Three Critical Mistakes of Fundraising Organizations

Over the years, I have watched important nonprofit organizations struggle with their fundraising while making the same mistakes again and again. Although there are certainly more than three ways to undermine your fundraising, here are three avoidable mistakes that can make the difference between success and failure.

Mistake one: create a revolving door staff
Fundraising is built on relationships. Imagine the confusion of a donor if the CEO is a new person every year, your development contact is new every 18 months or the administrative assistant changes every year.

Creating a revolving door staff provides a perfect environment for missed appointments, missed fulfillment of promises made by the organization or the donor and the loss of information about past interactions that enraged - or delighted a particular donor.  We don't expect to marry people on the first date. It is simply unrealistic to expect to create a warm and lasting relationship with a donor via a series of one-time interactions with a parade of strangers.

Mistake two: skimp on training
Most board members don't come aboard with a complete knowledge of fundraising and a complete understanding the organization they have signed on to support. Staff members don't walk in the door knowing how "we've always done it." New employees don't know who knows what in the organization or the idiosyncratic way even common software may be used to achieve organizational goals. Yet how often do board members, supervisors and employees avoid providing or attending training because they are "too busy" or "have important work to do?"

I have seen organizations spend hundreds of hours of staff time to select a high-powered software product to support their fundraising, then decide they don't need to pay qualified professionals to help them set up and learn the product. Three months later they are complaining that the product is not user-friendly.

Learning the job is part of the "important work" every successful employee does. As my favorite dance teacher used to say, "no dance is easy until you've learned how to do it."

Mistake three: fail to build a fundraising board
Show me a financially successful nonprofit organization and I'll bet lunch that the organization has a strong fundraising board. This board is made up of individuals who 1) understand their role in creating the financial health of the organization and who 2) have developed their skill set to include building supportive relationships for the organization and asking for support.

Many new board members are reluctant fundraisers at first.  With staff support and proper training, most can learn to actually enjoy building friendships with people who have the ability to give and the desire to participate in the future of the organization. And ultimately board members learn to enjoy affording these friends the opportunity to give and participate.

Barbara Yost is the vice president of  Byword and Design, a Colorado business that offers marketing and fundraising support to nonprofit organizations.