Asking and answering questions: the real lesson from nonprofit of the year winner.(OPINION)

There we were in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf=Astoria. The Direct Marketing Association's Nonprofit Federation was about to announce its 2008 Nonprofit Organization of the Year.

Brilliant marketing. Stellar acquisition and cultivation results. An unblemished reputation. Making the world better, one smile at a time. And the winner is ... Operation Smile.

Op Smile's senior vice president of Response Marketing and Development, Kyla Shawyer, showed powerful, emotional videos of their life-changing work and regaled us with tales of direct marketing prowess.

She had us. Standing ovation.

But how many people in the room secretly thought, "Sure, if I could offer a 40-minute surgery to cure innocent kids with facial deformities for only $240, I could have results like that, too,"

Be honest. Did you think that? Maybe just a little bit?

Think again. Operation Smile has been doing life-changing surgeries for children around the world for 25 years. They've had brilliant, charismatic co-founders Bill and Kathy Magee for 25 years. They've had before and after photos of kids for 25 years. They had an agency and a direct mail program.

They had all that before.

But they didn't have the spectacular growth for which they were just honored until five years ago--when they were willing to look at their entire work completely differently.

Five years ago, Operation Smile's board realized they were too dependent on the tremendous major gift fundraising of Bill and Kathy Magee and they challenged the organization to diversify fundraising far beyond anything they had ever done before. To enlist tens of thousands--hundreds of thousands--of Americas in the mission to provide surgeries to children around the globe. To create a movement. They committed the money. They took the risks. And the marketing people responded as the best marketing people do.

What seems obvious now, wasn't obvious back then. Operation Smile tested new offers, new dollar handles, new celebrity spokespeople, new media channels.

There were lots of questions:

* Given the donation of medical talent and equipment, how much does a surgery really cost? Instead of asking for $15, could Op Smile really ask first-time donors for $240 for a surgery?

* Would the increase in average gift offset the drop in response? Is there a monthly offer?

* Would a celebrity help or detract from the kids? Who is the right celebrity?

* What countries should Operation Smile feature in its meting? (It makes a difference.) Are there American biases for or against certain areas of the world? Where will the parents emote? The children?

* Would this work on TV? Long form (half hour or hour) or short (spots)? That's a huge decision.

* How do you portray grotesque facial deformities and difficult surgeries on TV without viewers looking away, or worse, switching the channel? Will the stations air it? What stations will work best? Network? Cable? Local markets? What days? What parts of the day? How much should the media buys cost?

* Should the creative drive responders to a call center or a Web site?

* How should the new turbo-charged direct mail program integrate with TV?

* How will interactive be integrated?

Operation Smile turned itself upside down to launch an innovative donor care program to respect--and keep--the donors they're bringing on.

You heard the results. During the past five years, Operation Smile's donor base increased tenfold. Its income skyrocketed 650 percent. Its 25th anniversary World Journey of Smiles provided surgeries to more than 4,000 beautiful children in 25 countries during a 10-day period and trained doctors around the world to continue the life-changing work.

Wow.

Kyla made us laugh. She made us cry. She made it look easy. But Op Smile's real lesson is that what seems obvious (and even easy) now wasn't for the first 20 years. It wasn't obvious before it was innovated. It took vision and courage and smart marketing. It took risk and investment.

Each of us can look at our organizations in a new way. We can bring the smartest people to the table to find that new offer, that new creative, those new dollar handles, those new channels ... that new way that will catapult us into a new era of growth. That new way that will seem obvious to everyone ... after it is created.

Tom Harrison is president and CEO of Russ Reid, a direct response fundraising agency based in Pasadena, Calif. Operation Smile is one of its clients.

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