Danica's Big Deal

Danica Patrick made racing history and big-deal history when she won her first Indy car race after 50 starts. She's been on a whale hunt since she was a little girl. Learning to drive race cars was only the beginning. In order to compete, to run every race on her circuit to stay competitive, Danica has to make big deals with sponsors--those are the whales! Indy car trendsetter Lyn St. James teaches girls and young women how to sell their promise to sponsors and how to retain a great sponsorship relationship.

Danica is a GoDaddy Girl -- sponsored by the web services provider GoDaddy.com. She's been a great asset to them, not only because she's a great race car driver and a beautiful woman, but because she treats them well and is generous with her time and good nature. Here's a fantastic video blog by Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy. Click on Danica Wins! It'll make your day

I'm collecting Big Deal stories about women. I hope you'll post some!

Founding Mothers were Whale Hunters

Cokie Roberts was a featured speaker at the Christamore House event described in my last entry. She's written two books about the women "behind the men" known as the "founding fathers." The first is Founding Mothers and the more recent is Ladies of Liberty. [Order them both from amazon.com]

It was exhilarating to hear Cokie talk about her research, her discoveries, and the rich and lyrical voices of the women that she invokes. Her passionate message is this: the women were so political! I would say they were whale hunters. They invented and then worked their social power base in order to capture the big deals for their families--

Cokie talked about her mother, Lindy Boggs, who wielded power as the wife of a senator, then a senator in her own right, and then the US ambassador to the Vatican. Lindy Boggs was a whale hunter in all of her roles--whether orchestrating from "behind" the scenes to taiing the stage herself. An interesting aside--when she was an elected senator, Lindy Boggs had to vote and thereby commit her opinions to the record. In her former role, she never had to tip her hand politically.

Do you like to work behind the scenes, out in front, or a combination of both? We would love to hear your experiences.

A Whale Hunt for Charity

Yesterday in Indianapolis I attended the Book and Author luncheon, a big annual benefit hosted by the Christamore House, which was founded in 1905 as a settlement house and is still serving families and helping kids get a education.

This event is a perfect example of the philanthropic whale hunt that women do so often and so well. Here's why I call it a whale hunt:

• Their "whale" is a big fundraising goal, focused on one event with multiple streams of revenue.
• They have very specific, measurable objectives—including a strict timeline and numbers—of contacts, of attendees, of ticket sales, of sponsor contributions.
• The staff and volunteers work all year in preparation.
• The Indiana Roof Ballroom will seat 950 people at tables of 10, so they launched a boat of 75 table captains to ensure a sell-out event. In fact, 250 wannabes will have to wait until next year.
• They use Subject Matter Experts in their unique areas of expertise--seeking sponsors, doing PR, overseeing the program, reviewing books and inviting authors, coordinating event logistics, and more and more.
• They mentor the volunteers who will lead next year’s hunt, and they keep track of what works and how to do things to ensure efficiency and success.

Some charitable whale hunts are hugely successful, like this one, but others fall short of the mark. The key difference is design and management of a rigorous whle hunting process.

What charitable whale hunts have you helped to orchestrate? What are the process ideas that work best for you?