Lowered Expectations
While my summer so far has been delicious—beautiful sunny days, low humidity (if any at all), my daughter in Wisconsin and especially my sister in New York have had something totally different. High temperature, high humidity, torrential rains. And, as we head to the Midwest to meet up with our daughter and my sister-in-law, I am concerned about what the weather will be. That, plus the fact that the airbnb we rented has only one bathroom (how did we miss that?), makes me have extremely low expectations for this trip.
Low expectations, however, are often a good thing.
A client of mine hired their first development director last year. She was sure that the person they hired would immediately bring in funding, alleviating the financial shortfalls they have been suffering…well, forever.
Of course, no matter how good the development director was, they would never be able to solve fiscal issues in only one year. Or two. It would take a lot of work, a lot of time.
But time is something too many organizations don’t give their fund development department. They want—no, demand!—a quick fix. Without resources they give to the hapless new hire. They need to understand that the situation is as at least as important as the person they hired. If they want this person to successfully raise funds, they must consider the resources they are giving. For example
How many loyal donors do they have?
How many of those give at the higher end?
Are all their board members participating in fund development by giving and helping to get more gifts?
Do they have clarity about how much they need and for what?
While most development people have good communication skills, they do need to understand what they are communicating.
When you do hire someone to “do” your fundraising, be clear about what you are asking them to do. Someone who is tasked with writing grants, dealing with corporate donations AND starting or reviving an individual giving program is being set up for failure.
Speaking of the person hired to fundraise for you organization, are you being realistic abut your needs? I often have clients who want to hire a top notch skilled fundraising professional when what they really need is an enthusiastic beginner who can manage the database, extract reports, and ensure that eblasts go out in a timely fashion. And, perhaps, manage your social media feeds.
Your lowered expectations should not mean you lower your standards. You should expect your staff to always act professionally and always do the job you hired them to do. And your board to understand their roles and responsibilities and to act accordingly. It would be nice if your donors understood that a gift is something you give freely with no benefit accruing. Alas, that is not always the case. But whoever is responsible for fundraising in your organization needs to always have clarity on that and definitely NOT to lower their expectations.
Lowered expectations does not mean no expectations. I assume, for example, that it will be wonderful to see my daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids. But I have no expectation for how they will act, what we will do (and since I just fractured my ankle, that might not be much!), or what the weather will be. That will all be what it is. Lowered expectations means I don’t expect Chicago in August to be cool, dry, and comfortable. Or that no one will have a meltdown during our time together. In short, hope for the best, and expect as little as possible.