Creating and Cultivating a Culture of ‘Futuring’

to Motivate Volunteer Donors to Volunteer Fundraisers

2014 Virginia Volunteerism and Service Conference

Sharon Campbell Waters, PhD

The STOP Organization--

Hampton Roads

Norfolk, Virginia

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Time to Change…Reasons for Volunteer

AttritionStrategies for Retaining

VolunteersA sense that their service is not

valuable;A sense that they do not matter as a

person, only as a “worker”A sense that their contribution is not

as valid as the contributions of others;A lack of community;A lack of connection with a bigger

purpose;Poor communication and direction;Lack of appreciation;Failure to recognize volunteers as

donors;

Provide proficient:Placement, Training and

Orientation;Coaching Mentors;Opportunities for volunteers

to meet and interact;Opportunities for volunteers

to engage in key strategic development opportunities for the organization;

Recognition programs;Conduct exit polling when

volunteer leaves.

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Why ‘FUTURING’?

"The difficulty in times of turbulence is not the turbulence, but to respond with yesterday's logic."

-- Peter Drucker

“Organizations have complex, well-developed immune systems, aimed at preserving the status quo"

(Senge, Roberts, Roth, Ross, & Kleiner, 1999)

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Looking Back To ‘Futuring’…Coca Cola and Internal Entrepreneurship

While many people in developing countries live without access to basic necessities – clean water, electricity, vaccines – one product reaches even the most remote and impoverished corners of the world: Coca-Cola® (CC).

In 1928, when Coca-Cola® entered Africa, it tried to sell its products in the same way that it did in developed countries.

However, Management observed that locals bought supplies of the beverage and resold it in their villages.

They set up “microdistribution” centers and employed thousands of individual entrepreneurs.

Today, 90% of sales in Uganda & Tanzania result from this system, resulting in 1.5 billion servings of Coca-Cola® daily!

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The Audacity of Obama—‘Futuring’ Volunteers

Organizers designed a grassroots volunteer campaign to raise donations, recruit support and create word-of-mouth buzz. By March 2007, 450,000 people had volunteered via the Internet.

Internet tracking provided crucial data on voting, social networking, contribution patterns and caucus memberships.

Managers formulated new, effective campaign tactics, such as expanding the fundraising base to the grass-roots level by staging $25-per-person “citizen fundraisers.”

Campaign insiders broadcast live, streaming videos of their strategy sessions to fascinated supporters.

Obama met with his young-adult volunteer organizers personally to keep them motivated.

By June 2007, the campaign had drawn one million volunteers. One-quarter of the volunteers made donations.

President Barack Obama garnered 7 million more votes in the popular election than any other presidential candidate in history.

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SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES Retaining ‘Futuring’ Volunteer Donors

Transform volunteers into internal entrepreneurs;

Engage volunteers in the organization’s branding process;

Employ “crowdfunding” strategies with applicable e-fundraising and social media tools.

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INTERNAL ENTREPRENEURS

Who they are:The kind of employees and volunteers who push toward the trends of the future. Considered somewhat “outside the mainstream,” they make decisions that often benefit an organization in many ways.

Who are the internal entrepreneurs in your organization?

Are YOU one?

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CROWDFUNDINGCollective Intelligence or Crowd Wisdom

Crowdfunding taps the collective pocketbook, allowing large groups of people to replace banks and other institutions as a source of funds.

SellaBand (https://www.sellaband.com/)allows people to buy shares in the bands hosted on its website. When enough “believers” buy in, SellaBand produces their album.

And don’t forget Indiegogo (Indiegogo.com) and Kickstarter (Kickstarter.com)

How can your organization use the “crowdfunding” model to motivate volunteers donors to fundraisers?

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‘Futuring’ BRANDING

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The Challenge: Assessing Return on Investment (ROI)

As development offices, board members, donors and volunteers all look to have greater transparency into the costs and outcomes of fundraising; measuring the return on investment for each individual fundraising activity is critical.

Return On Investment (ROI) = Net Revenue/

Expense of investment

Cost to Raise a Dollar (CRD) = Expense of investment/

Net Revenue

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References

Management Trends: Creating a culture of ‘Futuring.’ Advancing Philanthropy. May/June 2012. Available at www.afpnet.org. Search: Professional Development.Senge, P., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R., Roth, G., and Smith, B. (1999). The dance of change: The challenges to sustaining momentum in a learning organization. (A fifth discipline resource). Doubleday/Currency: New York.

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Questions & AnswersFocusedUnderstanding ofTransforming

and Unifying Resources to InspireGrowth®

To inquire further about ‘Futuring’ contact:

Sharon Campbell Waters, PhD, Administrator, Planning and

Evaluation swaters@stopinc.org

757-858-1367

The STOP Organization- Hampton Roads

Regina P. Lawrence, President/CEOGeorge F. Reed, Chairman of the

Board