The Slide Rule Solution

For five hundred years, sophisticated mathematical problems have been solved using something called a “slide rule.”

Until the advent of programmable calculators and education software, this device was the only way to “do” the tough math.

As an engineer, I was trained to use this device and I still marvel at its simplicity and power.

Mathematical software has since supplanted the slide rule in almost all situations.?Speed and numerical accuracy give software the advantage.

There is, however, one attribute of the slide rule which makes it decidedly superior to its software cousins.

Interpretation and understanding.

To use the slide rule, the user is required to understand the core of the problem they are trying to solve.?When someone completes a computation, they must interpret the result they’re getting.?

With the calculator one only has to input numbers and execute the operations.?Push the buttons.?You’ve got a result.

Whether the result is the correct one is anyone’s guess.

Without a thorough understanding of the challenge you won’t know whether the actual solution is 4.5 or 4,500, or something else entirely.

Think of being in the supermarket check-out line and being told that the bunch of bananas you're purchasing is $59.?Yes, that actually happened to me.?When I pointed out the obvious, the clerk doubled down because that's what the “computer told” her.?Guess she’d never been shopping for bananas.?

The same is true for fundraising.?If your organization lacks a Culture of Generosity, your fundraising is little more than guesswork.?You could arrive at the right solution.?You could also be way off.?And not even know it.

Why?

Because you can do almost anything and raise at least some money.

If you want philanthropic revenue which is transformational—size, sustainability and impact--everyone in your organization must have an understanding of the fundamentals.?The drivers.?The underlying principles—whatever you wish to call them.

More than ever it’s imperative that everyone in your organization understand their role in the fundraising drama

Why??Because everyone in your organization will have donor contact of one kind or the other.

Even if it’s only directing a phone call or fielding a question at a business meeting. Investments of incredible significance and impact often hinge upon such seemingly inconsequential acts.

How “incredible”?

In my own career, such an inconsequential act by a person in the organization totally uninvolved in “fundraising” was the direct catalyst for torching—yes you read it right—torching a seven-figure gift.

In an organization I served, a phone call from donor was inadvertently answered by a clerk while sharing a desk.?The clerk made the off-hand comment to the donor when asked, how they were, responded, “I don’t know how I’m going to get my job done.?That is with the budget not being met and all.”

That one comment, totally clueless, unwound almost two years of work.?You see, the donor was merely calling to confirm an appointment wherein the gift was to be closed.

End of the story??The gift eventually did come.?Two years later.?And for less than the original amount.

That’s how incredible.

Now read the above again—slowly.?Let it sink in.

So how do you get a “culture” that only avoids such debacles and creates unbounded generosity—the culture of generosity?

Having a culture of generosity used to be the “hard” part.?If it wasn’t already a part of an organization’s DNA, getting there was akin to herding cats in a thunderstorm.?

No longer.?With paradigm-shifting Eight Principles training you get it—and keep it—in record time.?Training that’s interactive, fun and for everyone—yes EVERYONE—in an organization.

Note the emphasis on “interactive” and “fun”.

You bring the training “inside” your organization with your own facilitator and blow the top off your fundraising.?We call it continuous learning—our version of train-the-trainer.?Here’s a video which gives you the complete picture:

The best part??It doesn’t take buckets of money to get there.?It’s desire and will.

If you’re a nonprofit executive or fundraiser, schedule a call with me.?It’s complimentary.?Whether or not continuous training is for you, you’ll have a much clearer idea of where you need to go and how to achieve your goals.

Coaches and consultants this can be of immense benefit to you, as well.

As a coach myself, I feel the pain of coaches and consultants who spend inordinate amounts of effort and time just to get a client to the point where they “get it.”?It’s when that happens a consultant does their best work.

This is where the Eight Principles training platform is used to get your client “there” in record time.?You take everyone from board room to front desk to the same place.

Clients don’t care how you do it. ?They just want results.?If you deliver the culture in record time, you get to your custom work faster.?You serve more clients.?They get faster results.

Here’s a brief video that explains everything:

Coaches and consultants, let me hear from you.?Schedule a call and we’ll see if Eight Principles Training is a tool you can use to build your business and serve your clients more effectively.

My goal is simple.?To show all who really want it the clear, proven path to abundance.

To Your Fundraising Success,

Larry C Johnson, Founder

The Eight Principles