Create Your Own MacKenzie Magic

I applaud MacKenzie Scott’s philanthropy, and yet, there are downsides. Have you noticed any change in your colleagues’ attitudes?

In the spirit of Oprah and the Gateses before her, Ms. Scott has unleashed a frenzy. Most every nonprofit this side of the Arctic feels it deserves a transformational award.

If you see your organizational peers securing such largess, it’s easy to assume they have a magic touch. Surely, their CEOs have the right connections, or their organizations are launching moonshots. Even if those things are true, they are unlikely to result in a rabbit-out-of-the-hat kind of windfall.

What matters most is that you check your nonprofit’s collective rationale: Why is your organization so focused on blue-chip philanthropy? I see too many leadership teams, including boards, obsessed with a specific funder rather than elevating the work that stands to attract such generosity.

The swirl of emotions surrounding mega gifts and grants is unlikely to subside, and yet, we need to harness those feelings and channel them into productive action. If you see your teammates guided by any of these sentiments, take note, and try to steer them accordingly. You might even check your own mindset.

Entitled

It pains me to see a leadership team that feels entitled to mega philanthropy. These executives see their peers securing such awards or connecting with high net worth families or foundations. Some cite their organization’s legacy or size as the reason for inevitability.

History and contacts are important, but they aren’t everything. It’s dangerous when staff or board members think that large checks are preordained. It can lead the whole team to become passive or even bitter.

I’ve seen organizations lose sight of bringing a strong ask to the table, resulting in a fumbled opportunity. Some try too hard and end up annoying the very people they seek to woo.

When you see peer organizations securing grants, it’s easy to assume that yours should, too. When the math whiz in high school used to blurt out the answers, the teacher would say, “Show your work.” The same holds in the funding arena.

Steer your team to keep the focus on the things that matter for all prospects, not just “the big one,” and your work is more likely to attract those that top your list. This is the guiding principle behind a major grants mindset.

Enthralled

Many of the largest philanthropies’ donors and leaders are celebrities, whether that designation came before or after their giving began in earnest. It’s easy to become captivated by that fame.

Like a dog that chases its tail, a one-funder obsession causes staff to talk in endless circles about how to get in the door. I’ve noticed that the organizations most fixated on “the one” become less productive with the rest of their portfolios.

If you haven’t already, learn all you can about giving patterns. After several years of MacKenzie Scott’s public generosity and countless media profiles, I still hear nonprofit leaders certain that they qualify as a likely candidate. They spend many board and staff meetings buzzing around assumptions that show they haven’t bothered to learn much about her giving history.

You can help educate colleagues before the time spent chattering becomes disproportionate given the likelihood of success. When teams focus on the mission, that’s when the magic springs forth.

Enlightened

The groups I find the most likely to attract top-tier awards weave ambition and learning into a tight-knit fabric. They know that it’s one thing to dream and another to thrust that dream into reality.

They know that they can be candidates for premier philanthropy, but rather than putting disproportionate energy into one prime prospect, they repurpose strategies for that one and apply them throughout their major grants wish list.

This is an especially important principle so that staff morale doesn’t fade if the big one doesn’t arrive. When a transformational award does land, you can keep your team from becoming complacent—you’ve got a list of other investors to attract.

Successful shops create a cadence that builds over time. Modest grants build into moderate ones. Moderate ones grow into major grants. Only then do transformative opportunities appear.

More than magic, teams succeed through momentum.