Let’s do more than mop the floor.
Terry Richey
Perhaps you’ve heard the old adage about spending so much time mopping the floor that you forget to turn off the faucet. Running faster and faster, you lose track of what is going on around you. It’s about managing time and priorities. This is a nearly universal problem of fundraising organizations. Unfortunately many non-profits consider time as an enemy rather than an ally. “Time” is the third of the five dimensions of fund development. We are covering all five in this series of posts (Time, Scale, Adaptability, Renewal, and Cost) that affect how funds are generated.
Putting time on your side may not mean going at a faster pace.
To speed up the time to receive a gift, sometimes decisions are made that affect the relationship with the potential donor. From sending too many appeal mailings to putting forward a major gift proposal without adequate donor cultivation, time can become a negative influence. It is really this misunderstanding and misuse of time that causes the unhelpful turnover of philanthropy staff because “time” creates unhealthy expectations for both philanthropy staff and their supervisors. Today, the average fundraiser stays at an organization less than two years. Time is clearly not on the side of establishing great donor relationships.
Time can also be a remarkable ally. A non-profit client tells the story of a woman who visited a state chapter office to learn more about the organization. The only staff member in the office that day was the receptionist who took the time to explain the work of the organization, add the woman to the newsletter list, and provide an annual report. That interaction was recorded in the organization’s database and a few small donations were received over the years. Nearly 20 years later, the woman left the organization $120 million in her estate. She had taken the time to learn about the organization. The organization had given her the time to build a level of trust.
We’ve managed hundreds of fundraising staff and would readily admit to the overwhelming pressure of time in supervising the philanthropy process. The only way to give the relationship process adequate time, and still assure yourself and your peers that you are on the right track, is with very detailed measures and metrics about the activity of fundraising and not simply the results. Putting time on your side is a challenge. It is an almost hidden component of each gift and grant and a key factor for the type of fundraising organization you will have.
Interested in more perspectives on the dimensions of funds? Previous blog posts explore other factors of fund development.
Visit our website (www.TimberlineStrategy.com) and download the “Five Dimensions of Funding” tool we use to help nonprofit leaders shape their fund development strategy.
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