Life is rarely binary. More often, our lives are filled with “yes, and” choices. Those “yes, and” choices create tension.
In the fund development sector, our mantra is “it’s all about relationships.” We cultivate and get to know donors. We wait to ask donors until we have built a relationship; we don’t treat them as ATM machines. We steward and thank donors for their generosity. We engage them in understanding the impact of their gifts. All of these moves, these tasks, are meant to build the relationship between the donors and our organizations.
And, yet, our tasks are measured by donations. How many donations did we raise for how many dollars? How frequently did we receive a donation? How frequently is a donor giving? And, more. The indicators of our success rely on data, the numbers.
Those statistics, that data, often drive the stress in our field. We lay awake the night before a fundraising event wondering if the net proceeds will be sufficient or exceed last year’s numbers. We look at the year-to-date budget and revenue numbers and feel the pangs of panic of the yawning budget gap. We count the number of coffee and meetings we have had and feel anxiety that we didn’t say the right words or meet the right people to get the donations in.
Admittedly, it is a rough time for fundraising now. Yes, more dollars than ever are flowing into the nonprofit sector. However, when we put the numbers into context, we have reasons to worry according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. The national economy is growing at 4%. Year-to-date, however, contributed revenue from individual donors is down by 2% and the number of donors is down by 6.6%.
As I type those numbers, I feel my own heart rate increase.
So, now what?
First, have a conversation with the Board, your boss and your management team. This is the time to manage expectations. We tend to grow our fundraising goals year over year. Have we checked our year-to-date contributed revenue and compared it to this date last year? Do we need to adjust the budget to maintain or expect lower year end contributions? It’s time to manage expectations.
Second, we still build relationships with our donors. We look for ways to be helpful to them. We spend time sharing with them the impact of their gifts. We learn why our donors are generous and boost those feelings generosity.
Finally, we admit we are human. We can’t control what others do. We can’t make a donor give. We can’t speed their giving. We can’t control the timing of their gifts. We can’t change our past actions. We are not gods. We are not superheroes. We are not all-knowing and all-powerful. We can control only what we do. In fund development, we must learn to say, “We treated our donors – our neighbors and our friends – well. This was all we could raise. It is enough.”