One of my favorite parts of the longest job I ever held was that my boss welcomed innovation. If I attended a conference or read an article, and learned about something new I thought we should be doing, she was all ears. We talked out the pros and cons, together. Usually we made a plan…
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Invest more.
That’s it.
It’s simple. And it works.
You see, penny-wise fundraising may seem smart. You may pat yourself on the back for working “lean and mean.” But, in actuality, lean and mean is the antithesis of how a nonprofit becomes successful.
Penny-wise fundraising ends up being nothing more than mean.
Penny-wise fundraising takes you down exactly the wrong pathway.
Penny-wise fundraising reveals an underlying attitude fundraising is a “necessary evil.’ So… why not invest as little as possible in it?
Sadly, this approach to fundraising is doomed to failure.
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Too often, fundraising is relegated to an administrative function rather than a mission-central function. It’s viewed as a ‘necessary evil.’ As a result, either no one embraces it as central to their job description, or someone is hired and shunted off to a corner to do the ‘dirty work.’
Others don’t necessarily feel a need to cooperate or support the fundraising effort. It’s ancillary, not primary.
In fact, I’ll often hear executive directors or board members tell me, with some pride and a soupçon of defensiveness: “We can’t spend money on development staff right now; anything extra we have must go into the mission!”
As if fundraising doesn’t support the mission? Seriously, that’s the entire purpose of what nonprofits call ‘development’ (aka fundraising and marketing). It derives its purpose from ends served. It’s never an end in itself.
What this so-called ‘mission first’ logic fails to acknowledge is that everyone associated with your nonprofit is guided by a ‘mission first’ philosophy and has a collective stake in your nonprofit’s survival.
And for most nonprofits, survival – or at least some level of mutually desired success – depends on philanthropy.
When fundraising is treated as an afterthought, relegated to the development committee, or delegated to the development director, it disenfranchises a huge segment of folks who care about sustaining the cause. This means you’ll leave money on the table and fail to realize your mission potential.
It takes a dedicated village to generate sustainable, meaningful philanthropy.
I’ve found four ways nonprofits don’t wholeheartedly commit to fundraising. They all have to do with typical priorities that aren’t standing them in good stead.
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Guess what strategy you’re likely not using enough that really works to facilitate organizational growth?
And you want to keep growing, right? Because if you stop growing, you wither and die. You either want to do more of what you’re doing, or do what you’re doing better. Or both. And… you can! You should!
Ready to have your mind blown?
There’s a super simple thing you can do to dramatically increase your contributions.
You can easily put this in place before the end of the calendar year — when most donors make their gifts.
Trust me. You’re going to want to read the rest of this article.
Because you’ll learn there’s one thing growing organizations have in common.
And it may surprise you.
Ready?
DetailsHow do you get to the heart of what’s true and meaningful to your constituents?
It’s very easy. It’s also very difficult.
The easy part is simply to listen. As the old adage goes, “you have two ears and one mouth; use them in that proportion.” Sadly, that’s also the difficult part. Because, too often, we think we know more than we do. So we don’t look too closely. We make a lot of assumptions. And assumptions lead to a closed door.
Too often we don’t genuinely invite response or commentary. So there is nothing for us to listen to. Opinion frequently trumps knowledge. We say “I know what our donors think and care about better than anyone.” Or the boss says “This is the way it’s going to happen. Period.”
Too often those around us let us get away with this sloppy, self-validating approach.
If you think this may be happening at your organization, read on to see why this can be so damaging to your long-term success.
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Are you planning to do, more or less, the same thing you did last year for your annual fundraising push?
I mean things like:
I was moved to write this article after recently attending an excellent production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George” at the S.F. Playhouse. I found it surprisingly moving, especially the final musical number: “Move on.” And, being me, I was able to relate it to something I find all too common in nonprofit work.
Something insidious that kills innovation and inexorably drains spirits.
It’s almost a disease.
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Today I want to pique your interest in taking some time to reflect and truly consider what you’re doing and how you do it.
It’s easy to get stuck, literally and figuratively.
Stuck at your desk. Stuck doing what you’ve always done. Stuck in patterns without considering whether they still makes sense. Stuck using ingrained habits and skills that once worked, but don’t work so well anymore. Stuck working in places that drain your energy. Stuck working for causes that don’t ignite your passions.
How do you break out?
Sometimes I look to thinkers from other disciplines to help me think outside the box. To pull me away from the routine. The ‘just going along to get along.’ The following, rather than leading. The ordinary, rather than extraordinary.
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I’ve long advocated for incorporating accountability into nonprofit job descriptions if you hope to get, and measure, results. Without accountability, tasks have a serious likelihood of slipping to the back burner; then off the stove entirely.
Procrastination is just a human trait.
We tell ourselves we’ll clean out the garage this weekend. But no one makes us do it. So the weekend comes and goes without anything happening.
We make a new year’s resolution to exercise more. We even join a gym. We attend a couple of times, but no one is tracking our progress on the elliptical machine. We fall back into our previous habits and, before we know it, we’ve stopped going.
We plan to get out of the office and visit a donor at least three times a week, but no one really pays attention to our schedule – after all, we’re grown-up professionals! – and it’s easy to get distracted by emails, meetings, and a host of other tasks.
I could go on with a zillion examples. You probably can too. Why? Because human beings are wired this way. We get distracted. We procrastinate. We give in to habits that may not serve us well. And we’ve been doing it for centuries. It even has a Greek name: Akrasia.
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Greg Warner of Market Smart writes a lot about the difference between “work” and “progress.” I appreciate the distinction, both professionally and personally. I think you can use this notion, so I’m going to recommend some of his articles to you and also suggest a way to extend this idea to your nonprofit fundraising.
Warner notes in Why You Should Never Get a Job and Go to Work: “work” is tedious and negative; “progress” is inspiring and positive.
This is about being intentional about where you’re going.
It’s somewhat about perception and desitnation, but I’d argue it’s largely about the journey.
Your journey. Your donor’s journey.
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In Part 1 of this two-part series I reviewed the ways nonprofit marketing and fundraising have significantly changed in recent years, and what this means for your ability to succeed in raising awareness and money.
I talked about how easy it is for leaders to blame staff, and vice-versa. It’s also easy to get sidetracked, because we’re operating in something of a Wild West frontier. And no one really is clear on the rules of the game.
Within the current zeitgeist, the job of the development professional becomes critical. Your organization needs you to lead. They need you to be an expert strategist, even if they don’t always know this.
If you’re just put into a corner and told to “go forth and raise money” or “go forth and make our name known,” you’re in for a bumpy ride. But you have the power to smooth the way!
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