This month, the Smithsonian Institution announced a new initiative called American Philanthropy, and a new exhibition called Giving in America. They are hiring a full-time Curator of Philanthropy, expanding their permanent collection, and developing research and scholarship alongside the effort. I. The Smithsonian plays an important and vastly complex role in American identity, preservation, and learning; it’s a philanthropic marvel. Most Americans don’t know that the Smithsonian’s origin lies in the somewhat mysterious bequest of James Smithson, a British scientist who had never been to America. Close to two hundred years later, we now know just how catalytic this extraordinary gift became. Philanthropy is part science and part magic. The combination of detailed strategy and game-changing generosity can be awe-inspiring. In the case of James Smithson, his generosity conjured a world-changing institution out of thin air. II. As a kid in the DC area, I grew up with that classic mix of disdain and wonder with regard to the Smithsonian. I complained about every field trip to the Portrait Gallery or the American History Museum, but I adored the Air and Space Museum’s antique planes, Hubble telescope images, and astronaut ice cream. The Museum of Natural History’s gemstone exhibit boggles my mind to this day. I simply cannot wait to show my young son the taxidermied elephant that lives in their lobby, the preserved giant squid, and the dinosaur skeletons. And then there’s the National Zoo, and the giant pandas, and their cubs. Everyone has their own favorites. But the Smithsonian is so much more than museums. It has a broad reach in the research and preservation sciences, with huge institutional support aimed at everything from environmental sustainability and astrophysics to American art and museum preservation. The Smithsonian Archives are a national treasure. As a songwriter, performer, and scholar of 20th century music, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the Smithsonian’s acquisition and continuation of the Folkways record label to help preserve and educate our citizens and visitors. Everyone has their own favorites. III. According to 2014 figures, nearly 80% of the Smithsonian is funded by the feds – a combination of appropriations (64%) and grants (15%). When talking about billion dollar budgets, it can be difficult to stop and think about, conceptually, how this could relate to nonprofits in our community with budgets that are 0.05% of that size. But I get a little caught up in imagining what it may have seemed like to old James Smithson. What purpose did he envision for his gift? Did he intend to ignite a civic institution unique in the world? Did he anticipate the thousands of people it would employ, or the millions of lives it would touch? I don’t doubt that many of you reading this have dreamily contemplated the profound efforts of philanthropists and nonprofits alike. Nor do I doubt that you have seen small gifts yield extraordinary outcomes, far greater than could have been imagined. As fundraisers, we often discuss ways to engage new donors and ways to describe impact. Again, this is part science and part magic; some critical things can be predicted, measured, and repeated, while others simply happen whether they were meant to or not. Our job is to generate the opportunity for both science and magic in order to create the foundation for change in our community. IV. The Smithsonian’s vision, “Shaping the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world,” is one that most philanthropists share. From Andrew Carnegie to Bill and Melinda Gates, philanthropists strive to continue to fulfill this vision in myriad ways. There is no right way to make an impact on a person, a family, a city, or a society. Nevertheless, there is great value in appreciating what has worked in the past, how lasting contributions came about, and what conditions allowed them to thrive. Seattle has a long and rich philanthropic history. Wealth generated from natural resources and manufacturing far pre-dates the tech boom of recent decades, and corporations like Boeing, PACCAR, and Weyerhaeuser continue to be important players in the philanthropic landscape of our region. Later, the wealth generated by Microsoft spurned a new wave of extreme growth and innovation in giving. That we are currently experiencing outsized growth of Amazon, radical income inequality, and also social justice advocacy is not mere coincidence. Correlation, of course, does not imply causation, as we who produce grant reports well know. But wealth, philanthropy, and social justice are inextricably linked. Depending on one’s political persuasion, one might add government to that group as well. Given the specialized nature of our region’s economic success and innovation, our potential for national and global influence on the philanthropic landscape is astounding. At Ostara, we often get to learn about new philanthropic initiatives and new nonprofit programs that address our most pressing issues. Many Seattle organizations are deeply involved in promoting a better society – en masse, or one person at a time. Our clients help people with disabilities gain satisfying employment, provide emotional and financial support for cancer patients and their loved ones, provide food for struggling families, educate vulnerable students of all ages, support their college readiness, and mentor them through complex social and emotional learning challenges. Some clients focus on ensuring access to healthcare, some bring the arts to the chronically underserved, and some boost the capacity of other non-profit organizations. That’s just the tip of the iceberg; everyone has their own favorites. The Smithsonian, too, is engaged in this important work on a different scale. Since I left the DC area, they have helped build the national conversation on these topics in their way, first with the opening of the American Indian Museum (2004), and next year with the completion of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (2016). Giving in America adds tremendously to the depth of this conversation. As with most things, it won’t fix the problem, but it is a start.

I’m an idealist. I always have been, and I hope I always will be. This idealism is what drew me to the nonprofit sector at an early age (instead of becoming a lawyer, which is what my mother would have much preferred). You have to be something of an idealist to do this work. Somewhere inside each of us is a voice that says, “I know we can do better [providing equal access to education, meeting basic human needs, protecting natural resources] and I want to devote myself to helping.” We do a great job in the nonprofit sector imagining a better future for society. But we do a “meh” job envisioning a better future for the organizations we create to make that future happen. At any nonprofit happy hour, you’ll find staffers one-upping each other with stories of organizational woe. Healthy nonprofits can be hard to find. In his blog, public-sector leadership expert Bob Behn (a faculty member at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government) suggests there is an Anna Karenina principle at work in government agencies. This idea, drawn from the famous opening line of the great Russian novel, suggests that all happy nonprofits are alike, and that every dysfunctional nonprofit is unhappy in its own way. At Ostara, we have the privilege and responsibility of looking inside nonprofit organizations, seeing what makes them tick, and seeing what gets in their way. In our experience, the nonprofit universe has its own version of the Anna Karenina phenomenon – every organization is unique, and so are their problems. But there’s one thing many struggling organizations have in common: leaders are so busy doing that they avoid the big and vital questions, and problems build. This work is hard. But avoiding the big issues makes it much harder. So how do you get your thinking up to that 30,000-foot level? There’s no right answer, but we’ve put together a list of 13 questions every nonprofit should be able to answer that can give you better insight into your organizational health. If you can’t answer one of these questions, something unhealthy is going on. It may be time to let a problem employee go; invest in evaluation; set a new financial policy to build a cash reserve; write a new development plan; or surprise an exhausted team by unexpectedly canceling a day of work and taking them bowling. If nonprofit leaders are brave enough to ask and answer these questions, it can help jumpstart the process of building a healthier organization. If we can apply some of our idealism in-house, looking bravely at the state of affairs and getting help when we need it, we can move forward and create more perfect organizations. 13 Questions Every Nonprofit Should Be Able to Answer IMPACT Do the people in my organization have a shared definition of success? Does our definition of success have external credibility? Is there a system for measuring our impact against our stated goals? (i.e. what impact does our organization have?) HUMAN CAPITAL Is our staff motivated and engaged? Is there a person (or people) holding the organization back in a significant way? Is there an efficient process for resolving major personnel issues? Is our team having any fun? FINANCE Do our leaders have a solid understanding of the organization’s financial position? Is there a written development plan for how to acquire funding? Does our organization have a reserve, or at least a plan for building one? MISSION Do people in the organization have a shared sense of purpose they can describe? Is our purpose distinct and necessary in the nonprofit marketplace of ideas and services? Does our purpose meet a current and on-going need? Can you think of any others? Feel free to chime in with a comment!

The nonprofit sector has always had its share of challenges. I’ve been involved with nonprofits for over 20 years, and I’ve lived through many of them. But as pressure on nonprofits has increased in recent years, one of the symptoms of a greater problem in the sector has gotten much worse: turnover in development and fundraising staff. Fundraisers are fleeing their organizations and the sector in droves, or they’re turning to cushier jobs at large organizations that are already well-resourced. It’s one of the most disruptive problems in our sector today, and it’s the direct result of a disease that often sets experienced, knowledgeable fundraisers directly at odds with their nonprofit leaders and boards of directors. What is this disease? An unhealthy culture of philanthropy. To be perfectly honest, too many nonprofit leaders view — and treat — fundraising as “less than” their program-focused work. Many talented fundraisers who have developed highly specific skillsets through years on the front lines of development are treated like the used car salespeople of the sector — or even worse, like our chosen profession comes down to begging for handouts. Like we should carry out our work apologetically instead of with pride and satisfaction; and with as small a budget as possible instead of a reasonable investment in our people and systems. This attitude is short-sighted and self-defeating, and it does a real disservice to both the nonprofit organization and the fundraising professional. When you consider the fact that achieving long-term financial stability remains the nonprofit sector’s greatest challenge, you quickly realize it’s an attitude that nonprofits can no longer afford to have. Whether you’re a big-city hospital or a small-town arts center, you simply can’t survive — much less thrive — without the revenue fundraising provides. Yet, over and over, organizations assume this attitude that costs them dearly and makes their fundraisers flee – which leaves their donor relationships out in the cold. Here are a few concrete examples. When an organization budgets for philanthropic revenue without considering their fundraisers’ perspective on what the donor base and department workloads can bear, its leaders place a potentially unbearable weight on the shoulders of development. When budget performance problems arise mid-year and leadership decides that they’ll just put on a “new” fundraising event to fill the gap – without thinking through the timing, the potential audience base, or tactical load the staff is already bearing – it’s like throwing an anchor to a fundraiser who actually needs a life preserver. When an organization tries to save money by hiring younger, less experienced fundraising staff into leadership roles with high expectations and little support, it sets itself up for another costly hire within the next year and contributes to a trend that drives young talent out of our sector. Sound familiar? It should. Many of us are familiar with the Haas Jr. Fund/CompassPoint report Underdeveloped, which offers some enlightening insights into the challenges faced by organizations and their fundraising staff (and should be required reading for all executive, development and finance directors). These include: Too little investment in development capacity Unrealistic plans for mission-area growth that lead to even more unrealistic budgets A lack of understanding around the roles of the fundraiser, the board, the executive director and of every other member of a non-profit organization’s team in fundraising Lack of training and a diverse pipeline of fundraising professionals Successful fundraising requires partnership among all teams in an organization; in other words, it takes a true culture of philanthropy. Every single person, from the administrative assistant to the executive director, from the program staff to the board president, needs to understand and value what philanthropy can accomplish for the organization, and how vital it is to success. Even if a nonprofit does the best work on earth, over the long haul it simply won’t survive without a healthy culture of philanthropy. At The Ostara Group, we offer our nonprofit clients the unvarnished truth. This means that if there’s a schism between the leadership and fundraisers, we don’t shrink from that reality — we take it on and help build the necessary organizational bridges. We’re continuing our truth-telling to nonprofit leaders through this blog. Our team at Ostara will draw from almost a combined century on the ground in nonprofits of all stripes to engage our nonprofit community and thoughtfully address these challenges on an ongoing basis. We’ll offer strategic thoughts and specific, practical tips on how every nonprofit can grow its revenue and build a sustainable culture of philanthropy from the ground up. Creating and sustaining an effective culture of philanthropy is an absolute must for nonprofits today, and we need to create community and support around how to do it. There’s just too much work to do, and too many problems for our organizations to help society solve, to let misunderstandings about fundraising get in the way of the mission.

This article was written by Ariel Glassman. She is no longer with Ostara, but we want to preserve this piece so that you can learn from her and from the work she did while part of the Ostara team. Nonprofit organizations are traversing uncharted terrain in the 21st century. And, in the process, they’re being forced to address a complex series of questions about their ability to change the world; their relationship to the private sector; their leaders, boards; and missions; their diversity; and their capacity to raise money and innovate. We’ve committed ourselves to telling our clients and nonprofit leaders the unvarnished truth on the ground in their organizations and in the sector. Sometimes, there are no clear-cut answers. But we’re all part of a thriving nonprofit community that is in constant conversation with itself about how to address these questions and challenges; our consultants see it in motion on the ground with clients every day. We can all help each other by freely sharing what we learn. So to do our part, Ostara is going to talk about it. We’re going to blog about it. We’re going to podcast about it. We’re going to host conversations about it. We’ll raise important questions and bring our clients and other nonprofit leaders into the conversation to move us all closer to realistic answers and real solutions. We’re going to live out our commitment to truth-telling online, too. Stay tuned in the coming weeks and months as we carve our own space in the conversation, forged from almost 100 combined years of experience on the ground with nonprofits of all shapes, sizes, and missions. There’s a lot we need to get off our chests, and a lot for us to learn from each other.

There’s something magical about a team that collaborates so well, they make their success look effortless. But you know the truth: There’s nothing remotely effortless about success. Whether you lead a small nonprofit moving mountains with a tiny budget or manage hundreds of people at a multi-million-dollar organization, success takes hard work — more than you ever think it will and sometimes more than you think you and your team have it in you to muster. But like a jumble of ants hauling a hunk of food hundreds of times their body weight (as shown in the video above, which I captured during my recent travels to Central America), a dream team can boldly tackle seemingly impossible feats — more successfully than you ever could solo. How? Because you’ve invested the time to get to know everyone. Maybe you’re assembling a team from scratch. Maybe you’re pushing an existing team to accomplish bigger and better things. Either way, leaders who accept that team-building takes time, then make the time to get to know everyone well, have a leg up on those who lead way too far ahead of their pack. Hold one-on-ones as often as you can. Even on busy weeks, you can make it a priority to connect with your teammates on a personal level. Take colleagues out to coffee or lunch or happy hour, or carpool to meetings together. Find out what makes your teammates tick. Venture beyond résumé or LinkedIn material. What’s your favorite/least favorite memory from high school? Where are you traveling next? What are you looking forward to in the next six months? Challenge your view of “strengths and weaknesses.” As you get to know your teammates, keep your ear to the ground for clues (obvious or obscure) about work they love to do and work they can’t stand to do. Simone Janssen, a fantastic leadership coach, calls this analysis “cake or cringe.” It’s a more action-oriented, less judgy alternative to “strengths and weaknesses.” When your project hits a rough patch (and you know they always do), colleagues who know each other on a cake-or-cringe level can more effectively lean on one another and get things done. Be open, honest and OK with vulnerability. A crucial part of getting to know your team is giving them the opportunity to get to know you. Embrace the vulnerability of what you don’t know about your teammates, and what they don’t know about you — yet. If your colleagues aren’t as assertive as you are about the getting-to-know-you process, find your own way to tell your story. Be as generous with the insights you share with your team as you ask them to be with you. See tension and dissent as starting blocks, not roadblocks. No one wins when a poorly functioning team keeps slogging through whatever’s not working. Sometimes, it takes an uncomfortable meeting, with personalities flaring, for everyone on your team to come to a common understanding of changes that need to happen for you to move past obstacles and reach your goals. Share and invite honest feedback. Ask critical questions. Doing so as a team will give everyone a sense of ownership in the results. Say no to “That’s not part of my job.” If this is something you’ve heard or said yourself in the last 30 days, it’s time to reassess your comfort level with the “other duties as assigned” category. Individually and collectively, everyone on a great team needs to be open to shifts in roles and responsibilities that can better support the team’s vision. Done right, those shifts can boost in productivity and morale. Sure, staffing challenges can be terrifically tricky to solve. But if you’ve invested the time in getting to know your people, if you’ve fostered a work environment where open and honest communication is a shared expectation, you can make big, bold leadership decisions with decisive confidence.

Relationships are important in any business. They’re especially important in fundraising. Building trust and showing true interest in a person’s experiences, beliefs and values will lead you to lasting rewards — both personally and professionally. When you nurture strong and authentic relationships, your network will grow — and so will your potential for fundraising success. Here are some tips on the art and science of relationship-building that I often share when I’m coaching executive directors or leading a board retreat: Remember something. When you meet someone new, remember their name — say it out loud a few times or write it down if you have to — and at least one other thing: where they work, what their dog’s name is, where they traveled last. Remember something that gives you a starting point with your next conversation with them. Give every new relationship a solid foundation that you can build on as you expand your network. Ask, listen and repeat. People love to talk about themselves. It’s human nature — our way of sharing our take on the world. So whether you start a conversation or join it, ask good questions and give people a chance to talk your ear off if they’re so inclined. Shoot for three to five questions every time you meet someone new. It’s OK to stick to the same topics — pick whatever you find most interesting. My faves: family, work, travel and hobbies. Lean into LinkedIn. If you haven’t updated your résumé in a while, carve out an hour to polish it up. Then make your LinkedIn profile sparkle. If it needs a lot more than a polish, don’t let yourself get intimidated. Take it step by step. When you’re ready, follow LinkedIn guru and WiredAdvisor Stephanie Sammons’ “10 in 10 rule” — spend 10 minutes per day making one-to-one connections with 10 of your LinkedIn contacts. (More on this in Entrepreneur’s recent article, 8 ways to better market yourself on LinkedIn.) Connect others — and connections will come your way. One of the best ways to build out your network is to connect people within it. Is there a friend, colleague or client who’s grappling with a challenge in their organization? You probably know someone who’s worked through similar issues. Connect them — and there’s a good chance that they’ll return the favor someday by referring a potential who could use some help from someone with your skillset. Follow up. Especially if you ask someone to introduce you. Once you meet, don’t let your relationship-building mojo fade away as fast as time flies. Reach out, build time into your busy schedule for a coffee or lunch or happy hour with them before you become “someone they met at some event somewhere … what was her name again?” Following up is most important if you ask someone to introduce you. As you nurture these new relationships, go back to the beginning and be thoughtful about making introductions. Patrick Ewers, an early LinkedIn exec who’s now a relationship management coach, offers some great tips on strategically managing your networking introductions. May the networking force(s) be with you!

“Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.” REED MARKHAM, AUTHOR Making big decisions can be hard — especially for leaders who thrive on consensus-building. Over my many years of working with nonprofits, I’ve seen smart and passionate people get overwhelmed by tough decisions they wish they didn’t have to make. How can we stay true to our mission when our biggest funder keeps insisting we try a new approach? Is your board so dysfunctional, you wonder if it’s time to fire everyone and start fresh? Other organizations are doing what we do — only better. Should we change up our programming, merge with them, disband? There’s a philosophy in social work that you lean into discomfort. You embrace it as something that will guide you out from between that rock and hard place. You trust that you’re about to learn some valuable lessons that will make the next big problem you face seem oh so much easier to solve. I did all those things and more as part of a multi-year collaborative process that led to one of the boldest and smartest decisions I’ve ever been a part of. While serving as president of the Northwest Development Officers Association, NDOA and our cross-town colleagues at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Washington Chapter (AFP WA) took a huge step together. We decided to unite the two organizations into one. On our path to that decision, we held countless meetings, went on retreats, surveyed our members and consulted with organizational and business development gurus. It was hard work, but every step of the way, we reminded ourselves that we were all in it for the same reason: to figure out how to better serve our members, our nonprofits and our communities. Here are five great lessons about leadership that guided me through that process: Get the right people on the bus. Whether you need input from just a few folks or a diverse team of stakeholders, don’t call on people who always agree with you. The smaller the group you assemble, the more important it is that you choose people who will challenge you. Communicate clearly and openly. State your goals early and often. Refine them with input from your team if you need to. Encourage your team to give honest and constructive feedback throughout the process. Be transparent every step of the way. Stay focused on solutions. When you’re trying to solve a problem, it’s easy to fixate on the challenges that might stand in your way. That’s OK. Think of the process like an obstacle course. Remind your team that every time you put a hurdle behind you, you’re getting closer to a solution. Don’t fear dissent. Your most important job as a leader is to make decisions. It’s impossible to make everyone happy. Don’t get bogged down by waiting for an unequivocal thumbs-up from every last person you’ve included in the process. Help your team see your vision of success as you see it: in crystal-clear focus with a can-do attitude. When it’s time to move forward, move! Don’t let yourself get all hung up and mired in the multitude of options that are on the table. There comes a time when you’ve gathered enough input — sometimes more than enough. Trust your instincts and when it’s time to make that big decision, remember this: Your job isn’t to come up with The Perfect Solution. It’s to take action. You might start with baby steps. You might get bogged down in that messy middle between the starting point and finish line. That’s OK. The most rewarding lessons you’ll learn in work and life are the ones that push you way outside your comfort zone — where you make big things happen.