The executive director of a regional chapter of a national federated youth organization approached The Eight Principles with a desperate plea for help. Resistant to investing in fundraising guidance or education, the board was now faced with a stark choice. National headquarters had issued an ultimatum. Improve their fundraising dramatically in 120 days or their chapter charter would be revoked. Youth Serve was truly on the rocks. Years of complacency and reliance on the same-old, same-old had brought them to this place.

The Eight Principles went to work bringing our paradigm-shifting experiences to board and staff. The executive director and development officer led the charge. Board encounters conducting off-site Eight Principles retreat. This sequence bore the result the organization desperately needed. In less than 120 days, Youth Serve was able to improve their fundraising results by 600%. Every board member was actually out seeking gifts.

However, when both the executive director and development officer departed, the board went back to their old “comfort” zone. The result? Within 18 months after we left, leadership at the national headquarters were again making do-or-die demands. The Eight Principles includes an ongoing sequence that could have been integrated under new leadership. We hope to be invited back. 

HealthScience is a regional health system with a major hospital and twenty out-patient clinics. The nonprofit which was close to bankruptcy when it’s current CEO Sally assumed the position; she’s savvy and was able to bring it back to some sense of stability. Never one to accept the status quo, Sally then set her sights on building a new hospital—with philanthropy. The rub? HealthScience had an embryonic fundraising program. What’s more, Sally didn’t have any experience in fundraising. None. The board? A collection of well-meaning individuals but clueless about fundraising.

Sally invited The Eight Principles to guide her in culture transformation— beginning with her. In the beginning Sally was called upon to risk and trust. Trust was established very early when she saw that every step with The Eight Principles gave her validation and success. Re-directing the organization toward philanthropy using The Eight Principles resulted in an employee giving rate that jumped from 15% to 75%. A reconstituted board. A new foundation board. AND—Sally got her new $34M hospital. This from an organization that had never raised $1M in any one year of its 30-year history.
We’re happy to say, HealthScience remains an Eight Principles client. 

Almanac Association is a regional civic organization providing health-related services to at-risk populations. It’s been around in one form or the other for forty years, or so. Plodding along. This was agreeable to board leadership inasmuch as nothing much was expected of them. Just show up, enjoy the fellowship and go home.

The executive director had another vision, however. He saw the real potential that lay beneath the surface. He reached out to The Eight Principles. We suggested he bring our paradigm-shifting experiences to his board. We cautioned him that he needed to be prepared for change as he sought to put the right people on “the bus.” With almost seamless fluidity, those who were along just for the ride gladly got off, while those with real drive, ability and commitment got on. The results? A board that gives sacrificially at 100%. There’s actually competition to be named to the board. Other outcomes? A donor base that’s tripled. The success of a major endowment campaign—their first. The end of the story? Almanac remains a client of The Eight Principles nine years later and its executive an ardent evangelist for The Eight Principles.