WATSON DURENBERGERCOLLABORATIVE CONSULTING

How Neuroscience Can Turbo Charge Your Philanthropy and

Development Programs

Heather DurenbergerMBA, MA

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www.heatherdurenberger.com

About the presenterAchieving results in Non Profits and Fortune

300 environment for 16 years

MBA, 2000 + MA in Biopsychology, 1993 research Dopamine

Member, Neuroleadership Institute

Help clients see what’s really, really going on

Strengths: engaging others, building partnerships, focus, creating high trust environments and sustained performance leaps

Workshop overviewPurpose: How do you see board engagement helping your leadership? Process: Stop, listen, reflect(ah-ha’s), process, take actionPayoff: Gain understanding of governance and conditions needed for healthy board functioning. Permission:How do we want to work

together?

Those Successful in PhilanthropyHave a knack for building

relationships that go deep quickly. Can produce win-win outcomes

with those they seek to engage and serve. 

Are intuitively using proven neuroscience techniques to achieve their success.

Today You Will LearnTechniques for emotional

engagement in a way that engages the whole person - heart, mind and investment. 

How to connect deeper and more authentically with prospective donors

How work from the donor’s perspective

Let’s turn the tables on development

Quick Poll: Who is here?

By show of hands, please share if you are:

Philanthropy, Development or Fundraising Professional

A Non profit ManagerA Non profit Board

Member/Volunteer Other

Human brain and human mind

Research now helps us connect the brain (physical organ) to

the mind (human consciousness that thinks, feels, acts, perceives and behaves)

Image source:Deborahmay.com

How Your Brain is Constructed

Extend both arms with palms open facing down and lock your thumbs

Curl your fingers and make two fists

Turn your fists inwards until the knuckles touch

While fists touching, pull towards your chest – you are looking down on your knuckles.

How Your Brain is Constructed

Thumbs remind us interconnection

The knuckles and outside part of hands remind us of cerebrum (thinking part of the brain)

Spread your palms while keeping knuckles touching – look at tips of fingers – this is limbic (emotional area)

The wrists are the brainstem, your forearms are the brain stem

Image source: Brainytot.com

basal ganglia

First Concept: Initial Connection

Something NewEngages working

memory prefrontal cortex

Needs to compare new with old info

High energy costFatigues easilyOne piece/timeRequires lots of

repetition

Something Familiar

• Engages basal ganglia

• Something routine, familiar, trusted

• Area of the brain functions on routine so it is automatic, much practiced…

• Much lower energy cost

Take AwayTap the basal ganglia rather than the

prefrontal cortex

When introducing idea, work from the familiar!

To do so REQUIRES you know the person you are introducing the concept SO you can WEAVE or CONNECT your concept or idea into what your prospect already knows, trusts and finds familiar

Seek First to UnderstandThis flips the goals of

development conversations for the solicitor

It is not ALL about the non profit, this is ALL about your prospect

What are their needs, dreams, passions, history, beliefs?

DONOR CENTRIC - Work from this place!

Second Concept: Be Real

The old saying: Say what you mean and mean what you say

This saying is grounded in neuroscience.

Who knew?Image source:dailypaul.com

Neural ErrorsHuman brains have STRONG capacity to detect the difference between expectations & actualities called errors

Image source:uninstallvirusspyware.com

Promised One Thing, Delivered Another

What happens to our brains?

Edmund Rolls found ↑ neural firing/brain activity

Orbital frontal cortex which sits behind the eyeballs

Image source:spssscience.blogspot.com

Quick Poll

By show of hands, what area of the brain do you think the orbital frontal cortex (remember for ERRORS) sits close too?

1. Visual Cortex2. Amygdala3. Cerebellum

AmygdalaOne of the oldest

parts of the mammal brain

Responsible for fight or flight

Protects us from perceived danger

When amygdala is activated it draws energy away from prefrontal cortex Image source:youtube.com

So What Does This Mean?When neural errors are

detected this draws/pushes people to become emotional and act impulsively

Stress = ↑ energy cost

If we want to tap into high trust, creative, strategic and generative part of the brain – STAY AWAY from activating the amygdala

Under promise, over deliverImage source:pinterest.com

Third Concept: How to engage?Telling vs engaging

We are wired to act like 2 year old when TOLD what to do -brain automatically pushes back

When people can SOLVE problem themselves and make NEW CONNECTIONS then brain is happy : )

Image source:youtube.com

Happy Brain

When brain makes new connections or novel solutions it releases RUSH of neurotransmitters like adrenaline

Image source:happybrainscience.com

Take AwaysRather than TELLING, ask lots

of questions

Help prospect find or create solutions

If they need help offer options and let them make decisions on their own

When you try to persuade rather than AUTHENTICALLY INQUIRE this sets off subconscious alarm bells

Power of helping others come to their OWN insights Image source:bekindtoustrolls.wordpress.com

Quick Poll

What can we do to better engage prospects in win-win outcomes?

1. Tell the prospect the solution

2. Authentically inquire

3. Help them seek/create new solutions

4. Answers 2 and 3

Neuroscience and Motivation

Simple mechanisms of motivation are seated in the oldest parts of our brains that are common to our mammalian cousins

Image source:thisistidietz.com

So What Does This Mean?

Straight from the literature:The GOAL of organizations is to

MINIMIZE engagement of the brain’s aversive system and ATTEMPT to best engage the motivational system.

Translation -

Quick Poll

In your organization how do you consider the donor experience when you designing strategies?

1. Ask staff to design solutions

2. Partner with donors

3. Use surveys

4. Answers 2 and 3

Neuroscience of AffiliationRelatedness refers to

the need we have for maintaining important interpersonal relationships…

Research has been shown that affiliation activates the brain reward network.

Image source:thompsonblogs.org

The Brain & Social Exclusion

A recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan revealed that “the same regions of the brain that become active in response to painful sensory experiences are activated during intense experiences of social rejection.”

Image Source: sciencedaily.com

Rejection = PainIn other words, social

rejection and isolation are experienced as intensely as physical pain.

As has been widely documented by researchers, they aren’t emotions that motivate people to be better; they are emotions that make people feel backed into a corner.

Image Source: NY Times

So What Does This Mean?Brain hurts as much

as physical pain when perceives being unaffiliated

Brain longs for being in relationship

How might development authentically leverage this fact? Image source: bernardsolutions.com

Last concept: Power of focusWith so many distractions - one of our biggest challenges is focus

How do we get prospects to give enough attention to the idea/opportunity we would like them to focus on?

Image source:theeternalist.blogspot.com

Power of focused attentionThe greater the focus

on one specific thought, idea or mental experience the higher the attention density

With enough attention density individuals thoughts and acts of the brain become part of the individuals identity

Image source:performancing.com

So What Does This Mean? Make sure you are focus on

one message

Make sure it is the RIGHT message based on your prospect

Weave it into what prospect knows/trusts

Follow up is critical in order to keep attention focused and to reinforce

Make sure not too many ask from same organization – again FOCUS Image source:blog.vkistudios.com

Today’s Takeaways1. Work from the familiar &

trusted

2. Deliver what you promise: avoid activating neural errors

3. Help prospect come to own insight & ah-has: causes rush of neurotransmitters

4. Remember people desire to be connected in relationships

5. Focus your message: attention density

6. Reinforce and follow up to keep attention focused on the insights & opportunity Image source:theproducersperspective.com

Questions

What is one thing you learned today that you can try tomorrow morning?

Other questions?

Go Deeper David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz , the Neuroleadership

Institute, http://www.neuroleadership.org/

NeuroscienceTed Talks.   Ethan Kross, Marc G. Berman, Walter Mischel, Edward E. Smith, Tor

D. Wager.Social rejection shares somatosensory representations with physical pain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011

Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies: http://www.humiliationstudies.org/research/research.php

Neuroscience at Work http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/business/neuroleadership-institutes-chief-on-shared-goals.html?_r=0

Brain Basics: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/know_your_brain.htm

www.heatherdurenberger.com

hdurenbe@smumn.edu