Fundraiser Education

Far too often, nonprofit leaders adopt a scarcity mentality. There's never enough. There's more competition for philanthropic dollars subdividing a fixed pie. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

A key to change is the education plus engaging of non-fundraising staff in the fundraising process. This will take time and a great deal of patience. When you approach this scenario, work internally then externally. Understand that each person has different levels of education, experience and interest in promoting fundraising.

Last week, David Gunn from Salsa Labs and I presented a webinar hosted by NonProfit PRO. The title was, "Fundraising Acquisition: How to Grow Your List and Engage New Supporters." Several questions were submitted before and during the webinar. Given that if one person asks, there are probably others wondering the same thing, I'll provide my opinion on some of those questions over the next few weeks.

Many nonprofit fundraising departments are dualistic in their setup. Usually I find that either they are direct-response driven or annual fund/event/major gift driven. (For simplicity, let's call this annual fund driven.) Both are wonderful—yet deeply flawed if one discipline significantly outweighs the other.

Just because we are experts at fundraising doesn't mean we are great managers or leaders. Yet most of us who excel in our profession end up with management responsibilities—often with less training than we received when tackling our first direct mail appeals, websites or DRTV campaigns.

The practice of fundraising is constantly changing to take advantage of new technologies, shifts in donors' preferences, lower-cost options, and so much more that affects the way we do business as fundraisers. Each time I teach a course in fundraising, I am reminded of the very thin line between what I can teach from years and years of solid experience—and what I teach based heavily on what I have read, heard and to a lesser degree, done.

With all the modern channels to potential donors, learn the myriad of ways you can grow your list and engage new supporters.

What's the kiss of death for every fundraiser? What's the best way to turn your donor off? And what can you do to make sure your donor never, ever wants to see you again? It's when you are guilty of being boring.

If you ask consultants how they became one, their answers cover a spectrum. I find it interesting that many practitioners believe they can easily step from an institutional role to consultant role. What do you think the requirements are to be a good consultant?

One of the (several) things I enjoy about teaching fundraising courses at a couple of universities is the opportunity to explore fundraising with people who have little or no experience in the field. Things I take for granted and view as "just the way things are" suddenly appear in a different light. Students ask, "Why?" and I'm challenged to think back to when I was new in the field and remember the reasons.