by Ted Grossnickle

JGA is very happy to announce the addition of Andy Canada to our team. 

After thoughtfully considering for some time the need to enhance our team and increase our staff capacity – with someone who could live up to JGA’s highest standards of customer service and professionalism – we identified Andy as the newest member of our team. 

Andy has honed a strong reputation as a professional and talented development officer while working with two major Indiana universities and distinguished himself as a strategist with the ability to achieve results.

I look forward to having the opportunity to introduce Andy to you personally once he joins us officially on September 27^th.  In the meantime, please see the announcement below for more information on his background.

Higher Education Development Professional Joins JGA

INDIANAPOLIS (September 9, 2010) — Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates, Inc. (JGA) is pleased to announce that Andy Canada will join the firm as a consultant on September 27, 2010.

Canada brings to JGA significant development experience focused in large public higher education institutions. For the past four years, Canada has served as Development Director for the Indiana University Foundation where he was lead Development Director for the School of Health Physical Education and Recreation (HPER).

Prior to joining the Indiana University Foundation, Canada distinguished himself within the development team at Purdue University, serving as Director of Development for the Krannert School of Management. Canada also worked in Purdue’s Planned Giving area, leading key initiatives to increase donor gifts through estate planning vehicles. By educating donors on planned giving opportunities, Canada helped to raise $26.5 million in new documented gifts for the university.

Canada will provide JGA clients with a new perspective and a solid background in annual fund, planned giving and major gift work.

“Several months ago, JGA began a quiet and thoughtful process to expand our team by identifying a fellow professional who could embody JGA’s commitment to delivering excellent client service with a focus on providing authentic and strategic counsel to our clients,” said Ted Grossnickle, Chairman and CEO of JGA.  “Andy fills the bill in every way. He is a bright young talent who has already distinguished himself in the development field and we are very excited to welcome him to our team.”

 Canada is a graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Organizational Leadership and Supervision. 

Founded in 1994, Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates provides authentic and strategic philanthropic consulting services to private colleges, seminaries, independents schools and large cultural and community organizations in the central United States. 

by Ted Grossnickle

It’s no revelation that our very tough economy is causing many nonprofits to have to deal with a range of issues and decisions that are new for them.

As we work with our clients, those of us at JGA occasionally hear something like this:

“Look, we know that there is a right way to do a campaign, but we need funds now. Why not just go out and start campaigning right now?” 

This impulse is one that has organizations willing to ignore:

• the lack of readiness of their donors
• uninformed and disengaged staff or volunteers; and,
• their own half-completed planning and preparation.

The implicit trade off is to sacrifice preparation and “just go raise funds…”

Activity associated with a campaign often seems to suggest progress, to create enthusiasm and excitement and to hold promise of better days and more resources. And we all know that sometimes activity is a terrific camouflage for not dealing with the real issues. It is an understandable impulse.

What we can say in our experience over many years is that the track record for campaigns which had their genesis in a hurried up idea without adequate preparation is lousy. Some of the best known campaign failures are those which got their start in this fatally flawed manner.

A successful campaign must be rooted in:

• a sound business model and strategic plan
• board and staff leadership on the same page with regard to a Case for Support
• volunteers and staff oriented and trained to get the most from prospective donors
• a sense that you are ready for whatever the world may throw at you.

When hit by tough issues or economic hard times, campaigns that have done the right stuff up front respond and respond well and go on to succeed. Properly planned campaigns take the time to get it right so that when the inevitable uncertainties and problems arise, they know what they are doing and have thought about contingencies and can move ahead with dispatch, confidence and some elan’.

We have an old carpenter’s saying here in the JGA culture: “measure twice and cut once.” It’s even more important in bad times than it is in good ones.

Despite the pressure, stick to your guns and do it the right way….