Raising Money Now: You Can't Cut Your Way Out of This
Week 8 of quarantine, but who is counting. The country is starting to open up for some of us, and for others, it looks the same as it did seven weeks ago. It's hard not to feel the pinch and your instincts may be telling you to cut where you can, and rally from it later.
When it comes to fundraising, that won't help. We are always striving to reach the next level when it comes to the support we can raise. It could be the implementation of a major gift program, or a new team member, or a campaign (small or large) that is right in front of you and begging you to kick it up a notch. If this is the case, you will need to continue to grow your way to the next level. Growing often means investing resources, and when it feel like it's getting tight, I know that's hard to do -- but when we are faced with a problem in philanthropy, we can't cut our way out of it. The less time we spend creating new content, cultivating prospects, stewarding donors, constantly checking in with our vision for our next initiative or campaign, the less time we spend on the right work.
It's easy for board members to tell you that no one will be giving gifts right now anyway, and we can spare the money spent on the salary with our Director of Development or Major Gift Officer. Well, if we spare those roles first, then it's true, the chances of real gifts are less. But it's the wrong perspective and fundamentally speaking, it's not true. People continue to give gifts right now, and the relationships that are being built during this odd & hard time are the ones that will be stronger for it. Nonprofit organizations and educational institutions everywhere are continuing to ask. If you choose to take a pause and play it safe until the future feels clearer, you will have missed the chance to educate on your brand, garner support, and more importantly, build deeper relationships.
Even when we are not making asks right now, the most important work we are doing requires our team to be fully invested in updating donors and cultivating prospects. That has always been the right work, and that will be more important than it ever has before. This work is a marathon, not a sprint. And it's not the kind of marathon on which you halt training for a period of time. As boards consider how to stay afloat financially, you need to advocate for yourself and your team; once budgets are adjusted and lines are cut that are critical to raising real support, you will have an uphill battle to change that.
For now: think and speak about slow growth and the top-of-the-pyramid relationships, and avoid temptations to cut in an area that has and will generate important revenue for you.
