One of my perennial Father/Son joys involves the l road trips in my F-150 pickup with son Chris.

We play lots of John Haitt’s Drive South  and even more of  Willie Nelson.

We’ve been up and down the East Coast, and all across the country. Mostly these journeys    self-certify us as  Legit Waffle House Critics and Observers. LWHCO as in CFRE.

While it’s not my place here at family-friendly Agitatorto get into midnight munchies or offend health-conscious Agitatormoms about the joys of greasy spoon comfort food, I do want to make some fundraising observations.

I’m not kidding.  I definitely want to connect Waffle House with fundraising.

A month or so ago, in Top 5 Barriers to RetentionI stressed the importance of consistency. Without it you’re sunk when it comes to retention. Inconsistent messages.  Inconsistent donor service.  Inconsistent donor experiences.  All fatal when it comes to retention.

So back to the road trip.

Each and every Waffle House is a monument to consistency.  No matter which of their yellow and black signs lures you off the interstate and into one of their 430 locations,  you’re going to find the same eggs-over-easy, the same waffles covered with the syrups and fruits you want, and the same onions ready to smother whatever you choose. No surprises.  No letdowns.

Start with the Waffle House greeting which is organic– even if their eggs aren’t.  No rote, memorized, phony greeting.  Just a welcoming smile, a friendly “howdy”, and a hearty “What can I getcha”, delivered in a ‘welcome home’ manner.

Quite different from the greeting that I’m usually met with when I call a nonprofit help line—assuming it gets answered.

Then… on to the menu, the service and the food itself.  Consistent. Waffle after waffle.  Egg after egg.  Coffee after coffee.  No big deal. No mention of their 200 regional offices.  The PhD of their CFO.  Not a whisper of the column inches they got in the NY Times.

These sorts of Waffle-oriented impressions as opposed to Waffle-customer-oriented stats just don’t matter.

And well they shouldn’t. Because when it comes to their customers every minuteof every day –around the clock—Waffle House serves an average of 341 bacon strips, 238 orders of hash browns, 145 waffles, and 127 cups of coffee. Consistently.

So, how do they do it?

First, their managers (their equivalent of a nonprofit’s CEO) meet their customers (donors) face-to-face.  They know what they look like and what they want.

More significant… Waffle House doesn’t put anyone in charge of a location unless they’ve started out on the floor—sweeping it, working it, dealing with customers—on the theory that if you’ve never cooked and served food you can’t possibly run a whole restaurant.

How many nonprofit CEOs have ever been exposed to the basic ‘floor sweeping” and “cooking” with donors and donor service that makes for fundraising success and donor value?

All this simple, yet magnificent consistency leads to trust.  Thanks to the restaurant’s dependable round-the-clock service, FEMA uses an informal “Waffle House Index” to gauge the severity of natural disasters. Code Green means all is well and the restaurants are fully functioning; Code Yellow means a limited menu is being served and the power may be out; Code Red means the restaurant is closed and the sky might be falling.

Is your nonprofit trusted this much when it comes to the predictability that springs from consistency?

Do you try to  welcome and convert at every opportunity?   Are you friendly and welcoming?  Are you consistent?

Think about it.  Then get ye to the nearest Waffle House.  Think donors.  Over easy, smothered in onions please.

Roger

P.S.  For years a Post-It note from one of the Waffle House founders has graced my screen: “Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday.”