Rethinking Mission Impact
Hello everyone,
I hope summer is wrapping up well for your organizations. We will soon enter the season of mass invitations to give. It is about now I start thinking deeper about value and the value proposition we share with donors.
What value do you bring to the donor, to the community, etc.?
How is the donor and volunteer finding meaning through your organization?
What value are you not showing?
What value is lost?
How are you showing the value you create? Who sees it?
Does your board understand the impact you have created so far this year? Do your volunteers? Your staff? Your donors? If not, then your fall invitation to give might struggle.
This reminds me of the discussion of operational and administrative overhead costs versus so called “mission centric” costs. I would argue that the bucket called overhead represents one of the greatest places of lost value in the charitable sector, yet it is the place where some of the greatest societal value is created. Society treats these expenses like they have no value because for decades we have tried to avoid them and focus donors on more tangible “mission centric” cases for support (our direct program expense lingo). As you all know, all operational or overhead costs are in reality, “mission centric”. If we’re spending money on something that doesn’t have a direct mission impact, we should not spend money on that. The challenge we have is not that our expenses are not mission centric, but that we often don’t invest time in translating the mission value of those items for the donor.
As a donor, I will fund operational expenses if operational expenses are catalysts to what I care about: the value I see in your mission and vision. When a computer is just a computer or a staff salary is just staff salary, who wants to invest in those items? I know I don’t. But when that computer or administrative support person is now translated for their real value and seen as a catalyst and vehicle to realization of the vision and fulfillment of the mission, I do want to invest in those items. These items all translate back to value and have big impacts on our value proposition to the donor. The value proposition we have is how we transform community. It is not somehow restricted to just the direct program expenses. Every semester I have my graduate students focus on the mission nexus, how to translate seemingly hard operational expense items into direct mission and vision catalyst items. They come away from it with eyes opened, realizing the lost value of operational expenses.
So, here’s my challenge to you for September: Don’t settle for a fall appeal that just asks people to give. Spend some time and show your donors your real value proposition: how you transform society and how every resource you use is a critical part of that equation, whether it is staff salaries, backpacks for kids, computers, utilities, etc. Show the donor that they are a part of something bigger than themselves and that everything you invest in creates the value that they share with you. Don’t lose the value of some of the most value-generating expenses we have (operational expenses and overhead). Without those, we don’t keep the heart of the organization strong to deliver the tangible results society values.
Have a blessed day!
Warmly,
Jamie
