Dan Pallotta: dare to dream and invest
Have you heard about Dan Pallotta's new online training? In line with his views as presented in his now famous TED talk (The way we think about charity is dead wrong) and book (Uncharitable) he has given trainings to nonprofit boards and directors worldwide in recent years. He has now translated that training into an online format.
The training is about two important themes: dare to dream and invest. As non-profit organizations, we don't dare to dream big enough. This is largely because we are trapped in our own reality that strongly limits our potential. We grew up with a world view where charities should not invest big. At least, not at the level of commercial organizations.
Dan emailed me the following:
“It doesnβt matter what your geography is - the stifling double standard between the profit and non-profit organizations is everywhere, and Iβve spoken twice in the Netherlands and heard testimonials from people who work in the trenches about how it keeps progress against that. The Bold Training is universally applicable for anyone who wants to use their limited time on Earth for maximum impact for positive change.”
What I personally like about the training is that the success of the charity's mission is logically linked to their growth in fundraising. After all, with more resources, the organization can achieve more. If you figured that out, the need to invest is suddenly a lot clearer. By formulating a (measurable and time-bound) dream, you are forced to invest in the growth of your organization. All obstacles are then seen as challenges in a practical blueprint for change. And the desire to innovate in fundraising is getting stronger.
A wonderful example is the University of Southern California (USC). From 1950 to 2011, they raised more than $ 6 billion in donations. They raised the second 6 billion in 2012-2018. In just 6 years. How? By investing enormously in their Major Donor program in a very short period of time. During that period, the number of Major Donor Officers more than doubled from 225 to 470!
If you have a dream you want to realize and understand the investment dynamics of private fundraising, investing is the only logical choice.
I have just followed the training and I can recommend it to every board and management.
In my evaluation I informed Dan that I will try to bring him to the Netherlands in 2021. Time to shake up some Dutch boards! Would your board benefit from this?