Strategic Planning with Compassion: Using 'Appreciative Inquiry'

Board members and executive officers alike tend to recoil at the thought of strategic planning. Sure, everyone votes to make a plan. No one relishes living the process.

Enter the challenge posed to me by the organizers of a fall conference for nonprofit board and staff development. The theme is using “Appreciative Inquiry” methodology—so can I fit a strategic planning for fundraising seminar into that model? “Sure,” I bravely said.

The core idea, according to Sue Annis Hammond, is that Appreciative Inquiry is “a generative process … created and constantly re-created by the people who use it.” She summarizes, “Appreciative Inquiry suggests that we look for what works in an organization. The tangible result of the inquiry process is a series of statements that describe where the organization wants to be, based on the high moments of where they have been.” (The Thin Book of® Appreciative Inquiry, ISBN 0-9665373-1-9)

I’m finding that this makes sense in fund development strategic planning in unexpected ways.

One of the greatest fears of boards and staff is approaching the individual donor. Unfortunately, some 80 percent of giving comes from the individual. Neglect that focus and leave lots of money on the table. Don’t worry, your competition will leap at the chance.

What are some of the activities human service agencies excel in that are relevant to fundraising? 

• Listening
• Communicating
• Developing an outcomes plan for a client
• Making agreements, negotiating, facilitating
• Tracking interactions
• Documenting and planning next steps in an interpersonal interaction

These are the same skills, employed somewhat differently, that undergird best practices in fund development interpersonal communication. Perhaps the biggest contrast is in the knowledge-power relationship between the agency representative and the client for service versus that with the donor or grantor who is a stakeholder-constituent.

Thinking in these terms may make it more comfortable to contemplate undertaking the cultural shift to emphasizing capturing your share of that 80 percent of all gifting in 2008 into your fundraising future. The same applies to starting a major campaign for capital or program needs. Realizing all the opportunities for short- and long-term fundraising success requires making the shift.

Confident executive leadership matters. An agency that is successful and a top performer in diversified fundraising has executive staff comfortable with their knowledge and skills in fund development. The Alliance’s RDS curriculum and its many conferences that include fund development workshops have documented value to help your organization flourish in the economic recovery ahead. Houston was great!