Bob Ramin National Aquarium Martha H. Schumacher, ACFRE Hazen Inc.

1. Bob Ramin National Aquarium Martha H. Schumacher, ACFRE Hazen Inc. 2012 Bridge ConferenceGive…Get…Gulp!Navigating Board and Staff Roles in FundraisingWednesday, August 8, 2012

2. 1 3 2 What We’ll Be Covering Today The Board’s Role in Fundraising Board/Staff Fundraising Partnership Fundraising Best Practices

3. The Board’s Role in Fundraising

4. Understand and publicly embrace the mission. • Serve as lead ambassadors and spokespeople by succinctly and passionately communicating your mission. More on this later… • Make what is for you a significant personal financial contribution. Set an example by committing to a multi-year pledge. • Attend all Board and Committee meetings. The Board’s Role in Fundraising

5. Invite friends, family and colleagues to targeted events and tours as appropriate. These individuals should be identified as having Capacity, an Affinity with your mission and a Philanthropic history (CAP). • Attend organizational events, especially those that focus on donor and donor prospect engagement. • Conduct donor and funder cultivation and stewardship tasks including writing thank you notes, performing community outreach, etc. • Create a board agreement – all board members read, sign and date annually. • What else? The Board’s Role in Fundraising (cont.)

6. Oleander the Albino Alligator

7. Board/Staff Fundraising Partnership

8. (1) Staff must set clear expectations for volunteers(2) Volunteers must follow through on commitments(3) Ultimate goal: trust and mutual respect for each other = best fundraising results(4) Create a Development Committee with non-Board member volunteers(5) Ambassador Training

9. What is an Ambassador? An Ambassador is an individual whose primary mission is to spread the word about your pivotal programs and the critical needs being addressedlocally, regionally, nationally and/or around the world.

10. What Do Ambassadors Do? • Promote a positive image. • Project success. • Talk about your organization’s strengths and about opportunities for other individuals to be a part of your winning team and long-term vision. • Spend more time listening than talking to understand the donor prospect’s motivations, interests and passions.

11. What Don’t Ambassadors Do? • Promote negative messages. • Project desperation or dire need. (Leave that to direct mail!) • Talk about internal politics. • Spend more time talking than listening.

12. Your Organization’s Core Messages • How is your organization addressing community/societal needs? • What programs are meeting those needs and how? • What are your organization’s tangible results? • Summing up these bullets, what are your top three core messages? • Now take those three messages and distill each one into one or two succinct sentences. Hint: to create a compelling case, use passionate language and incorporate targeted storytelling.

13. Ambassador Practice You are having lunch in a park and a woman sits down near you. She notices the the logo on your tote bag. The woman introduces herself as Nina Nouveau-Riche and asks about your organization. Nina has never been involved with your organization before, but is aware of it and expresses passionate feelings about your mission. She is taking a quick break between meetings, so you have a maximum of five minutes. Your assignment: first, take no more than two to three minutes to convey your strongest “elevator speech” to Nina using your core messages. Second, promote organizational engagement opportunities. Last, ask for Nina’s contact information and reassure her that you will be following up only in that context. Remember: this encounter is NOT about the “ask”– it’s about positively representing your organization and engaging Nina for future involvement. And make sure you do involve her further with prompt follow-up!

14. Practice De-brief • What was your biggest challenge? • How did it feel to be an organizational Ambassador? • How did it feel to be Nina? Did the Ambassador represent her/his organization effectively? • When you played Ambassador, were you able to get Nina’s contact information? Why or why not? • What did you learn from this exercise that you can apply to your every day work - not just with donor prospects, but also with staff, organizational partners and others?

15. Next Steps • Create an Ambassador Toolkit. Ensure that the materials in your kit are compelling and effectively tell your organization’s story. Annual reports, a timeline of accomplishments, newsletters, brochures and a website promo piece are all good examples of effective materials. These materials may be used by volunteers and staff alike. • Establish a Culture of Philanthropy. Engage your Board and staff members in becoming organizational Ambassadors. This is the first step towards establishing a culture of philanthropy. • Inspire by Example and Education. Model good Ambassador behavior. And never miss an opportunity to teach those around you how they can be the best possible Ambassadors. • Build Long-Term Relationships. Represent your organizationwell and you have just laid the groundwork for creating a long-term relationship with your donor-to-be.

16. National Aquarium Ambassador: Calypso

17. Fundraising Best Practices

18. Cheerleader Connector Convener Creative Collaborator Communicator Contributor Y

19. Questions?

20. Thank You!

21. Bob Ramin, Executive Director, National Aquarium Washington DC Martha H. Schumacher, ACFRE, President Hazen Inc. Building Fundraising Relationships That Last 202.210.9459 * hazeninc.com What’s Your Message?