CEO Should Also Stand for Chief External Officer

Most nonprofit CEOs have their heads buried. Buried in programming. Buried in day-to-day administration. Buried in HR and finance and the hundred small fires that keep an organization running. And I get it. That work matters. But somewhere in all of that, a lot of CEOs have quietly decided that going outside is not part of the job.

I do not mean literally outside. I mean the dinners, the galas, the lunches, the happy hours. The places where relationships actually get built. Some CEOs do not go because there is no time. Some do not go because it makes them nervous. And some just do not want to equate being out in the world with work. They want that time to be relaxing, not another line item on the to-do list.

Here is what I have found in my own experience. Meeting people and talking about the work I do has generated real leads. It has closed real clients. Not because I am doing anything magic in that room, but because I am in the room.

I talk a lot about social media, because building an audience of people who care about your work matters. But social media is hard to stay consistent with, and a lot of CEOs and executive directors struggle to keep up with it. Showing up in person is also hard. It is also necessary. Neither one replaces the other.

Three Reasons to Get From Behind Your Desk

First, it lets you see what everyone else is doing. You learn what is happening in your sector, who is doing interesting work, and what partnerships might actually make sense. You cannot see any of that from behind a desk.

Second, it puts a human face on your mission. People fund people they like, sometimes even when the work is not exactly what they normally support. If someone meets you at a happy hour and likes how you talk about your organization, that connection can outlast a mismatch on paper.

Third, it gives you a place to practice your pitch. The way you sharpen an elevator pitch is by giving it, over and over, to real people who ask real questions. By the time you are sitting across from a funder who is seriously considering you, you already know what you are going to say. You already know what questions are coming. That confidence does not come from rehearsing alone in your office. It comes from reps.

Where Should You Go

August is full of happy hours. People are outside, calendars are looser, and the nonprofit and philanthropic sector tends to be gathering more than usual. My challenge to you: go to two happy hours this month. Look at the calendar, see what other organizations have planned, and just go.

From there, gala season is coming, and it runs through the end of the year. Galas can get expensive, so plan for it. Your plan: attend two galas this season. Set a budget, something like $500 for two tickets, and look for early bird pricing so you are not paying top dollar. Sometimes your organization will cover the ticket. Sometimes you put your own skin in the game.

How do you pick which galas to attend? Start with who has sponsored that gala in the past. If there is a foundation you want to build a relationship with, or one that already aligns with your mission, see what events they show up to and show up there too. If you know certain major donors tend to appear at certain galas, buy the ticket and be in the room. Proximity brings checks.

The last piece is conferences. If you are in a bigger city, look at what conferences are coming through your city between now and December. If a conference is bringing in the kind of people who align with your work, host a happy hour near the venue. Promote it on social media, ask a few people you know who are attending to help spread the word, and keep the budget lean, $2,000 or less, close enough to walk from the conference.

People at conferences are looking for free food. That is just true. But they are also people whose jobs sent them somewhere, or who had the means to get there themselves, which tells you something about their capacity to give. Even if the room does not convert into donations right away, you walk away with more names for your list and more people you can reach out to later.

Okay, so here is your plan

Two rooftops in August. A short list of galas between now and December, chosen based on who sponsors them and who attends. One well-placed happy hour near a conference that matters to your mission.

CEOs, it is time to be Chief External Officers too. Let's make a plan to be outside.