No additional words are necessary.

My Personal Tribute to Steve Jobs | Dave Harkins

If you look closely the list you’ll see that The Philanthropy 400 is made up of a diverse group of organizations, although most are older and more established nonprofits.  Those on the list this year include a number of colleges and universities, health charities, hospitals, foundations, youth organizations, media, religious groups, wildlife and environmental groups to name a few.  Some on the list had significant increases in giving last year, others had significant decreases.  I expected that the diversity of the groups within the listing would create for some variances, but I was curious to know if any one category saw larger than average increases or decreases.

The report does not provide an analysis by category, so I added a “category type” to each organization on the list and performed some analysis of my own using data I pulled November 30, 2010[1].

Breaking the organizations into the categories below, here’s what I found using the data to compare the change in private giving in 2009 over 2008:

The greatest overall giving gains were in the Education, Health/Medical (Research/Other), Foundations/Trusts and Children, Youth & Family categories.  The greatest overall declines in giving were in the Health/Medical (Hospital), Outdoor and Environment, and Humanitarian (non food).

Within each of the categories there could also be significant variances. For example, within the Military category support for veterans organizations (DAV and PVA) showed decline, while support for active troops (USO) showed improvement. This made sense to me in the case of the Military category given our current military actions, but variations in other categories it made less sense.

I would agree that this data suggests directional trends in some categories of nonprofits, specific causes, and perhaps for some individual organizations, although I’m not convinced that giving overall giving is down as reported by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The data provided in this report is merely a snapshot.  Many on the list have different fiscal years and the data is updated on www.philanthropy.com as new data is provided.  In fact, my review of the November 30, 2010 data for example, suggested that overall giving was up 5% over the previous year, while the October written report from The Chronicle of Philanthropyy indicated an 11% decline as mentioned earlier. In addition, no consideration seems to have been given to specific events within the life of an individual organization that might have triggered larger than usual donations within the year, such as a milestone anniversary.

As with all research, we could manipulate the data to support whatever giving position we chose to take on the nonprofit sector as a whole.  The reality is there’s a deeper problem that’s not yet being fully addressed by our Nation’s largest nonprofit organizations: Our culture and our demographics are rapidly evolving and most of these organizations are not keeping pace with the evolution.

In fact, most have spent years cultivating the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers, but haven’t put much effort into reaching Generation X or Generation Y.  Of those that have put forth an effort to reach the younger generations, the majority have used the same approaches that have proven successful for the older audiences.  Unfortunately, just because it has worked, does not mean it will continue to work. These cultural and demographic changes have created a whole new set of needs, values and expectation of younger donors that are not aligned with those needs, values and expectations of the older donors.  Moreover, the speed of change is too great.

Speed and change are the two things most nonprofit organizations fail to do well.

The misalignment of these needs, values and expectations means that the message and the mission of many organizations is no longer connecting in a meaningful way with new generations of prospective donors. Without the connection, there’s no love for the organization or for its mission.

This lack of a mission connection is the underlying reason, not the economy, for the decline in giving to majority of The Philanthropy 400, and for a good number of nonprofits and educational institutions that didn’t make the list.

The question now is this: If you think your organization has a mission connection problem, what are you going to do about it?

[1] The Chronicle of Philanthropy updates their online data regularly.

Photo Credit:Connection by craig.letourneau.photography

Nonprofits have a mission connection problem | Dave Harkins

When change begins to occur it often doesn’t register on our radar. We choose to ignore it because the impact or “noise” level in our lives is low, but change is in progress, nonetheless.  As the noise level increases, so does our level of discomfort.

We complain that change isn’t needed, though change occurs anyway. So, we plead for an exception to change, only to sulk when the exception doesn’t come. Finally, we begin to accept that we cannot stop change.

We realize that we have little control over change. But, tomorrow we’ll repeat the process with some other change in our lives as if we learned nothing about change yesterday.

What a waste of time and energy.

We cannot control change. All we can control is the speed at which we adopt change.

Change happens. Stop wasting time ignoring, complaining, pleading and sulking.

Accept the inevitable. Change. Because, it’s really the only thing we can do.

The change adoption curve | Dave Harkins

I am straight person coming out in support of allowing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals to love whomever they may chose, and to live life free of discrimination and persecution of any kind.

This has been a long time coming for me.  I was raised to be tolerant and have endeavored to be so over the years, although I have been admittedly uncomfortable at times when around my LBGT friends.  I don’t know why, and would not dream of trying to explain such feelings when there’s no rational basis for their existence.  I will tell you, though, that I’ve finally outgrown the discomfort.

We live in a different world than the one in which I grew up.  Largely, our culture is more accepting, because those children who learned that “everyone gets a trophy just for showing up,” have become perhaps the most tolerant generation of young adults in our history.  Yet, those I know who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender still cannot step forward and express their love for someone of the same gender, let alone marry someone of the same sex in most states.

While it seems that we have made some progress, many in our world seem to care more about what consenting adults do behind closed-doors than about the contribution those adults make to our society.  As for me, I am not interested in knowing the detailed sexual behavior of anyone I know–heterosexual or homosexual.  It just doesn’t matter to me, and frankly should not matter to anyone else.  After all, would you want someone to know the intimate details of your closed-door encounters?  I wouldn’t think so.

If you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, know that there are people who love you and care about you regardless of whether you’re “in or out.”  It makes no difference to us if you choose to be public with your sexuality.  We encourage you to do what is necessary for yourself, but hope that you’ll consider your current circumstances.  Unfortunately, as much our culture has become more tolerant, there are still a good number of homophobic people and institutions out there.  Above all, we want you to be safe.

For everyone else, grow up already.  People are just people.  Every one of us deserves to love and to be loved.  Can we stop standing in the way of anyone who is seeking love and just support them in their quest?

Isn’t it about time we all came out in support of our fellow human beings? It seems to me that life and love are hard enough without all the hatred?

Isn’t it about time we all came out? | Dave Harkins

The facilitator allowed us ten minutes to decide the one thing that we stood for, above all other things, to share with the group.  I quickly made a list of things that were core to my life and beliefs then, I agonized for the remaining eight minutes over the priority of the words.  What was the one thing that stood above all others?  Was it creativity, or trust, or directness?  Was it something spiritual?  I just wasn’t sure.  Then, out of nowhere came a memory of conversation with a friend.

A few months prior, I was sharing that I learned early in my career that I enjoy creating and building new businesses, processes, or programs, and I dislike the mundane details of the day-day-management of the things I’ve built.  Although I can make myself manage those things for a while, I usually get bored and frustrated, and I look to hire someone quickly who loves those daily details.  Frankly, it allows me to keep my sanity.  I need variety in my work and life to maintain my motivation.

After hearing my story, my friend asked what he thought was an innocent question, “What is it you like most; the act of creating or building something new, or seeing the finished result of your hard work?”  The question took me off guard; I think of myself as an introspective guy, yet I had never asked myself this question.

A few minutes passed before I answered, “The act of creating and building is what motivates me most.  When I build a table, for example, the fun for me is in selecting and cutting the wood then, assembling the seemingly disparate pieces into a functioning table.  Once it’s built, I may walk by a couple of times and admire my handiwork, but then I move on to the next thing.  What drives me is, ‘what could be,’ not necessarily ‘what is.’”

This memory helped me realize that above all things, I stand for the “possibilities” in life and in work.  The possibility of something yet to come stirs a passion and drive deep inside that propels me forward.  To have the ability, however flawed at times, to see life or work in a way that allows me to envision the picture on the top of the puzzle box when others can only see the individual pieces of the puzzle; to create something new where nothing exists is exhilarating.  Unlike most, the possibilities of life or work do not scare me; instead, I thrive on what might be and push hard to get there, if only pause shortly before moving on to the next thing.

As wrote the word “possibilities” at the top of my list, our 10 minutes were up.  We stood and moved into a circle to share our “stands” with each other.  As each person told their stand, I almost immediately looked at them differently; as if I had a better understanding of the way they thought about new ideas or responded to the challenges of change.  It was literally, as if a light bulb went on above my head.  I have long known the backgrounds and perceptions of others influence their actions and decisions, but I had never before heard someone sum up their life’s motivation in one word—their public stand.

I realized then my stand is both a gift and a curse.  I’m fortunate that I can often see the big picture or goal, even when imperfect at the start.  I am also blessed with ability think in detail, so I can design and take action on the steps necessary to reach that goal.  There are times, though, when I see the top of the puzzle box so clearly that I push others too hard without considering how their own “stand” might be guiding them on their journey.  Instead of helping them on the journey, I push them forward before their ready to go, causing some aggravation and frustration at times.

For those who are wondering, I have been working on holding my tongue until others are ready to hear what I have to say.  My success varies, hourly.

Since that training day, I’ve been thinking that life would be much easier if only we knew the “stand” of everyone we love and work with each day.  Would it make a difference if we simply stood up from our computer at home right now or walked into our office tomorrow and said, “I stand for [insert your stand here]” to our family and co-workers?  After they get over the shock of the public proclamation and you explain what you’re doing, I believe it would make a difference.

It seems to me that understanding just one more thing about someone we work with or someone we love makes all the difference in how we can relate to them.  This new understanding becomes a gift because, it not only changes our lives; it changes theirs.

Go on.  Do it.  Now.  It’s easy. I’ll even go first.

I stand for possibilities.

Want to take it step further? If you’re on Twitter, I encourage send a tweet after you read this with your stand (“ I stand for…”) and the hashtag, #takeapublicstand.

Photo credit: fists in the air by Ibai Lemon

Will you make a public stand in life? | Dave Harkins

In February 2010, I had the privilege of sharing the message for Scout  Sunday at my church.  My message that Sunday was based on the New Testament book of Luke 6:17-26, commonly known as the “Beatitudes.” I closed the message with a story about Richard Pearlman that I compiled from news reports. Below is the story and the message closing:

…let me share with you the story of Richard Pearlman.  He knew a little something about making an effort and the responsibilities of taking care of others.

Richie joined the junior corps of Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps. when he was 14, working as a volunteer dispatcher.  At 18, he joined the Senior Corps as a paramedic, where he immediately became a source of knowledge for new dispatchers and new volunteer members.  He looked forward to starting his EMT courses and a career in emergency services.

Richie was a constant presence at the Corps.  He was the regular Tuesday night and Saturday daytime dispatcher.  He was present at every can shaking and blood pressure screening the Corps held.  But he found his passion when became involved in the Boy Scouts of America, as an Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 106, in Queens, New York.  Richie was committed to both Scouting and caring for others.  The summer of 2001, Richie was staffer at Boy Scout Camp Aquehonga in Narrowsburg, NY. He served in the trading post, camp services, assisted the commissioners and as an office manager.  While in the office, Richie found his calling and a new nickname, “mother.”  He earned this name for the way he doted on injured campers and staff.  Richie was a trained in CPR and as a first aid technician, but his specialty was psychological first aid.  He had a knack for calming down the most upset and injured Scout and Scouter alike.

Richie lived with his parents in Howard Beach, NY and was working as a messenger for a New York Law firm the morning of September 11, 2001.  He was delivering a package to One Police Plaza when he learned that the first airplane had struck the World Trade Center not far away.  He called his boss and told him he had gone over to help.  His employer ordered him back to the offices where he would be safe, however Richie knew in his heart where he belonged.  He saw total mayhem before him, and his training kicked in.  He shared that he saw people hurt and bleeding.  “I have to stay and do what I can to help.”

Upon arriving, the 18-year-old, flashed his gold paramedic’s badge #3754, and rushed into a building to aid in the rescue effort.  Despite the chaos at the scene, Richie’s heroics were later confirmed on pages 16-17 in Newsweek’s Extra Edition of America Under Attack which shows a picture of Richie aiding the injured—helping a woman covered in blood, but alive, from one of the towers.  After getting her to safety, he ran back in to find more survivors.  Shortly afterward, the towers came down.

Richard Allen Pearlman, 18, an assistant scoutmaster with Troop 106, chartered to Trinity Lutheran Church in Queens, NY became the youngest victim of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  He received The Honor Medal, with crossed palms, the highest award given by the Boy Scouts of America for an act of Heroism at extreme risk to oneself.

“He used to always say,” his mother shared at his funeral, ‘I’m going to be a famous person one day, Mom.  I’m going to help save the world.  ‘You’ll see.’  “And he did save the world…at least the world for the one woman he helped escaped the towers that day.

Richie Pearlman was an exceptional man.  He was a brave, courageous, tenacious, and strong.  But, we learned that he was also loving, compassionate, empathetic, and kind-hearted – everything we hope for in ourselves and in others.  In our scriptures today, Jesus is clear about his expectations of us; that as His followers, we are held to a higher standard through this “code of conduct.”  Richie Pearlman was just being the kind of person that God calls us all to be.

The message closed with this video:

May God bless and keep the families of those who perished on September 11, 2001.

It’s in every one of us: A 9/11 story | Dave Harkins

We humans are social animals, of course. Most of us like engage with others so that we can have an understanding of where we fit into the fabric of our culture. Yet we Americans, in particular, are finding ourselves growing disconnected from those around us. We overwhelm ourselves with extracurricular activities to occupy our time, we work too much and relax too little, and we focus on getting “things” done, rather than experience doing “things.” Overall, we have lost the personal connections to the people in America who make our “stuff,” grow our food, or frankly, those who live next door. It is almost as if our individual desires for personal independence and self-reliance have eclipsed our need for social interaction. They have not, of course. Our requirements of social interactions are just different now from before.

Today, we try to balance our individual desires with our need for social interaction by leveraging digital technologies into the mix to help us maintain our personal connections in the lulls of our daily living. We all do it, but some of us do it better. It seems to me that each generation appears to connect and build relationships differently using technology. For example, I have observed that Millennials use social media as a way of extending their daily interactions with their friends. With their mobility restricted by expansive neighborhoods and overprotective parents while growing, they had no choice but to explore new online social technologies as a way to maintain their friendships. As a result, communicating by text, Facebook or MySpace is the same as a phone call or a face-to-face conversation. Social media, and the digital technologies that supports it, are fully integrated into the life of most Millennials.

Observations of Generation X show me that they rely heaviest on cell phones for social interaction, I suspect because most were in college when mobile phones became affordable for and adopted by the masses. Texting and social media tools appear to be time-consumers that this Generation has not yet fully embraced. Instead, they are practical about the use of social media, engaging with those pieces that benefit them most (such as using Twitter to build business relationships), disengaging when there is little personal gain.

Baby Boomers appear to function best using face-to-face, phone and email communications, but are rapidly adopting Facebook. I think, they can “see” their friends and feel engaged in those lives as if they lived next door. This closeness is important to Boomers, especially as they age, because it seems to provide Boomers true “social” opportunities in the context of their primary interests: connecting with old friends, sharing political news and views, discussing religion and exploring hobbies.

Each generation has found a way to make social media technologies relevant to their own lives, to give us opportunities to connect with others regularly, as we allow our culture to put increasing demands on our time. The ability for us to bend and mold social media tools to our individual needs, values, and expectations is what makes it work so well in building and re-building our valued connections.

We need social media tools to help us maintain our ability to be human in the face of the demands made on us by our culture, our peers, and ourselves. These tools are now such an essential part of how we function as individuals and who we are together as a community, that living without social media and supporting technologies is unthinkable.

It is clear to me that social media allows us to maintain some degree of sanity in our lives. Without these tools, we would give up what little socialization we do enjoy; and I am not so sure that would be good for our minds, or our souls.

Why we need social media | Dave Harkins

I decided to try a little social media experiment at the Licensing Expo to see if we could get into the attendees life stream and create personal engagement.  We advertised our presence on Twitter in print and on signs in the booth, we engaged followers of the Licensing Expo Twitter feed (#LX9) on the floor, and we brought a magician to the booth to create a different life experience on the show floor.

Were we successful?

Our Twitter follower numbers are up modestly since the advertisements began to appear, but the real success comes from the buzz we generated on the show floor.  We tweeted multiple times a day, awarding prizes, sharing memorable visits and talking about our booth activities.  The folks at the Licensing Expo and others took notice and retweeted.  Many booth visitors said the tweets were the reason for stopping.

It seems that we were not only successful in getting into the life stream of attendees, but once we gained their attention we also did well to create a memorable experience (with our magician) when they engaged.  This good memory we helped to create launched many deeper conversations about our brand and our opportunities.  Although, had we not made good use of the moment when we captured their attention, attendees would have been off to the next thing.

Some have said this was a successful use of the digital channel, or perhaps  savvy social media marketing.  Maybe, although I no longer believe in marketing channel silos when it comes to building customer relationships (see my 2003 whitepaper, Customers are Channel Neutral for details).  Customers effortlessly move between channels, so our old definitions are no longer truly relevant-except to say that the customer experience must be consistent regardless of when and where the customer connects.  Today, marketers must subtly connect, be accepted in the life stream, and engage with passion so that it creates a memory for the customer.  So, it was not the use of the social media that mattered in our experiment, rather it was the memory we helped to create.  Social media and digital technologies are only tools to help spread the message.  What is most important for marketers to remember is simply: great stories and memorable experiences spread quickly to build brands–the channel and the tools are irrelevant.

With people from all over the world attending, the Licensing Expo provided a microcosm of what is happening in our culture.  Our personal and work lives are intertwined and we engage both regardless of our location.  Life is no longer exclusively defined by what is happening in our physical presence.  For many of us it resides in the palm of our hands and is illuminated by a tiny screen. As marketers, we must adapt to these changes without being intrusive or obnoxious if we are to keep our brands relevant.

As I see it, this ever-present digital and wireless connection to the world can no longer be called a “channel.”  Digital technologies simply and effortlessly extend the connections in our lives; and life connections are not channel dependant.

Digital is not a channel; it’s a life-connection tool. | Dave Harkins

The use of these electronic tools for conversation isn’t as really the time-waster they insist it is. Frankly, I prefer to think of these tools as “time-enablers” instead of a “time-wasters.” Having a BlackBerry®, for example, allows me to take my work with me wherever I go. Whether it’s soccer games, band or chorus concerts, or business trips, I can easily bridge the time between work, play and life most of the time. This means I probably work more hours than the average person does, but I work differently. I like the freedom. After all, it’s all “life,” isn’t it?

Facebook allows me to keep up with my kids and friends while traveling on business or otherwise away from the PC. Twitter opens the doors to ideas and conversations that I would never have if I only talked to the people in my every-day business dealings. For those of us with intense curiosity and a burning desire to continue to learn new things, Twitter is the source of unbelievable amounts of useful information, shared by people with similar passions—even for a skimmer of tweets like me.

In a 2003 blog entry, “The trouble with cell phones,” I shared that my friend Roger might have been on to something when he suggested, “…cell phones have replaced cigarettes as a nervous habit. People pull out their cell phones, call others when they feel bored or need to kill 5 minutes or so, and didn’t plan ahead with some reading material.” Today, this has been replaced with texting, email, Facebook and Twitter. Tomorrow, it will be something else. As someone commented recently, given the choice people would rather be doing something than doing nothing. Mobile technologies allow us to do something all of the time—productive or not.

Technology has obviously evolved since 2003 when cell phones were the primary source of mobile conversations. While we still use cell phones, we use them differently. We talk little and text often. Technology and our use of will constantly evolve and morph into the next generation of tools. Think about it: the “shared applications,” mainframe-thinking of the 70’s evolved into tools like Google Apps and cloud computing discussions; AOL’s IM chat communities of the 90’s and classmates.com have evolved into today’s Facebook; and ASP program models of the 2000’s have evolved into the Software as a Service (SaaS) program models of today. The technology changed, sure. But, it was the users of the technology who drove those changes.

Knowing all of these things, it’s hard for me to imagine that a few short years from now what we call “Social Media” and the technology that supports it, will not have undergone a major transformation for the better. It will do so because of the users. Users of these tools already desire a more streamlined ways to improve communications with others. I have to believe that users will demand better integration of these tools to make their lives easier through increased mobility. This will allow the conversations to continue and the relationships to build all day, every day. Will this mean stronger, better relationships? Maybe. Only time will tell.

I am certain of two things, though. One: Everything about technology and social media interaction will continue to evolve. For those of us who are early adopters, we gain great insights into how that evolution may occur. Two: My friends, who don’t understand Twitter today, won’t understand the next step in the evolution either. Unfortunately, they will find themselves farther and farther behind; not just with technology, but also in their social interactions with others as many of their friends more readily adopt the changing way we communicate as a culture.

By know, we all should realize that, “this, too, will change.” Technology evolves. Communication methods evolve. Yet, people do not really evolve as much as they adapt. Either they drive such change by adopting, engaging, and sharing or they simply adapt to such change reluctantly in fear of being passed by.

Which will you do?

Thanks to @heathervescent with whom I had a Twitter conversation about emerging technology, which was the spark for this blog post.

BlackBerry® is a registered trademark of Research In Motion Limited.

Social Media: This, too, will change. | Dave Harkins

The Fourth Turning is a Crisis, a decisive era of secular upheaval, when the values of regime propel the replacement of the old civic order with a new one.

Strauss and Howe go on to say that each Turning has its own mood. During the Fourth Turning, they suggest that we will see families being strengthened, gender roles widening, ideals championed, and new institutions founded. We will become practical as a culture, our social priority will be building our community, and our greatest sense of need will be to fix the world beyond ourselves.

It sounds like the world we are living in now, doesn’t it?

If you are familiar with Strauss and Howe’s previous book, Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069, you know that the last Hero (or civic-focused) generation is known to most as the Greatest Generation, while the current Hero generation are the Millennial’s. The current Hero Generation has brought us Facebook, Twitter, and other online social networks. This generation is pushing to fix the problems of America and regularly puts their words into action at the voting booth. This generation strives to make a difference in the world and consistently delivers on their promises.

As the Millennials move into adulthood, they are merging their needs, values, and expectations into every detail of their lives. They need to feel that they are making a difference. They value consensus, relationships, and family. They hold the government, institutions, corporations, their peers, society, and themselves to higher standards than any other generation. Along the way, their idealism is resetting the expectations not just for their own generation, but also for all.

Organizations and corporations must take note of these changes because it is redefining the way success will be measured as it relates to the customer, member, or donor. Consider these points critical for the future survival of nearly every business and organization:

1.  Be trustworthy in all your encounters. You have to earn the business.
2.  Be transparent in all your actions. You must walk the talk.
3.  Stand for something bigger than profits. Greed is no longer acceptable.
4.  Make a difference in the world around you. You must care and show it.
5.  Build meaningful relationships with your customers. People like to do business with those they like.
6.  Ask for input from constituents and use what you are given. Collaboration and consensus means everything.

While these points could essentially be summed up into the Golden Rule, they are often lost in the business world. The Millennials are reminding us all that there is something larger than ourselves that needs tending. This is the attitude that must prevail in our businesses, our colleges, our communities, and our government.

If Millenials are successful in driving change in this Fourth Turning, our world will undoubtedly change for the better. And, they will have earned the label of Hero.

The rise of a new “Hero” | Dave Harkins