A Minute With Jennifer Klopp of Helen Keller International

I recently had a chance to sit down with Jennifer Klopp, vice president of development and communications at Helen Keller International. Jennifer has been a lightning rod for growth during her eight-year tenure.

"Founded in 1915 by Helen Keller and George Kessler, Helen Keller International's (HKI) mission is to save the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. We combat the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition by establishing programs based on evidence and research in vision, health and nutrition. We currently work in 22 countries: 13 in Africa, eight in Asia-Pacific and the United States."

"HKI is fortunate to have incredibly strong, proven and effective programs that have translated into significant growth over the last few years. In fact, our 2013 fiscal year budget is going to be nearly $60 million, up from $29 million in FY06. We've more than doubled in size over the last seven years. In fact, more often than not, funders seek us out to implement our programs to prevent blindness and reduce malnutrition. The part of our portfolio that has seen the most growth has been our nutrition program — there's an understanding now that good nutrition is the critical foundation needed for children to live and thrive, which is a smart investment in the health of not only children, but their families, communities and entire countries."

"More than 50 percent of our funding comes from government funding, primarily the U.S. and Canada, with the balance coming from private foundations, corporations and individuals. Believe it or not, individual giving is currently less than 2 percent of our overall giving, so we have identified this as a huge growth potential for the organization. HKI is evolving from an organization that had been entrepreneurial in terms of its approach to fundraising where much of that work was done in the field, to a more centralized approach with a dedicated development team based at our headquarters that includes a team focused on building our unrestricted resources to support the infrastructure needed to keep up with our growth."

"The arrival of Kathy Spahn, president and CEO, in 2005 was a real turning point for the organization. Her leadership together with the expertise of our staff and the commitment of the board have catalyzed this tremendous growth. The right leadership makes all the difference."

"Our greatest asset, the breadth of our programs, can also be our greatest challenge in communicating with potential donors. We work in the poorest of neighborhoods here at home, and we also work in developing countries in Africa and Asia. We provide glasses to schoolchildren, and we teach women how to create gardens with nutritious foods, and we perform sight-restoring surgeries, and so on. The richness of choices can sometimes be overwhelming, so we have to figure out ways to focus on the right story at the right time. That's where the fun comes in too! Understanding who your donors are, and what their interests are, is key to our success."

"I believe very strongly in the power of social media — as a way to connect people. The question is not 'how much money are you raising on Facebook,' but instead 'how are you engaging new audiences?' Social networking can be a powerful way to share with people the great work that we are doing and really get them engaged and interested. The time and effort we are spending now are an investment in our growth and the organization's future."

"We are committed to honor the life and vision of our founder, Helen Keller, in the work we do and how we conduct our fundraising. I'm always thinking about what Helen would do in a given situation. During her lifetime, she was a hugely successful fundraiser for us during our early years, so we are really following in her footsteps. And, I believe that she is still looking after us."

"I think it is essential to determine the strengths of your organization and your needs. Then you can develop short- and long-term strategies to leverage those strengths and meet those needs. In order to really succeed, you must have stellar leadership and deep commitment, not only within the staff but also from your board. Once you have that, you are capable of amazing things. Like Helen said, 'The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.'"

Dane Grams is director of nonprofit services at Care2 and co-chair of the FundRaising Success Editorial Advisory Board. Reach him at daneg@care2.com