Though I’m no Scrooge, I’ll admit that I hate fundraising when it is…

1. Not relevant. The fact that you need money is not my problem. You won’t get a contribution from me by telling me how desperate you are. My advice: Make your case by explaining how my world will be a better place when I give to your cause.
2. Based upon guilt or fear. If your cause is worthy of my support, don’t play mind games to manipulate my behavior. My advice: Make me feel smarter by investing in your organization.
3. Not differentiating. Every nonprofit is aggressively raising money, especially this time of the year. Unless you can show me how your cause is the best investment in things I care about, you’re just making noise in an already noisy world. My advice: Focus on the unique niche that only you can fill.
4. Coerced. If I’m forced to give, you may achieve a short-term result. Trust me, though:  I’ll forever resent being strong-armed and I will look for ways to distance myself from your organization at the earliest opportunity. My advice: Give me a choice and invite me to voluntarily join your team.
5. Treated as an end objective. Fundraising is a means to an end. It’s purpose is to help an organization have adequate resources to fulfill its mission. A nonprofit does not exist to raise money, but rather it raises money so it can continue to exist. My advice: Talk more about your mission and less about how much money you need.
6. More interested in my money than in me. If we don’t have a relationship, then I’m probably not going to give. Any farmer knows you cannot reap a harvest until you’ve planted the seed, nurtured the crop and waited patiently for nature to take its course. My advice: Give me ways to make philanthropy a natural expression of my relationship with your organization.

The first thing I do when confused or needing motivation is to ask myself, “Why I’m doing this? What’s the purpose? What is my mission?”

When I began working at the American Red Cross four years ago, I clarified the role of our marketing and communication function, articulating that our mission is to:

1. Build and strengthen interactive relationships with key audiences.
2. Increase community support of the local chapter.
3. Generate revenue, both philanthropic and earned income.

Amidst the rush of our frenetic daily activities, that mission continues to anchor me and my team as we work on a variety of important projects.

My marketing team here at the American Red Cross accomplishes its work in these three steps:

1. We seek understanding. We listen. We ask lots of questions. We read what others are saying. We set up RSS feeds, do Google searches and filter incoming information through tools such as TweetDeck. We study the landscape and we keep asking lots of questions.
2. We create content. We have a story to tell. In fact, we have lots of stories to share. We write content for our Web site. We take pictures and upload them to our Facebook fan page. We produce award-winning print publications. When appropriate, we send out news releases, e-mails and tweets.
3. We engage in conversations. In this 2.0 world of social media, we can no longer be content to just push out communications. We must participate in conversations going on around us. Sometimes we even initiate conversations on our Facebook page or through other media. We will join ongoing conversations by commenting on blog posts or someone’s Facebook status update. We look for ways to keep conversations alive by using such tactics as retweeting, linking to other blogs and other interactive methods.

While our mission remains constant, social media have given us new tools for doing our work. They’ve changed the way we achieve the results we seek.

What I love about my job is that it directly parallels my personal mission, which is to 1) understand, 2) create and 3) share.

Some people complain that the line between our personal and professional lives is becoming blurred. I smile, content in knowing that my personal and professional worlds are parallel and synced. It’s hard to know where one ends and the other begins. Life and work are good when there’s a holistic synergy between the two.

Sometimes I think it would be fun to remake the classic movie A Wonderful Life so we could see what the world would look like had we never come into existence. What would the company look like if marketing never appeared on the organization chart? What would be lost if my marketing group “went out of business?”

When I assumed my marketing responsibilities at the American Red Cross three years ago, I quickly worked with my team to develop a mission statement. It helped us in several ways. First, it anchored us, giving our work a deeper sense of purpose and reminding us of the important role we play. The mission statement guides us as we choose from among competing priorities, especially when we are trying to allocate our limited resources. It also illuminates our day-to-day activities and helps in making wise decisions.

I am not, however, one who gets caught up in writing flowery, eloquent mission statements. Too often those are written to impress others rather than to guide marketing in making good decisions. I want my work to be grounded on a mission statement that is relevant, memorable and brief. It should be something I can recall as I’m talking about a project with a co-worker. Or meeting with my boss when we’re reviewing my expense budget. Or as I’m away from the office representing my organization in the community. It should be backdrop against which I do everything.

So why does the American Red Cross of Greater Kansas City need marketing? The quick answer is — To help the organization achieve its mission. Marketing exists to:

1. Build interactive relationships with key audiences. The word interactive may seem unnecessary. After all, aren’t all relationships interactive? It’s there to remind us that we live in a 2.0 world. No longer can we be content to just push out information through the traditional media. We also must use the new media—the social media—to connect, to converse and to engage.
2. Increase community support. Some purists might say this is a process, a means to an end. It’s in our mission, though, to remind us to go beyond making people feel warm and fuzzy about the Red Cross. We need to look for ways to involve people. Our communications must include calls to action, either direct or implied.
3. Generate revenue, both philanthropic and earned income. Accountants define marketing and communications as overhead. To them, we’re an expense, a drain on organizational resources. Not for a moment will I allow myself to think like that. My marketing group generates revenue. We may not directly raise funds, but we very much contribute to the success of those who “reap the harvest” which we have helped to plant. The organization’s bottom is stronger because of our marketing work. We bring in more than we consume.

As organizations focus on survival in this tough economy, every program, every department and every position deserves to be carefully scrutinized. As companies become leaner, I am committed to being muscle, not fat. I therefore keep repeating my mantra:  I’m here to build relationships, to increase support, and to generate revenue.

Excellent question. She’s probably among a majority of business people who are confused about the two. Not knowing the difference contributes to foggy thinking and an incomplete vision. Here’s how I distinguish the two:

1. A mission statement is present tense. It focuses on what your organization is today. It concentrates on the company’s current purpose and addresses why the business exists.
2. A vision statement is future focused. It paints a picture of what you want the organization to become. It defines the new reality you hope to create in the future.

The mission and the vision should be complementary.

A mission statement should be differentiating and guide management in making day-to-day decisions about the company’s operations.

A vision statement, on the other hand, is usually more inspiring. Rightly done, it reflects the shared vision of the key stakeholders. It’s something everyone feels passionately about. People should rally around their vision, and it should compel them to work together on making that vision their new reality.

Her departure gave me the opportunity to recruit someone new, so I spent considerable time thinking about how to forge a strong partnership between 1) the individuals I inherited and 2) those I would select myself.

In consultation with team members that remained, I developed this list of 10 characteristics to describe the commitment, the loyalty and the engagement of every contributing member of my marketing group:

1. We are inspired by the mission of the marketing department, knowing that our special group exists to ensure the success of the American Red Cross.
2. As we visualize the role of marketing within the organization, we are proud to be a part of an exceptional consulting team working on projects that really matter.
3. We value diversity within our team, knowing that each of us makes a unique contribution to the department, to the organization and ultimately to the community.
4. We build synergy whereby the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In so doing, we recognize the interdependence of every member of the team.
5. When one of us succeeds, that person appreciates and acknowledges the contributions of teammates, knowing that success is often a team effort.
6. We celebrate when another member of the team excels. After all, we know that one teammate’s success reflects positively on our entire group.
7. When something goes wrong, we avoid pointing fingers and assigning blame. Instead, we join hands with others to seek solutions and to look for the learning embedded within the situation.
8. We assume positive intentions on the part of others. In circumstances where there is a potential for misunderstanding, we proactively seek clarification.
9. We are loyal to other members of the team, especially in their absence. We focus on the positive, affirming attributes of our co-workers and teammates.
10. We always operate from an abundance mentality that seeks win-win solutions. We refuse to believe that our win implies a loss for someone else, knowing that a scarcity mentality spawns fear, competitiveness and retaliation.