Fundraising Isn’t the Problem—It’s the Solution

In the past, I have written that I am asked two questions more than anything else:

1. How do I find more major donors? And

2. Why isn’t my board more responsive to me and more involved in fundraising?

But friends, I need to amend my list as there is a third question I get pretty frequently, especially from those not from the nonprofit industry:

Don’t you think fundraising is a necessary evil?

UGH

Necessary Evil?

Look, I get it. If you’re not in the sector, perhaps people feel this way because they often have a really limited exposure to fundraising.

They see:

• People on the street trying to talk to you when you’re busy

• Unknown solicitors calling them out of the blue asking you for stuff

• Charity events where a pitch is made and they feel awkward about filling out a pledge card in front of others

• Loads of direct mail pieces that can feel wasteful, especially when they get on lists from an organization they have never donated to.

It’s tough but nonprofit friends, whenever someone says this is a necessary evil, I get fired up. Especially when it comes from people who have never…

👉 gone through the donor who never responds to you, and only responds to the executive director

👉 gone through sending out a mass email to announce an event and then realize (as soon as you hit send) that you announced it for a Thursday, when the event will be on a Wednesday

👉gone through traveling to meet with a donor – get up at 5am, take an 8am flight, meet with donors all day, attend an event in the evening, check-in at your average hotel after 9pm, and then do it all again the next day

👉 gone through making updates to your donation page in advance of a big push on Giving Tuesday to only see that the connection to the credit card processer was set up incorrectly so no gifts actually came through

👉 gone through having a donor say to you – no, we will not be renewing our $100,000 gift that we’ve given every year for the past decade because we’re a little cash-poor in our business

Ya, sometimes fundraising can feel pretty evil to the staff.

Ya, sometimes you might wonder why you do it.

 But friends, fundraising is NOT a necessary evil.

Fundraising is actually incredibly powerful.

Fundraising is about building relationships.

Fundraising allows people to show their values by investing in what they care about. In a tangible way.

 Fundraising empowers people to make an impact.

Fundraising can be altruistic and even joyful.

And frankly, the work performed at nonprofits wouldn’t be able to happen if there wasn’t money available to pay the bills. To create new programs. To directly serve those most in need. To pay the employees a living wage.

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I was once asked at a speaking engagement with a group of nonprofit executives, don’t you think we should try to spend as little as possible to raise as much as possible?

Again, I was flabbergasted and went on a rant that as little as possible shouldn’t be the goal.

Could you imagine the leadership or the board of directors of a corporation having a conversation - hey - our sales are slowing, so what we really need to do is invest less in our R&D, marketing, and sales teams. We're spending too much to achieve our revenue goals. Our product is great, but who cares who buys them?

⚡IMPOSSIBLE⚡

And yet, this happens all the time at nonprofits. Conversations around overhead and not investing in our staff at nonprofits have become so normalized that we think it ok to undercompensate, overwork, and not provide adequate work environments.

Perhaps, it is more expensive to lose staff every 1.5 years, than spend the money on recruitment and training.

Wouldn't it be better to keep our current staff and invest in them than to lose staff, spend money on recruitment and new training (plus consider the costs of the lost donor relationships)?

So to my nonprofit professionals out there – I get you.

This is not evil at all.

So let’s shift our mindset to consider the following –

• What would be possible if we could help more? Educate more people? Save our planet? Cure diseases? Provide more opportunities?

• What if we thought about what was needed over the long-term and not in the short term?

• What if we focused on relationship building?

• What if we went for the biggest financial ask in the organization’s history, instead of not doing that and thinking we couldn’t, because we were scared we were too small?

• How can we – and those connected to us - be part of that solution?

Let’s imagine what a better, more just, more equitable, safer planet looked like, and be honest about what it will cost to get there.

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I think we need to do better so if you agree with me and you're willing to invest, let's talk because I think there is no way you can raise more money unless you invest in raising money.