Ten Basic Fundamentals for Fundraising Success by Gail Perry02/14/2013
Apr 15, 2018Ten Basic Fundamentals for Fundraising Success by Gail Perry02/14/2013
1. Success in fund development is a long term project.
4 steps
It takes time and consistency to achieve the payback you want.
It takes an investment of time.
Over time, the dollar returns build up and generate more and more revenues.
This is because your visibility and pool of donors gradually grow – if you’re doing smart fundraising.
This means that: you can’t expect a fundraiser to come in out of the blue and immediately work miracles.
You’ve got to give them something to build upon, and to work with.
2. There is a significant ROI in fundraising that many people do not understand.
Fundraising costs are not a black hole into which you pour money.
Fundraising actually pays for itself. (Yes, it’s true!)
Not only that, fund development yields a multiple dollar return.
This means that: generally, investing one dollar in fundraising will probably yield 3-4 dollars back.br>
I’ve seen plenty of CEO’s try to squeeze the fundraising budget dry and then are unhappy when their contributions go down. They don’t see the cause and effect. They don’t understand that if they cut their direct mail budget and send out poor quality appeals, then the number of gifts will go down – and not because of the recession.
Cost Per Dollar Raised for Different Fundraising Strategies
Different fundraising strategies have different paybacks.
Cost of fundraising is much higher for a fundraising event is much lower than the cost of face to face visits.
For example, looking at the chart above: an event usually costs fifty cents on the dollar. (see my popular post, “why you should ditch your next fundraising event.”)
This means that: when you invest in major gifts staff or in capital campaign consulting, then you will probably get about a 10-1 return on your investment.
Different strategies have different paybacks.
Which way to go? Different strategies have different paybacks.
4. Fundraising is a highly technical specialized business.
The professional body of knowledge of best fundraising practices is well established and researched.
We know what works in fundraising and we now have the research data to back it up.
This means that: it’s important to believe the fundraising staffer regarding what strategies work best.
This also means that your leadership should NOT make fundraising strategy decisions based on their own personal preferences and private opinions of what they like.
5. Fundraising success requires help and support from everyone in the organization.
Too often board members and the rest of the staff look at fundraising as something that is apart from their own work.
The fund development functions are not integrated with the rest of the organization and its culture. Does everybody embrace the annual event and pitch in to help? Or do they complain and say “that’s not my job.”
Friendraising Creates Energy and Enthusiasm for the Cause
It takes all hands on deck to create successful fundraising.
This means that: if the whole organization doesn’t embrace and support fund development, your results will really suffer.
This also means that: if you expect a fundraiser to work self-sufficiently in a silo alone, you will not experience a lot of success.
Definitely refer to the Compasspoint report “Underdeveloped” for a more complete discussion here!
6. Success in fund development requires consistency.
If you are not consistent in your communications, your thank you’s, your contacts with donors and potential donors, then you won’t be developing the kinds of relationships that will generate money.
This means that: if the position of development director is vacant for any length of time, you are losing serious ground by not being in front of your donors.
When the next director comes in, there will be nothing to work with because all your donors no longer feel connected.
7. “Post-recession” donors have changed in their expectations from nonprofits they support.
Our profession studies donor behavior constantly.
And we are finding that donors want different things from the nonprofits they support.
They do not trust us as well as they used to.
They want to designate their gifts. They want clear information on where their money is going.
Help your donor feel happy that she gave to you.
Today’s donor most likely is an older female. For every $100 men gave, women in the same economic circumstances gave $256!
This means that: donors don’t want to give to the black hole of “unrestricted.” You’ll raise far more money if you let them restrict their gifts.
8. Retaining your current donors is more important financially than finding new donors.
Did you know that on average, 50-60% of your donors do not renew their gifts?
If you are like other organizations, your fundraising is a leaky bucket.
You are losing donors as fast as you are bringing in new ones.
This means that: the real high dollar opportunity is to work on retaining your current donors. You’ll have higher fundraising returns if you do.
9. Communications to our donors are far more important than they used to be.
Good communications help prepare the donors for another gift.
Because of that, we are now “donor-centered” in our communications instead of “organization-centered.”
“Content management” is now a big issue. What do we share when the 8-page newsletter is giving way to a one paragraph update?
This means that: your communications to donors have everything to do with whether they give again. If you cut your marketing budget, you’ll probably see lower fundraising results.
Why are we losing our current donors so quickly?
How much is she really worth? How much would you lose if she left?
10. Your fundraising person is worth more to you than you may think.
Here’s why: the top reason fundraising staff leave is for another job to make more money.
And, when a staffer leaves, the fundraising program takes a serious hit.
Out the door go your warm, fuzzy relationships with important donors. Out the door goes the know-how on your auction, your mailing program, and other strategies.
Your contributions will decline.
This means that: you might want to consider what will cost you more: A salary raise to keep your fundraiser? Or the hit that your fundraising program will take?
BOTTOM LINE
OK, I know I’ve tackled some sacred cows today. And maybe pushed a few buttons.
But hey, my goal is to be constructively provocative and generate helpful discussion to help your fundraising success.