Team. Work.

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
Henry Ford

Henry Ford pioneered the assembly line. Toyota fine-tuned the methods of production. Today, companies use next-level variations of Lean Thinking (James Womack and Daniel Jones) to give customers the greatest value with the least amount of waste.

Before saying, “That’s fine for manufacturing,” consider how service sectors, including fundraising and philanthropy, can increase value and reduce waste.

Coming together

Working lean means reducing waste both in time and resources. It is the practical outgrowth of working smarter, not harder. In the area of fundraising, working as a team – coming together with a shared purpose and vision – is the first step in lean thinking, i.e. “those actions that unambiguously create value.” At Kinetic, our team shares one purpose: “We help nonprofit organizations harness the Power of PhilanthropyTM through smart counsel and superior strategies that help their donors, volunteers and employees fulfill their dreams.”

Keeping together

After shared values are clarified, keeping together with a common purpose and vision requires everyone staying focused to achieve optimum productivity. Lean thinking characterizes this as “flow” – all functions and activities moving in the same direction with as little waste as possible. Everything that runs contrary to those goals – negativity, turf, lack of transparency – is a wasteful use of time and resources.

Working together

Based on lean thinking, the ultimate goal is to have clients “pull” the product, or in this case, the service, from the organization, rather than the organization pushing it on them. Just one fundraising example of how this can be achieved is to change the focus of philanthropy from what the nonprofit needs to what the donor cares about and wants to fund. The act of giving generates positive feelings and, therefore, offers donors a higher quality of life. Based on a study conducted at the University of Oregon using functional magnetic resonance imaging technology (fMRI), voluntary giving activates the pleasure centers of the brain. It, literally, feels good to give.

Coming together (with shared goals) is a beginning. Keeping together (by eliminating the time-consuming waste of everything that runs contrary to those goals) is progress. Working together (to make the donor experience so positive that they want to be part of a nonprofit’s mission) is success… success for everyone: the nonprofit, the donor and all those served.

Matthew J. Beem, PhD, CFRE, Chairman and CEO, matt@kineticfundraising.com

To learn whAt Kinetic can do for your organization, contact us
at
info@kineticfundraising.com

Kinetic’s Growing Philanthropy Tour

Contact info@kineticfundraising.com to schedule a Kinetic consultant to speak at your conference or organization

Washington, D.C.
July 11, 2019
2019 Bridge Conference
AFP of Washington DC Metro Area Chapter
Prepared for Success: Demystifying the Major Gift Campaign
Karin Cox

Richmond, Va.
July 24-25, 2019
2019 VFRI Conference
Fundraising is Everybody’s Job: Creating a Culture of Philanthropy
Karin Cox

Charlotte, N.C.
August 5, 2019
AFP North Carolina Conference
Everyone Plays, Everyone Wins – Creating a Culture of Philanthropy
From Reliable to Remarkable: Growing Annual Gifts to Regular Gifts
Karin Cox
Janell Johnson

Past Stops on the Tour

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email info@kineticfundraising.com.