Training for Organizations

What is continuous Learning fundraising training?

Our continuous learning fundraising training makes the full Eight Principles team curriculum available to your organization any time, all the time.  For everyone in your organization.  It’s the most affordable and effective professional level training available.  A trained member of your staff serves as an internal facilitator delivering the training on-demand.  All for a flat fee.  In a word, incredible.

Why is continuous learning important?

To stay competitive in today’s competitive philanthropic environment your organization needs to be innovative, adaptive, and ever-changing.  Achieving this depends on the skill and knowledge of your professional staff, board members and volunteers.  If your organization doesn’t support a continual process of learning, your innovation stalls, your processes remain static, and your fundraising program becomes adrift.

What if my organization doesn’t have a full-time trainer or even professional fundraiser?

Virtually anyone in your organization can be trained to deliver our live training curriculum.  At The Eight Principles, we know that, although skill is involved, being successful in fundraising is much more about mindset than skill set.

What are the benefits of continuous learning?

Creating a learning culture within your organization is the most effective way to improve fundraising performance and innovation. It achieves the highest levels of executive, staff and board satisfaction and retention. Here’s why:

1. Knowledge is power – The more your executives, staff and board members know and the more they can do, the more they can contribute to your organization.
2. More cost effective – When you invest in the development of your board members and fundraising staff  your costs for continually recruiting and grooming new board members as as well as recruiting, rehiring and training new staff drop dramatically.
3. Shows that board members and staff are valued – When you support continuous learning,  you demonstrate that your board members and staff are worth the investment and that your organization is sincere about career development.

How is continuous learning different from other fundraising training?

Our live training is unlike any fundraising training you’ve experienced.  First, it’s designed for adults.  It uses adult training techniques.  Less than 40% of the time is devoted to direct instruction.  Over 60%+ is participant activity.

You work in teams.  You learn through exercises, third-person teaching, group planning.  You’re focused on creating action plans and follow-up accountability.  It’s multi—media.  Live facilitator.  Video. Personal journal.  Case studies.

The goal of continuous learning is nothing less than total organizational alignment.  No amount of topical courses or one-off workshops can accomplish this.

How does our continuous learning  compare with “best practices” training?

The term “best practices” refers to a collection of processes and techniques which are considered to represent the best in professional fundraising.  “Best Practices” are not static, however.  They’re a moving target as philanthropy and fundraising are changing faster than ever.  What is “best practice” for one organization will not necessarily be a good choice for another.  Organizations that cling to a given set of “best practices” will soon find themselves behind the curve or irrelevant in the current philanthropic environment.

Continuous learning training focuses on the unchanging principles of sustainable fundraising and philanthropy.  Truisms that apply all the time every time.  By having a working understanding of the unchanging principles, organizational leaders are empowered to select the set of processes or practices which are best for them.

How does our continuous learning compare to conventional courses, coaches and consultants?

Continuous learning is far more effective in bringing fundamental improvement and producing transformational fundraising outcomes than one-time courses and periodic training by coaches or consultants.  One-time courses and periodic training by coaches or consultants are TEN times more costly than our Continuous Learning program.  This makes continuous learning especially affordable for smaller organizations with limited professional development budgets.

What does a continuous learning fundraising training session look like?

Virtually all fundraising training is presented in traditional “classroom” settings or conference presentations.  You’re sitting, classroom style, in a stuffy hotel meeting room, listening to a speaker talk to 12-point slides.  Lots of stale comments laden with jargon and acronyms.

                    Continuous Learning is nothing like this.

You work together in teams.  You’re focused on doing.  We employ all learning styles–auditory, visual and kinetic.  We focus on goals.  You get direction and see results immediately.

How are facilitators chosen and trained?

Facilitators are a member of your team.  Virtually anyone in your organization can be trained to effectively deliver the full live training curriculum.  It’s our facilitator preparation training for our Continuous Learning program. At The Eight Principles, we know that, although skill is involved, being successful in fundraising is much more about mindset than skill set.

Training for facilitators begins with an online course learning The Eight Principles which is completed prior to the live training.  Live training is two-and-a-half days in a cohort of 5-7.  Emphasis is on understanding The Eight Principles approach, adult learning styles and using the various media effectively.  Eight Principles continuous learning courses are multi-media within an integrated platform stored in the cloud.  With the multi-media content, the facilitator uses a Facilitator Manual complete with course scripts, explanations and guides on presenting.  Nothing is left to chance.

Once we start, then what?

We are vested in your success.  Each client receives ongoing support and guidance to ensure the optimum integration of the concepts into your organization.  We follow your progress closely.

As our continuous learning is a SaaS platform, enhancements and new learning experiences are added periodically.  We notify you of every improvement and guide your facilitator through any particulars.

Will Continuous Learning be right for my organization?

Does your organization have a growth mindset?  Do you want to improve; to be better?   Do you have a willingness to embrace some level of change and do you have the staying power to finish what you start?  Do you see philanthropy as a relationship between your organization and your donors who invest in you?  When you answer “yes” to these questions, continuous learning will transform your organization into a fundraising juggernaut.

How much does Continuous Learning cost?

Continuous Learning is affordable and very cost effective for your organization.  Pricing and licensing are simplicity itself.  License fees are renewable one or three year terms.  Facilitator training costs are included in the license fee.  An on-demand license gives you unlimited access to the platform with downloadable participant materials.  Your licensing fee is determined by the number of facilitators you wish to train and term of your renewable license.  Continuous training is extremely cost effective as you have no travel costs to conferences or Per Diem fees from consultants or coaches.