Why Johnny or Jane Can’t Fundraise

Lately, it seems, I’ve been writing a lot about why fundraisers can’t actually fund raise. There are lots of reasons—from Board members who won’t carry their share of the load to other staff members who don’t carry theirs.

This is not to say that all fundraisers would be raising funds if it weren’t for all those other people. Much of the problem is within ourselves. But a bigger problem is the lack of understanding by the various and sundry powers that be of what it takes to actually raise money.

I know this not just because I’ve worked for over 25 years in this field and you’d have to have your head hidden in the sand not to recognize that fact, but because I tend to read job descriptions.

Here’s part of one that recently came across my desk or rather, computer (and yes, this is just copied and pasted from the actual ad with the organization’s name expunged).

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Regular duties include the following. Other duties may be assigned on an
on-going basis:

1. Fund Raising - Establishes short and long-range plan for meeting Organization’s budget needs. Organization’s current goal is to raise at least $3 million per year. Researches, strategizes and orchestrates methods of approach to individuals, corporations, foundations, government agencies, planned giving as well as hosting events. Works with program staff and Board of Directors to develop and implement the strategy.

2. Database and Records Management - Oversees and implements maintenance
of database. Maintains security and quality controls. Generates queries,
reports, exports and any other collection data as needed. Manage any related vendors.

3. Development & Public Relations - Supervises most development and communications matters, for example the creation of various
communications such as the annual report, marketing packets, PowerPoint
presentations, and government and donor relations.

4. Financial Reporting - Interface with team to fulfill information
requests and maintain reporting accuracy.

I might mention that this particular organization has a staff of…are you ready? Three. That means that the development director ends up “supervising” him or herself. Ummm. But even if there is staff—and I’ve been in both places—the person managing all this does not have time to actually do much fundraising. There must be other people dedicated to going out and nurturing the relationships that will result in the funds being raised.

Board members and CEO’s must get regular reality checks so that, perhaps, overtime they will understand that hiring a development director and foisting all manner of related (and sometimes, unrelated) other duties on that person will not result in success. Fundraising is a full time job. Someone needs to oversee all the people involved—those running events, managing the database, writing the communication pieces. And, while I think this person should also be fundraising, he or she should have a small book of business, primarily the largest donors to the organization. The other pieces of fundraising should be handled by development officers dedicated to this or that area.

OK, I’m hallucinating. These organizations are too small to have such a large staff. But here’s the killer: They will remain small if they don’t invest in fundraising.

Studies show that mature development organizations increase fundraising five times with each new dedicated development staff person. The key is the word mature. So start with one dedicated fundraiser and when he or she raises two times his or her salary, add another fundraiser. In this way, your organization can and will grow and flourish. But a second key here is the word dedicated.

One person cannot oversee, manage, plan and implement it all. If you are that one person, you need to document how you are spending your time and make sure that your board and CEO understand what you do and why, and what it would take to raise that $3 million (or whatever fundraising goal your organization has). If you are hiring or managing that one person, understand that you are setting them and your organization up for failure.

Janet Levine is a consultant who works with nonprofits and educational organizations. She can be reached at janet@janetlevineconsulting.com. Her online grantwriting class is available at www.janetlevineconsulting.com/classes.html.

How (Not) to Hire a Fundraiser

There were seven of us talking about this and that when the conversation turned to how it was for organizations to hire decent development officers.

It’s because they don’t know what they are looking for and don’t understand what the job should entail,” said one.

”That’s for sure,” said another, which turned the conversation to a dissection of the interviews we’d collectively been on over the years, sharing horror stories and hilarity.

”And then there’s my favorite question,” someone said with a laugh and we all jumped in: Tell us about your largest gift and what your role was in securing it.

I don’t know about you, but over the years, many of the largest gifts received on my watch came in as bequests. Frankly, in most cases, I had nothing to do with it. The second largest gift I ever received grew out of a business deal with my institution. Oh sure, I had to write the proposal and make sure that the right people were involved—and I did arrange for the check presentation.

The third largest fell into my lap when an annual donor called to tell us that he had sold his business and now had a huge an financial problem with appreciated stock. Could we help? You betcha.

This is not to say that what we do isn’t important, but judging by size gift is not the best way to understand how someone goes about the business of raising funds. Indeed, I’ve worked hardest for some of my smallest major gifts. Picture a shrug here. Was I happy that I had spent a lot of time to get a small return? Of course not. But I know that fundraising is about relationships and I also know that the best donor is an existing one, so I knew that over time the odds were that this donor would make a large gift. And it would be because I had cultivated well and—most of all—knew the value of keeping in touch with my donor in between asking for a gift.

So how would I hire a fundraiser? First of all, I would spend a lot of time thinking about what I really wanted this person to do.

Too many nonprofits hire a development director and then expect that person to log in the gifts, send out thank you letters, manage the annual gala and the golf tournament, make nice to board members (but don’t for pity’s sake ask them for anything), keep the files up to date, get out a newsletter, arrange for the bus to pick up….and oh yeah, in your spare time, could you make sure you close the financial gap between our revenue and expenses.

All these tasks may belong in the development department. But not even superman could accomplish all and do any of it well. For starters, these all require different skill sets. Beyond that is the fact that most people who are not in the business of fundraising do not seem to understand that development is not a single thing with a single set of tasks that require a single set of skills to be accomplished in a single timeframe.

The skills to be a good annual giving fundraiser are vastly different from those required of a planned giving officer. Major gifts need a lot of lead-time—and are best accomplished with a team. Each type of fund raising requires different things, and while your organization may be able to afford only one fundraiser, when you start thinking about hiring, be realistic about your specific needs. What type(s) of fundraising does your organization really require?

Be clear about your expectations and make sure that your job description outlines them completely. And then develop questions that will truly dig into a person’s style and beliefs. Make sure your questions will let you know if someone honestly knows how to do the job you want done.

If my organization doesn’t have a robust fund development program, I want to know the steps someone will take to develop one. If we don’t have a rich prospect pool, I will ask what—exactly—will this person in order to create one. I want to know what they think is most important in fundraising, and why. But I don’t really care about the size of the gifts they’ve gotten, or what they are going to tell me they learned from a mistake.

Because I believe that interviews are two way streets, I also want to make sure that my candidates know what they could be getting themselves into. What questions I ask should give them a transparent picture of the situation. If not, why am I asking? I once was asked in great detail—several questions in fact—what I would do in my first 90 days to connect with current major donors. Not a bad question except this particular organization had no current major donors. They had no individual donors at all. They had been largely federally funded and wanted to change that. The questions they should have asked me would have focused on how would I begin to identify major donors and what would I do—if I would do anything—to build an annual giving program.

Hiring the right person is hard. It takes a lot of work and a lot of serious thought and planning. Don’t shortchange yourself, or your new staff person, by creating a job description and developing screening questions that have no connection to reality. The average tenure for a fundraiser is 18 months. Given the disconnect between what most fundraisers think they are getting into and what most of organizations think they are getting, it’s a wonder that fundraisers stay on the job that long!


Janet Levine is a consultant who works with nonprofits and educational organizations. She can be reached at janet@janetlevineconsulting.com. Her online grantwriting class is available at www.janetlevineconsulting.com/classes.html.