Pass or Fail - School Referendums Are Great Opportunities

School referendum FAIL?  YOU NEED TO READ THIS!

If it PASSED, YOU STILL NEED TO READ THIS!


Today, a lot of students, families and community members are holding their breath waiting to find out if the community is willing to increase their own taxes in order to provide more money for schools.  

For some communities, the money is for exciting improvements and upgrades like WiFi services, new arts facilites, equipment for a new tech ed program, specially designed classroom furniture that promotes focus and collaboration, and important professional development for teachers so they can implement educational methods that are based on the newest research on how children learn best.  For others, the money is capital needed to replace buildings that are 50 or even a hundred years old.  And for some communities, the referendum money is critical for survival - just to pay for current operations.

It can definitely be easier or harder to pass a referendum depending on what the money will be used for, but you can't really predict why without doing a lot of outreach.  For example, there are some small communities that are so passionate about education for their children and the trust level is so high between the schools and the community, it doesn't really much matter what the money is needed for - the community will support it.  For other communities though, where there is not as much trust, or where there is a lack of understanding of the need for the improvements, it won't matter how sexy the message is, there just won't be enough support to pass it.  

Whatever camp your community falls into, AND WHETHER YOUR REFERENDUM PASSES OR FAILS TODAY, you should view tomorrow as the first day on your journey of genuine community engagement and an entirely new way to look at education funding. 

Education Funding is NOT ABOUT MONEY! 

I'm sure that sounds crazy, but the the communities that are most supportive of their education programs don't see school funding as a cost or an expense to be minimized.  They see education as the path to success for their children, but also as the path to ABUNDANCE FOR THEIR COMMUNITY. 

It's obvious you need community support to be able to pass referendums that will provide you with the resources schools need, and today's referendum results will tell you whether you have that support or not.  But, it's actually not obvious how you get that support.  

I'm going to share with you the SECRET TO GETTING ALL THE RESOURCES YOUR SCHOOLS NEED!  I call it the formula for effective community engagement, and that formula is STORY + DIRECTION + RELATIONSHIPS.  It might take a leap of faith for you, but I promise if you dive deep into the formula, you will not have to ASK (e.g., beg) FOR WHAT YOUR SCHOOLS NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL.  You will ATTRACT MORE THAN YOU NEED! 

READY?  This is the Reader's Digest version of the  of the formula. 

FIRST, let's start with STORY.  Find the THREE (no more than three) things that make your school awesome, and start talking about it in a way people can understand.  I'm not asking you to tell people your'e perfect.  There's some amazing things going on in your schools, and you need to figure out what they are and build on them.  It might be your teachers' constant openness and desire to change and improve.  It might be how you integrate the arts and humanities into everything you do.  It might be that you talk about relationships with your students every single day (that's really cool).  Your STORY needs to capture the essence of who you are so people can find an emotional connection to it.  

A critical part of your story is a VISION FOR THE FUTURE.  People don't get excited about the hard work you do every day.  They get excited about WHAT WILL HAPPEN because of what you're doing every day.  We call this the BHAG (remember Tom Peters?) - BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL.  The bigger and bolder the vision for the future, the more excited people will be and the more support and money you will attract. 

But here's the catch with the vision.  You can't just develop the vision internally.  All the stakeholders of your schools must be involved.  You can decide what your educational philosophy will be and how you will deliver it (e.g., project-based learning, place-based learning, infusing the arts into all subjects, career exploration, etc.), but YOU MUST ASK PEOPLE TO HELP YOU DREAM ABOUT WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE IF IT'S SUCCESSFUL.  When people are part of the dream, they feel ownership for helping to make it happen. 

SECOND, is direction.  Once you've inspired people with your story and gotten them excited about the community-inspired vision for the future, you now must make it so clear what is needed to get there so people can decide for themselves how they want to help.  Now that you've got an exciting vision, determine what the TOP THREE PRIORITIES are that need to be achieved to get you closer to that vision.  These three priorities will become part of your story.  For example, if your vision is to be the best at preparing high school students for success in careers and college, your top three priorities might be: #1 Cultivating partnerships with businesses in the community that work in the fields of health sciences, manufacturing and technology; #2 Secure the resources or partners needed to provide transportation for students to community business partner locations at a cost of $15,000 annually, and #3 Sustain the lap top initiative, which provides lap-top computers to every new student.  

The beauty in defining and sharing your top three priorities is that people can determine for themselves how they can help.  An inspired community member may know that there is a business with brand new lap top computers just waiting to donate to someone who could use them.  Another community member may be one of the vice presidents at the local  hospital and sees the mutual benefit of providing internships to students.  Get what I mean?  The more clear you are about what you need, the easier it is for people to help.  IT'S NOT THE COMMUNITY MEMBER'S JOB TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO HELP YOU.  it's your job to be clear about what you need to achieve your vision. 

THIRD, comes the fun part - or the scary part to others - relationships.  With your inspiring story, with an exciting vision for the future, and clear priorities defined, it's time to empower everyone involved with your schools to share the story with everyone they know AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.  

You're going to need to change your mindset in order to benefit by my formula, especially when it comes to money.  When it comes to ATTRACTING resources - I mean money and "stuff" just kind of shows up at your door - you'll need to buy-in to our mantras.  

Quick story from my friend (client) Anne Louis, founder of Shiocton International Leadership Academy in Wisconsin.  We had been working with her team for about five months before they opened their new public charter school in the district.  Everyone had bought into the alinea formula hook, line and sinker as they say.  They were attracting people, money and support all summer long.  Well, it was the day before the first official day of the new school, and Anne wrote a note to herself on the whiteboard - 2 microwaves - just to remind herself that they still needed two microwaves.  The next day, someone came into the school wondering if they could use 3 microwaves.  THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!

Now, on to these mindset changes you'll have to make - call them a NEW BELIEF SYSTEM:

1.  IT'S NOT ABOUT ASKING FOR MONEY (OR ANYTHING) - It's about sharing something you're passionate and excited about.  It's not about a script, but it is about everyone being on the same page about those THREE THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR SCHOOLS AWESOME.  After sharing that part, people should go where their hearts take them and share stories.  For a parent of a fourth grader, they will be most passionate sharing things that have to do with their own child's experience.  For a member of the school board that works at a major employer, they will be most passionate about how the schools are teaching students 21st century skills like critical thinking, collaboration and communication.  If you arm these passionate ambassadors with the knowledge of the top three priorities, they will be walking magnets for resources and not even know it.  

2.  IT'S ABOUT SEEING EVERY MOMENT OF THE DAY AS AN OPPORTUNITY.  Whether you're getting a haircut, attending your cousin's wedding reception, buying groceries or chatting with people after church services, every moment is an opportunity to share this exciting story.  Make it a rule never to answer the question, "So, what's new?" with answers like "Not much," or "Same old, same old."  Make a game out of it.  My clients are never allowed to answer those questions like that.  A bell goes off in their heads that reminds them to talk about all the amazing work being done in the schools.  

Another quick story from my friend and client Theresa Haaz of Granton Schools.  She copied us on this email to her leadership team:  "Hey!  I am so excited and pumped right now I have to share!!!  THIS WORKS (alinea's formula)!!!  I reached out to the community members today regarding the Facebook project and both of them have agreed to help!!!  We have a meeting set up and I’m so excited!!!   I was still a little hesitant and not sure what to say, but I asked and they agreed!!!  GRANTON SCHOOL IS AWESOME and so are the people who support it!

3.  YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.  You've heard this saying before, but if you become more conscious of how true it is, you will be surprised by your own results.  This is about being open to the generosity of whoever is standing in front of you.  This is about connecting with people in a way that doesn't focus on an outcome.  It's about allowing them to take you on a journey inside of them, and to really learn about what makes them happy.  People connect to you when you are open to what they have to offer.  

Going Beyond Referendums - A New Model for Funding

Referendums are very interesting to me.  I understand the motivation behind them, but they also result in a kind of complacency among school leaders and community members.  The good idea behind referendums is that in theory the community is working together to suport the schools proportionate to their capacity (measured by property ownership).  This results in everyone sharing the responsibility fairly.  

There are a few problems with this approach though; the most important problem is that many people do not feel they have a choice and if given the choice they may not support the referendum.  For others, their contribution through the referendum is a pittance compared to what their true capacity is and even what they would be willing to contribute if asked.  

The unhappy people will share their unhappiness with others, which will lead to less community support.  The others will breathe a sigh of relief when the referendum passes and then forget about it.  In both cases, there is no personal and emotional connection happening that would lead to more contribution from both people.  If the person who does not want to support the schools is unhappy based on a misperception, that's not his fault.  It's the role of the school to provide the information that could correct the misperception.  In my experience, lack of support is usually about inadequate information and fear about how changes will impact someone's life.

INSTEAD, communities should focus on having an exciting vision for education, figuring out what needs to happen to achieve it, and then empower people who are excited with tools to help them spread the word - EVERYWHERE - and make connections with people who feel inspired to help no matter where they live.

Homework

In the beginning, it's as simple as this.  Later, when people start saying, "I want to help," then we need to talk about some infrastructure.  

Try this approach and let me know what happens.  Or, send me an email at dlukovich@wi.rr.com and ask for some of our tools, like Elevator Pitch document, Compelling Tour guidelines, 10 Steps to Cultivating Relationships.  Also, my book, The Secret to Better Schools; a New Mindset for Engaging the Community, acts as a handbook for putting this formula to work. 

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU ABOUT YOUR REFERENDUMS!  

Deb

Adopting alinea's Mentality As My Own

I have learned a lot as a leader and educator over the past eighteen years. Staying plugged in professionally has paid dividends for the organizations I help lead. 

But until I was told, “If you do what I ask you to do, you will have all the resources you need,” I was more reactive to the economic demands of my job than visionary. I was the victim of circumstances, not the victor my board and families needed.

I realized I needed to shut-up and listen. Those prophetic words came from Deb Lukovich of alinea and a partnership ensued that provided real learning and resources for Sheboygan County Christian Schools.

We were stuck in a scarcity mentality

Imagine the scarcity mentality that would be fostered in teachers, parents and board members under these circumstances: ten years of declining enrollment, mounting debt, fledgling fundraising, laying off of staff, cutting of programs and a general sense that the school was rapidly approaching the “death line”.  
 
When I accepted this position three years ago, I should have hired Eeyore just to add an optimist to the staff!  I could rally the troops to a point, but then I needed a partner. That is where alinea came in and the rest is, well; a success story. 

Since this partnership was started, enrollment at the high school is up, fundraising has increased by over 400%, and the question morphed from “When do we hit the death line?” to “What is our next big thing?!"

Success, though, was not instantaneous. How do you change a mental model built on scarcity? 

A transformation must occur

The transformation started at the board level. What the leadership models the staff and constituents will embrace. This was a challenging transformation though. This shift from a traditional board model to a community engaged model had board members searching for the ejector button. “I don’t know how to be a fundraiser!” “I don’t know who will take a tour!” 

How did it happen? By just taking a risk. Success began to breed more success. The board member who said these are not my skills was the first board member to attain a new student through a tour. A board member who said, "I don’t do relationships well, I do maintenance," netted $9k for new equipment for our computer lab. 

Once we had our story straight, knew what we wanted and gained success after success,the momentum built.

Our A-ha moment

alinea taught us that knowing your story and engaging the community with passion will yield the results you are after. 

Just recently I followed up with a gentleman that went on the very first tour initiated by a board member.  He was flattered that we cared what he thought. Later he told our president that he is now a supporter of Christian High. He talked incessantly in the community about our school. During the follow up meeting, without being prompted or asked, he handed me a sizable check and said, “Let’s keep in touch.” 

I told the board there were some smart people that told us this is how it works. Guess what? It is how it works!

Creating vision these days in education and non-profits is losing its luster because most organizations don't truly believe that they can shape their future.  We have scarcity mentalities fueled by the tyranny of immediate concerns. 

A helpless mentality plagues many non-profits right now.  Boards and leaders must maintain a "can do" attitude to replace a victim mentality. But “can do" optimism is a thin veneer over a fundamentally reactive view.  

Most organizations think in terms of managing events only. Peter Senge puts it this way,

"The dominance of the event mentality tells people that the name of the game is reacting to change, not generating change.  An event orientation will eventually drive out real vision, leaving only hollow ‘vision statements,’ good ideas that are never taken to heart.”

alinea helped Sheboygan County Christian Schools’ mission penetrate deeply in the community. They provided learning that sparked renewed hope and a vision for a prosperous future.


-Corey Navis
Head of Schools, Sheboygan County Christian High School

  

Connect with Corey on LinkedIn




Visit Corey's Blog

Learn more about Sheboygan County Christian High

Fundraising - What Do You Do After You Receive a Major Donation?

Relationship Fundraising - What Do You Do After You Receive a Major Donation?

Wisconsin Schools are Busting Out of Scarcity Mentality!

Last week, I spoke at the Wisconsin Education Convention to almost 100 school superintendents, principals and board members.  For the second year, I spoke about the need for schools to look at school funding in a new way.  

After years of declining school budgets with no end in sight, alinea is helping schools understand that they have more control over their revenue than they thought.  

These schools are not scaling back; just the opposite.  They are dreaming about what their schools COULD DO for students to prepare them for careers that don't even exist yet.  Even though this all costs more, instead of focusing on not having enough, they are learning how to share their exciting stories and inspiring people to help.  

It doesn't matter if they're a public school, a private school, a charter school, or a choice school. Where there's a will, there's a way.  These schools are creating a buzz and attracting resources from unexpected sources.  

Education Foundations Springing Up!

What was really interesting was the advancement in the understanding in the room.  Last year, the biggest question by school leaders had to do with how to talk about their school in the community.  They knew it wasn't about just pushing information out through newsletters, but they weren't sure how to do it. 

This year, the biggest question was how to start or grow an education foundation.  I was really excited about this, because this shows a change in mindset.  School leaders are bravely busting out of their old scarcity mentality and seeking out ways to get more resources.  They may not be doing it quite right, but they're learning that their very existence will depend upon engaging the community. 

What To Do Next With a Current Donor!

As I was sharing stories about how some schools already are receiving generous donations, one of the superintendents admitted that his district has a very generous donor who has made donations over $10,000 annually for at least three years.  

He shared that they always invite him to the school to visit classrooms when he is in town, and they send thank you letters signed by the students who are benefiting by the donation.  Everything sounded good so far. 

Then I asked if he had ever sat down with the donor to let him know what the BHAG - big hairy audacious goal - of education in the community was.  The superintendent said no.  I asked them if the district had a BHAG.  The superintendent said no.  

I suggested that without an overall vision for the future and the top three priorities to achieve that vision, the donor cannot see where he fits in.  

He is only doing part of alinea's formula of STORY + DIRECTION + RELATIONSHIPS.  He's trying to cultivate a relationship, but not very strategically, and without a compelling vision for the future and the clarity of how to get there. 

The superintendent began to show his understanding by enthusiastically nodding his head up and down.  He began to see that what needed to happen next: 

1.  Conversations and dreaming about what education could look like for the community - an exciting and compelling vision for the future.

2.  Ability to share your story in a way that inspires people to want to help - three clear priorities describing what has to happen to achieve the vision. 

3.  Inviting the donor back, sharing all of this and then asking alinea's three magic questions:

• What do you think?  Then listen.
• How do you see yourself fitting in?  Then listen.
• Who else needs to know about what we're doing here?  Then listen.

If you do this, you will get so much back in return.  The most important thing is that you will learn about how much this donor cares.  He or she may just be waiting for this moment to be part of something so big.  Without asking for anything - because you clearly state where you are going and what you need to get there - the donor can discover for himself what piece excites him.  Finally, he/she will be happy to connect you to others.  You'll have so many opportunities come from just that one meeting. 

Try this, and let me know what happens.  Sharing your successes gives others the confidence to try this.  You will be helping to empower other schools to attract the generosity of others. 

With eternal optimism, 

Deb

P.S.  alinea's approach to fundraising is a serious change in mindset.  Since most of our behavior is driven by our unconscious, you may need some help developing these new habits of mindset and behavior.  One resource that I have been using almost every day is a wonderful set of free hypnosis downloads.  Check out Joseph Clough's Unlocking Your Potential - he offers 20 hours of free downloads.  You'll get hooked if you're trying to overcome any blockage to changing old thinking into new thinking.  Click here to check it out!  Joseph Clough FREE hypnosis downloads.  

Relationship Fundraising 3 Steps to Getting Your Board Members to LOVE IT!

Step #1 – Make it easy

How many of you are confident sharing your organizations story? When I ask this question of board members who attend my seminars, there are never more than about a third of them that raise their hands.  This should be shocking, because the #1 role of a board member is to tirelessly promote their organization, school, or church in the community. 

What makes this even worse, is the Director and the board members themselves probably don’t realize this is the case.  It is unlikely that an individual board member will admit to the group or the Director that they aren’t comfortable talking about the organization.  They feel guilty, because for some reason they think they should just know.  They’re not comfortable asking for help.  It’s not that they lack commitment or passion.  They’ve probably never been presented with a user-friendly tool and training to give them the confidence to share the organization’s story with others. 

§  Tool #1 – Professional Case Statement – This is a one-page, two-sided piece of paper that articulates your story in a compelling, concise and consistent manner.  We call it the gathering place for your story.  It’s strategically developed to inspire people to want to help.  It includes your mission, vision for the future, unique approach, achievements, current priorities, how people can help and brags about all the people who sit on your board or are supporters in some way.  Board members have commented that this tool is pretty much what they need to carry around with them.  See my series of three blog postings detailing with how to develop a professional case statement:

  Blog: Part I- How to build the 10 sections of your nonprofit’s    professional case statement

   Blog: Part II- #1 Fundraising tool: Your professional case   statement

   Blog: Part III- Case statements

§  Tool #2 – Elevator Pitch – First, while the director or development staff person is supposed to know all the details about the organization, the board members ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW ALL THAT STUFF.   Second, board members and volunteers are better ambassadors than staff people because they are giving up time and money and aren’t getting paid.  They are driven by passion for the mission of the organization.  But they shouldn’t and can’t really tell the story the same way as staff people.  The elevator pitch helps the board members understand what the major themes are within the story and then they should feel free to tie those themes to the things that interest them the most about the organization.   See a sample elevator pitch

§  Tool #3 – alinea’s 3 Magic Questions – My last blog talked about these questions in great detail.  The purpose of sharing your story is to inspire people to want to give.  But inspiring them is not enough; there must be a next step or it’s frustrating for the potential supporter.  It’s not there job to figure out how to help.  Even if you’ve clearly laid out your vision for the future and what needs to happen to get there, if there is no more conversation, not much is going to happen.  The questions are:  (1) What do you think? (2) How do you see yourself getting involved?  and (3) Who else needs to know about what we’re doing?  If you try this, you will see how much can be achieved after one tour or during one conversation.   Read the Blog

Step #2 – Use the Tools

We don’t spend a lot of time on developing the tools.  We develop them so they’re “good enough” to use.  Our focus will be on getting the board members to start using the tools and share the story.  Sharing the story is what will increase awareness and resources, not the “marketing piece.” 

This is the hard part, because this is ABOUT YOU not the company and what you’re waiting for them to do.  The problem is, you haven’t done this before so you will be reluctant to get out there and start using the tools.  This is about learning a new way to think and behave and then developing a habit, and it takes a lot of support to accomplish this. 

I just viewed a recent TED Talk on U Tube by David Kelley.  The title of the talk is “How to build your creative confidence.” I immediately thought about the work alinea

does with our clients.  We don’t tell our clients what to do as much as empower them to be able to do it, and we use research-based approaches to do this.  When I listened to David Kelley talk about the psychology behind helping people overcome phobias, it reminded me of how some of the board members of our client organizations feel when we ask them to start cultivating relationships.  

It’s almost like a phobia.  There are board members that are just terrified of picking up the phone and calling a current donor just to say thank you and invite them to an event.  There are board members who have never even told their neighbors about the volunteer work they do and of course wouldn’t dream of asking them for support.  

We can talk about why this is – we are worried about damaging relationships – or we can just figure out how to help the board members feel confidence in sharing the story and making connections that could benefit the organization.   

Tool #1 – Expect to be uncomfortable -

This tool is a new habit of mindset.  You are learning something new, and when that happens, you become uncomfortable.  You’ve been there before when you start a new job, but you knew you would be nervous so you just plugged along until repetition and small successes develop your confidence.  It’s the same thing with being a board member.  You didn’t go to “board member school,” so you’re going to have to learn how to be an effective board member.  When you get uncomfortable, you will have to tell yourself to DO IT ANYWAY.  When you do it once, you get a little more comfortable.  Then you do it again, and you begin to really love cultivating relationships.  Two excellent books that provide some help understanding why this works are:  The Power of Habit; Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg and Subliminal; How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior, by Leonard Mlodnow.

 

§  Tool #2 – Practice, sharing successes, and accountability – It starts with the first time.  As a board, give yourself homework and require everyone to report on how it went.  Also, add a regular agenda item called “community engagement.”  If you don’t commit to doing this, you won’t follow through, and you’ll get the same results you got before.  For example, have everyone commit to sharing the story with two new people each week and make observations about how people responded.  What kinds of questions did they have?  Were they excited?  Did anyone ask you how they could help?  When someone has a good experience, require them to share it with the group.  Celebrating each others’ small successes helps everyone build confidence to try it too.  Doing this weekly is important.  Remember that saying about it taking 27 days to develop a new habit?  Well, it’s going to take a lot of repetition for board members to do this naturally, and when they do, you’ll see significant results.

Step #3 – Tracking relationships and following up

If you actually try this, get ready, because the floodgates will open, and you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed with the generosity of people.  I’m not kidding.  If you do not follow through once you’ve initiated relationships with people who are inspired by the organization’s story, you will damage those relationships.

Put all the people your board members have inspired into a tracking document like excel or some other kind of data base that allows you to generate a weekly report of due dates and next steps.  Have each board member be responsible for cultivating three relationships and make sure there are next steps for each one, along with a due date.  The key to all of this is continuing to cultivate relationships.  At each board meeting, a report should be generated showing cultivation assignments for each board member and brief reporting on what’s been happening.  Board members will work with staff people to get the support they need. 

Following up with relationships could look like this:

• An email sharing a student success story. 
• A personal invitation to a student exhibition or other event. 
•  The receipt of a newsletter or invitation to an event.
• Scheduling a meeting to update the person on an initiative of interest to them.
• Asking their advice about a new program. 

The type of follow-up is not as important as the consistency of communication and outreach.  In addition to sharing good news about the organization, take the time to get to know the interests and priorities of the other person.  If you notice an announcement in the local business journal about their promotion, cut it out and send it along with a congratulatory note.  Care about the other person. 

If you decide to try these three steps to helping your board members LOVE RELATIONSHIP FUNDRAISING, please let us know how it goes.  Remember, it won’t be enough to just educate them on their role.  You must help them develop the confidence to do what you’re asking them to do. 

Deb