The Ultimate Vision Litmus Test
I recently read an anecdote about Herb Kelleher, the CEO of Southwest Airlines for many years. Kelleher had a simple but powerful philosophy for running the company: Low-fare was the priority. Kelleher’s goal was to make it so that if you needed a low-fare airline, you always went with Southwest.
It didn’t matter what the latest trends were, whether a new idea tested well in focus groups or was a good moneymaker for some other company. If it didn’t jibe with their low-fare identity, as far as Kelleher was concerned, it wasn’t for them.
He once gave the example of the marketing department pitching an idea: making a light meal available on-flight instead of just a snack. The marketing team might have stats on how many customers supported the idea, what kind of meals would be popular, what it would cost and what it would earn. But Kelleher had only one question: Was it the right choice for the ultimate low-fare airline?
“Low-fare” was their mission and their brand. For Kelleher, the question wasn’t whether an on-flight meal would be a good seller. The question was whether it was the right call for Southwest.
People knew what Southwest stood for. When it came time to book a flight, they didn’t have to do any research or careful pondering to know if Southwest was the right choice for their needs. If you wanted to go low-fare, Southwest was the airline for you. Period.
If Kelleher started messing around with this service and that, would customers still have that kind of simple clarity?
Kelleher’s philosophy helped define Southwest in the minds of the whole country. It also gave the airline a strong internal directive and sense of purpose. With this consistent message coming from the top, everyone at Southwest knew what their goal was, and everyone was able to work towards it together.
So, let me ask you: What’s your “low-fare”?
In order to connect with donors, nonprofits need to have a clear message just as much as any airline does. The simpler the idea, the easier it is for people to follow along. If outsiders can easily grasp what it is you do, they can also more easily start rooting for you to succeed. Once you have them on board with the basic idea, you’re halfway to getting their support in more measurable ways.
On the other hand, the more convoluted the plot, the more people you’re going to lose.
Defining your mission could be as simple as thinking back to what your goal was when you first started out. Or it might be more difficult: Your work is probably full of complexities and all kinds of different aspects, and maybe you don’t want to risk generalizing or oversimplifying it.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t know your starting point. The truth is, there were probably all kinds of aspects of Southwest’s business under Kelleher that had nothing to do with being “low-fare.” I’m sure they had well-trained pilots, efficient crews, support staff with their own culture and routine.
But they all benefited from having a core identity and bottom line, a shared purpose and direction for their decisions. Not to mention, focusing on pilots and crews in their marketing wouldn’t have helped customers appreciate what made Southwest different.
What’s the one thing that really brings your organization together? And what’s the one thing that you want donors to know about you before anything else?
If you think you’d benefit from an outside perspective on this, feel free to reach out.