That disturbingly high turnover rates and low morale plague fundraising professionals is nothing new. Research going back almost two decades shows this to be true.
One study in particular found that the “average fundraiser stays on a job only 16 months.”
In fact, just last year, author Rob Webb called on us to act on fundraising turnover right here in NonProfit Pro.
The past research on turnover was best summarized by our colleague Penelope Burke as follows:
The annual fund is an internal phrase fundraisers use to refer to the drive(s) held during the 12-months of a calendar year to raise the revenue to cover your organization’s operating expenses.
Many readers of the LAPA blog have asked me if the annual fund is dead. Why are they concerned?
There are many reasons we in the fundraising industry tell one another about why donors give. They are moved by your mission, they know a board or staff member, they’ve given for years, to name a few. I doubt that all of them are true, and I especially doubt that they are all true at the same point in the giving calculus for each donor.
Nonprofit endowments are donations pooled together and invested in the stock market. At the end of the year, a portion of this money goes to the charity, but the principal amount remains in the market. Many smaller nonprofits may think of endowments as a pipe dream, but any size organization can start an endowment fund.
I remember when people were in awe of email. They loved it.
Until they didn’t.
The convenience –the ability to communicate directly and personally in writing regardless of time zones and free of telephone buzzy signals or answering machines and fax machines—was astounding.
Many nonprofit executives still struggle with how to pay for fundraising. That’s a shame because fundraising done well pays for itself. Yet the dilemma is real and persistent. Below I suggest a few ways to break out of this impasse.
With the holiday season upon us, gift giving is sure to be on your mind. A nonprofit CEO, Doretha, recently asked me, “Should I send my donors gifts?”
A $5 million award letter arrived from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an historic moment in the 15-year-old nonprofit’s existence. They had arrived. Their mission is to build bathrooms in rural schools in the poorest areas to meet children’s basic hygiene needs. It’s a transformative service.
Years ago I was introduced to an adage that has been largely attributed as being an old Chinese Proverb, indifferent to its origin the meaning is still sound. It says, “The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago, the next best time is today.”
During Q&A sessions in speeches or panels I often get asked by #nonprofits when should we start collecting #data? I share that adage with them. We just went through Giving Tuesday and aside from end-of-year fundraising, this is where we see a lot of nonprofits make mistakes with their data.
This article highlights five of the biggest issues we see nonprofits encounter with their data.
For me, I am a fundraiser because I believe the nonprofit sector can do a lot more to reduce poverty; so I raise funds toward achieving that aim, toward securing the necessary capital for designing and implementing anti-poverty policies and program solutions. With Gandhi, I believe that “Poverty is the worst form of violence.” That’s why I’m a fundraiser, and why I’m also committed to the constant improvement of my vocation. I wrote more about what a fundraiser does at this blog post.
