Influencing Institutional Excellence

1. Influencing Institutional Excellence presented to AFP Congress 2003 November 27, 2003

2. THE KEY QUESTIONS • Advancement is a “servant” function, how can we take a meaningful role in influencing institutional excellence? • Are we stepping beyond our role if we do so? • Do we not owe it to the prospects and donors that we interact with? • Do we risk disempowerment if we take on this role? • Are we going to set up adversarial situations? • We are seriously misunderstood now, why ask for more grief?

3. THE DONOR PERSPECTIVE • Donors will not knowingly invest in confusion • Donors will not knowingly donate to offset inefficiency • Donors will not knowingly support incompetence

4. The Proactive Opportunity • We actively support and encourage the development of relevant strategic plans • We continue to gather institutional examples of excellence and communicate these to our key constituencies • We support client friendly policies and activities • We support staff recognition activity

5. The Strategic Plan • Must contain institutional Vision • Must contain Mission statement and values • Clearly identifies our top strategic thrusts • Identifies where Development can contribute to institutional priorities • If it is truly an institutional priority we can find support for it

6. Our Stories • Some institutions are great but don’t know it • Others simply think they are • Regardless, we can help the process of uncovering excellence through our communications group • We need to proactively find the excellence that exist in the programs and services we deliver – we define our contribution to community • And when found, we unabashedly communicate this excellence to specific constituencies

7. Those We Serve • Are normally our long term donors • Points of influence – very careful advocacy • Reception • Service Intake • Service Delivery • Post service relationships

8. The Staff • aka- danger • Nothing to do with labour associations or staff unions • Everything to do about promoting this institution as a great place to work • Pride stories, human interest stories, community contribution stories • This constituency is crucial to our external success – we need them to be ambassadors not complainers

9. The Reactive Opportunity • Most staff (and volunteers) do not clearly understand what we do • Ignorance is not bliss • We must consistently communicate to the various internal areas what it is we do and how we contribute to the institution • If they trust us, institutional feedback will be received in a far different way than if they are suspicious of our intent

10. Our Communication Channels • Community Relations – is used to communicate messages to both internal and external communities – both result in feedback that needs to be addressed • Annual Giving/Programs – ongoing contact and services to our most important donation constituency • Newsletters, solicitation, recognition events, etc. all generate institutional feedback • Good Development regularly engages opinion leaders – and they share their opinions

11. So, What Do We do with this Feedback • A clear plan of Communication • We explain how we receive feedback • We explain our protocols for receiving it • We meet with institutional leaders as a group to ensure they will support our protocols • If it is donor related we follow it up • We ensure our messages are of the highest ethical standards • We wear Kevlar