Little Dogs ... Big Tricks

II. Make it a family affair

At a small organization, every member of the staff should be a fundraiser or know how to raise money. Everyone should understand how to build a budget and where the money comes from to pay for the work. Even consider giving each member of the staff a small portfolio of donors (five to 10) whom he or she can build a relationship with. Imagine a donor getting a timely update from a program staffer or a thank-you call from the person directly benefiting from her generosity. Pretty cool, right? An added benefit is that you are teaching someone else a really useful skill — especially if that person has executive director ambitions one day (really sell this point).