Development Leadership Consortium

More Thoughts on the 2011 Philanthropy Forecast

chicagodlc — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:27:43 +0000

The following review of the DLC’s 2011 Philanthropy Forecast appeared in the October 30 issue of The Weekend Briefing, a digest of news, commentary and industry best practice distributed to development directors and other advancement professionals across the country. The author, Rob Cummings, has served in leadership advancement positions since 1976. He is presently the chief development officer for the Midwest Province of the Christian Brothers.

It’s a good idea to get out of the house every now and then. Getting out of the office, reconnecting with professional friends, hearing fresh ideas and new ways of looking at things; that’s a good idea, too. I did just that a week or so ago and I wanted to tell you about it.

There are a lot of highlights in Clyde Watkins’ distinguished career. The chairman of the consulting firm Ter Molen, Watkins & Brandt is as close to an icon in Chicago fund raising as one can get these days. Seventeen years ago Clyde founded the Development Leadership Consortium, an organization whose mission is to mentor fund raising professionals new to the field and to engage them throughout their careers, encouraging their growth into committed, connected leaders of the Chicagoland philanthropic community and beyond. What a tremendous contribution to our profession that is.

The DLC’s Board of Directors hosts a biennial “Philanthropy Forecast” breakfast that drew a crowd of nearly 200 to the Museum of Contemporary Art on a chilly morning two weeks ago. This year’s event was titled “Measurement or Myth: Accountability in Fundraising” and explored the benefits and drawbacks of outcome based assessment. Jamie Phillippe, Vice President for Development and Donor Services at the Chicago Community Trust moderated a dialogue between Jason Saul, the founder and CEO of Mission Measurement, a strategy consulting firm that helps corporations and nonprofits measure and improve their social impact and Adele Simmons, a senior executive at Metropolis Strategies and the former president of the MacArthur Foundation.

To listen to Ms. Simmons reminisce about the funding of the Oslo Israeli/Arab peace summit and about conversations at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland was heady stuff. Her comments centered on the preeminent role that individual donors continue to have in philanthropy and on the importance of grant making even with less that ideal outcomes. Mr. Saul’s comments were new to me, and provocative:

“Understand the shift in philanthropy from charity, to purchasing outcomes. From measuring results to communicating value. From asking for donations to selling impact. Understand the market. Who wants to buy the outcomes you have to sell. Today, it is less ‘our need to sell’ but ‘the customer’s need to buy’”.

The conversation got me thinking, and I believe that’s the point. Every day we have to concentrate so hard on what we need to do. It is a refreshing and healthy change of pace to be able to sit back once in a while and be able to not do, but think about our profession. We’ll focus the Weekend Briefing soon on effective measurement of fund raising outcomes and another weekend, on an idea shared with me during the networking coffee that “the comprehensive capital campaign may be passe’.” How about that?

It was rich conversation, in the company of professional friends old and new. Great stuff. Congrats to the Development Leadership Consortium and thank you, Clyde Watkins.

The Quote of the Week is from Jason Saul’s remarks at the Philanthropy Forecast: “The issue of measurement is a lot like Kim Kardashian. Both are relevant; we just don’t know why.”

Relevant Post-DLC Forecast Thoughts on Impact

chicagodlc — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:44:31 +0000

Many in the arts and culture field subscribe to Thomas Cott’s email newsletter “You’ve Cott Mail” or follow him on Twitter. Cott is Director of Marketing for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and is an industry expert on a wide variety of pressing arts-related issues. Recently Cott scoured the web for helpful thoughts on the importance of impact – which dovetails nicely with the DLC’s insightful Forecast on October 21st titled Measurement or Myth: Accountability in Fundraising. His post is below.

“Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change…” – actor/director/writer/social activist Ossie Davis

Commentary: What nonprofit leaders should know about impact and funders

Tom Watson, OnPhilanthropy.com, 11/14/11

I shivered a little bit when I read this sentence in Mario Morino’s excellent [book] Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity, released by his Venture Philanthropy Partners:

“Public funders — and eventually private funders as well — will migrate away from organizations with stirring stories alone, toward well-managed organizations that can also demonstrate meaningful, lasting impact.”

But Morino is right. Nonprofits are granted an extraordinary privilege — they exist tax-free in exchange for the social benefits they promise. Morino encourages strong, questioning, creative people in nonprofit management. “In my experience, people who improve, innovate, and adapt are curious souls and self-learners. An organization’s culture should encourage people to ask questions, seek advice, do research, improve what they do and how they do it, help each other, push each other’s thinking, probe, nudge, adapt, look at things from different vantage points. All of these behaviors lead to improvement and innovation for the organization and the individuals who are part of it.”

Book excerpt: “Passionate people, empowered with data, can transform lives”

From the chapter “Mission Possible” by Tynesia Boyea Robinson

I have implemented performance-management systems in both for-profit and nonprofit settings. Most nonprofits attract people who have self-selected based on the mission of the organization. [This] gives these professionals intrinsic motivation. In my experience, building a performance-management system that taps into intrinsic motivation involves 3 essential ingredients:

Creating a feedback culture. Performance-management evangelists often say things like “Nonprofits that truly care about their mission will embrace data collection and analysis.” This is a huge mistake. Most nonprofit professionals find such statements offensive and may respond defensively. Therefore, before any system is even discussed, the first step is to create a feedback culture. It can start with weekly staff meetings where people share what went well, what should be changed. Ideally, feedback should include the perspective of [patrons], since [patron] feedback underscores the connection to the mission and may diffuse tension.

Becoming bilingual. If you put for-profit and nonprofit professionals in a room together, there’s often a big cultural divide. Both sides must seek to understand before asking to be understood. As I reflect on my first years as a board member of a nonprofit theater (soon after I left a Fortune 500 company), I cringe when I think about how I often fell into this trap. My fellow board members and I pushed the theater staff for data on ROI for set design. We graphed which types of performances were most profitable. And we even began inserting ourselves in program selection. Instead of getting riled up about statistical significance and trends, we would have been better served by trying to understand what the [theater's] executives got riled up about.

Relieving the pain. It’s easy to say data and analysis are the panacea for all nonprofit woes. But many standardized tests and data systems create additional work with very little change in outcomes. These systems often fail because they stay at the macro level. The real need is to go deeper — to gauge not just whether something is working or not, but to understand why. To get more granular, you must first establish credibility with [nonprofits] by making their lives easier. If you are working within a feedback culture and speaking in authentic, mission-focused language, it will be easy to spot opportunities for reducing pain.

Performance management is not easy. But when it’s done right…the results can be profound. Passionate people, empowered with data, can do remarkable things to drive performance — and, more important, transform lives.

FROM TC: You can download the entire text of Leap of Reason here.

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Commentary: Measuring impact is critical to sustainability of any nonprofit

Kelly Hill of Nexus Research Group, Foundation Center’s website, 11/7/11

Are you making a difference or having a real impact in the lives of the people you serve? It might seem rhetorical, but anecdotal evidence aside, most non-profits can’t articulate the extent to which their efforts are truly having an impact. This is why program evaluation is so very critical to the effectiveness and sustainability of any non-profit. Here are 4 things you might want to consider:

1. Do I have a data management system in place? For some that might be a database or spreadsheet, for others a well organized catalog of rosters, forms, charts or reports. Regardless of your approach, the key word here is “system”, meaning information must be captured in a way that is logical, consistent and reliable over time.

2. Do I have a logic model or theory of change? While a logic model is more focused on articulating key elements, activities and outcomes of a program, a theory of change forces one to consider precisely how the program is to work and all preconditions that need be in place in order to achieve success. Many evaluators consider both to be critical to understanding a program in full.

3. Have I identified my organization’s key indicators? For instance, how many people have you served? How many people have you connected to resources? How many people have achieved some measure of success according to your program goals?

4. Do I have internal evaluation capacity or a relationship with an external evaluator? Evaluation isn’t cheap, and sometimes the costs can be enough to cause organizations to avoid it altogether. However, the fact of the matter is that in this age of increased accountability, non-profits can no longer afford not to evaluate their programs. Therefore, if you don’t have the budget to work with an external evaluator, consider the ways you might begin to develop evaluation capacity among your own staff.

Commentary: Is a number worth a thousand pictures?

Sarah Keen, blog of UK-based consultancy New Philanthropy Capital, 10/25/11

Anyone who has played a musical instrument, painted a picture or performed in a play knows that the arts are not the soft option. The arts may be enjoyable, but they also have the ability to engage people, to develop their skills and sense of responsibility, and to foster better relationships. For these reasons the arts have long been used to help rehabilitate offenders or those at risk of getting involved in crime. And yet arts charities have traditionally struggled to provide hard evidence of their effectiveness, particularly in achieving criminal justice system targets. Today we launch a report that explores whether the value of the arts in criminal justice can be shown through economic analysis. Commissioned by the Arts Alliance, the report takes three arts charities — Clean Break, Only Connect and Unitas — and quantifies the costs and estimated benefits of their interventions. The three charities that we look at provide savings to the public purse as well as provide savings to the public purse as well as improve the life chances of the people helped. Our best estimates show that these three charities provide returns on investment of between £3 and £6 for every £1 invested. However, our findings could have been more conclusive with better data. Economic analysis has the potential to be a powerful tool for valuing the arts in criminal justice, but charities, funders and the government need to prioritise better data collection and access so that economic analysis gives the numbers that fully and accurately capture the value of arts in criminal justice. You can download the full report or executive summary here.

Guinness Fund offers grants to Irish arts orgs with clear way to measure impact

Business to Arts website, 11/1/11

The Arthur Guinness Fund [is] seeking applications specifically from the arts & culture sector. The closing date is 30 November, so time is short. There are a number of grants available of between €50,000 to €100,000 for start-up and established projects which have a social impact and are innovative and sustainable. Some useful application criteria to be aware of:

* Project applicant must be resident in Ireland (North or South) and over 18 * Projects should address a social / environmental / community issue in an innovative way * The project’s primary focus must benefit people over 18 years of age * The project’s primary focus must benefit communities in Ireland * You should have a clear plan for growing the initiative
* There should be a clear way of measuring impact

There is more information on how to apply to the fund here.

2011 Philanthropy Forecast Review

chicagodlc — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:14:08 +0000

Written by Sarah Rutledge, Leadership Giving Assistant at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Edited by Sarah Anne Rathbone, Director of Development at DePaul University.
____________

November 3, 2011 Chicago – The 2011 Philanthropy Forecast hosted by the Development Leadership Consortium (DLC) was held Friday, October 21, at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The DLC is a volunteer run professional development organization that mentors new fundraising professionals and engages them throughout their careers. Every other year the DLC hosts a Forecast, bringing together a panel of experts in philanthropy, economics, and fundraising to discuss trends that will shape our industry in the near future.

This year’s event was attended by nearly 200 fundraising and philanthropy professionals. The topic Measurement or Myth: Accountability in Fundraising explored the benefits and shortcomings of outcome-based assessment though a lively discussion with Jason Saul, CEO of Mission Measurement LLC, and Adele Simmons, Vice-Chair and Senior Executive at Chicago Metropolis 2020, moderated by Jamie Phillippe of the Chicago Community Trust.

The conversation began with Mr. Saul’s assertion that there has been a drastic shift in donor motivation. He argues that funders, whether they are corporations, foundations or individuals, no longer want to simply give money to charity, they want to achieve social impact and see real economic value in their investment.

Measurement is therefore increasingly important. Non-profit organizations can no longer just have programs; those programs must produce outcomes. In order for non-profits to make a compelling case for support to donors, they must be able to demonstrate the real economic and social impact of their programs. Mr. Saul suggested that non-profits begin to think more like businesses and treat donors like “customers” seeking to purchase social impact.

Presenting the counterpoint, Ms. Simmons pointed out that though data is important, there are dangers in focusing too much on outcomes-based measurement. First, not all outcomes can be measured. Not only that, but sometimes measurements can be misleading. It may be that one is measuring the wrong thing. A program designed to achieve a certain result, but which ends up having a different, positive social impact may be cut because it failed to have the proposed effect.

Further, the focus on measurement often forces charities to pursue only those programs that produce measurable results in a relatively short period. Not all successful programs lend themselves to short- or medium-term measurement. Big change often happens slowly. Large national foundations recognize this and are more willing to take a risk by investing in transformational programs that can’t or won’t produce short-term measurable results. Therefore, Ms. Simmons warned against relying too heavily on measurement in determining success and advised charities not to throw out time-tested methods of evaluation.

While there are hazards in relying too heavily on data alone, measurement is an increasingly vital tool in building a charity’s case for support. However, charities must do more than just measure outcomes; they must market those outcomes to the right donors in a meaningful and convincing way. Fundraisers need to be innovative in combining conventional wisdom with outcomes-based measurement in a way that appeals to donors’ need to see real economic value and demonstrated social impact.

Again, this year’s Philanthropy Forecast provided participants with an insightful look at trends in the fundraising field. The DLC is grateful to program organizers and our generous sponsors including: Event Sponsor the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Friends of the Forecast The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation and Ter Molen, Watkins & Brandt LLC.

For more information about the DLC and its programs please visit www.chicagodlc.org

________________

Jason Saul is CEO of Mission Measurement, LLC, a social impact consulting firm that uses an outcomes-based approach to help corporations, nonprofits and government agencies improve the results of their social initiatives.

Adele Simmons, former President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is now Vice-Chair and Senior Executive at Chicago Metropolis 2020 where she focuses on early childhood education and developing a Climate Action Plan for the city of Chicago.

Thank You!

chicagodlc — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:49:23 +0000

Click to view slideshow.

Thanks to all our participants, presenters and planners for this morning’s Philanthropy Forecast. I think we can all agree it was a great success. Please keep your eyes on our blog for a full report in the coming days, in case you weren’t able to attend today. Also, if you are a DLC alum be sure to join the LinkedIn group for the latest and greatest on DLC job-postings and upcoming events.

Directions to the DLC Forecast

chicagodlc — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:17:01 +0000

When arriving to the DLC Forecast on Friday, please enter at the MCA Stage entrance on the corner of Mies van der Rohe Way and Pearson St. View Google Map. Convenient discounted parking for guests is available in the MCA parking garage. The garage is adjacent to the museum and may be entered from Chicago Avenue. Visitors must have their parking tickets validated at the admissions desk.

Don’t forget to view the MCA’s new exhibit titled The Language of Less (Then and Now). This exhibition is inspired by the MCA’s rich holdings of Minimalist and post-Minimalist work from the 1960s and 1970s. It is divided into two distinct parts, one devoted to a fresh reinstallation of this historical material (featuring artists such as Carl Andre, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, and Richard Serra), including recent acquisitions; and a second showcasing five contemporary artists (Leonor Antunes, Carol Bove, Jason Dodge, Gedi Sibony, and Oscar Tuazon) who are working within the stylistic language of their forebears, albeit with entirely new content and concerns.

Tickets to the Forecast Are Now Available

chicagodlc — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:51:14 +0000

Join the Development Leadership Consortium (DLC) and development officers from across the city at a networking breakfast from 8:30 – 10am on October 21st at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. This year’s DLC Philanthropy Forecast, Measurement or Myth: Accountability in Fundraising, will explore the various benefits and potential drawbacks of outcome-based assessment. Jamie Phillippe, Vice President for Development and Donor Services at The Chicago Community Trust will moderate a dialogue between Jason Saul, CEO of Mission Measurement and Adele Simmons, Ph.D., Vice-Chair and Senior Executive at Metropolis Strategies. Read more about the DLC Forecast here and follow the DLC blog here.

Tickets are now available and are $25 for DLC alumni and $35 for the public. Please select from the following:

Non-Alum Ticket $35.00
Alumni Ticket $25.00

Thank you to our presenting sponsor, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Friends of the Forecast Ter Molen, Watkins & Brandt LLC and The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, for generously supporting this event. If your organization would like to sponsor the DLC Forecast, please contact Forecast Chair Kirsten Andersen at kirstenandersen1@gmail.com.

See you there!

MCA Will Host 2011 Philanthropy Forecast

chicagodlc — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:45:16 +0000

The DLC is pleased to announce that the Museum of Contemporary Art will host the 2011 Philanthropy Forecast. We are thrilled to partner with one of Chicago’s great cultural institutions to present Measurement or Myth: Accountability in Fundraising on Friday October 21st, from 8:30am until 10:00am. This year’s Forecast features Jamie Phillippe, Vice President for Development and Donor Services at the Chicago Community Trust, in dialogue with Jason Saul, CEO of Mission Measurement and Adele Simmons, Ph.D., Vice-Chair and Senior Executive at Metropolis Strategies. The discussion will explore the various benefits and potential drawbacks of outcome-based assessment. More information about the event can be found by clicking here.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is located at 220 East Chicago Avenue, just one block east of Michigan Avenue, in the heart of the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago. View Google Map.

Telephone	312.280.2660 \| 312.397.4010

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Save the Date!

chicagodlc — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:44:15 +0000

On October 21st, the Development Leadership Consortium will host the 2011 Philanthropy Forecast: Measurement or Myth: Accountability in Fundraising. This year, Jamie Phillippe, Vice President for Development and Donor Services at the Chicago Community Trust will moderate a dialogue between Jason Saul, CEO of Mission Measurement and Adele Simmons, Ph.D., Vice-Chair and Senior Executive at Metropolis Strategies. The discussion will explore the various benefits and potential drawbacks of outcome-based assessment.

The 2011 Philanthropy Forecast will be held Friday October 21st, from 8:30am until 10:00am.

Jason Saul is one of the nation’s leading experts on measuring social impact. He is the founder and CEO of Mission Measurement LLC, a strategy consulting firm that helps corporations, nonprofits and public sector clients to measure and improve their social impact. He has advised some of the world’s largest corporations, government agencies and nonprofits, including: Walmart, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Levi Strauss & Co., American Red Cross, the Smithsonian and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Prior to founding Mission Measurement, Jason practiced as a public finance attorney at Mayer Brown LLP. Jason serves on the faculty of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, where he teaches corporate social responsibility and nonprofit management. He also serves on the faculty of Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship. Jason is the founder of the Center for What Works, a national nonprofit focused on benchmarking and performance measurement. He is the author of numerous books and articles on social strategy and measurement, including: Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Manage, Measure and Improve Performance (Fieldstone Press 2006); Social Innovation, Inc.: Five Strategies to Drive Business Value through Social Change (Jossey-Bass, October 2010); and The End of Fundraising: How to Raise More by Selling Your Impact (Jossey-Bass, February 2011). Jason was awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for leadership and public service and was selected as a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow. In 2008, Jason was recognized as one of Crain’s Chicago Business “40 under 40” business leaders, and in 2010, he was named by Businessweek Magazine as one of the Nation’s 25 Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs. Jason holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, an M.P.P. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. in Government and French Literature from Cornell University.

Adele S. Simmons, is Vice-Chair of Chicago Metropolis 2020 where she focuses on early childhood education. At Metropolis 2020 she is also providing leadership in the planning of the 2009 Burnham Plan Centennial, and serving as Vice Chair of the Burnham Centennial Committee. She is co-chair of the Task Force that is developing a Climate Action Plan for the city of Chicago, at the request of the Mayor. She served as a co-chair of the Council on Global Affairs study group on Chicago’s global future. The Study Group’s Report, Global Edge was released in the fall of 2007.Mrs. Simmons was President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for a decade, overseeing grants of over $1.5 billion, including an annual $25 million program for Chicago. The foundation’s international programs focus on the environment, population, international peace and security, understanding inequality within and among nations and climate change. Mrs. Simmons is currently on the Board of Marsh and McLennan Companies, ShoreBank Corporation, ShoreBank International Ltd., and a number of non-profit organizations, including The Field Museum, The National Museum of Mexican Art, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Winning Workplaces, the American Prospect, the Synergos Institute, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. She is on the Advisory Committee to the World Bank Institute Global Equity Initiative. She served on President Carter’s Commission on World Hunger and President Bush’s Commission on Sustainable Development and was a member of the Commission on Global Governance as well as the UN High Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development. Before joining the MacArthur Foundation, Simmons was President of Hampshire College and taught at Princeton University.

Announcing the 2012 Annual Fellows

chicagodlc — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:07:23 +0000

The DLC is delighted to announce confirmed participants in the upcoming 2011-2012 Annual Fellows program. These development officers will meet with a range of senior professionals in Chicago’s philanthropic landscape for discussion and exchange. Nora Kyger, Senior Vice President at Ter Molen, Watkins & Brandt LLC, will return as program facilitator. Welcome to all and best wishes for a successful year!

Annual Fellows Program Class of 2012:

Karla Del Angel
Northwestern University

Bianca Barr
Access Living

Monica Collins
Illinois Humanities Council

Renee Anderson Davis
Art institute of Chicago

Nicole Genovese
University of Chicago Medical Center

Dove Haase
Chicago Tech Academy High School

Amhir Hidalgo
College of Commerce, DePaul University

Heather Hartung
The Rotary Foundation

Laura Kingsbury
Access Living

Courtney Kohout
Easter Seals

Eleanor Leichenko
Common Threads

Maggie McGauley
Rush University Medical Center

Nicole Mitchell
Chicago Community Trust

Kate Nardin
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago

Louise Packard
YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago

Timothy Sarrantonio
Sacred Heart Schools

Ashley Sinnot
Regional Development, University of Chicago

Lee Solomon
Newberger Hillel Center, University of Chicago

Stacey Busbee Summerfield
Parents Program, University of Chicago

Madeline Wirtz
Urban Education Institute, University of Chicago

Annual Fellows Class of 2011

chicagodlc — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:18:45 +0000

Annual Fellows 2011 Class

The Annual Fellows graduation pictures are in! Congratulations to this year’s DLC class, who celebrated their accomplishment on Tuesday, June 14th. In the front row from left to right is Marit Awes, Lisa Gerberding, Mary Bowmann, Tina Seaman, and Julia Kittle. In the back row from left to right is DLC Board member Kate Lorenz, Annual Fellows Program Facilitator Nora Kyger, Laura Jung, Jennifer Jansen, Ryan Johnson, and Josh Levine. Warm welcome to the Annual Fellows, who will now join the DLC’s professional network of alumni. A slideshow of the evening is below.

Click to view slideshow.