Recently, at the elegant La Maquette Restaurant in downtown Toronto, 85 Broads Toronto held their annual fundraiser featuring Rosemary McCarney, President & CEO, Plan Canada as their guest speaker. McCarney spoke on Women and Philanthropy, and during her talk, several tips emerged, which are actually sound advice for today’s professional.
- Life has a way of throwing you curve balls. Embrace these challenges because they are opportunities even though they may first not appear that way.
- Despite the recession, Plan Canada has been able to triple its revenues, why? The charity has a great team that is authentic and responsive to their donors. They do the unexpected, such as personally responding to letters letting their donors know that it’s okay that they cannot give because of a job loss. They see donors as people, and as a result, their donors will do anything to keep the relationship going. Besides building a strong team, the organization invested the time to build a solid reputation by building trust with internal and external stakeholders. Have you taken the time to start building your reputation?
- The average donor to Plan Canada is a 57 year old woman. Because of the organization’s mission, donors give on average $400 each year versus $50 for the industry. Plan Canada’s donors connect with the organization’s mission, and are therefore very generous – they remain with the organization for eight years. Most other donors, view charitable donations as a transaction – they may see, read or hear something that speaks to them, and they react to it by sending in a cheque or donating online. Does your mission, and raison d'être connect to your clients and prospective clients?
- Get a solid education because it’s the silver bullet to unlocking opportunities. Rosemary McCarney got a solid education. She studied law and worked on Wall Street todata-pin-description=”It is important to study the lives of successful people so that you can learn from them. Click through to read 6+ Tips from Rosemary McCarney, President & CEO, Plan Canada. These are lessons that you can use now.” get experience, and she always knew what she wanted to do.
- You have to be audacious and naive to change the world, so dream big dreams and never think that it cannot be done.
- Never embrace inaction because you are overwhelmed, or because you believe you as one person cannot make a difference. Margaret Mead said in her famous quote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
If you have children, Rosemary McCarney recommends that you encourage them to take a gap year or two to travel and volunteer overseas to gain a broader world view and experience the joy of giving. It will be life changing for them.
When McCarney was asked the actions she took that contributed to her success, her response – “Know what you want, get the best education, then get work experience.”
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