If I could donate a dollar for all the times I have heard a
nonprofit person say, "if only we didn't have to fundraise," I'd have
a whole lot of money to give away!
It's the prominent theme among boards, Executive Directors, and
programmatic staff that fundraising is a sort of necessary evil. It's the thing you have to be
successful at to get your real work done.
It's the thorn in your side, the thing in your way, the task you'd most
like to give to some salesperson or better yet be entirely relieved of by the
existence of a generous endowment given by an anonymous benefactor you never
have to thank.
This unfortunate, but prominent take on fundraising means
that development staff are often tucked in a desk on the outer edges of the
office, tasked with next to impossible fundraising goals and given little
insight or voice into the future, the strategy, and the key positioning of the
organization. It's why the average
fundraiser changes jobs every 3.9 years[1]. It is also, I would argue, why we've
been stuck at a national giving level of less than 2% of GDP for way too many
years.
But, there is another way. I've been fortunate to spend my entire fundraising career
with nonprofits that buck these trends.
I've never worked for an organization that sees the fundraiser as
Cinderella's ugly stepsister. As
someone with fundraising responsibilities, I have always been embraced as a key
player in the health of the organization and my success has been seen not only
as a means of helping programmatic staff get their work done, but also as a key
function of reaching our mission.
I have only recently realized just how lucky I am.
So, here's the secret.
The organizations I have worked for have all had missions, goals, and
strategies that reach beyond helping X number of people or protecting Y number
of acres. They have all wanted to
literally create or change a culture around their core mission. Building an ethic means that you can't
only do your program work well, you also have to change or inspire the hearts
and minds of your community.
A fully realized "fundraising" program is the way
to do that. This means taking the
emphasis off the actual financial transaction of giving. It takes reframing the idea of
fundraising to see it as it's own mission of providing people with a way to
express their values. Fundraising
isn't just a means of financing programmatic work; it is, by its newly defined
nature, a means of doing your work.
Providing people with a way to make a difference, to feel
connected to a cause they care about, and to become engaged should always be
one of a nonprofit's key goals.
Done well, that's what fundraising is—it is matching people who have a
passion, vision, or belief with an organization who can meld their dreams with
the dreams of others and actually have an impact.
I can't cure homelessness on my own. I can't protect everything I love about
the Methow Valley all by myself and I can't ensure that my daughter will grow
up with exposure to all the fine arts.
But, when I give to organizations that can, even if I can only give
modestly, I become part of the solution.
The very act of giving makes me feel differently about the cause I have
just written a check to. I am now,
very literally, invested. I am
more likely to talk to others about that cause, to attend their events and
learn more, to volunteer, and to ultimately care even more.
A good fundraising program is more focused on getting me
"hooked" as a passionate proselytizer of the cause than getting my
name on next year's list of donors.
It is how you rally people together. It's the catalyst for change. It's how you make your mission about more than just your
organization.
Of course, you've got to back up good fundraising with
awesome programs and results – the two are definitely symbiotic. But, by pushing fundraising to the
side, we limit our abilities to really have an impact.
If the millions of development professionals in this country
are truly going to make a difference, we have to help our organizations
redefine fundraising. What if we
all saw our role as building a movement and not just building a donor base?
What do you think?
Is it possible to reframe fundraising in this way? What are the first steps?
Fundraising at its core should be framed around building a movement, backed up by the tangible benefits of giving.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent, I've started with my child - exposing her to a diversity of people, places, experiences and their respective needs and interests. To help her find out what she really is passionate about, where she really wants to and can make, a change.
Thanks for this first comment...and what an important one..It is so essential to make sure kids see a bigger world than that which they know and that they see thry can make a difference!! Thanks for entering the conversation!! -- Sarah
DeleteAn important multiplier effect is at work in fundraising and fund giving. In both cases, individual acts are elevated to communal actions. The gift I make or raise becomes part of something much larger than that. As a donor I gain leverage in that way. As a fundraiser I help an individual to become more than that. I think people can see this "multiplication" at work if folks are there to teach them about it.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you've worded this and I love the concept at the core...maybe as fundraising professionals we are multipliers! Strikes me as an interesting way to talk about the whole idea with kids (and adults!). Thanks for sharing! -- Sarah
DeleteI like the idea that a single person can't cure the world's ills, but that by becoming part of a cause or movement, one can do much more. And part of that is thinking about the long-term. I hope that human rights abuses can be curtailed. It is naive to believe that I can do very much about that, but I can do something, and I can do more if I ally myself with others who feel the same. Philanthropy that works best, I think, has the knack for envisioning things that way and helping others to do so. -- JKR
ReplyDelete