What to Say When Your Donor Asks: How Much do you Spend on Overhead?
I’ve been asked this question many times.
And not just by donors, but also by board members.
One of the ways I’ve answered is with my own questions:
- If you could invest 20 cents to get a dollar, would you?
- If you could invest 50 cents to get a dollar, would you?
- If the dollar you got was old, wrinkly and ripped, would that matter to you?
- If the dollar you got was mint, would it be worth it to you to pay a bit more?
Maybe the return on your invesment doesn’t matter to you. But maybe it does. In the case of the wrinkly vs. mint dollar bill, it would matter a lot only if you’re a collector. Change that to 50 cents to buy a bag of fresh, nutritious produce that will last a full week vs. 20 cents to buy a bag of old, rotten vegetables, and you begin to understand.
All things are not created equal.
That’s true, BIG TIME, for what folks consider ‘appropriate’ overhead.
There’s a time and a place for the red pencil, but most of the time another color will do a more effective job of generating the revenues you need to survive and thrive.
Details