Uncategorized – Page 2 – Pamela Sutton-Legaud CFRE MBA

angels, Australia, birds, Christmas, creativity, fundraising, goal-setting, leadership, Melbourne, philanthropy, Photography, protecting species, Sydney, Uncategorized

‘Chairity’ starts at home…

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

Each year the sudden festooning of lampposts with Christmas decorations, mince pies in the supermarket and Christmas carols at my local cafe take me by surprise! “It’s Christmas!”, they yell! “Already?” I want to yell back!

This year is no exception .. perhaps because while I was visiting Sydney I was amazed to see – before Halloween was even over – some bright spark had already installed a 6.5 tonne Swarovski crystal-decorated tree in the Queen Victoria Buildings ! Now I think that’s really a bit early! It was very beautiful though.

It may sound it, but I’m not a cynic and I actually really like celebrating the end of the year, cooking Christmas cake, eating Christmas cake…

This prompted me to consider the various fundraising appeals and campaigns that are attempting to encourage us each to think about someone or something that needs the gift even more.

Here are a few that caught my attention:

Chairity begins at home

Habitus Living – this glorious, glossy, envy-inspiring design magazine features the ‘Chairity Project‘ which, while not strictly for Christmas is happening around this time.

Each beautifully designed chair will be auctioned off for chairity… sorry, charity… a great idea and a wonderful way to combine art, creativity and heartfelt innovation. For more info visit Cult Design.

Very Berry Christmas!

If you’ve already started shopping and perhaps like me you have a ‘gift drawer’ where you put things you’ve taken a fancy to but you’re not sure who they’re for (ok, that might just be me), how about buying a toy for a boy or girl you’ll probably never meet. Berry Street is a wonderful children’s organisation which since 1877 has focused on the rights of children to have a safe and happy home. With their Christmas appeal, you can buy a gift on line, make a donation or get gift tags for your own choice of gift. They only accept new toys and really need gifts for children aged 11-16+

Raining Cats and Dogs!

If you have a cat, budgie, fish or a dog, give them an extra squeeze of affection (maybe not the fish) this festive season when so many cats and dogs are abandoned. Hard to believe I know but some owners find the cost of kennels or catteries to onerous and just leave their pets to fend for themselves. And definitely please DO NOT give pets as gifts – these are often the unfortunate creatures that end up at lost dogs and cat shelters when their new owners find they cannot look after them. Consider this story in the Daily Telegraph last year but this sad story is the same every year. If you’d like to support your favourite animal shelter, they often need blankets and financial donations are usually well received. Lort Smith had a great event ‘Pause for a cause‘ to raise money for the hospital, walking around Melbourne’s ‘Tan’ at the Botanical Gardens with over 100 dogs! What a great sight that would have been! Woof!

Cockatoos need you too!

Let’s not forget our feathered friends this Christmas. As a bird-lover I’m biased but it is easy to forget that we have so many beautiful native birds on the edge of extinction. Visit BirdLife.org.au and see what you can do to help. You can become a BirdLife member for just $1.50 a week! Seems a small amount to help save beautiful birds like our waders, or the amazing Red Tailed Black Cockatoos. What’s your favourite bird? Perhaps make a donation instead of a bought present for a friend. I know they’d love it 🙂 (And keep your cat in at night, also a good gift to our feathered friends!)

Someone to watch over you

Finally, this time of year can bring up a range of different and conflicting emotions. If you need someone to talk to, consider the Samaritans. They have a help line for anyone needing a bit of support. Reach out if you need to. Or consider Lifeline who are there to help with many difficult situations.

Wishing you and your loved ones a safe and happy Festive Season. And if you think it’s too early to be saying this, blame Swarovski! 🙂

Business Strategy, Economy, leadership, life balance, Strategic Planning, Uncategorized

Everything is awesome! Or, what I learnt from the Lego movie

October 16, 2014October 16, 2014 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

A 24 hour plane journey from Melbourne to London and a multitude of movies I would otherwise never watch led me to a memorable hour or so watching the new Lego Movie. A bit of ‘The Matrix’ meets ‘Family Guy’ I thought and all was good. Then, darn it, something started happening. I started thinking that there were messages hidden in this ingenious cartoon creation that I could learn from.

Perhaps it was jetlag but I was getting intrigued. Was this the subtext that I’m told is always submerged for adults only that is apparently part of every feature-length animated movie these days? You tell me.

So if you don’t know the movie, the evil Businessman is trying to ensure that everything stays perfect for ever and that the world works according to his and only his plans.

Mostly Lego world is doing just that until a humble construction worker stumbles upon a great secret that will change the world. He is the chosen ‘Special’ one (getting the matrix metaphor yet?)

Up to now we see an almost automated world where everyone knows where they should be, what they should be doing and what song they should love the most hence: ‘Everything is awesome!’ Yes this song is very annoying but you can’t help singing along! (Try the video and you’ll see…)

So get on with the learnings you say!

1. Being creative does not mean being random and disorganised

As the ‘special’ becomes known to the underground Lego resistance (yes I said that) he gathers together his band of merry men and women and they try to fight the bad guy in their own individual ways which leads to chaos and almost disaster. Teamwork is the answer – creative teamwork.

2. A charismatic leader is not needed

The Special tries his best to be inspirational but as he’s never been much more than ordinary humble construction worker who has always followed the rules he doesn’t know how to be a leader in fact he doesn’t have any real ideas at all. This does not stop them.

3. We are all special.

The lonely guy Emmet (the Special) discovers that he’s sort of not really the special after all. But it doesn’t matter! He’s special in a way no-one else can be and in a way no-one else expected! Go figure!

4. Following the rules is not always bad

Our little anti-hero Emmet (the Special) encourages his gang to fight the badguys with their own rulebook and use it in their own way, an unexpected tactic which means that they work together as a team and beat the villains at their own game. This they do to great success. But they still manage to use their individual skills and creative expression. One even gets to build a spaceship and he is very excited. But I digress.

5. Trying to make everything perfect (or awesome) is not always very much fun or very helpful.

We want to give people enough guidance to work in effective collaboration to achieve positive results but not so much that all freethinking is stifled and they become robots following orders.

6. Help me clarify my objectives, give me a set of tools and some guidelines and let me at it.

A wise advertising man once said: “Give me the freedom of a tight brief” and he wasn’t discussing his underwear. Clarity of goal and methodology is very useful if we allow for individual skills and ideas and if we accept that ideas we wouldn’t have thought of while different are not necessarily wrong and could even be exactly what we needed at that moment.

7. It’s only work right?

When we take it all too seriously it becomes onerous for everyone and no fun at all. When you think we’ll spend 1/3rd of our lives asleep and 1/3rd (or more) at work (I don’t recommend you do them at the same time) it makes sense to make it interesting, engaging and allow for use of our diverse and unique skills. I mean in that way, everything may actually be awesome! Yay!

Thanks for your interest. I’m writing this from the International Fundraising Congress in Holland where I am meeting and hearing from many hugely inspirational people who have to work with incredibly complex rulebooks and still manage to be creative, highly effective and in some cases, very charming. So far no spaceships, but there is time.

Until next time.

Uncategorized

Follow Louis Vuitton: Connect with community, increase brand loyalty… and sales.

October 8, 2014 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

A few updates …

Pamela Sutton-Legaud CFRE MBA

Follow Louis Vuitton: Connect with community, increase brand loyalty … and sales.

Today I see Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) is investing more than A$155m in a contemporary art museum and performance space via the Fondation Louis Vuitton. A little grand, I’ll admit but essentially it confirms the adage: connect with your community and your sales will benefit. CEO of LVMH Monseiur Bernard Arnault commented that the new museum in Paris is about sharing its values with the public. It’s certainly saying ‘we’re nice people, you would do well to do business with us’. And if Louis Vuitton sees the benefit of it, a brand that is synonymous with luxurious style and good taste, it would seem a good idea for us all to consider.

For instance, I’m delighted to see that Macy’s in the US raised more than US$3m with their Shop for a Cause promotion. Shop For…

View original post 788 more words

Uncategorized

Gorgeous Foods from the Land of Oz

August 14, 2014 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

Since my last post I’ve had a wonderful time sourcing intriguing produce for my new hamper store, Gorgeous Hampers which is coming along very nicely with Aussie products from such companies as Sassy Foods, Vandoros, Thurlby Herb Farms plus many more.

I managed to time things well as I discovered just in time a fantastic (and huge) Home & Giving gift fair happening in Melbourne across 5 days at the Showgrounds and at Jeff’s Shed, where all the suppliers I’d discovered, plus many more, displayed their wares. I was able to acquire samples and discuss products ideas before I made my first order (always useful!)

Overall, it’s been an enlightening experience where I’ve learned about what is produced in Australia and why (or why not!). Everyone has been most helpful and encouraging. A good way to feel more confident about my emerging enterprise.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll photograph our Christmas goody hampers and pamper hampers and will share them for you to consider and provide some feedback. I’d love to hear what you think about our different ideas.

Stay in touch and watch this space for the next tasty offering.

Australia, birds, Birdwatching, Uncategorized, Victoria, Williamstown, Williamstown

Wild Williamstown

January 6, 2014January 6, 2014 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

Happy New Year! I hope like me you had a chance to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors over the holidays. As Christmas falls at the start of summer in Australia, we have no excuse (apart from current unseasonably cool weather) to stay indoors.

We have a wonderful nature reserve not far from our our home in Victoria, Australia and we walk there regularly. So I thought I’d share with you some of the wonderful wildlife that lives at the Jawbone Reserve. It used to be a rifle range… glad it has been saved for other purposes now! I’m a keen birdwatcher (if you haven’t noticed already!) and so I’ll share with you some of our fabulous feathered friends. Some you may be familiar with but others may be new and exciting:

Sooty Oystercatcher: an amazing looking coal-black bird with bright red eyes as well as legs and beak so it really stands out! Occasionally we see its cousin, the Pied Oystercatcher (Black and white rather than all black) and it’s just as stunning to see.

Australian Pelican The Australian Pelican is a large waterbird of the family Pelecanidae, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant to New Zealand.Wikipedia I love watching them land … those big feet come down and you wonder if they’ll crash land but they never do. Flying over you in formation, they are like bomber squadrons 🙂

Little Pied Cormorant – or Little Shag… whence comes the term, “like a Shag on a rock” (which means when you are left on your own to fend for yourself)

The Little Pied Cormorant’s cousin, The Little BlackCormorant drying his wings in the sun after a morning dip

One of my favourites, Little Wattlebird also known as the Brush Wattlebird is a honeyeater; a cousin of the Red Wattle Bird below

Red Wattlebird – these are big honeyeaters which regularly visit my garden and surrounding area; they are territorial and fantastic aerial hunters – watching them chase after and almost always catch a fast moving moth or bug is a sight to behold as they turn almost 360 degrees in mid flight. I’ve never managed to catch it on video… I’ll keep trying. They are particularly active at dusk when their aerial displays can keep me amused for a long time.

White-fronted Chat – I rarely see these cheeky little guys possibly as they feed on the ground chasing insects though I often hear them. I managed to get just some blurry photos of them recently so this pic was sourced from BirdLife Australia.

Crested Terns are sea birds with attitude. Check out that hair (well, feathers but you get the idea). They will fly over the sea, looking around for a tasty fish and then dive into the water at break-neck speed. It’s amazing to watch. Here’s a short Youtube clip as an example from RedJered.

These little seabirds are difficult to identify … so many different breeds look similar! So after some research, I’m suggesting that this is a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. If you know better, please let me know!

Around at the same time is this little guy (in fact there were quite a few of these and a large group of Sandpipers). I’ve identified them as Red-Necked Stints (non breeding colours). They are smaller than the Sandpipers with all white breasts and shorter bills. Again, if you can enlighten me happy to hear from you 🙂

I hope you’ve been inspired to visit a local shoreline, park or patch of green somewhere near you. You never know what you might see. Happy 2014. May your skies be full of happy (rather than Angry) birds …

artists, Australia, Melbourne, Music Stores, Uncategorized, Writers

Want to revitalise your creative juices? Visit your local music store

November 19, 2013 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

What do you mean… what music store? I know, so many of them have vanished, eaten up by the e-monster that is that online fruit store but if you can find one (and I’ll let you in on the secret of a few of my favourites as a gift for your kind attention) then you are in for a treat.

Today, I walked around my absolute favourite and came away buzzing with creative ideas. Is it the fact that they have reintroduced actual LPs? With cover art? Joy! Is it the rows of beautiful art books that have recently appeared? Double happiness! Or perhaps it’s the calmness of the music playing and the almost mystical potential of rows and rows of fabulous and enticing CDs? All of this was experienced by me spending 1o minutes (which should have been spent rushing to my parking meter) in a joyful, tactile, friendly, sense-enhancing environment. But for my need not to have a parking ticket (so I have more cash to spend on music) I would have spent more time testing the knowledge of the store manager about whether, really, there is a definitive Ella Fitzgerald collection.

Yes! I know as soon as I buy the CD I’ll upload it and probably never look at the cover again. Yes, I also know that beautiful art book that I covet and think will make a great gift will stay – after purchase – on my own book shelf because, really, let’s face it, no-one else will really appreciate it as much as I do.

As I departed the store with the tips of my toes a few centimetres above the pavement, into the glorious sunshine of a Melbourne late-spring afternoon (before the cool change: Melburnians, you know of what I speak) I fancied I had discovered something new, a place to recharge my batteries and my creative notions. In fact, it was a trip to the past and also a sign of things to come when we remember WE LIKE SHOPPING IN REAL STORES! So. Just in case you do in fact still have a music store (or for that matter a book store) in your part of town, protect it. Love it. Visit it. And buy things. You wont regret it. 🙂

A few of my favourite music stores:

Thomas Music Store, 31 Bourke Street Melbourne 3000 Ph: (03) 9650 9111 (Actually, this is my No.1 favourite)

Basement Discs, 24 Block Place, Melbourne VIC 3000 Ph: (03) 9654 1110 (Love this underground cave of a store!)

Polyester Records, 387 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (03) 9419 5137

Go on … be a slave to the rhythm.

life balance, Suffrage, Uncategorized, Women

Does your favourite movie pass the Bechdel test?

November 15, 2013November 15, 2013 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test)

I heard about the Bechdel Test on ABC radio National the other day and I struggled to think of a single recent film that met the criteria: A film that has two women in it… who talk to each other… about something other than men.

Maybe Thelma & Louise and that was a few years ago and look what happened to them!? (and come to think about it, they talked rather a lot about men (Brad Pitt, rotten husbands…)

What would be on your list that meets the criteria and let’s face it, it’s quite a low benchmark!

Some Swedish movie theatres are basing their film choices on this test… what a great idea! These films might tell women’s stories. Even better idea!

Let me know!

Suffrage, Uncategorized, Women in Business

Oxymoron or just moronic?

November 12, 2013November 12, 2013 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

Have you read the one about the ‘mass of unprepared women (who) will suddenly find themselves in senior jobs’ if the Male Champions of Change have their way? Apparently Mark Lawson in Friday’s Fin Review thinks that ‘while affirmative action always sounds like a good idea… it is doubtful whether women are interested in these senior jobs’. Generous people have suggested he is being ironic. I thought perhaps he was being moronic.

While it may seem very funny to suggest that women can’t hold down senior jobs because “A common corporate story is that of talented, capable, highly skilled women who will have one child and come back after six months off, then have a second child and only be interested in part-time work” (Mark Lawson, Financial Review) perhaps there should be some suggestions about taking the emphasis off of women so that child care is a family issue shared by parents rather than heaped on the shoulders of mothers. And surprise surprise… there are working women who don’t have children! It’s amazing but true!

As to the ‘mass of unprepared women’ – I’m sorry but I can’t think of a single one. All the women I know are prepared for just about anything. Except perhaps the constant onslaught of media misogyny – we can still be caught somewhat unprepared for that.

PS: Here is the link if you’re like to read it.

Australia, Suffrage, Uncategorized, Women in Business

After Margaret Thatcher: No Turning Back

April 10, 2013April 11, 2013 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

I read with some sadness of the death of Margaret Thatcher at the ripe old age of 87. What a good innings she had even if her last few years were troubled by dementia. I also read with interest the comments that she was ‘unique’, ‘one of a kind’ and therefore unlikely to be replicated. Is it to early to say I beg to differ?

One of the surprising things about women in positions of power is that … well, when we get there we often do very well. This seems surprising to some parts of the community who show considerable consternation when a woman is appointed to a tough top job. What? A women? At the head of a government (or company, or department) making brave decisions? Must be a one-off. She must be unique. But she wasn’t and she’s not – at least in terms of women who know what they are doing and what they want.

I am forming a theory that what’s really scary (for some) about women in positions of authority, for example female prime ministers, is that they actually do a very good job. Now that’s not to say they don’t make unpopular decisions or that they don’t break their word (just like their male counterparts) but they are strong-willed, determined, often very good leaders and highly resilient. And there are more and more of them and that is what is making some of our (XY chromosome) community extremely nervous. Clever, well placed women are often very, very efficient and very, very much here to stay.

Some examples: Angela Merkel: Ms Merkel, at 58, is a German politician who has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005, and the Leader of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000. She is the first woman to hold either office. Big boots to fill I’d say. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel

And what about Hilary Clinton? Once she got out from under the ‘First lady’ tag, did she take up knitting ? She did not. She was the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, under President Barack Obama and a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. And closer to home, we cannot ignore our own Prime Minister. Love or hate her political leanings (or anyone else’s), becoming the first woman Prime Minister of Australia is no small feat and she was the Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 2010. She is the first woman to hold either office.

<
And away from the pollies: Oprah. She's known just by her first name: that's a very good start and for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show "The Oprah Winfrey Show" which was the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was for a time the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.[There are so many more who were inventors, scientists, doctors… It was a woman who invented Liquid Paper, Bette Nesmith Graham; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu created the first smallpox vaccine; Rosalind Franklin played a pivotal role in mapping out the double helix of DNA in the 1950s; Helen Greiner cofounded iRobot-a packbot that dismantles explosives (source: http://lifestyle.allwomenstalk.com/things-women-invented-first/) Randice-Lisa Altschul invented the world's first disposable cell phone and who can forget Marie Curie who discovered radium and furthered x-ray technology.

“To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say, you turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning” – Speech at Conservative Party conference, 1980.

Of those who believe that a successful, powerful woman must be an aberration,get ready for a shock. It is time to accept that strong women are and will increasingly be appointed to positions of power all over the world. And to paraphrase the Baroness, there’s no turning away from that.

Australia, Business Strategy, Corporate sponsorship, Economy, fundraising, Melbourne, Not for Profit Sector, partnerships, philanthropy, Uncategorized, Women in Business

What’s in a name? that which we call a Fundraiser by another name would it be as sweet?

March 15, 2013March 15, 2013 Pamela Sutton-Legaud Writer, Strategist, CEO

Apologies to Shakespeare… But I’m pondering: Why do we call Fundraisers… well, Fundraisers? Yes we do the action of raising funds … but that is so much only a part of the end result. What we do more than just raise dollars is build long term relationships and help philanthropists deliver on their own philanthropic goals.

In doing that we must do so much more that is often overlooked in the focus on the bottom line.

If you hire a Sales Person for your sales team, you want certain specific things from them in terms of meeting budget goals and building client relationships. And clients hopefully are getting a product they want and need in exchange for their cash.

And yet a Fundraiser often must manage more than you’d expect from a sales person and it’s time we found a new description of this much misunderstood role. As a Fundraiser, if you are to be successful in encouraging others to donate their time, talent and in particular treasure to an organisation, any fundraiser must learn an entire range of skills hidden in the term ‘fundraiser’ .

If you’ve ever met a great Fundraiser then you’d know that we are the sum of many parts. They are often good people managers, good financial managers, have a strong understanding of strategy: can take a helicopter view of a business to understand not just its financial needs but its priorities and urgencies. They learn how to build long term relationships; must learn how to recognise a philanthropist’s needs and goals and try to match them with their organisation’s needs and goals. It’s a tricky, sensitive business and one that takes maturity, knowledge and understanding of the role philanthropy plays in any non-profit business’s success.

Perhaps worrying about the title is a red herring. As with many things, it starts with the brief when a recruiter is starting to look for someone who can raise funds.

1. Forget the title: Look for relationship people – that is those who understand other people AND understand money and how it works within a business.

2. Look for those who understand how to put together a strategic plan and can explain the organisation’s priorities to potential donors.

3. Look for those with a track record – yes, the bottom line does come into it, it’s just not the only thing.

4. Look for a link to your cause. Does the potential recruit really care about what you’re doing.

Just because I started this off looking at the title, I’d like to suggest a few alternative (nice) names for fundraisers:

Chief Relationship Officer; Strategic Prioritiser; Philanthropic Advancer, Bonding Adviser….

Perhaps the US has become more inventive – whatever we call them, fundraisers deliver a very valuable service to our non-profits and I believe it could be time we gave a higher recognition to their varied skills. They bring more to most organisations than just dollars. But as a ‘Strategic Prioritiser’ myself, perhaps I have a bias view. Over to you.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: