Category: Finance

1. If a mechanism you’re using to raise funds for your programs/operations is called the “Annual Fund,” and if you solicit the same constituency more than once each year, then a response you’re likely to get from donors is, “I already gave this year.”

You may not hear them say it but, for sure, many of them will be thinking it.
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2. I’ve met many board members, executive directors and development staff who believe that it “isn’t nice” to ask people for money more than once a year. That means that those folks are uncomfortable asking for money, which makes them (want to) believe that there’s something socially improper about doing so.

To them, “begging” bears a stigma, and they believe their friends will avoid them if they “bother” them too often !! These folks are often identifiable by the emphasis they put on writing grant applications — the more, the better.

Hey, I’ve also met many folks in the non-profit sector who believe that asking for money, even once a year, is tacky/low-class/shameful/etc. Those people hire development staff to bring in the money … so they won’t have to !!
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3. The Annual Fund folks at the vast majority of colleges and universities are the least experienced people on the development staff. Why do you suppose that is ??

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

After thirty years in the non-profit sector, I often find myself questioning, not what we do, but how we label what we do — and how those labels often limit us. The best example of that concept, I believe, is the label “Annual Fund.”

It seems as if, for as long as there have been formal development programs, there have been “Annual Funds.” Each year, goals are set, development staff gears up for another year of activity, constituents get letters and/or phone calls asking for a gift, development staff worries about making/exceeding their goals and they look forward to the end of the fiscal year, when they can put it all to bed and take a deep breath….

While going through this process, however, we are sending the wrong message, not only to our constituents, but also to ourselves. The message is that we should only ask for one gift per donor per year, and that the donor should only give once each year !

Somehow that seems contrary to what fundraising is all about.

By focusing on the (single) annual gift, we and our constituents lose sight of why the giving is important — what and who it supports. People become focused on the process, not on the reason for the process.

Let’s name the process (of raising money on a fiscal year basis) in honor of a founding member of our organization, after the organization itself, or what the funds support, but no more “Annual Fund.”

Let’s not allow what we call an activity to limit what we can accomplish via that activity. And let’s not stifle the creativity that takes us beyond mere process.

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counselling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

MYTH: Every Board Member must make an “example-setting” major gift.

REALITY: Every Board Member must set an example by giving to the best of his/her ability. Even a dollar (if that’s all s/he can afford) will help demonstrate, to other potential (individual and institutional) funders, that every Board Member has “supported” their organization. Keep in mind that other funders would have less reason/motivation to give, if they see that an organization does not have 100%, wholehearted, Board Member participation.

MYTH: The Board is responsible, in some way, for the networking, cultivating and soliciting of 80-90% of a NPO’s charitable income.

REALITY: The Board is responsible for providing a mechanism to fund any budget that they approve. Board Members could assume actual responsibility for giving and getting; They could vote to authorize creation of a volunteer group, the members of which would accept responsibility for giving and getting; and/or, They could authorize the creation of one-or-more staff positions that would be responsible for generating income — not necessarily limited to charitable gifts.

MYTH: Hiring a staff “fundraiser” or creating a separate volunteer fundraising body means that the Board doesn’t have to have a role in the fundraising process.

REALITY: Everything that a Board does can impact the organization’s ability to do fundraising. Board Members may not all be major donors, and may not all be involved in the identification, cultivation and solicitation of donors, but all Board Members do have to be involved. Their level of involvement makes a statement to others as to their level of commitment…. Sometimes, what they don’t do also makes a statement.

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counselling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

In her recent (April 16) blog, “To Lead” vs. “To Manage” (see: https://staging.management.org/blogs/leadership/), Julia Fabris McBride observed that “Organizations need leadership AND management.”

That made me realize that … up to now, I’ve been talking about fundraising from the perspective of “management – the role of the director of development – managing the volunteer leaders who will be responsible for actually making “it” happen. The DOD is the manager who supports, encourages and trains an organization’s fundraising leaders.

The fundraising “Leader” is someone who sets an example; and, by that example, gets others to want to become donors/advocates/leaders for a non-profit organization.

The fundraising leader:
1. Helps identify other potential leaders/donors;
2. Conveys to those individuals the depth of his feeling/passion
for the organization and its mission;
3. Exhibits the satisfaction that she gets from seeing how people
are helped by what the organization does;
4. Helps to make all that possible with his contributions; and,
5. Gets the prospective donor to where she wants to share in
those feelings.

The fundraising leader should not be seen as a “fundraiser.” S/he is a visible example of how a potential donor can share in the warm-and-fuzzies of being part of something really satisfying.

Don’t get me wrong !! At some point it will be time for the “leader” to ask for the gift, but one of my favorite “rules” is that the leader should not ask for the gift until the donor is ready to say, “Yes.”

And you’re thinking that it’s easy for me to say that, but you’re wondering how easy that is in reality. Want to know, stay tuned. Have specific questions to ask, ask’em.

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counselling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

Let me start with who you shouldn’t hire: your buddy, someone who’s been “active” in the community, a “popular” person, or someone who just got out of banking or marketing. Dismiss all the thoughts/suggestions that first come to mind.

This is serious stuff.

The best directors of development are those who have served in various positions in development, have “worked their way up” – and have made a real effort to learn what development/fundraising is all about. They need not be experts in all areas, but they must be great organizers/planners.

In 30+ years in development, I’ve met lots of D.O.D.s. And, what’s scary, is that so many of them weren’t people people. Too many wanted to sit at a desk, do paper work, and go home at 5 o’clock. Since development is about relationships, pick someone who is comfortable working with people, and who makes people comfortable working with him/her.

And, since s/he is going to get lots of grief trying to move board and staff to “do it differently,” it’ll have to be a strong person.

Of course it has to be someone who is (or can become) committed to the NPO’s mission, and can be creative about figuring out how to “sell” what the NPO is and does.

Smarts wouldn’t hurt. S/he must be able to step back and see the organization from the perspective of the donor. S/he must be objective, able to see the NPO’s weaknesses as well as its strengths, and must (often) be able to show the donor how his/her support can convert the former to the latter.

A college degree doesn’t make a director of development, but s/he has to be a self-starter and must have an (almost a compulsive) need to see a project through to completion.

And, from personal experience, the one criterion I put at the top of the list when screening DOD candidates, does s/he like puzzles/games?

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counselling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

I initially wrote this piece with the idea in mind that many NPOs don’t need DODs, but my wife read it and said I was totally wrong. So, the following is sort of a collaboration … actually, I won’t publish anything she doesn’t approve !!

Ideally, from day one, an organization should have someone who knows/understands the NPO, its mission, its leadership and its hopes and aspirations. This person should have the experience and skills to help the NPO plan for next week and next year.

This person should have input at all levels, should be able to guide/train the board members and the CEO, and should be able to bring to staff an awareness and understanding of how they affect the development process.

A large organization, with a large development staff, must have someone to coordinate the various programs and be sure that they support, not conflict with or duplicate each other. Sadly, the vast majority of new/nascent NPOs don’t have the money to hire a person with the requisite experience and capabilities.

Smaller organizations that live on grants, need a grants officer. If much of a NPO’s income is from events, then an event coordinator is needed. If one person can do both, all the better.

To hire a staff person to focus on one or two activities, and give that person the title of Director of Development, is to lie to that person, to that person’s next employer and to the board and staff of the NPO doing the hiring.

Hiring a person and giving them the title doesn’t mean that you’re actually getting all the experience/expertise that comes with a real director of development.

A DOD is a critical hire for an organization. The right person can greatly help ensure an organization’s future….

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

So many non-profit organizations are hiring Directors of Development without really knowing/understanding what “development” is supposed to be about and how a DOD is supposed to function.

For many organizations, the Director of Development is the person hired to write the grant proposals, or create relationships with corporations, or create/run the event that’s going to raise the big bucks.

The misunderstanding is the belief that “Director of Development” equates to “income generator.” So many NPOs hire DODs with the belief that they’re getting someone who will raise the needed funds; and, the sad thing is that so many NPOs hire DODs so that organizational leadership (board and other senior staff) won’t have to be involved in (or even think about) fundraising.

Hire a person to raise the money, and the amount of money that can be raised is limited by the time/effort that one person is willing/able to give to the process.

Hire a person to create and/or direct a development program and there’s no theoretical limit to how much money can be raised … considering the person’s level of experience and expertise.

A Director of Development creates and/or plans-for-and-directs a development program … an effort that incorporates many (if not all) of the elements of the development process: mass solicitation (mail or telephone), grants (government, foundation and corporate), events, major gifts, bequests, donor cultivation, etc….

How many organizations do you know of that have a Director of Development who isn’t !!??

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

Development is, by definition, the process of creating and enhancing relationships with (potential) donors.

It is the introduction of (prospective) donors to a non-profit organization, building their interest in the organization’s mission/services, developing in them a passion for the mission and a commitment to the organization’s future, getting them to make-the-gift, and maintaining the relationship so that they will continue to support the mission … and continue to give.

“Development” directly implies that the donor is supporting the organization, its mission and services.

“Fundraising” only addresses the “giving” aspect of the process, and people don’t always give to a NPO to support the organization, its mission and/or its services.

As noted previously, people give to satisfy their own needs. If the process results in having an individual want to give … feeling good about giving because s/he wants to advance the mission and services, that’s a desired result of the development process.

Very often, however, a donor’s reason for giving may have nothing to do with the NPO’s mission. They may give because they want to please the person who is “asking,” because they want to see their name alongside the names of recognizable personalities, or if they want to see their name on (a floor, a wing, or on the outside of) a building. That is fundraising, but not necessarily “development.”

When I’m working with a client, I de-emphasize the terminology, and stress the importance of getting to know the (prospective) donors well enough to know what his/her needs are and how those needs can be satisfied by making a gift to their NPO.

“The Hokey-Pokey of Fundraising”

Whether it’s a Corporation, a Foundation, a prospective Major Donor or the recipient of a mass solicitation, they’re not going to write you a check if the process doesn’t satisfy their needs.

Getting a Corporation to want to give to a non-profit organization (NPO) is a simple matter of learning, understanding and acting on the needs of the corporation and those of its decision makers. Will giving to your NPO help the corporation’s marketing efforts and increase its revenue? Will supporting your NPO and espousing your cause make the corporate leaders look good?

Foundations give based on their mission and the needs of the foundation leadership. Do you solicit foundations whose leaders feel strongly about your programs/activities and about the people you serve? Do you know who those leaders are and what is important to them?

To get an individual (potential) major donor to want to give, you have to know that person well enough to know what is important to him. You have to know/understand her priorities.

Why would someone put a coin or bill in the can-on-the-counter if doing so didn’t satisfy their need?

Just because a NPO does wonderful things in a cost-effective manner doesn’t mean that potential donors will want to give to it.

Getting people to want to give, and corporations and foundations are run by people, is about learning, understanding and appealing to their various needs.

“That’s What It’s All About.”

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.

Fundraising, as a distinct sub-category of income generation, includes those activities that get people to GIVE their money to non-profit organizations and, ideally, to get them to keep giving.

It does not include raising money by selling things – T-shirts, light bulbs, candy, books, carnival tickets, seats at a dinner or anything else that has material substance.

Although those activities labelled “fundraisers” generate income, because they are not based on “giving,” but rather on selling, they aren’t part of “Fundraising.” Income generation, “Yes.” Fundraising, “No.”

People who buy candy or cookies from local students are (usually) looking to help the student or satisfy a sweet tooth, not necessarily to support the school activity.

Frequently, people who buy tickets to an event (carnival or sit-down dinner) do so because of who’s selling the tickets and/or because they see the event as entertainment. Too often, attendees at dinners know little if anything about the organization the event supports.

In many people’s minds, fundraising equates to “philanthropy,” another term that’s misused a lot. The origin (Greek) and original meaning of the word is “love of man,” or “love of humankind.” Today, the term is often used to label almost anything to do with fundraising.

In fact, “philanthropy” is a subset of fundraising. It’s about giving, but (for the most part) it’s self-motivated giving. It’s giving in consideration of the needs of others, where much of the rest of fundraising is (as noted in my first posting) about the needs of the donor.

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Have a question about starting or expanding your fundraising? Email me at AskDCA@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll work to answer your question.