Monday, April 21, 2014

Telling the greatest story

On Easter Sunday I had the privilege of hearing my brother giving a sermon at the Cathedral* where he is Dean. He told us all a story (in this case, a story from the Chronicles of Narnia).

In fact, he began his sermon provocatively with a statement that he could not prove the resurrection of Christ. 

He could however point to the stories told by disciples and believers. No scientific evidence exists. However, the story has been told many times and by many voices over the centuries. The story has inspired hundreds of millions of believers. It has shaped history and civilisations. It inspires passion and belief.

As it happens, my brother chose not to retell that story. Instead, he made a powerful point by telling another story written by a master storyteller, CS Lewis. The point he was making is that our beliefs and our values are shaped by stories more often and more profoundly than by facts and figures. The Bible and  the scriptures of all the world's major religions are collections of stories. Rich, colourful moving spicy stories which tell us more than the recitation of dates and facts ever could.

That is why, I believe that our role as fundraisers is to tell stories. When you make a case for support you will make it far more effectively when you can tell the story of what you and your donors will do to make a difference. If you engage with people's imagination, if you can enable them to see, hear and feel the world of difference they can be a part of then you will inspire them to join you.

Some of you will argue the importance of metrics in philanthropy. Some of you will say that it is important to set goals and important to track and measure the achievement of those goals. However, I firmly believe that telling stories about the misery and devastation caused to people's lives by, say, malaria is more compelling than reciting statistics about the disease's incidence.

Which is more compelling? Telling stories and painting pictures about the changes achieved with the elimination of malaria - or percentages? Stories about children able to enjoy education, about local economies beginning to thrive, about eco-systems and indigenous cultures being revitalised - or the dollars and cents generated?

Let me know your thoughts.

*Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, Napier, New Zealand.  And St John's gospel begins, "In the beginning was the word..." You can see this inscribed in the stained glass above.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Misunderstanding corporate partnerships

The furore leading to the withdrawal of corporate partner, Transfield Holdings from the  Sydney Biennale was unfortunate to say the least. However a better understanding of the range and nature of corporate partnerships could have made a difference.

A big part of the misunderstanding related to the nature of the partnership. The second part related to the nature of the partner, Transfield Holdings. The two are interrelated and one can often be a predictor of the other. Fundraisers generally understand this. However non-fundraisers often don't.

Firstly, you should look at the nature of the partnership between a business and  a nonprofit.  To confuse matters there is a whole plethora of different descriptions of business partnerships with acronyms like CP, CSR, CSI, CI and CRM*. Most widely used of all and usually misused as a catchall phrase is "sponsorship". In my view this misuse seems to have also been perpetrated by the Australian Minister for the Arts.

When I'm training fundraisers, I usually talk of a spectrum of types of business partnership ranging from the soft and subtle to the hard and highly visible. At the soft and subtle end of the spectrum are partnerships that are purely philanthropic. This is where the partner is supporting the organisation without expectation of any tangible benefit. This is usually because of some type of shared value or belief. This is what I would argue was in fact the case in respect of Transfield Holdings and the Biennale.  The owners of Transfield Holdings, the Belgiorno-Nettis family,  have been closely associated with the art show since its inception.  Franco Belgiorno-Nettis was the Biennale's first major donor and he until his death, then his son  have been on the board of the organisation ever since.

In the middle of  the spectrum from soft to hard are partnerships with companies wanting to put something back into the community. Usually they want this for business reasons such as wanting good relations with government, a particular community, or the public generally. This is very often the reason why banks, mining companies and oil explorers form partnerships with nonprofits.

At the hard and highly visible end are  partnerships that are marketing driven. These usually involve businesses that have something to sell to the public.  They hope that their association with a non-profit will enhance their brand and  directly increase their sales. Often there are some direct promotional activities associated. For example, a competition or product sampling at the sponsored event. It is this hard and highly visible type of partnership that can accurately be described as a 'sponsorship'. The obvious sign that it is 'sponsorship' are highly visible company, brand or product logos.

This is where the nature of the partner can be a predictor. A FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) company such as a soft drink or an ice cream manufacturer is most likely to be interested in the type of partnership that will have a direct effect on sales and market share.

A company, that doesn't sell direct to the public but is dependent on public or government goodwill for its business is likely to want to be seen 'doing good'.  These companies will talk about 'putting something back into the community'. Sometimes these may be a parent company which owns a large number of brands and products.  For example, Unilever has a strategy quite separate from its brands, such as Dove Soap or Ben & Jerry's Icecream. Whilst the brands and products may be involved in marketing driven sponsorships, the parent company is likely to be involved in a less commercially driven, - a longer term partnership with a community activity. Often that activity is located in a community to which it is geographically linked in some way. For example, where its HQ or biggest factories are, or  its raw materials come from, or from where it hires its workers.

Would the stoush that affected the Biennale have happened if all those involved had a better grasp of corporate partnerships? There are many types and there are many reasons that a nonprofit might be attractive to a corporate partner. This is, of course, the beauty of corporate partnerships for nonprofit organisations.

* Corporate Philanthropy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Investment, Community Investment and Cause Related Marketing. I call the acronyms the 'alphabet soup'!