The Practice of Nonprofit Leadership
The Practice of Nonprofit Leadership
Navigating Your Nonprofit In An Election Year with Christina Edwards
A contentious national election can bring challenges to many aspects of leading a nonprofit...not the least the fundraising side. How should a nonprofit leader handle political conversations with staff, board members, and donors? How does fundraising change during this season? At what level should a nonprofit engage in public political discourse?
On today's episode, Christina Edwards joins Nathan to discuss the challenges of leading a nonprofit during a national election. Christina, Founder of Splendid Consulting and the host of the popular Purpose & Profit Club podcast, is a frequent guest on the Practice of NonProfit Leadership.
Connect with Nathan, Tim, and Christiana on Linked-In:
Christina
Nathan
Tim
Disclaimer: Any content shared on the podcast is solely the opinion of the presenters. Any proposed action of a legal nature, should be discussed with licensed legal experts.
The Hosts of The Practice of NonProfit Leadership:
Tim Barnes serves as the Executive Vice President of International Association for Refugees (IAFR)
Nathan Ruby serves as the Executive Director of Friends of the Children of Haiti (FOTCOH)
They can be reached at info@practicenpleader.com
All opinions and views expressed by the hosts are their own and do not necessarily represent those of their respective organizations.
Welcome to the Practice of Nonprofit Leadership. I'm Nathan Ruby. Well, today we have very special guest, Christina Edwards. How are you doing, Christina?
Christina Edwards:I'm excited to be back. I'm excited for this conversation be back
Nathan Ruby:.
Nathan Ruby:I'm excited for this conversation. I am too. Christina and I came up with this kind of on the fly this week and we want to talk today about as you probably know, you may have heard this that this year is an election year. We have a presidential election coming up and I think every presidential election you always have, you know this is the most important in history and and you also have you know this is the most rank. Rancorous. Is that the right word? Is that a word, rancorous?
Nathan Ruby:I mean anyway yeah, yeah, yeah, it's. It's like the, the, the angriest it's the it's uh, and you know, I think, maybe, maybe that's actually true this year, you know, and so, anyway, we it's going to be a uh, very, uh, rough year. I think, uh, in this election cycle and as nonprofit leaders, as executive directors this you know we have to make some decisions on how we are going to deal with that. How are we going to communicate? How are we going to communicate with our donors? How do we handle it ourselves? We all have an opinion. Some people's opinions are more informed than others, but everybody has an opinion and sometimes, as executive directors, that kind of gets dumped on us a little bit, both staff wise and volunteer wise and donor wise. So we're just going to talk about that a little bit today.
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Nathan Ruby:So my first question for you, christina, is there could be a fundraising issue this year because of the increased competition for donations to political fundraising. Approximately 12% of the US population will make a political contribution. Now, 12% is you know. It may not be that big of a number. Unless that 12% includes your top five donors, then that could be a problem. Are you seeing any of that in your work at all, christina?
Christina Edwards:Yeah
Christina Edwards:, I think there's a couple kind of foundational things to think about here. The first is yeah, 12%, you're like, okay, that's not a big deal, but you want to think about like the bigger piece of the pie as far as just the overall conversation, media coverage, social media coverage, email coverage, direct mail, text messages what have I left out? Ads You're being inundated with this conversation about the election, even if you're trying to avoid it, even if you're like, nope, I know, I'm voting for, I'm all good, I'm going to be Zen, say you're over there and you're not. It's still right, it's still that inundation. And so what I think about when I hear this 12% number is a couple of different things. One is well, maybe it's not that big a deal because it's just 12%. But two is that other percentage is still actively being solicited to Endlessly.
Christina Edwards:Think about all the direct mail pieces you get, especially locally. I get so many when it's local election time. Those oversize. And then the calls and the text. So that's the other piece. And then you said it perfectly, which is that 12% may not matter unless those are some of your higher capacity donors. And then you've got to think about those higher capacity donors right now, in this election cycle, whoever their person is, they're going to be more motivated than ever to make sure their person wins. Right, because we are in a weird election I would argue weirder than decades ago where people are very, very contentious and split on it, and so people who have the capacity to throw money behind their their winner will.
Christina Edwards:Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know the, the, the material that that donors are getting. You know the, the one page postcard, oversized postcards. You get in the mail, the, the, all of the. You know the texts, the emails, the phone calls, all of that. These are our professional fundraisers, who are very, very good at what they do, and it was a great point that you know even the, even the. Let's see, a hundred minus 12 would be 88, right. So the 88% that don't give to campaigns and to political causes, they're still. They're still getting bombed by that stuff, and I think there's an opportunity to say, okay, I know who I'm voting for, just like you said, I'm clicking off. Well, then they click off of your stuff too, because they're not even, they're not even, they're not even looking at their email, they're not responding to texts, they're not opening voicemails. You know all of those things. And so I do think there's an opportunity for a loss because of all of this other noise that's taking place, that's amplified even more than normal years.
Christina Edwards:And I think it's a good reminder of two things here. The first is the reason why political campaigns do this all of the different tactics we just mentioned so actively is because it works. Watch your email and I actually would crazily enough say if you're not currently on just a random email for your presidential person of choice, or it doesn't matter or not, get on an email and watch how many times they email you a day. They'll email you eight, 12 times a day and it's wild. It's wild and it works and it's a good reminder of like if we want to be even in the conversation as nonprofits, fundraising, we cannot email once a month. We cannot send out a text message here and there or phone call Like. It's just, it's just not going to work this year.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, yeah, absolutely, you're just going to get lost year. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, you're just going to get lost. You're just going to get lost in the noise. And actually, our second point here is approximately 61% of Americans so that means 61% of your donor base actively follows presidential campaigns either very closely or somewhat closely during election year. So 61% of your donors are focused on this and your volunteers and your staff, and that's for everybody. And so my question to you on that is do we for communicating this is for communicating with our people do we try to go head to head with that or do we try to use that as a hook for attention?
Christina Edwards:So there's a couple of ways. Head to head, I would say no, but the way that I would look at it is like we see a storm is coming. So what do we do now to prepare for that? Don't wait until the storm's coming to be like oh crap, I should have bought bottled water. I should have bought batteries for my roof all those things Instead.
Christina Edwards:What it means is, if your fundraising appeal typically goes out in mid-November, do you want to send it out earlier? What can you do now? Can you do some sort of mini campaign in September or October to bring in some revenue before it's just going to continue to ramp up? So really, what can you do earlier? The other thing you said is just using the presidential race as a hook to get intention, so we can workshop that out a little bit of what that would look like. I would be wary of injecting myself in the conversation if it doesn't relate to the mission, but what I would potentially do is say hey, everyone, it's our September fundraiser you've never heard of. Here's part of why we're doing it. And it's totally fine to say you're hearing from us early this year and here's why you can say that.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, you know what? That's an excellent point and I didn't even think about that because we typically I'm sending out year end we do a two step, two letter year end typically early November ish, late October, early November ish, and then right after Thanksgiving. But we got to process that I can't be sending out an appeal letter October 30th, 10 days before the election.
Christina Edwards:The other way to think about it is what do I want to do on the back end in December that I don't normally do, and what is an extra push forward? Look like so it may be an extra direct mail piece. It may be an extra, you know, social campaign. It may be something extra on the back end when the arc, hopefully, of the election is over, because the way that I would view it is we've got the lead up, which is really just going to continue to ramp up on the noise on the news front, and then we've got election day, and then we've got the post election, which we don't know what, we don't know on how that's going to go, but I would say that November 6th is not going to just be like, okay, we're done, now Quiet.
Christina Edwards:So you want to kind of pad your campaign calendar knowing that.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, yeah, great point, great point. So I want to take just a quick second here in between our conversation, and Tim and I would love to have connect with you guys on LinkedIn. So if you go to the show notes, there will be both Tim's. Actually, you know what will include. Christine is also, since she's the guest today. All three of us will have in the show notes are LinkedIn. What is that LinkedIn address? What?
Christina Edwards:is that, christine? I don't profile link, yeah.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, whatever that is, and we'd love to, we'd love to connect with you there. So just click on those, say hello and you can follow what we're doing on LinkedIn and and we'll love to connect with you. So okay, so there's the ad for the show. All right, next up, potential for changes and tax policies affecting charitable contributions Now, this is always an interesting thing to talk about and it is important because the two candidates that are running this year have very different tax policies and we're not going to get into which one's best and which one we should vote for, but they're very different.
Nathan Ruby:I'll just leave it at that, and whoever wins, it could impact future tax policy. It could impact future tax policy and and so tax the the tax is a reason for people to give. It is still one of the one of the reasons why people give is for the tax consequences. However, it's not in the top three and usually it's not even in the top five, but it's still there. So you know there is a there, there is a potential for that, and typically presidential elections can impact capital gains tax, corporate tax rate and even income tax. So all of that goes into. So it is an issue, but, christina, we shouldn't really dwell on that as a major issue.
Christina Edwards:No, I think in what you just said, you kind of baked in that it's not actually a top motivator. We think it is like oh, the tax benefit, the tax benefit, but it's not one of the top motivators, so I wouldn't stress about it and ultimately, my belief is there would still be a tax benefit. Because if we think about higher net worth individuals who are giving hundreds of thousands of dollars, right Tends to have a policy where there's some sort of tax benefit for them. And when we think about smaller individual donations, I'm not seeing the motivator for somebody who gives $100, $250, $500. Let me get that tax benefit. It is. I care about this and I want to see change in this world and I'm going to help, yeah, yeah.
Nathan Ruby:And that means that we should be right back to the message, right back to you. Know what our, what our core message is? Telling our stories, how we're, how we're saving lives, transforming lives. That is always, always, always what, why people give.
Christina Edwards:Repetition is going to be key here. Saying it again, and again, and again, and saying it differently, saying it in a different way, in a different method, mode, delivery, and saying it again and one more time.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, and then again, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, all right. Um, so, um, there are, um, let's see how do I ask this question. Um, there's an assumption. Well, uh, uh, uh, perception, maybe that's the right word. There's a perception that nonprofits cannot uh lobby or advocate they. You know, that's not what nonprofits do. They can't. They can't do that, they can't spend their budget on those things. Well, that's actually not true. A 501c3 can spend a certain actually they can spend up to 20% of their first 500,000 of their annual budget on lobbying. So it is a nonprofit. So your nonprofit, whatever your nonprofit is, you actually can lobby. You can spend money and time and energy doing that legally. The question is, should we, now that we've got 61% of our donor base and our volunteer base, are paying attention to what's going on politically and we can do some things? Is it wise for every organization, no matter what sector you're in, there's policy out there that impacts you federal, state or local? There are things that impact your organization. Should we go out and try to change some of that?
Christina Edwards:Yeah, I think you mentioned policy. So if your organization does have a mission that aligns with policy change, then, yeah, maybe you want to look at that. If your organization, if you're like I don't even know where I'd start, or maybe I have no idea, then I would look at your strategic plan and see if it's even relevant. So for some organizations the answer may be yes, but for, I would say, the majority, the answer may be is that a best use of my time in the next four to five months? Probably not.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, yeah.
Christina Edwards:Is there an easier way to meet our goal than to start this thing over here?
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, and you definitely want to talk to your board before you started launching off and getting on the evening news carrying a sign outside of the state house. Yeah, you might want to let your board know that you're thinking about doing that, but I like what you're saying.
Christina Edwards:You're saying there's a conversation happening and it is charged, it is important, it is everywhere. Is there an opportunity for your organization to get into that conversation? And sometimes yes. So, for example, I have seen a version of this which is for organizations that serve child, like they want better childcare policies for like zero to five, so more paternal leave, more things like that. They're getting into this conversation right now because they're backing a candidate that is for that and they're very much highlighting a candidate that isn't. So you certainly can say how does this? But that that organization example is very comfortable and cozy politically and talking about their political beliefs. So I wouldn't inject your conversation, your organization, in a conversation if you've never been political before or like taken a stance necessarily.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, if you're the local youth symphony, that's a much harder.
Christina Edwards:Perfect. Yeah, there's not a lot of. It's a longer walk.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, not a lot of controversial policy around youth symphony, yeah, um so, um, all right, true or false? Uh, we'll do a little quiz here for you True or false? I uh am an executive director of an organization. I have very strong uh uh uh, a very strong political uh opinion, a very strong political opinion, and I should talk about my opinion and what I think should be happening with my donors.
Christina Edwards:True or false, your political opinion?
Nathan Ruby:Yes, my own personal.
Christina Edwards:No, but I will say I would imagine a lot of BDs, a lot of development. A lot of people are going to be hearing their donors' political opinion.
Nathan Ruby:And.
Christina Edwards:I empathize with you there, because that's tough if it's not yours.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, it is. It is tough and uh, and you know we talk about Tim and I talk about all the time on this podcast and I know you talk about it on your podcast as well that it's about relationship, it's about donor relationship and the deeper the relationship, the more significant the gift will be. Well, it is counter to relationship to to not, to, to not talk about those things and and to not um, um, I don't know, I don't know what word I want to use, but it you know, how could you be in a relationship with somebody when you're you're either lie or don't say what you really think, um, and so there's there, there's, there's a balance there and um, you know, I, I would have to to say my best donors that I have the deepest relationships with. They know where I fall, but I would say the vast majority of my donors don't.
Christina Edwards:Here's how I was viewing that question is should you email your list talking about your stance politically right now of more of a broader? So I was, I was viewing it that way. I think that's interesting, yes, and it's almost reminding me of like. You know that saying of like never talk about politics or religion, and right, right right. One, I don't know.
Nathan Ruby:Sex.
Christina Edwards:Thank you In front of whoever right. Yeah, and it's sort sort of like what you're saying is like with an asterisk of like yeah, but your best people know how you feel about all of that stuff, and so you're saying that level of trust that you have with some of your most trusted donors, there's probably to a like mindedness there, like a shared point of view, a shared value system. What I would be wary of is just saying anything more broadly or publicly and taking a stance for your organization, that is, yours personally.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, exactly, yes, absolutely, and I also, I do. And I would recommend to people, just because on a one-on-one conversation it says, yeah, this is where I do, and I would recommend to people, you know you, just just because on a one-on-one conversation it says, yeah, this is, this is where I fall. You don't have to go into great detail, you don't have to. I mean, you don't have to be adamant about it, unless, unless. My only caveat to the B is going back to your example with the organization that was advocating for the child laws. That that, I think, is probably a little more. If you were actively politically and you're in that arena, then I think you could be a little stronger. Yeah, but again, going back to the youth symphony if you're a number one donor and you're in a one-on-one conversation, then yeah, I think that's okay, but you don't have to go over the top with it.
Christina Edwards:Yeah, and I do think I would imagine, I can just imagine so many conversations where your prospects, your donors are lobbing these grenades at you. They watch the recent debate, they watched this thing, and you're just having to remain neutral. And that's hard too. What would you advise in that situation where you're like, oh, I don't totally agree. How do they, how should they handle that?
Nathan Ruby:Well, I think, yeah, and I've been in that situation before. And what I, if I, if I'm backed into a corner and I have to do something? You know most people have an extreme dislike for politicians, except for their own. You know everybody that the, the approval rating of Congress, is like abysmal. It's like, you know, 20 percent, 20 or 25 or something like that, but the approval rating for people's own congressmen in their own district is like, you know, off the chart, um, but I'm typically, if I'm backed into a corner and I have to say something, I will go something with. You know it, it's tough and um, I, I, they're, they're all crooks or they're all something like that, and most people will accept that as a oh yeah. Well, yeah, you're right, you know.
Nathan Ruby:Going back to the, to the approval rating of Congress, and um, the other thing I've said before is you know, I have a. I have a side of the aisle that I'm on, but you know there are, but there's good people and bad people on both sides of the aisle.
Christina Edwards:All right listeners. He gave you a bridge and I really like it, no matter if you're over here and they're over there. How can you bridge that? Because there is a bridge, and also to have a prepackaged bridge ready to go, I think is really really smart.
Nathan Ruby:Yeah, that's something to know what you're going to say when you get into that situation. And and you know, I've got I've got donors. I've had donors in the past. I have donors now that are that have been very vocal about their, their position, and and I have not been as vocal about mine I know where they stand. It's not it's not where I am not anywhere close, but the what we do have in common is a profound desire for this organization to succeed and to accomplish our mission, and that is something that we can do together, no matter where they are politically.
Christina Edwards:Yeah.
Nathan Ruby:Smart, yeah, so well, Christina, thank you. Before we go here, Christina, a little PR for your organization. What is it? Your organization? What do you do?
Christina Edwards:Splendid Consulting you can find me at splendidatlcom, and I work with nonprofit leaders and marketers and fundraisers. I have a coaching program and a podcast. You can find me at the Purpose and Profit Club podcast. Yeah.
Nathan Ruby:Well, a little endorsement of Christina. She is really smart and she is excellent excellent at what she does, so go check her out and check out her site. Thank you for listening today. If you are benefiting from what is being shared on this podcast, we'd like to ask you to share a review on whatever platform you're listening to us on. Let us know how the podcast is benefiting you. And while you're doing that, you know, as long as you're in the show notes, we'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn, tim and Christina and I, and find out more about you and your organization and what's going on in your world. Well, that's all for today, until next time.