Researching International Prospects: Cultural Considerations

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Researching International Prospects Cultural
Considerations
Globalization in Institutional Advancement
Conference April 2002 Texas Tech University

• Nancy Nichols
• Prospect Information Network
• 1-888-557-1326, ext. 110
• www.prospectinfo.com

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Next Steps

• Youve identified that the prospect is wealthy,
  youve identified interests, connections, etc.
  Now what?
• The trick is to put theory into practice. What
  works in one culture may be inappropriate in
  another.

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"It is often difficult for North Americans to
bridge the gap between their values, beliefs
and communication styles, and those of other
cultures, making it necessary to research
thoroughly and s
It is often difficult for North Americans to
bridge the gap between their values, beliefs and
communication styles, and those of other
cultures, making it necessary to research
thoroughly and seek local advice before embarking
on any strategy E.A. Thomas
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FOREIGN COWS

• FRENCH CORPORATION You have two cows. You go
  onstrike because you want three cows. You go to
  lunch.Life is good.
• JAPANESE CORPORATION You have two cows.
  Youredesign them so they are one-tenth the size
  of anordinary cow and produce twenty times the
  milk. Theylearn to travel on unbelievably
  crowded trains. Mostare at the top of their
  class at cow school.
• GERMAN CORPORATION You have two cows.
  Youreengineer them so they are all blond, drink
  lots ofbeer, give excellent quality milk, and
  run a hundredmiles an hour. Unfortunately they
  also demand 13weeks of vacation per year.
• ITALIAN CORPORATION You have two cows but you
  don'tknow where they are. While ambling around,
  you see abeautiful woman. You break for lunch.
  Life is good.

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FOREIGN COWS

• RUSSIAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You
  countthem and learn you have five cows. You have
  somemore vodka. You count them again and learn
  you have42 cows. You count them again and learn
  you have 12cows. You stop counting cows and open
  another bottleof vodka. You produce your 10th,
  5-year plan in thelast 3 months. The Mafia shows
  up and takes overhowever many cows you really
  have.
• AMERICAN CORPORATION You have two cows. You
  sellone, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO
  on the2nd one. You force the 2 cows to produce
  the milk offour cows. You are surprised when one
  cow dropsdead. You spin an announcement to the
  analystsstating you have downsized and are
  reducingexpenses. Your stock goes up.

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FOREIGN COWS

• FLORIDA CORPORATION You have a black cow and a
  brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking
  one. Some of the people who like the brown one
  best vote for the black one. Some people vote
  for both. Some people vote for  neither. Some
  people can't figure out how to vote at all.
  Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell
  you which is the best lookingone.

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What happens when you dont do the research

• Cracking an international market for fundraising
  is a goal of most growing non-profits. It
  shouldnt be that hard, yet even the big
  multi-national businesses run into trouble
  because of language and culture differences.
• Some examples

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Some examples

• The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as
  Ke-Kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company
  didnt discover until after thousands of signs
  had been printed that the phrase means bite the
  wax tadpole.
• In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan
  Come alive with the Pepsi Generation came out
  as Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the
  dead.
• When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in
  South America, it was apparently unaware that no
  va means it wont go. It renamed the car for
  Spanish markets Caribe.
• An American t-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts
  for the Spanish market which promoted the Popes
  visit. Instead of the desired I saw the Pope
  in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed I saw the
  Potato.

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How can you avoid the mistakes

• If these giant corporations made these mistakes
  in approaching new markets, is there something
  you can learn from their mistakes so you dont do
  the same thing?

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AVOID WELL KNOWN MISTAKES

• The biggest no-no is not to do proper
  preparation, or to start without a strategy.
• Many time consuming and expensive mistakes are
  just due to lack of preparation, lack of
  information, and lack of planning. Dont assume
  that the people you contact will be unprepared
  (DeBeers example)
• You will need to learn a lot of basic facts
  (dont assume). Example accountant versus lawyer
  (Italy).

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AVOID WELL KNOWN MISTAKES

• Tax laws is it deductible, is it an investment
  ?
• What is the best way to make the donation?
• What systems need to be put into place to make
  that happen?
• What is the current culture of business in this
  country?

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What is Your Strategy?

• Is it global (e.g., 30 of our students/alumni
  are from Japan or Korea or many Korean firms
  investing in our area, etc.) or specific (e.g.,
  targeting one individual or one company)?
• Is it a long term strategy (carefully and
  deliberately building and sustaining strategic
  relationships, focused on cultivation and
  stewardship not on immediate results) or short
  term strategy.

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Some Observations

• Focus on building life-long relationships that
  create a feeling of belonging.
• Identify where you are active and where you are
  not active, on where your alumni are and what
  they are doing. Be flexible (e.g.,ensure that
  your institution is able to accept donations via
  credit cards which will greatly simplify exchange
  rate problems)
• Build a stable program- with the same people
  being involved over the long term

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Some Observations

• Build a network of local guides and commit
  yourself to them- make them insiders, give them
  the information they need, empower them.
• Be flexible and engage in active listening, flow
  with the local customs, dont over organize your
  trips, rely on your guides. Allow room for
  flexibility and creative responses on the spot.
  Learning is more important than cultivation.
• Do your homework on the companies, people and
  culture.

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Long-term strategyAn Example

• University of Toronto
• 30 of students of Asian origin.Toronto a key
  destination point for Hong Kong immigrants.Many
  of the Universitys Canadian corporate friends
  are building their Hong Kong profile
• UT took a long term view towards fundraising . It
  moved carefully and deliberately to build and
  sustain strategic relationships, and focused on
  cultivation and stewardship-not immediate
  results. It began by building a solid alumni
  chapter and an active student recruitment
  program. It took the time to meet and cultivate
  community leaders, and helped introduce Hong Kong
  business leaders to Canadian corporate and
  government leaders. It built and sustained a
  close relationship with the Hong Kong Bank,
  helped establish Toronto ties for Hong Kong
  investors moving to Toronto.

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Long-term strategyAn Example

• What does this say?
• -Top-level commitment is important- For the
  first five years, Hong Kong had at least one
  annual visit by a university leader. Strong
  commitment by the president and others. Time
  (willingness to invest for the long term).
• -Investment of 1 million over 5 years returned
  5 million plus after 5 years. In addition, it
  has built long-term relationships with a wide
  circle of financial and opinion leaders in Hong
  Kong. The Hong Kong alumni chapter has 2,000
  active participants. (Resources)

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Sources that can provide advice

• Standard guides on various countries (Price
  Waterhouse guides Doing Business in ., CIA
  World Factbook guidebooks)
• http//www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ind
  ex
• U.S. government profiles of countries and
  territories around the world. Information on
  geography, people, government, transportation,
  economy, communications, military, and
  transnational issues.

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Sources that Can Provide Advice

• Tax law guides
• http//www.homeworkersexpats.com
• -International tax advice by country, tax
  changes
• Example An introduction to the Italian tax
  system on accountants web site at Italian
  Taxation System a primer for foreigners.
• Charitable activities by country at
• http//philanthropy.com/free/resources/general/in
  ternational

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Sources that can provide advice

• Internet sources Google http//www.google.com
• --Click on Directory
• Regional Business/Economics
• Translation source (examples)
• Language source

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The Power Behind Google

• Why Google's patented PigeonRank works so well
• PigeonRank's success relies primarily on the
  superior trainability of the domestic pigeon
  (Columba livia) and its unique capacity to
  recognize objects regardless of spatial
  orientation. The common gray pigeon can easily
  distinguish among items displaying only the
  minutest differences, an ability that enables it
  to select relevant web sites from among thousands
  of similar pages.
• By collecting flocks of pigeons in dense
  clusters, Google is able to process search
  queries at speeds superior to traditional search
  engines, which typically rely on birds of prey,
  brooding hens or slow-moving waterfowl to do
  their relevance rankings.

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Sources that can provide advice

• Internet sources (cultural differences, customs)
  
• Executive Planet at www.executiveplanet.com
• -business etiquette and culture
• World Biz at http//www.worldbiz.com
• -discover the best way to conduct business
  meetings and make business presentations learn
  about business communications style and business
  entertainment.
• Charity Village at http//www.charityvillage.com

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Sources that can provide advice

• International Fundraising for Not-for-Profits a
  Country by Country Profile , Thomas Harris
  (editor). John Wiley Sons November 1999 each
  chapter is written by a national of the country,
  insights about the country,culture, attitudes
  towards money and not-for profits aimed to allow
  the reader to penetrate effectively.

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Some guides

• Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands How to Do Business in
  Sixty Countries A small misstep can threaten or
  even destroy your marketing efforts in a foreign
  country. Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands will allow you
  to avoid many of the errors made by others
  abroad. This book provides you with the best and
  most current data on what foreign business and
  social practices to expect in your efforts at
  globalization.

Dun Bradstreet's Guide to Doing Business Around
the World(revised 2000) Covering 40 countries,
this up-to-date, "how-to" guide from the highly
respected business information source is the
first to combine timely export information and
risk profiles with helpful data on the cultural
aspects of doing business internationally. The
International Traveler's Guide To Doing Business
in the European Union (International Business
Traveler's Series) This informative book
includes notes on the economy, history, legal
environment, customs and business styles of each
country in the European Union. Invest in this
book, and make your first impression in Latin
America a god one.
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Sources that can provide advice

• Alumni (in this country doing business in the
  target countriesalumni residing in the country
  where you will be soliciting and cultivating
  donors.)
• Local government agencies
• Local businesses and business associations
• International foundations
• Key citizens in the community