8 Ways to Fail in Fundraising (and what you can do about them)
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With a combined 50 years’ of fundraising experience, Scott and Leah have learned (and failed at) a few things along the way. From leadership issues, through lack of stewardship, to not having a plan, we walk through the 8 sure-fire ways to make sure your fundraising program fails. From both the practitioner and consulting side, we’ve seen organizations make these mistakes over and over and over again. We share real examples of what we’ve seen go wrong and the impact it’s had, as well as examples of organizations that are doing things right. Presented at AFP Congress, November 2018
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8 Ways to Fail in Fundraising (and what you can do about them)
- 1. 8 Ways to Fail in Fundraising (and what you can do about them) Leah Eustace CFRE, ACFRE Chief Paddler Blue Canoe Philanthropy @LeahEustace Scott Fortnum, MA, CFRE, ACFRE President & CEO Children’s Health Foundation @SFortnum
- 2. Why are you here?
- 4. Session structure • Name the problem • What impact does the problem have in practice? • What impact will it have if the problem disappears? • What’s the solution to the problem?
- 7. What does that failure look like?
- 8. Alignment
- 11. 75% of people voluntarily leaving their jobs don’t quit their jobs … they quit their boss
- 14. What if the disengaged leader is your boss?
- 15. 3. Lack of respect/support for fundraising.
- 18. Trust = Credibility + Reliability + Authenticity Perception of Self Interest
- 20. 4.Not asking enough (or being afraid to ask)
- 21. Gift Donors Dollars % of $ % of donors 0 - 249 15,411 820,000$ 9.8% 89.5% 250 - 499 920 302,000$ 3.6% 5.3% 500 - 999 405 246,000$ 2.9% 2.4% 1,000 - 4,999 328 617,000$ 7.3% 1.9% 5,000 - 7,499 45 266,000$ 3.2% 0.3% 7,500 - 9,999 13 110,000$ 1.3% 0.1% 10,000 - 14,999 27 303,000$ 3.6% 0.2% 15,000 - 19,999 10 169,000$ 2.0% 0.1% 20,000 - 24,999 8 172,000$ 2.0% 0.0% $25,000 + 49 5,403,000$ 64.3% 0.3% 17,216 8,408,000$ 100.0% 100.0%
- 22. Number of Prospects Number of Gifts/Pledges Amount of Gift/Pledge Cumulative Total 4 1 $50,000 $50,000 12 4 $25,000 $150,000 24 8 $10,000 $230,000 36 12 $5,000 $290,000 Many gifts < $5,000 $300,000+ 76 25 The above is for illustrative purposes only. Table of Gifts Required Claremont Field Centre Renovations and Retrofit Building for the Future
- 23. Solution
- 25. You Your donors
- 26. How do you solve the problem?
- 27. 8.No case for support
- 29. What impact will it have if you solve the problem?
- 33. Bentz, Whaley, Flessner, 2015
- 34. 6.Lack of an upgrade strategy.
- 35. Pursuant 2018
- 37. Bonus!
- 39. Brains vs Hearts
- 41. Solving the Problem 1. Earn Respect 2. Be Relevant 3. Create Pride 4. Give a Platform
- 43. Leah Eustace, Mphil, CFRE, ACFRE Blue Canoe Philanthropy Leah@YourBlueCanoe.ca @LeahEustace Scott Fortnum, MA, CFRE, ACFRE Children’s Health Foundation Sfortnum@ChildHealth.ca @SFortnum
Editor's Notes
- An article in the Oct 18 issue of SSIR called “The best possible failures in philanthropy” Jen Ford Reedy President of the Bush Foundation “I suggest we add another element to our standard practice: failure optimization planning. How can we design our strategies so that if they do fail, they will be good failures?” Good failures: Failures that contribute to knowledge in the field Failures that have signicant, positive unintended consequences Failures that increase the capacity of systems to try other approaches
- Leah
- Per Sargeant/ Pitman: A recent survey by Reid et al (2014), for example, identified that those rating themselves as more successful in strategic planning delivered a more distinctive impact on their communities and greater sustainability/stability of funding. Organizations who rated themselves as being less successful in strategic planning, characterized their planning as reactive and occurring only at times of crisis in the face of unexpected risks or challenges (Reid et al, 2014). No clarity and agreement on mission and vision Unprepared for the future Short-term, reactive, actions instead of long-term thinking and purposeful actions Inability to manage change Decision-making becomes impossible The board and staff are out of alignment The organization’s strengths are unknown Systems and processes are inefficient and bureaucratic
- Align the board and staff: When there is shared purpose and direction (“we’re all in the same boat,”) there is the basis of a high-performance team. When individuals are focused on the same goal or outcome, they feel a certain amount of synergy and often set aside differences, help each other, and become invested in a common purpose. An organization’s mission cannot be achieved without board members and staff who agree on a common direction and are committed to achieving success for the organization.
- Elements of a strat plan… Start at 30,000 ft and work down Vision Mission Guiding principles and values Goals Objectives Actions, Responsibilities, budget, KPIs
- Leah We hear a lot about the importance of the engaged employee – most of us have read the statistics - But you really don’t see or hear much about the Disengaged Leader (DL) or manager. Ultimately, disengaged leader means disengaged employees
- 90% of leaders think an engagement strategy will have an impact on business success but barely 25% of them have an engagement strategy in place, only 40% of employees know their company’s goals, strategies and tactics. What does it look like to be an dis engaged leader: Returning the calls or e-mails of their staff is a low priority Missing in action If you’re not “like them” then you don’t get any time or attention They like to stay under the radar - they want to do just enough to get by and get paid Fundraising is uncomfortable and they’d prefer that someone else do it
- The impact is clear
- As a leader, how do you get engaged? Be authentic Really have a heart-to-heart with yourself: why are you disengaged? Are you the right person to be leader? Give personal example of being a great leaders sometimes and an awful one other times If you’re committed to changing, then work at it: hire a coach, read up on authentic leadership, and build your self-awareness
- But what if the disengaged leader is your boss? You need to both manage up and take care of yourself Support their success Develop a positive relationship with them… intentionally get to know them as a person have a private conversation with your boss and share your concerns Brainstorm ways you can work together that will satisfy your need for management direction. Understand their goals… it helps to see yourself as part of something bigger Agree on your goals, objectives, and projects – then provide regular updates. Focus on the org’s vision and mission… do your job well Network. use your network to find other job opportunities under managers with a more supportive style. Look for a mentor Build your personal brand. If it turns out your disengaged boss may soon be leaving his/her position and you’re interested in that job – create a plan to build your brand within the company, so that the management team and HR will see you as a viable successor.
- Scott – call on audience for examples. What does this look like? Not privy to important information Not part of the leadership team Little or no professional development Micro managed /professional advice ignored
- Why: often not part of the core organizational function Philanthropy a small part of the organizational budget Other pressing priorities for the organization Lack of understanding of what fundraising is and how it works Call for examples
- Scott you’ll hear from Leah shortly about case, but one this it definitely can do is bring leadership together and generate internal consensus demonstrates the importance of philanthropy Open/honest conversation – what value comes to the table Establish credibility through outside sources
- - Talk about each element
- Scott Where there’s lack of investment, think like an entrepreneur work smart use OPM create revenue streams for funding LU printer example
- Scott – gift charts Input metrics Prospect review and rating KNOW YOUR DONORS Accounts payable story
- Leah
- Leah Retention rates Upgrading engagement
- Solution? Donor love Impact reporting Engagement
- Leah
- Leah Lack of a coherent voice Not everyone knows what you’re raising money for Viewing fundraising logically rather than from the point of passion and inspiration
- More revenue
- Scott
- Scott - loop back to not asking for enough Not all donors will grow, but some will Back to know your donors – who has capacity Understand who they are and focus RBC rating, Environics – 10 fold increase at TRCA
- Scott
- -fallen out of favour- Gamification of an important process The key takeaway is strategy and plan to provide upgrade opportunities
- Leah
- Leah
- Leah
- When donors go in for a tour, a meeting, a celebration they are greeted, welcomed and thanked. dialogue between our donors and our medical staff – conversations about how they are using their donations, gratitude on both sides and questions about what is next. genuine warmth and respect between our staff and our donors. they often tour donors and prospects – the Imaging department welcomes us so often they now have a “show and tell” cart that they can draw upon they have doctors who introduce themselves when they see we have guests – RVH staff are engaged and willing to help – there is a genuiune respect and this makes a huge difference in their efforts
- Be part of the story - By earning respect of your peers- the Foundation is on the RVH team – every staff member is encouraged to be on a RVH committee Give others a leading role: as much as possible beneficiaries, volunteers and donors should be telling the story Give your story tellers a platform to tell the story Make it easy – get donors in the door It doesn't have to be formal. Staff need to get comfortable around donors. They need to be comfortable being the hosts. If you start off with good coaching, resources and giving them what they need then great impromptu moments will also arise Our platform is vast - donor tours – engaging donors with staff - media - events - social media