AFP Conference Roundup: International Fundraising Pro Advises Organizations to 'Get Sexy'
Duschinsky challenged attendees to use the self-organizing tools now available to facilitate a movement of people who share their visions. To achieve this, he recommended all organizations implement the following six-stage plan:
1. Revisit the business model so the people organizations serve get more out of the services offered. The first priority of an organization should be its beneficiaries, not the organization itself, Duschinsky said.
Re-evaluate the services your organization is providing and focus your energy on the things that you do best, the things you do better than anyone. Duschinsky suggested making a two-column chart with "Best" on the left side and "Rest" on the right. Get your team together, and ask them what it is that you do better than anyone on the planet and write it on the left side of the chart. Then think of all of the other things you do and write them on the right side of the column. Are you spending most of your time and energy on the things that no one does better than you?
"You can't afford to be mediocre," he said. "We can do better. We have to do better because lives are depending on it."
2. Get sexy. What makes people sexy is the fact that they're imperfect, Duschinsky said. So stop trying to be all things to all people. Find out what it is about your organization that makes you really sexy (i.e., different, passionate) and then shout about it.
3. Be bold. Be proud about what you do, and challenge yourself about the way things work. The flat world doesn't work in silos, Duschinsky said. It works horizontally.
4. Tell stories. Stories are the best way to get people to understand the issues you face and the action you want them to take.
5. Find talent. Technology on its own doesn't help, Duschinsky said. You need to hire people who know what to do with it.
6. Get horizontal. Look at how many hierarchical layers there are in your organization from top to bottom? How many staff do you have? Duschinsky suggested that organizations decrease the horizontal layers that lay between staff and top leadership, and streamline their leadership structures.
