Baltimore.

Posted on May 7, 2015 by jeremymhatch

Not to long ago an arts administrator colleague of mine described engagement i the community this way, “If your concert hall burned down, how would you reach the community for the year or two it took to replace it? That’s Engagement.”

It is true. Increasingly in the Arts we must articulate our case for support beyond the core product on the stage. If we are to be truly important to the community we must engage the community deeply, purposefully, and as a centerpiece of who we are and what we do.

What happens when the city is burning? How do we engage at that time?

This is a question the Baltimore Symphony asked itself recently. You know the stories, you saw the terrible video. Protests. Vandalism. Fires. Exposed generational inequity in our cities despite boom times in our economy and better times than ever to live in an urban core. Baltimore erupted.

No institutions get public welfare like professional sports in the United States. We build stadiums for billionaires and leave the profits untaxed in the name of civic pride and questionable economic development. We can debate the value of these investments. But what we cannot debate is the debt these sports organizations owe to the tax payers and citizens who pay the freight.

And so what did the Baltimore Orioles do with mayhem in the streets? They closed their Baseball Palace, and played their folly in front of no one, in an empty stadium. I am a fan of baseball and appreciate both Camden Yards as a beautiful facility and the importance of sports in Baltimore. As an Indianapolis resident I realize how low the Colts were in leaving town in the 80s, kicking an already depressed city when it was down. But this act, to lock out the residents of the city to the Ball Park, to play in fear, to turn their backs on the community, that was unforgivable.

For shame to the Orioles. I love sports. I do. But this has to stop. Either these teams engage in the community and care about what’s going on or the public cash ends. It simply will not do.

Let’s looks instead for inspiration to the Arts. What did our Friends at the Baltimore Symphony do? They played an outdoor concert for Peace. They played in the heart of the city, for all to attend, to bring a community together. The BSO cannot solve inequity. They are deeply engaged in their community but they cannot bring jobs or justice to the poorest neighborhoods. But they can – and did – play for their community when the community needed them the most. They did the thing that only they could do. What else could be ask of any organization?

It is an extraordinary story. What does your organization do be vital and relevant?

In a crisis for your community, what will you do? What is important TODAY, right now? How are you helping?

That’s your case. That’s what is fundable. That is your inspiration.

Posted in Fundraising, Leadership, Performing Arts, Philanthropy | Tagged Baltimore Symphony | Leave a comment

The Ugly Baby. Truth About Your Sponsorship Recognition

Posted on April 21, 2015 by jeremymhatch

The Arts are a terrific opportunity for corporate involvement: access to artists and VIPS, exposure to a well-educated (and generally wealthy) demographic, hospitality for both customers and employees. In terms of return on investment corporate sponsorship is just about the most impactful marketing play a company can make while at the same time appearing altruistic and supportive of community, families, and the greater good.

Fantastic. Now I am going to tell you something else that you already know about your local arts organization.

The public recognition to arts sponsors is trivial, insignificant, uncreative, trifling. And you arts people don’t want to hear it. You do not want to hear about your Ugly Baby. If I walk into your venue and cannot immediately realize that a corporation has sponsored you meaningfully I am puzzled. Imagine now that it was my marketing investment, my $10,000 to sponsor the evening.

My home city of Indianapolis hosted the Final Four of college basketball recently, and town was awash in corporate bling at every corner, including a giant billboard for Coke Zero that actually spit out the beverage for consumption and rolling car billboards promoting some fast food monstrosity known as “chicken fries.”

The best and most effective recognition I witnessed was at a family friendly Three Point and Dunk contest, made for ESPN. A group of volunteers in matching sweatshirts swapped out old school vinvyl banners for each segment of the contest, so that all the participating brands got visible, simple, and high impact recognition for both the 10,000 in attendance and the audience at home. Denny’s cares about athletes but also wants return on investment. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

What did this non-digital, old school activation cost? Very little. Vinyl customized banners are getting cheaper and cheaper with digital production and even Kinko’s can produce full color editions that look great and don’t cost too much.

Why should you care? Why shouldn’t you? Corporate sponsorship is increasingly a fight for general marketing dollars as true “corporate philanthropy” disappears or is focused on niche areas. Vinyl banners are recognizable, tasteful and have high impact. They are inexpensive, easy to set up and take down for a small staff, and make terrific souvenirs for the sponsoring company (or can be re-used for the series, season, etc.).

What then is the hesitation of offering significant marketing exposure to our corporate partners? Why do you want to keep the logos in black and white (and often too small to read)? Why would anyone invest precious marketing resources in this way?

It has to be one of two reasons. Hubris or Laziness. That’s all I can figure. Hubris, thinking our True Art is so precious that it would weaken or cheapen the artistic integrity of our work to hang a banner or two in the lobby. Too often, we are so high and mighty about our product we cannot dream to cheapen it with a corporate association.

Or laziness, that we lack the manpower, budgets, concern or willingness to adapt to a changing market that simply won’t intrinsically see the benefit of a vague and quiet association with “world class performance.” You don’t have $500 to promote a $10,000 relationship? That’s a recipe for going broke, fast.

Sponsorship is changing in the United States. Those dollars are the hardest to win for any organization. Every proposal you advance is competing against exceptional organizations with excellent ideas and delivery. Instead of whining about how hard it is to get sponsors, do something about it this year. Go to the minor league ballpark and see how hard they work to recognize sponsors. What idea can you steal wholesale?

Over deliver. Be creative, bold and fun. Go Big. That Baby deserves it.

Posted in Fundraising, Performing Arts, Sponsorship | Tagged arts sponsorship; banner recognition; NCAA | 3 Comments

Indiana. A Defense.

Posted on March 30, 2015 by jeremymhatch

Of course this whole hot mess is President Obama’s fault.

2008 was the first time since Lyndon Johnson that a Democrat took Indiana. By running here, by showing up, by playing the ground game county by county, the President won this state comfortably in 2008. It was a beautiful thing.

The President chose not to run an Indiana campaign in 2012, perhaps to save money, perhaps because he had already the election won on the day Brother Romney prattled on about the Taker 47%, perhaps he wanted instead to coach his daughter’s basketball team. Had the President mobilized the troops, it would have mattered. Our State Director of Education Glenda Ritz got more votes than Mike Pence in 2012, as a proper fire-breathing liberal, and the Democrat John Gregg rallied late and didn’t lose by much. It wouldn’t have taken much to swing it the other direction.

For whatever reason the President did not campaign in our state, and so we got a Theological True Believer, the worst kind of leader: unrepentant, unwavering, unambiguous in his beliefs. He is the President Bush of Indiana, so dangerously sure in his beliefs that he has taken our state back decades.

Mike Pence won’t ever be President. But the damage is done. A national campaign to boycott our farms, our people, our products. It is an awful thing, with terrible implications for our future.

This is a setback. This is not who we are. This is not our Indiana.

In college, my pal Darren and I on a road trip, driving through the great state of Montana and almost running out of gas. We hadn’t seen a gas station in many miles and so pulled off at the first business we could find, a saloon. No gas. We went inside, asking the locals for the nearest station, explaining our dire situation. “Go 20 miles that way.” they explained. And turned away, to young guys in trouble. Western hospitality. Look after yourself, Stranger.

Travelers in trouble in Indiana? In every town, helping hands and friendly faces. There is no place in Indiana that would turn a stranger away, gay, straight or out of gas.

Midwestern hospitality is no joke. Want to see it in action? Check out the annual Gen Con convention where the nerds and fanboys (girls) assemble in Indianapolis every year. Know why they like coming here? Because we are nice to them, welcoming and generous. We don’t judge. The dollars they bring are good to go and no one would think to be rude. Not every place is like this. In many cities the vibe isn’t welcoming. Strangers are looked upon as Strange.

I travel a lot and other places are different. Few things piss me off like men who catcall women, and I almost never see it in Indiana compared with other cities. That’s not us.

Know what happens to bakers who don’t make cakes for everyone? They go out of business. That’s what happens to bigoted bakers. Prejudice does not make for good customer service. This is not obvious to anyone but a True Believer who poses for pictures with women in veils and men in robes.

The Final Four is in our state this week and this amazing event should be the story, our accessible friendly city, where everyone (including Kentucky fans) will feel welcome, safe, not judged. But that’s not the story. Instead, because of a small and powerful fringe group who’ve aligned themselves with our zealot Governor, here we are, talking about the loss of home grown technology companies and national headquarters, being the butt of jokes and the center of attention for all the wrong things.

But you don’t get to win, Mr. Governor, and you won’t. None of us want to live in your American Taliban, with veiled women and closed minds. Where did you even dig up this brunch of crazies for the photo op? For shame.

My state, my home, this beautiful place. Know why we are going to be okay? We have great beer. Lots of it. And more being made every month. The Hoosier National Forest is vast enough to have cougars, and possibly Bigfoot. You can see the Northern Lights and the Milky Way from our woods. There is baseball, one of America’s great orchestras, some of the best produce grown in the world, a world-class Concert Hall. Beautiful women. Friendly men. Good and decent leaders at all levels of government. The best damn (and friendliest) Gay Pride parade you’ve ever seen. Four Beard semi-finalists. The best hole in the wall Jazz Club in the World. And we make Subarus here. Seriously.

So we will overcome you and your God’s Truthers Mr. Governor. I promise. Small people didn’t make this place great. 50 years from now you will be an afterthought.

We will be okay. Good people always are.

Posted in Indiana, Leadership, Life and Travels | Tagged Boycott, Gay Rights, Indiana, Mike Pence, RFRA | 3 Comments