Essays about the nitty-gritty of fundraising, written by the people who do it every day
To whet your appetite, NTEN and M+R Strategic Services have released an infographic preview of their 2012 eNonprofits Benchmarks Study,...
I have three cats, so unless I want to invest in the kitty toilet-training kit I saw in SkyMall, I...
|
Let's face it — none of us is too excited about "a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune." That's one of the definitions for "risk" found online.
For those of us who have worked for nonprofits — especially small and mid-sized NPOs — we may have another definition, based on previous bad experience: "something avoided at all cost."
And yet, like any company, a nonprofit constantly takes risks. Hiring, renting space, launching a PR campaign — life in a nonprofit is full of risk. Except oftentimes, in fundraising. Why is that?
Frequently, the argument goes like this: "We're gambling with our donors' money. Every cent spent on fundraising could have been invested in program. If a campaign fails, money is forever gone that could have been invested in direct services to our beneficiaries."
We also often have a misguided idea that "everyone else" knows what they are doing. So we can look at what is already being done that we aren't doing, and assume that is the only answer instead of asking if there's something better that hasn't been tried yet.
Thirdly, fundraising often generates more embarrassment amongst members of the board and management than programs or operations; they are afraid they will look like beggars to their friends and colleagues. Hence, there is more scrutiny and pressure not to fail.
Finally, too often we don't have the structure to evaluate and extract learnings; we're always on to the next thing.
The critical challenge is to create an environment where identifying visionary risks worth taking is simplified, and taking those risks (even failing at times) is acceptable. The following process can help you establish that new culture.
|
