Fund Development is a Team Sport—So Why Are You Going It Alone?

At ESCSC, where I spend a lot of my time, we say that fund development is like a three-legged stool.  The first leg is building relationships, the second is the fact that to be successful it must be a team sport, and finally, your board must be part of that team. That’s the dream, anyway.  More realistically,  the board is not terribly engaged, and the ED or Development Director is the one charged with raising funds.

Over the years, I’ve been at too many board meetings and—especially—development committee meetings, where members say things like, “We should do this….” or “we should do that….” but somehow never defining who “we” is  And typically, “we” is you—the staff member responsible for fund development.

That, generally, is unsustainable.

It’s also unsustainable when STAFF points their fingers at the development person or the ED and says, “It’s all yours, I’m not involved.”

For an organization to be successful, it needs to ensure it has the resources necessary to run its programs, support its staff, have technology, a facility, etc.  And one of the ways you get those resources is from fund development.  That means that everyone involved with the organization MUST be part of the fund development team.

We call this having a culture of philanthropy.

Organizations that have cultures of philanthropy tend to do better fundraising-wise.  They understand that everyone has a part to play, even if it is just being nice to donors.  I cannot tell you how many times I’ve called an organization to hear the person answering the phone, “YEAH?” which doesn’t warm the cockles of my hear.  I want someone welcoming me to the organization, and making me feel that my call—whatever it is about—is important.

I’ve also called organizations (sometimes the same ones who answer the phone inappropriately) and asked to speak to the development director, only to be told that “they are busy.  Call back later.”  Click.

I could be a foundation who has discovered some available funds…but they will now go somewhere else.  Or a donor who wants to talk to the development director about their next, maybe much larger gift.

I, of course, wasn’t any of those people, but that is the point.  You never know who is on the other end of the phone.

I’ve also worked with organizations where staff or board members air what I’ll call “dirty laundry” in public.  It may be something on the order of “the organization doesn’t know what it is doing!” to something rather more specific.  It doesn’t matter what.  The takeaway is that any time anyone involved with your organization is having a conversation in public, they need to be saying positive things.  If they can’t say positive things, maybe they shouldn’t be on your board or working there.  And if there is a problem, and you are in a leadership role, think about how you fix the problem and let your insiders know that you are addressing the issue!

None of that, of course, sounds like fundraising.  But it is.

People will not want to support you if they don’t feel good about the work you are doing.  It is everyone’s job to ensure that all the good news gets out.

And that is why fund development is, above all, a team sport with every person on the team ensuring that they are building relationships and good will.