On July 19th and 20th Keith and I participated in the Giving Institute’s Summer Symposium this year held in Park City, Utah. The Giving Institute is a 40-member organization of consulting firms dedicated to education and the promotion of philanthropy and ethical fundraising. This annual gathering brings professionals together from across the country and provides an excellent opportunity for networking and sharing of best practices. The speakers led discussions on a variety of topics from the latest research on trends in philanthropy to strategies in social network fundraising. One of the most intriguing presentations was given by Martin West, former Australian jet fighter pilot, and now president of XGap, a consulting firm focused on successful business execution strategies.
His premise follows that most companies understand the importance of setting goals and many identify strategies for accomplishing them, however, many organizations fall short when it comes to execution. Martin draws analogies from his former military career, which focused significantly on delivery and execution, to demonstrate how organizations can achieve the goals they set. He outlined five rules which he calls “execution lessons.”
1. Simple beats complex: Make your goals simple.
2. Black and white beats grey: Make your goals explicitly clear.
3. Measurement drives behavior: Make your goals quantifiable.
4. Hit high return targets: Identify critical steps to meet your goals.
5. Transparency drives accountability: Meet frequently to discuss progress or lack of progress toward your goals.
6. Remove roadblocks: As leaders, monitor progress and remove barriers to success.
Martin then provided three steps to defining what an organization should focus on in order to ensure they are executing correctly:
1. Determine your measurable goals: How will your organization measure its success?
2. Determine the high-return activities under each goal: What will we focus on?
3. Set a 90-day contract for each staff member who will execute the high-return activities: What do I need to execute?
The high-return activities are integral to the success of an organization’s progress and innovation. As Martin advises, “we only have limited time, effort and resources: we have to make sure they are expended on high-return activities.” Organizations should outline the actions that can be taken that will make the biggest impact and movement toward the established goals. You should be able to answer confidently in the affirmative that the action your organization will take will yield high returns toward achieving the measurable goals. And finally, you must assign the various action items that correspond to the high-return activities to staff members.
For the past five years The Curtis Group, in partnership with the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, has worked with twenty local nonprofit grantees to build fundraising capacity. Following our in-depth assessment of each organization, we determine the measureable goals and high-return action steps their staff and board leadership must take to substantially increase their development operations. We begin our initial meeting with the organization’s development committee defining specific action items under each broad goal. The Community Foundation recently assessed the success of this initiative and the metrics show nearly all nonprofits that completed the 18 months of assistance reported increased contributions by more than $2.3 million—a $9 to $1 return on investment. Now that’s a measurable outcome that defines success!
As The Curtis Group prepares for our annual team retreat next month, we look forward to applying Martin’s three steps to our firm’s goals. We believe following his advice founded on the importance of execution will bring us even greater returns in the weeks, months, and years to come.
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